Instead, Fitzpatrick will keep the decorations on the shelf, during what's usually the the busy time of year. He says he makes most of his money between September and December. But for Fitzpatrick, like many hotel owners, a looming quiet holiday season is a grim reminder of the Covid-19 pandemic's devastating impact. Every hotel has been affected, from affordable budget options, to the most glamorous five-star hotels. Most of the rooms in his remaining open hotel are empty, and each day business stays quiet, the financial impact worsens.
"It's just dead. It's like a lost soul," Fitzpatrick told CNN Business. "Every month it's just drain drain drain."
Fitzpatrick has furloughed 150 of his 175 employees. He says he can survive until June and expects to reopen his second hotel then. He's hopeful given recent positive news of effective vaccines. If the pandemic continues in June, Fitzpatrick says he doesn't want to think about what will happen to his business.
Travel spending in 2020 will be down 45% when compared with 2019, according to the U.S. Travel Association. The group has forecasted the steepest drop in business travel, a 55% decline. It doesn't expect travel to return to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2025.
Two out of three hotels will close without additional aid from Congress, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association.
Hotel employees are feeling much of the hardship.
In September, 38% of hotel jobs had already been lost, the group found, and 70% would disappear without more help from Congress. Fitzpatrick is among those hotel owners that received money from the Cares Act early in the pandemic, but he says the aid ran out after six weeks.
Bilal Yayla, a bartender at Fitzpatrick's Grand Central hotel, said he was out of work for almost three months. He turned to a mortgage relief program, and is making the minimum payments on his credit cards, he said.
He said he has two babies at home. He feels lucky to be back to work now, but is scared. Business has slowed recently, and his income is down 50%, he said.
The holiday season had always been when he made the most money. The hotel would host 300, or 400-person parties, he said. Now they can't have more than 10 people at a table, he said. Yayla thinks more aid is needed for hotels.
"If it keeps going like this for three more months, New Yorkers aren't going to find any restaurants or bars to have a pint of beer," Yayla said.
Jenny Brody, previously a concierge at St. Regis Bal Harbour in Miami Beach, Florida, has been looking for ways to scrape by. She's tried teaching English online and created a store on the online shopping website Etsy.
Brody's concierge position, her dream job, was eliminated. She said she was offered a chance to remain on in a new role, which included overnight shifts. But with an 11-month-old baby and childcare challenges, Brody said she had to pass.
Her husband works in the hotel industry, too, and has been furloughed since March. She said that fortunately, they happened to add her to his health insurance earlier this year so she's covered.
Brody said she's confident they'll overcome the challenges. The family is making changes to get by. When they buy big-ticket items, they're often buying second-hand.
"You have to be very creative and very wiling to try anything new," Brody said. "Because this is a new world that we're living in."
Vanessa Yurkevich and Kate Trafecante contributed to this report.
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