John Marino

Few issues seemed as central to life in New York this year as the future of restaurants, bars, and the people behind them. At the center of that center was John Marino and his team, who have kept the NYC Hospitality Alliance ubiquitous—make that omnipresent—since the first lockdown. “I can’t remember a client [with whom] we’ve been so out front, so in the middle of an issue, literally 24 hours a day,” he said. Along with pivoting strategy and messaging for more than 60 clients, Marino and crew made headlines with clients including Industry City, the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater NY, and Brooklyn Hospital Center,the borough’s oldest hospital and the subject of a harrowing New York Times package in September.