Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced New York City will host the inaugural New York Comedy Festival from November 9th - 13th.   The five-day event will feature performances by more than fifty of today's best stand-up comedians at venues throughout the City including Town Hall, Theater at Madison Square Garden, Apollo Theatre, City Center and Beacon Theater.  More than 15,000 tickets will be available for performances throughout the City featuring both emerging talent and established headliners.  Carolines on Broadway and NYC & Company, the City's official tourism marketing organization, anticipate the event will generate a total economic impact of $18 million for New York City's economy.  NYC & Company President & CEO Cristyne L. Nicholas, Carolines on Broadway Owner & President Caroline Hirsch and Alliance President and CEO Jarrod Moses joined the Mayor at City Hall for the announcement. 

"Today, we're here to talk about comedy, which in New York is a real art form," said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. "From the days of vaudeville to the birth of 'Saturday Night Live' to today's era of cutting-edge comics, New York has been the Mount Everest of comedy.  If you like to make people laugh, New York's the place to do it and it's my pleasure to announce the launch of the inaugural 'New York Comedy Festival,' a weeklong laugh fest."

"We are thrilled to present comedy's biggest stars on the grandest stage of all - New York City!" said Caroline Hirsch, Owner and President, Carolines on Broadway. "This city has always been the place for emerging and established comedians to perform.  New York has even been the backdrop for the most successful TV comedies ever from I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners to Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends."

"The New York Comedy Festival will inspire visitors from around the world to come to New York City to see the greatest concentration of comedians in one city, at one time," said Cristyne L. Nicholas, President and CEO of NYC & Company.  "High visibility events like the New York Comedy Festival generate not only laughs but also visitor spending which helps support more than 226,000 jobs in New York City."

The first-annual New York Comedy Festival will be presented by Carolines on Broadway and NYC & Company. Located in the heart of Times Square, Carolines on Broadway is widely regarded as America's premier comedy nightclub and recently celebrated their 20th anniversary in grand fashion at Carnegie Hall.  Presenting the best live entertainment seven nights a week, 365 days a year, the club is just steps from many of Broadway's theaters.  Now in its third decade, Carolines on Broadway continues to be the place that keeps New York and the world laughing.  The club continues to present the biggest and brightest stars in entertainment, reaffirming its position as the home of "The Funniest Show on Broadway."

NYC & Company, is a private, membership-based non-profit dedicated to building New York City's economy and positive image through tourism and convention development, major events and the marketing of the city on a worldwide basis.  New York City's $21 billion tourism industry generates more than $3 billion in city, state and federal taxes and supports more than 226,000 jobs in all five boroughs.  For more information on about visiting New York City, click-on www.nycvisit.com, call 1-800-NYC-VISIT or stop by NYC's Official Visitor Information Center at 810 Seventh Avenue at 53rd Street, at Visitor Information Kiosks at the southern tip of City Hall Park, and in Harlem in the State Office Building Plaza at 163 West 125th Street at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard.