New York’s resort business doesn’t appear to have any reservations about Gov. Kathy Hochul — showering her marketing campaign in donations after she delivered a massive post-pandemic bailout.
The highly effective hotel workers union and homeowners have directed donations totaling within the six figures to the Democratic incumbent’s re-election bid since she steered an enormous chunk of her $450 million tourism revival program to the pandemic-ravaged business final fall, a Post evaluation of marketing campaign data reveals.
A key ingredient of the restoration plan included a a $100 million Tourism Worker Recovery Fund that supplied a one-time cost of $2,750 to as much as 36,000 resort staff and different tourism business staff whose unemployment advantages expired.
Shortly after, the unions representing resort staff, which helped negotiate the deal, pumped $147,200 into the governor’s marketing campaign committee, Friends for Kathy Hochul. The Hotel Trades Council was additionally one of many first main unions to endorse Hochul’s bid towards Republican challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin.
A political motion committee that features the native resort staff union, UNITE HERE, donated $50,000 to Hochul on June 22.
The Hotel Trades Council dropped one other $50,000 into the coffers of a pro-Hochul Super Pac, Empire State Forward, in April, bringing the resort staff’ union-linked donations to Hochul to almost $250,000.
Hotel homeowners and different business gamers additionally showered Hochul with marketing campaign dough.
- The Tisch household, which owns the Loews Corporation and Loews Regency resort on Park Avenue, donated greater than $250,000. CEO James Tisch, motels chairman Jonathan Tisch and motels president Alex Tisch maxed out by donating $69,700 every to Hochul. Other members of the family gave at the least $65,000.
- Dan Tishman, of Tishman Construction and Realty and his spouse, Sheryl, donated $69,700 every to Hochul, or a mixed $139,400.
- Tyler Morse, whose firm owns the TWA hotel at JFK airport, the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel and the High Line Hotel, gave $60,700 in contributions to Hochul that started final December.
- Gramercy Park Hotel proprietor Ian Schrager, in the meantime, gave $10,000 to the governor’s marketing campaign.
- Vijay Dandapani, president and CEO of the New York City Hotel Association, donated $5,000, saying: “Gov. Hochul said she would be supportive of jobs for the hotel industry. The association wanted to support her.”
The help comes on the heels of Hochul being accused of pay-to-play politics with corporations which have enterprise earlier than the state. New Jersey-based Digital Gadgets owner Charles Tebele and others tied to the corporate, as an example, gave greater than $300,000 in donations and scored a no-bid contract for $637 million in COVID-19 take a look at kits that critics declare overcharged New York taxpayers. Hochul denied donations had an impression on the contract award.
Her hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in donations embody contributions from casino operators and actual property pursuits vying for 3 new downstate gaming licenses and developments.
GOP gubernatorial rival Zeldin charged that the beneficiant donations from hoteliers and unions following Hochul propping the business is one other instance of pay-to-play corruption.
“It’s no surprise there is yet another major scandal brewing after Kickback Kathy Hochul found yet another way to line her campaign coffers on the backs of hard-working New Yorkers. When Hochul was sworn in as Governor last year, she immediately decided that the only way she’d be able to raise tens of millions of dollars was by corruptly selling out access to her office,” Zeldin stated.
“On November 8th, New Yorkers are going to clean up Albany by cleaning house and electing a new governor.”
Hochul’s workplace defended her actions to revive the struggling resort and tourism sectors, and dismissed issues concerning the subsequent marketing campaign donations.
“To support struggling businesses and workers in the hard-hit tourism and hospitality sector, which was New York’s third-largest industry prior to the pandemic and generated more than $100 billion a year in economic impact, Governor Hochul launched a multi-pronged recovery package to bring back tourism and bring back those good-paying jobs, as part of our comprehensive efforts to support hardworking New Yorkers and deliver New York’s economic comeback,” Hochul spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays stated in an announcement.
She added, “Since taking office, Governor Hochul has been laser-focused on building New York’s economy back stronger than ever, and under the Governor’s leadership, unemployment is at the lowest rate since the pandemic, we’ve added over 360,000 private sector jobs in the last year, and New York secured a $100 billion project from Micron creating up to 50,000 jobs — the largest economic development project in our state’s history.”
Hotel Trades Council spokesman Austin Shaffran defended the union’s donations to Hochul after she helped staff laid off throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and boasted that HTC was one of many first main unions to again the Democrat’s re-election.
“The recovery funds that Governor Hochul announced was a lifeline that kept these tens of thousands of workers off of the poverty line. I mean, without it, you would have, you know, tens of thousands more working families that had already been out of work for almost two years. without any financial assistance whatsoever,” Shaffran instructed the Post Sunday.
“So it was a critical moment when the governor announced that source of funding for an industry I’ll remind you that saw upwards of 90% unemployment,” he added.
He stated HTC and its members have “done anything within our power and under the law to help Gov. Hochul get elected and they’re going to continue to do so because she’s delivered for working families during the most challenging moment.”
Shaffran emphasised that HTC had no function in different donations given to Hochul by the mum or dad union representing resort staff nationwide, United Here, as they function independently.
The union spokesman insisted there was no quid professional quo, noting that the donations to Hochul got here after the governor introduced the restoration fund and following the HTC endorsement of her.
Individual marketing campaign contributors, together with Schrager, Morse, Tishman and James Tisch had no rapid remark.
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