Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Marriott International, Inc. President & COO William J. Shaw, G. Holdings Corporation Chairman & CEO Harry Gross and NYC & Company President & CEO Cristyne L. Nicholas today announced the grand opening of Residence Inn New York Manhattan/Times Square, Marriott's 500th Residence Inn, New York City's first Residence Inn by Marriott, and the first of these extended stay properties to be completely smoke-free.  The 45-story tower at Avenue of the Americas and West 39th Street includes 357 suites, a third-floor restaurant, meeting rooms, function space, a bar overlooking Bryant Park and on-site parking.   Since April 2004, 400 construction jobs were created, and the new hotel will provide more than 200 permanent full time jobs now that it is finished.  At the opening, the Mayor and Marriott executives honored several Residence Inn employees for their exceptional dedication in getting to work throughout the transit strike during the hotel's soft-opening period.

"Thanks to hotel companies like Marriott, we're building to meet the ever-increasing demand for hotel rooms as we continue to attract more tourists and business travelers than ever before," said Mayor Bloomberg.  "New York City is the place where people want to live, to work, and to visit.  That's important because, in many ways, tourism is what fuels our local economy, generating $24 billion a year in business and supporting nearly 300,000 jobs in our City.  Strengthening industries like tourism is what got our City through the recession.  By diversifying our economy and reducing our reliance on Wall Street, we were able to come back stronger than ever.  And we're not about to stop."

"We are thrilled to introduce the Residence Inn brand to the New York City marketplace and are confident that its arrival will offer visitors an alternative to the more traditional hotel room setting," said Mr. Shaw.  "This new Residence Inn, which brings the number of the Residence Inns in the United States to 500, will be one of six Marriott brands currently represented in the New York City area."

"With great partners such as Mayor Bloomberg and Marriott International, and the dedicated employees of this hotel, our family will continue to invest in New York City, the Capital of the World," said Mr. Gross.  "This new Residence Inn by Marriott, drawing on the energy and excitement that flows from Times Square, Bryant Park and Herald Square, provides convenient accommodations for families and business travelers in New York."

"On behalf of NYC & Company, we congratulate Marriott International and G. Holdings Corporation on the Grand Opening of the 500th Residence Inn, the first of its brand in New York City and a welcome addition to the City's hospitality offerings," said NYC & Company President & CEO Cristyne Nicholas.  "The Residence Inn will offer the long term visitor, the transient traveler and the meetings traveler an established level of comfort they have come to know at Residence Inns around the country.  This new property will help us to welcome the record number of visitors we expect in 2006."

The hotel occupies 30 floors, and is topped by 10 floors of residential condominium units.  The second floor has a public garage, with the hotel's restaurant, bar, meeting rooms and ballroom on the third floor.  There is also 8,500 square feet of prime retail space along the Avenue of the Americas.  Marriott International, Inc is a leading worldwide hospitality company with over 2,700 lodging properties in the United States and 67 other countries and territories.  For more information, visit www.marriott.com.

G. Holdings, which has been developing real estate for over 25 years, has developed and owns three additional Marriott hotels including the Courtyard New York Manhattan/Times Square South; the Courtyard New York JFK Airport in Queens, and the Residence Inn - Center City in Philadelphia.  Nobutaka Ashihara Associates was the architect for the project.  The Cantor/Seinuk Group Inc. performed the structural engineering work, with mechanical engineering by Cosentini Associates and Interior Design by Alexandra Champalimaud & Associates, Inc.  Bovis Lend Lease as general contractor constructed the project and the Owner's Representative is CNY Builders LLC. 

In 2004, 83% of the City's 70,000 rooms were filled on any given night, and in 2005, average occupancy rose to 86%, generating nearly $290 million in City taxes.  Over the next two years, nearly 5,000 new and renovated hotel rooms will open, bringing the City's total inventory to some 75,000 rooms.