Council Member Ritchie Torres. Image credit: NYCC/William Alatriste

UPDATE: On May 10, 2017, the City Council voted 45-4 to approve the extension of the moratorium on hotel-to-condo conversions within the Borough of Manhattan. Council Members Daniel Garodnick, David Greenfield, Steven Matteo, and Paul Vallone all voted in the negative. The Committee on Housing and Buildings previously voted 11-0 on May 8, 2017. The bill will now go to the Mayor’s desk for his signature.

City Council Committee heard testimony in considering an extension on the Manhattan moratorium on hotel-to-condo conversions. On May 2, 2017, the Committee on Housing and Buildings held a hearing on a bill to continue for two years a limitation on conversions of hotels to condominiums. The Manhattan hotel industry alone generates about $11.8 billion in economic activity and generates more than 65,000 jobs throughout the City. The industry contributed $1.8 billion in tax revenue to the City in fiscal year 2015. (more…)