Queens Chamber Feels Neglected by City's Tourism Efforts

NYC & Company, the city's official marketing and tourism organization, is being criticized for not paying enough attention to Queens, the city's most diverse borough.

Jack Friedman, the Executive Director of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, says only one of NYC & Company's 75 board members is from Queens and only one Queens restaurant participates in the city's restaurant week.

"NYC & Co. does a great job of bringing tourists to Manhattan.  And their numbers bare out over 50 million visitors this year, thats a great achievment, but when it comes to Queens, its almost non existent."

Friedman says Queens has a tremendous amount to offer like the U.S. Tennis Open, the Mets MLB team, and that the borough proves every year it can be a successful destination.

"The success was shown at Resorts World down in Aqueduct, which is drawing over thirty thousand people a day."

Tiffany Townsend, a spokeswoman for NYC & Company says they promote all five boroughs equally, and there are more hotels in Queens and more visitors travelling there than ever before.