New York City reaped $259 million of
economic benefits from same-sex marriages in the first year of
the law allowing the practice, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and
Council Speaker Christine Quinn said.

At least 8,200 gay-marriage licenses were issued,
accounting for more than 10 percent of the 75,000 wedding
licenses issued in New York City in the past year, Bloomberg and
Quinn said in a statement today, citing a survey conducted by
NYC Co., the city’s marketing and tourism office, and the city
clerk’s office.

New York became the sixth and most recent state to legalize
gay marriage a year ago after Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat,
signed the measure into law. More than 200,000 guests have since
traveled from outside of the city to attend same-sex wedding
receptions, and more than 235,000 hotel room nights were booked
at an average daily room rate of $275, according to the mayor’s
statement.

“Marriage equality has made our city more open, inclusive
and free — and it has also helped to create jobs and support
our economy,” Bloomberg, 70, said at a news conference in Lower
Manhattan.

Bloomberg has focused on tourism to diversify the city’s
economy beyond Wall Street, with employment in leisure and
hospitality growing more than 100,000 in 10 years to 362,400 in
June, according to the state Department of Labor.

‘NYC I Do’

The city attracted a record 50.5 million visitors in 2011,
and Bloomberg has a 2015 goal to draw 55 million people, add
30,000 jobs and increase the industry’s economic impact to $70
billion from $48 billion last year.

NYC Co. began the “NYC I Do” marketing campaign after
the same-sex marriage law passed, with a goal to make the most
populous U.S. city the top wedding and honeymoon destination for
couples globally.

In addition to New York, same-sex marriage is legal in
Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the
District of Columbia, according to Freedom to Marry, a New York-
based national advocacy organization.