Status: Enacted — Signed by Mayor Eric Adams on November 4, 2024. Operative on May 3, 2025. Licensing applications opened in Q2 2025, with ongoing enforcement throughout 2026.
Bill Number: Int. 0991-A — codified as Local Law 161 of 2024, amending the New York City Administrative Code
Jurisdiction: New York City
Category: Hospitality Safety, Hotel Licensing, Panic Button Mandate, Workplace Violence Prevention
Industries: Hospitality (Hotels), Short-Term Lodging
Enacted Date: November 4, 2024
Effective Date: May 3, 2025
Summary: The Safe Hotels Act establishes a citywide hotel-licensing regime administered by the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP). Every hotel operating in the five boroughs must obtain and maintain a license demonstrating compliance with staffing minimums, safety protocols, direct-employment requirements for core operations, anti-trafficking training, and panic-button provision for workers entering occupied guest rooms. Hotels that fail to license cannot legally operate. The law is the first municipal hotel-licensing scheme in the United States that ties operating authority to workforce-safety conditions.
Key Requirements:
- Operating license: Every NYC hotel must hold a current DCWP-issued license. Operating without a license is a violation.
- Panic buttons: Hotels must provide panic buttons at no cost to "core employees" whose duties include entering occupied guest rooms (housekeeping, room service, maintenance, security). Devices must transmit location to a responding officer or supervisor available at all times.
- Direct-employment standard: Hotels above a size threshold must directly employ — rather than contract through staffing agencies — certain core functions including front desk and security.
- Continuous security coverage: Larger hotels must maintain at least one security guard on duty during all hours of operation.
- Human-trafficking training: Mandatory training for staff to recognize and report suspected human trafficking, with documented records of completion.
- Anti-retaliation: Hotels may not retaliate against employees who report safety, licensing, or labor violations.
Union Carveout: Hotels party to a collective bargaining agreement that expressly incorporates the act’s requirements may be exempted from demonstrating individual compliance for the duration of the CBA, or ten years, whichever is longer.
Enforcement & Penalties: DCWP may suspend, revoke, or deny licenses for noncompliance, levy civil penalties, and refer cases for prosecution. Whistleblower protections allow employees to report violations confidentially.
Affected Entities: Every transient hotel, motel, and short-stay lodging operator in New York City. The act covers full-service hotels, limited-service properties, boutique and lifestyle brands, and large hostels. Owner-operated short-term rentals subject to separate Local Law 18 short-term-rental rules are governed by their own regime.
IntelliSee Relevance: High. The Safe Hotels Act anchors safety obligations to the operating license itself — a regulatory posture that elevates documented prevention measures from "nice to have" to "right to operate." IntelliSee’s 24/7 AI monitoring directly supports the act’s safety intent in three ways. First, AI gun detection identifies visible firearms in lobbies, parking structures, and service corridors faster than human monitors can scan multi-camera feeds. Second, slip and fall detection protects housekeeping and overnight staff working in isolated areas. Third, IntelliSee’s privacy-preserving architecture — no facial recognition, no biometric processing — aligns with the act’s worker-protection focus without introducing biometric surveillance over the same workers it’s meant to protect. Continuous AI monitoring produces the documented incident trail DCWP inspectors look for during license reviews.
Related Legislation & Resources
- Washington Panic Button Law for Isolated Workers (HB 1524, 2025)
- New York Hospital Violence Prevention Program Act (S5294-B / A203-B)
- IntelliSee for Hotels & Hospitality
- Why IntelliSee Does Not Use Facial Recognition
Source: Mayor Adams Signs Legislation to Protect Hotel Workers and Guests (NYC.gov)