Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration announced new rules Wednesday aimed at protecting New Yorkers and tourists from hotel junk fees.
Hotels around the nation, including some in the five boroughs, often charge guests more than the advertised costs hiding the hidden expenses behind things like “destination fees,” “resort fees,” or “hospitality service fees.”
The rule Mamdani announced Wednesday at the Whitney Museum in Lower Manhattan with Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Sam Levine aims to eliminate those hidden costs.
“These junk fees that hotels and booking sites sneakily impose on the people of the city without them knowing — this is something that we’re bringing to an end,” Mamdani said Wednesday. “This will protect New Yorkers when they make bookings, both here in our city as well as when they travel across the country, and it will keep costs down too for those visiting our city.”
The new rule will apply to hotels in the five boroughs, but could also be used against out-of-city lodgings where New Yorkers incur junk fee charges.
Fines of up to $3,500 could be imposed on some of the worst repeat offenders if the city finds they continue violating the new rule.
Mamdani said the announcement builds on a Federal Trade Commission rule launched during former President Joseph Biden’s administration that has seen little enforcement.
Former Mayor Eric Adams announced plans for a similar rule last year, but Levine said the rule taking effect may have been subject to a weakening effort under the previous administration.
“I think there was a lot of concern that there’d be lobbying efforts or efforts to water this down. We’re saying that this will be the strongest hotel consumer protection anywhere in the country. Nothing has been watered down at all”