More hotels open in Brooklyn hotel hub

Two more hotels opened in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn this summer. The Union Hotel, a 43-room property on Degraw Street between Third and Fourth Avenues, was the first of the two to open. The Fairfield Inn New York Brooklyn opened a month later; it is a Marriott property. At 133 rooms, it is the largest hotel in the neighborhood and is located on Third Avenue, between Baltic and Butler Streets. The two hotels are less than three blocks from one another.

Previously, there had been virtually no hotel activity in Brooklyn for a considerable number of years. But as the New York City hotel market boomed, hotels began to spring up in the borough, and within a 2-3 year period, Gowanus became an undisputed hotel hub. In all, eight hotels currently operate there. In addition to the Union Hotel and the Fairfield Inn, they are the Holiday Inn Express Brooklyn, the Holiday Inn Express Downtown Brooklyn, Hotel Le Bleu, LaQuinta Inn Brooklyn Downtown, Four M Capital, and Super 8 Brooklyn.

The rapid increase in the number of hotels, in Manhattan and in the other boroughs as well, underscores the vitality of the hospitality industry in New York City. Tourists continue to come to our city in record numbers, which operates to the benefit of HTC-represented workers and their families.

However, many of the new hotels opening in New York City are non-union. Workers in these places are paid far below our union's industry-wide standards, many are always on-call, and few receive any benefits. This situation poses a serious threat to our contract and our members, because union hotels compete with the new non-union hotels. Though our union has been more successful than other unions at organizing new shops, the tidal wave of new hotel development in New York threatens to seriously damage our union's density and our power, and this will affect the contract conditions our members enjoy. This is why it is so important that more members volunteer more of their time to support our union's organizing and political action programs.

The Third Avenue Fairfield Inn is Finally Open. Brownstoner. July 19, 2011.

The Latest Gowanus Hotel is Open for Business. Brownstoner. June 22, 2011.