Tourists in Gotham frequently gape skyward, while locals walk determinedly level-eyed, in part to avoid looking like tourists. Nowadays, however, developments in Lower Manhattan are raising all heads up, as the new World Trade Center (WTC) site makes its awe-inspiring rise.
At press time, steel work on One World Trade Center (previously the Freedom Tower) had reached the 60th floor. Set to soar a symbolic 1,776 feet as America's tallest building, the tower ushers in a new era of "looking up" for the metropolis. The eyes of the world will be on the site this Sept. 11, when the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, now visibly taking shape within the WTC site, is dedicated.
"When the national recession hit, many worried if New York City could attract visitors in the numbers it had become used to," stated Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert Steel recently.
Such concerns were dispelled by a record-breaking 48.7 million visitors in 2010—and with citywide hotel growth expected to push total inventory past 90,000 rooms this year, the outlook is bullish. With too many new and planned projects to list, New York City's hotel capacity increased by 18 percent from January 2008 to December 2010. Reflecting the diversity, distribution and demand for rooms, one key aspect of this expansion is growth in boroughs outside Manhattan. Together, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island account for nearly one in five rooms (18 percent) of this new inventory.
"Rebound" is also the storyline in the city's two neighboring escapes. Long Island, famed for its golf, beaches and wineries, is experiencing a surge in corporate bookings, while leafy Westchester County is enjoying significant meetings and conference growth. Combining every conceivable asset and advantage for groups, New York's power trio is back in business.
New York City
Before the recession, change was sweeping Manhattan's southern tip. The historic banking towers along Wall Street and other financial district thoroughfares were going residential, retail or restaurant, and the buzz was hot of a new 21st century epicenter for the city. While stalled by the meltdown, the hoopla—and the transformation—are heating up again.
"Tourism is thriving in Lower Manhattan," says Elizabeth Berger, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York. "Business travelers remain a significant market element, but the growth of leisure visitors and special events shows that Lower Manhattan is a destination of choice in the region, nationally and around the world."
Surging visitor demand continues to spur hotel investment. Lower Manhattan properties have grown from five to 17 since 2001, with five meetings-capable properties opening in 2010: the 399-room Doubletree Hotel, the 220-room W Hotel New York–Downtown, the 169-room World Center Hotel, the 112-room Holiday Inn Express and the 253-room Andaz Wall Street, the Hyatt brand's flagship in Manhattan. The alliance's new map-based portal (www.downtownNY.com) is a resource for information on the district's myriad cultural, dining and other amenities.
Synergistically sharing this new gravitational pull is downtown Brooklyn, now reaping the dividends of a multiyear tourism marketing effort and more than $3 billion in private sector investment since 2006. As a local writer observed, "No longer a borough, Brooklyn is now a brand, an ideology, a way of life."
Rich with assets across all categories—from the Brooklyn Academy of Music, America's oldest continually running performing arts center, and the magnificent Brooklyn Museum to downtown's stunning new waterfront park, resurgent Coney Island and cuisines and cultures from around the globe—Brooklyn is ready for its meetings close-up.
"There is no better place to host your meeting or convention than Brooklyn, recently named by Condé Nast as one of the top 15 places in the world to visit," says Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. "Through our tourism department we will help connect you with hotels, special events venues, caterers and whatever else is needed to make your meeting or convention a big success in Brooklyn, USA—home to everyone from everywhere."
As evidenced by the international crowd now descending on Brooklyn, many on foot via the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, the brand appeal has gone global. Following the pioneering success of the 638-room, 28-suite New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge over a decade ago, new hotels are opening throughout the borough, with a growing inventory of nearly 3,000 rooms.
Named for Brooklyn's area code, the new 718 Hotel opens in downtown Brooklyn in November. Ideal for business travelers, the $25 million eco-sensitive project, to be operated by Benchmark Hospitality International, will feature 128 rooms, a signature restaurant, a spa and a rooftop sundeck. The property joins the 321-room Sheraton Brooklyn New York that opened last year and its just-opened adjacent sister property, Aloft New York Brooklyn, on the same street in downtown Brooklyn.
Scheduled to open in September 2012, Brooklyn's striking new 18,000-seat Barclay's Center will be the new home of the NBA's Nets, giving Brooklyn its first major sports franchise since the Dodgers left in 1957. Part of a $4 billion mixed-use development that includes plans for a 180-room hotel, the center also gives Brooklyn a major new convention and special events venue.
Back in Midtown Manhattan, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center of New York has completed construction of a 110,000-square-foot pre-engineered expansion known as Javits Center North. The ongoing renovation to the center's main building, which includes energy efficiency upgrades to achieve LEED Silver status, is slated for completion by the end of 2013.
Westchester County
A suburban retreat and Hudson River Valley gateway, scenic Westchester County is home to a range of meetings-capable properties, including three outstanding conference retreats.
"With meetings, conferences and conventions representing a vital segment of our tourism market, we continue to be optimistic about growth in both corporate and meetings business travel in 2011," says Westchester County Tourism Director Kim Sinistore.
Easily reached by road and by rail from New York City—and with direct flights from major centers including Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta into Westchester County White Plains Airport—Westchester County is home to marquee brands including IBM, Pepsico and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, New York State's largest biotech firm and vanguard of the Hudson Valley's biotech surge.
Nestled within IBM's Armonk headquarters is the IBM Learning Center, with 15,000 square feet of highly flexible IACC-certified meeting space. Set on 26 acres, the Dolce-managed center, geared for business groups only, also comes with 182 guest rooms, a 200-seat restaurant and sports amenities.
Set on 405 wooded acres in Briarcliff Manor, the hilltop IACC-certified Edith Macy Conference Center acts like a transformative tonic the moment you arrive. The mystique owes to its 1926 origin as the "university in the woods" for the Girl Scouts of the USA, which still owns and utilizes the facility. Green before it became vogue, the Gold LEED-certified property, with 46 rooms organically stepped into a hill, 14,000 square feet of total meeting space and dining and acclaimed outdoor team-building and survival programming, makes sustainability a priority. Whether convening in the Conference Center or the adjacent John J. Creedon Education Center and its Tree House and Sun House satellites, "Macy's" innate serenity is a distinct value-add.
"We regularly welcome groups of 20 to 40 people, while occasionally engaging groups around 200-plus," says General Manager David Vogt, who has been with the property since Benchmark Hospitality assumed management in 1999. "One special opportunity available is an affordable property buyout, allowing clients exclusive use for the duration of their program."
Located minutes from the airport, the full-service, 373-room Doral Arrowwood Conference Center and Resort is Westchester's other major conference enclave. Set on 114 acres in Rye Brook, the 473,000-square-foot property has 33 function rooms, including a 6,500-square-foot ballroom; three restaurants with private dining spaces; and recreational amenities including a sports center, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool and golf.
A host of meetings-capable brand name and other hotels round out Westchester's hospitality and meetings suite, which also includes a diverse range of cultural and dining options.
Long Island
With both LaGuardia and JFK airports serving as its effective gateways (along with service into its own MacArthur and Republic airports), Long Island's striking product range is custom-designed for planners.
"Long Island is a great destination for meetings because we have it all," says Joan LaRosa, director of sales for the Long Island CVB & Sports Commission. "If you want to stay close to the city, we have venues 30 minutes away by train at a better cost. For coastal retreats, we have ocean, Long Island Sound and bay properties. And for country getaways, we have the island's rural eastern end."
Comprising Nassau County, closest to Manhattan, and Suffolk County, which includes 30 wineries and 50 vineyards and world-class beaches out to the Hamptons and Montauk, Long Island stretches some 100 miles eastward from New York City.
Many of Long Island's 30-plus full-service hotels are in Nassau County, including the chic Allegria Hotel in Long Beach; the 615-room Long Island Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Uniondale, with 27,000 square feet of newly renovated space; the stylish Four Points by Sheraton in Plainview; and the regal Garden City Hotel, where Charles Lindbergh slept before embarking on his trans-Atlantic flight in 1927. Nearby, the Cradle of Aviation Museum is a premier event-ready cultural choice.
Spanning both counties is Long Island's famed Gold Coast, once home to hundreds of Gilded Age mansion estates. Gold Coast Mansions Historic Long Island (www.historiclongisland.com) is a new alliance promoting the surviving properties, including their meetings and special event capabilities. While the Land's End mansion, believed to have inspired The Great Gatsby, was razed just this spring, the nearby 187-room Glen Cove Mansion Hotel & Conference Center, following recent enhancements including a stylish guest room refresh and a new fitness center, is looking 101 years young.
"We began 2011 with nearly perfect customer service scores from meeting planners in the annual UniFocus MEETINGScope survey," says Fred Leuthold, director of sales and marketing for the perennial award-winning IACC-certified property. "With new product offerings including customized corporate training and meeting packages, an advanced mobile website and our legacy of superb Long Island Gold Coast hospitality 30 minutes from Manhattan, we are the perfect choice for companies with meetings and events in the New York metropolitan area."
Suffolk County's full-service properties include the historic Montauk Yacht Club Resort & Marina, with 107 guest rooms, villas and suites, and amenities including bayside beach and flexible indoor and outdoor space, and the venerable Gurney's Inn Resort & Spa, also in Montauk, featuring an oceanfront conference center and dining rooms.
Opening this summer and accepting reservations for September and beyond, the stylish 100-suite Hyatt Place East End in Riverhead will support the adjacent Atlantis Marine World Aquarium. One of Long Island's premier group and event destinations, Atlantis is also introducing an exciting new 29,000-square-foot expansion this summer, incorporating the Sea Star Grand Ballroom for social and corporate events, and Long Island Exhibition Center.
In ferry-accessible Port Jefferson, charming Danfords Hotel & Marina is an ideally suited destination for corporate gatherings. Comprising 10 stately conference rooms with modern business equipment and high-speed Internet access, Danfords can accommodate up to 400 attendees, with the Wave Lounge and new Blue Sapphire Spa enhancing the property's retreat-like atmosphere.
"While the current trend is toward smaller bookings and shorter meetings, we are seeing an upswing in corporate business," says Director of Sales Therese Coppola. "Whether for a one-day seminar or a three-day conference, the corporate meetings market always responds to our personalized service."
LaRosa shares this optimistic outlook.
"Long Island is in a good position because our rates have always been steady through the ups and downs in the market," she says. "The association market is still strong and we are seeing increased leads from the financial market."
Across the region, things are looking up all over.
Regular MEETINGS FOCUS EAST contributor Jeff Heilman has proudly called Brooklyn home for most of the last 25 years.
