JOSEPH R. LENTOL
Assemblyman 50th District: Kings County
Chairman: Committee
on Codes.

COMMITTEES: Rules, Ways & Means, Ethics
and Guidance, Election Law

JOSEPH R. LENTOL in
The New York Observer, backing a "Radical Redesign:"

From the Office of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (1):
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel and NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta today announced New York City drew a record-breaking 48.7 million visitors in 2010. The higher-than-projected 6.8 percent increase over 2009 keeps the City on pace to meet its goal of attracting 50 million annual visitors by 2012 - a goal set by the Bloomberg Administration in 2007, prior to the national recession. The hospitality industry added 6,600 jobs over the past year, employing more New Yorkers in 2010 than ever before. In 2010, New York City set a record for hotel rooms added and hotel rooms sold, while attendance at cultural institutions rose. Mayor Bloomberg was joined at the announcement at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Council Member Karen Koslowitz and Brooklyn Botanic Garden President Scot Medbury.

"This past year was New York City's most successful year for tourism ever, and we're well on our way to achieving our goal of attracting 50 million visitors a year," said Mayor Bloomberg. "The strength of our tourism industry is one of the reasons New York City was less impacted by the national recession than other cities, and it continues to be one of the reasons we're growing faster than other cities today. The industry employed more New Yorkers in 2010 than ever before, and the $31 billion visitors spent this year supported our restaurants, shops, hotels and cultural institutions. We're constantly looking for ways to strengthen and diversify our economy, and growing our tourism industry is an important part of that work."

Even as local economies across the country remained sluggish following the national recession, 2010 was a banner year for New York City's hospitality industry and cultural community. In 2010:

• New York City's 1,200 nonprofit cultural organizations, which generate an estimated $18 billion in economic activity due to tourism, reported an average attendance increase of five percent;
  
  Continued Reading: More News from the Blue Room

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