UANI Applauds New York City Hotels for Refusing to Host Ahmadinejad and Iranian Delegation During UN General Assembly

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 23, 2012
Contact: Nathan Carleton, [email protected]
Phone: (212) 554-3296  

UANI Applauds New York City Hotels for Refusing to Host Ahmadinejad and Iranian Delegation During UN General Assembly

New York, NY - On Thursday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauded the San Carlos Hotel, the Loews Regency Hotel, and Preferred Hotel Group for refusing to accommodate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his delegation this year during September's UN General Assembly session.

Earlier this month, UANI called on these and other Manhattan hotels to deny accommodations to Ahmadinejad, the leader of a criminal regime allied with terrorist groups including al-Qaida who has called the 9/11 attacks a "big lie."

Since then, all three have pledged to UANI that they will not host him or the Iranian delegation. Preferred Hotel Group includes a dozen New York hotels, such as the Trump SoHo New York, Trump International Hotel & Tower New York, the Kitano New York, the Sherry-Netherland, and the Lombardy.

Said UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace:

We applaud the San Carlos Hotel, the Loews Regency Hotel, and Preferred Hotel Group for refusing to host Ahmadinejad and his delegation. Ahmadinejad is the leader of a criminal regime that has called for America's destruction, and no responsible New York City business should accommodate him.

We are thankful to see that some businesses have values and standards that they are not willing to compromise for dollars. We call on all Manhattan hotels to deny accommodations to Ahmadinejad, and let him see that he and his vitriol are not welcome in this city.

Last year, UANI led a campaign against the Warwick Hotel during Ahmadinejad's stay, highlighting the Warwick's irresponsible decision to accommodate him. UANI's protest and advocacy activities resulted in a tremendous amount of bad publicity for the Warwick, and were featured in media outlets including CBS New York, AFP, NBC New York, CNN, The Atlantic, Huffington Post, The Daily Caller, CBS Radio, and the New York Post.

UANI is this year calling on the Warwick and all New York City hotels to not repeat the same mistake of hosting the leader of a criminal regime and accepting its money. UANI hopes that Ahmadinejad will receive the powerful message of being fully denied accommodation in New York City, and be forced to stay at his mission to the UN, just as some other world leaders do.

In 2010 UANI successfully isolated Ahmadinejad to the only hotel that would accept him, the Hilton Manhattan East, after the InterContinental made the decision not to accommodate the Iranian delegation. UANI launched a boycott of all Hilton Hotels properties and held a rally outside of the hotel. Responding to UANI pressure, the Hilton Manhattan East decided not to accommodate Ahmadinejad for the 2011 UNGA.

In the first year of the Hotels Campaign in 2009, UANI and its supporters successfully urged The New York Helmsley Hotel, Gotham Hall and Essex House to refuse to host Ahmadinejad, thereby denying him a platform for his hateful rhetoric. Instead,  Ahmadinejad was effectively quarantined to the InterContinental The Barclay.

Click here to read UANI's July 30, 2012 letter to New York City hotels.
Click here to tell the Warwick New York Hotel not to host Ahmadinejad.
Click here to learn more about UANI's 2011 hotel campaign.
Click here to read Ambassador Wallace's October 2011 Op-Ed, "Rolling out the red carpet for Ahmadinejad."
Click here to learn more about UANI's Hotels Campaigns.

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