New York City Prepares To Welcome NAACP Centennial In 2009

NEW YORK CITY PREPARES TO WELCOME NAACP CENTENNIAL IN 2009

NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta Travels to Cincinnati to Promote Centennial Convention

Cincinnati, Ohio (July 17, 2008) Against the backdrop of the 99th Annual Convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Cincinnati, Ohio, NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta today greeted 3,000 conference delegates while promoting New York City as the site for next year's historic Centennial convention. More than 10,000 people are expected to visit New York City next year during the six-day Centennial celebration July 11-16, 2009. The convention is expected to generate an economic impact of more than $7 million for New York City.

"On behalf of New York City, I'm pleased to be part of this week's events in Cincinnati to promote the Centennial convention next year," said NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta. "We cannot think of a better stage than New York City to host next year's gathering of NAACP delegates and we enthusiastically look forward to hosting the milestone event."

Fertitta gave remarks and made a multimedia presentation for next year's hundredth anniversary NAACP conference. The 2009 convention will use space in the Jacob K. Javits convention center and will fill hotels including the New York Hilton and the New York Marriott Marquis, generating approximately 10,000 total room nights during the six-day convention, and more than 2,000 rooms on the peak night.

"We are thrilled to bring our Centennial convention to one of the world's most exciting cities and to experience the vibrancy of New York has to offer," said Hazel Dukes, President, NAACP New York State Conference and Member of National Board of Directors.

New York City last hosted the the NAACP in 1999, and also hosted the organization's inaugural conference in 1909 at Cooper Union. The City has also hosted the NAACP in 1910, 1959 and 1987.

The NAACP's mission is to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.

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Contacts
Kimberly Spell
tel 212 484 1270
kspell@nycgo.com
Tiffany Townsend
tel 212 484 1270
ttownsend@nycgo.com