Late April was a popular time for revisiting the hotel tax in several meetings-heavy cities.

New York City’s hotel industry celebrated a return to the spotlight on May 2 during the annual Red Carpet Hospitality Gala, hosted by the Hotel Association of New York City Foundation at the Mandarin Oriental in Manhattan. More than two years in the making, the event drew hundreds of attendees as the HANYC Foundation honored John Gore Organization President and Broadway League Chair Lauren Reid as well as Hilton Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Laura Fuentes. Loews Hotels Chairman and CEO Jonathan M. Tisch introduced the honorees.

After two years of sparse crowds in Times Square and other popular attractions, New York City is finally hoping for a robust rebound of visitors this year. But the city will still be missing a main driver of its prepandemic tourism boom: big spenders from China, whose government has yet to allow travel abroad.

“It is all a part of that bigger financial puzzle that town is placing collectively in its restoration from the pandemic,” Rigie added. “The Met Gala is a type of large occasions that influences that.”

New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan, NYC Chief Climate Officer Rohit T. Aggarwala, New York Taxi Workers Alliance Executive Director Bhairavi Desai, Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi, Director of New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate Resiliency Jainey Bavishi, New York State Sens. Jeremy Cooney and Kevin Thomas, and Assembly members Zohran Mamdani and Jenifer Rajkumar are among several South Asian Americans listed in City & State’s ‘Power of Diversity: Asian 100.’ The list identifies “New York’s Asian American leaders from a wide range of backgrounds who are gaining political power and standing up for their communities,” says the New York City-based political journalism organization.

Fashion’s biggest night out drew some 600 celebrities, designers and creatives to the 2022 Met Gala Monday, in a star-studded evening that business leaders say sends the crucial message that the city is once again teaming with activity and economic opportunity.

NYC city council considers tax cut: The New York City Council is reportedly planning to dramatically cut the local hotel tax to encourage a faster recovery of the city’s US$100 billion tourism market.