Groups visiting New York City in 2019 will find even more to love. A wave of new hotels, attractions and restaurants will open their collective doors next year, just as the city is hosting a lineup of new global gatherings.
According to stats released at NYC & Company’s “2019: A Monumental Year” press conference at The Museum of Modern Art on June 6, New York City has the most active hotel development pipeline in the country. Some 117,300 new hotel rooms are expected by the end of 2019. The city currently has the highest average occupancy rate (88 percent) and daily room rate in the nation, so the increased inventory will be welcomed.
The city has experienced 40 consecutive months of increasing room demand and estimates a record 38 million room nights will be booked this year to accommodate 65.1 million visitors.
NYC & Company president and CEO Fred Dixon announced that next June, WorldPride will hold its celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, the first time the event will be held in the United States. Dixon explained that the city’s support for the gay rights movement goes beyond the event and the month. NYC & Company will be promoting 2019 as a Year of Pride with the tagline: “Pride. Uncontained.”
Must-see places set to open in 2019 include:
- The Museum of Modern Art renovation and expansion, which will increase gallery space by 30 percent.
- Hudson Yards, the largest private real-estate development in the history of the United States, will include an Equinox luxury hotel, 16 dining experiences, the city’s highest outdoor observation deck, an arts center and a flagship Neiman Marcus store.
- A new, 26,000-square-foot Statue of Liberty Museum.
- Renovation and expansion of the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts in the Bronx.
- A TWA Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
- The Glasshouse, one of the city’s largest private event spaces, with two outdoor observation terraces overlooking the Hudson River.
- Verizon Executive Education Center at the Roosevelt Island Cornell Tech Campus, a 360,000-square-foot space for academic conferences, executive programs and workshops.
This is on the heels of Coney Island’s New York Aquarium—featuring the much-anticipated Ocean Wonders: Sharks! Exhibit—opening this month, and Seaport District’s Pier 17. Javits Center will follow with an expansion planned for opening in 2021.
