About

The New York City Association of Hotel Concierges® (NYCAHC) is a Section 501(c)(6) not-for-profit organization that fosters opportunities for the professional growth and development of concierges and affiliated organizations in the New York Metropolitan area. Its principal mission is to:

  • establish and promote high professional and ethical standards for concierges;
  • coordinate, promote and assist in the activities and interests of concierges; and
  • foster friendship and communication among concierges throughout New York City, the United States and the world.

Through its sister organization—the NYCAHC Charitable Fund, a Section 501(c)(3) not-for-profit-organization—NYCAHC members also actively support a variety of worthwhile causes in the community.

NYCAHC concierges stand as the very vanguard of service in the hospitality industry. They accommodate every guest request, so long as it is ethical, legal and humanly possible. NYCAHC upholds a high standard of integrity and ethics for all concierges, both inside and outside the organization.

NYCAHC concierges are here to assist you in creating lasting memories. We offer you our service in friendship. We look forward to hearing from you.

Corporate Members

NYCAHC’s corporate members provide excellent service to visitors to the New York Metropolitan area. NYCAHC holds each sponsor to high ethical and professional standards, and, on that basis, we recommend them without hesitation:

Member Hotels

NYCAHC is comprised of nearly 200 concierge members representing over 24,000 hotel rooms in and around New York City. We invite you to spend your visit to the Big Apple at any one of the many properties serviced by a NYCAHC concierge:

Chris McCormack concierge headshot

President

Chris McCormack

Head Concierge

Crosby Street Hotel

Tea Ferrari concierge headshot

Vice President

Tea Ferrari

Concierge

Mandarin Oriental, New York

Duke Perkins

Secretary

Duke Perkins

Lead Concierge

Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel

Michael Sinatra concierge headshot

Treasurer

Michael Sinatra

Concierge

Park Hyatt New York

Membership Director

Kevin Howard

Concierge

Thompson Central Park New York

Corporate Membership Director

John Sieber

Concierge

The Mark Hotel

Social Director

Frederick Genao

Assistant Head Concierge

The Whitby

Ryan Lettier Concierge

Public Relations Director

Ryan Lettier

Concierge

The Peninsula New York

William Hawkins concierge headshot

Past President Advisor

William Hawkins

Concierge

Mandarin Oriental, New York

Support Team

Webmaster

William Hinds

Past Presidents

2020 – 2024

William Hawkins

2018 – 2020

Regena Falling

2012 – 2018

Loida Diaz

2010 – 2012

Domenic Alfonzetti

2008 – 2010

Gunter Kleemann

2005 – 2008

Mary Murphy

2005*

Burak Ipekci

2004 – 2005

Harald Mootz

2002 – 2004

Maria McDonald

2000 – 2002

Harald Mootz

1998 – 2000

Ricardo Alvarez

1996 – 1998

Maurice Dancer

1994 – 1996

Maria Bortoluzzi

1993 – 1994

Cristina Ursu

1992 – 1993

Tom Wolf

1991 – 1992

Daria Dooling

1990*

Eugenio Chinigo

1988 – 1990*

Bruno Brunelli

1987 – 1989

John Neary

* Partial

History

Modeled after Union Internationale des Concierges d’Hôtels (Les Clefs d’Or International)—the international professional organization of hotel concierges—and Les Clefs d’Or USA—its U.S. chapter—the New York City Association of Hotel Concierges Ltd. was established in 1987 as a New York tax-exempt, not-for-profit corporation. Although NYCAHC was not the sole organization to attempt to represent the hotel concierge community in and around New York City, it is the only one to have had the longevity to become the pre-eminent professional organization serving the needs of area concierges.

The concierge profession has its origins in the Middle Ages, when the concierge was a trusted member of the royal staff charged with holding and protecting the keys to the palace. It wasn’t until the 1800s, however, that the concierge became an accepted, permanent component of hotel guest services, as burgeoning ship and rail travel created a growing need for upscale hotels and travel assistance. With a reputation for wisdom when making travel arrangements and information on how to obtain tickets to sold-out performances, as well as an ability to secure last-minute reservations to the best restaurants in town, the concierge quickly became a much-in-demand expert at the world’s better hotels.

Notwithstanding the profession’s long history, concierges only began to become prevalent in modern U.S. hotels during the mid to late 1970s. At the time, few (if any) professional organizations had been established in the United States to serve this growing community. Recognizing a need, a committee of concierges from San Francisco headed by Tom Wolfe (a native New Yorker and later president of NYCAHC) petitioned Les Clefs d’Or International in 1977 to establish a U.S. chapter.

The resulting organization—Les Clefs d’Or USA—committed itself by the mid 1980s to host an international meeting of concierges in Washington, DC in 1987. Given the immensity of this endeavor, concierges throughout the United States found themselves needing to organize to better support this expanding national organization. To that end, during a congress held in New Orleans in 1985, Manny Mulero, Herb Tepper and John Neary volunteered to host a national meeting in New York the following year. With the help of Bruno Brunelli and others, this ad hoc group of New York concierges was able to pull off a successful event, complete with a Broadway show and a gala at Windows on the World in the World Trade Center.

Shortly thereafter, the organizers of this event began to discuss ways to capitalize on the momentum generated in order to formalize a local association of concierges. In early 1987, a committee of five volunteers met at the Essex House to begin planning this new organization, which would officially incorporate as NYCAHC and file for its tax exemption later that year. The committee drew straws to pick its leader, and, with that simple act, John Neary became NYCAHC’s first president.

In 2003, NYCAHC expanded its mission by forming the NYCAHC Charitable Fund, a Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization, to enable NYCAHC concierges to give back to the community and to become a more vital part in the continued growth and improvement in the quality of life of the citizens in the New York Metropolitan area. The NYCAHC Charitable Fund itself expanded in 2012 by establishing the NYCAHC Crisis Fund in an effort to better serve NYCAHC concierges experiencing financial hardship from the temporary loss of job or income, involuntary separation or death in the family.

We are extremely proud of NYCAHC’s rich history and all its accomplishments over the last 30+ years.

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