FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Restaurant Owners Betrayed by Their Own Lobbying Group,
The NYC Hospitality Alliance
“Now, the NYC Hospitality Alliance has abandoned the only Mayoral candidate who supported restaurant owners and instead has jumped into bed with our failed establishment politicians,” said Aaron Foldenauer. “This is Exhibit A of the incestuous nature of New York City politics and is precisely why our City is falling apart.”
NEW YORK, NY, February 10, 2021. – On Wednesday afternoon, the lead lobbying organization for restaurants in New York City is holding a candidate forum for Mayoral candidates with one notable snub.
The NYC Hospitality Alliance failed to extend an invitation to Aaron Foldenauer, the only candidate for Mayor of New York City, who in August 2020 openly supported the key wish of restaurant owners: reopening indoor dining.
“Now, the NYC Hospitality Alliance has abandoned the only Mayoral candidate who supported restaurant owners and instead has jumped into bed with our failed establishment politicians,” said Foldenauer. “The incestuous nature of New York City politics is precisely why our City is falling apart.”
In addition to an op-ed that Aaron Foldenauer published on Medium.com on August 22, 2020, in support of re-opening indoor dining, Foldenauer was also featured in several other news outlets in August and September 2020 documenting his advocacy work in support of restaurants.
“As restaurants go bankrupt, the NYC Hospitality Alliance is simply taking money in dues and fees from restaurant owners to enrich themselves,” said Foldenauer.
Among the more than 30 candidates for Mayor, the NYC Hospitality Alliance invited only those establishment candidates who are presumed to have deep pockets, namely, Eric Adams, Ray McGuire, Scott Stringer, Maya Wiley, and Andrew Yang.
Foldenauer was particularly disappointed at being snubbed by the Hospitality Alliance, given that e-mail records show that Foldenauer, starting in August 2020, engaged in a number of communications with the Director of External Affairs for the NYC Hospitality Association, Andres Pazmino.
“The leaders of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, including its Executive Director, Andrew Rigie, were well aware that I was the only candidate for Mayor advocating for the right for restaurants to reopen in August 2020,” said Foldenauer.
“Despite that, NYC Hospitality Alliance has ghosted me and refuses to even invite me to their Mayoral Candidate forum. With friends like these, who needs enemies?”
Public records on the website of the NYC Hospitality Alliance show that the Alliance charges each restaurant a significant fee to join the lobbying association, ranging from $365 to $25,000 per restaurant. https://www.thenycalliance.org/membership?group=1
“I say to all restaurant owners that the NYC Hospitality Alliance, who is claiming to protect you, is simply taking your money and laughing behind your backs,” said Foldenauer. “It’s obvious that the Hospitality Alliance and its Executive Director, Andrew Rigie, have instead focused on cozying up to our broken political class.”
Foldenauer says that he is not going to allow the failures of the NYC Hospitality Alliance stop him from supporting small business owners across the City.
“I’m not going to let the NYC Hospitality Alliance squash the dreams of small business owners,” said Foldenauer. “As the next Mayor of New York City, I’m going be fighting for restaurant workers and owners harder than ever before.”
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Aaron Foldenauer’s experience as a political advocate and a business litigator makes him uniquely qualified to become the next Mayor of New York City during these difficult times. A Democrat and veteran of New York City politics, he previously ran for the New York City Council seat based in District 1, Lower Manhattan, where Mr. Foldenauer has lived for 15 years.
Aaron is an accomplished attorney and practiced at several leading law firms in New York City for over a decade. More information about Aaron and his policies can be found at https://aaronfornyc.com/.
Aaron’s YouTube Channel can be found at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWg_D1f0pwERwUFMTIJ1suw
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