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Building on the success of the primary and only Black travel booking and review platform, Green Book Global is expanding its services with the brand new Road Trip Planner app feature.

WITH Global Green Paper already recognized as a contemporary interactive guide for black travelers, the corporate has now added a feature to help plan safer and more enjoyable trips across the US. Launched on a redesigned mobile app (available on iOS and Android) and accessible via an internet app, this recent Road Trip Planner tool is powered by community insights and data.

“Our mission has always been to provide Black travelers with information that fosters a safer and more inclusive travel environment,” Lawrence Phillips, founder and CEO of Green Book Global, he said . “With Road Trip Planner, we turn our community’s collective experience into a robust tool that maps the most effective routes and areas to avoid based on historical and up to date data.

“It’s greater than only a planning tool. This is a brand new level of safety for our community,” he added.

Named after , which provided travel suggestions for African Americans traveling in Jim Crow America from 1936 to 1966, Green Book Global is a contemporary app and interactive guide designed to help Black travelers within the twenty first century. Using hundreds of reviews generated by Black users, the app will help users plan safer trips by identifying optimal routes and avoiding areas known to be inhospitable or potentially dangerous.

“Our goal is to provide information so that Black travelers can make a very personal decision about where they want to go,” Phillips said.

According to Green Book Global, the friendliest U.S. destinations for black travelers include Atlanta, Houston, Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte and Chicago. The platform also offers a world destination search tool, with recommendations for various destinations similar to Kenya, Slovenia and Argentina.

Phillips points out that the brand new Planner tool allows drivers to select the “Avoid City” option to avoid cities at sunset and robotically re-route them.

“Our community rates cities on a five-star scale for traveling as a black person, and cities receive an overall rating,” he explains. “Green means the safest and friendliest destination, yellow means average and red means needs improvement. The color red signifies a city where black travelers generally didn’t feel protected or welcome, and should even signify a former sunset city.

The study also revealed some unexpected findings about cities which may be predominantly white but have small but powerful black populations.

“Portland, Maine was a big surprise,” Phillips says. “Although Maine is one of the whitest states in America, with a Black population of almost 2%, the city of Portland is almost 10% Black. It was amazing. Delicious food, lots of attractions and a nice atmosphere.”

New York Mayor Eric Adams is was met with a pointy response from the hotel and catering industry after signing the controversial Safe Hotels Act, reports.

The laws requires hotels in the city’s five boroughs to acquire business licenses. Also often called “Introduction. 0991”, the law opens up space for more stringent safety, staffing, cleansing and licensing standards to make sure the protection of employees and visitors.

“Our top priority from day one has been keeping people safe, and that includes protecting employees and tourists at our city’s hotels,” Adams said. “That’s why we’re expanding protections for the working-class New Yorkers who run our hotels and the guests who use them. The Safe Hotels Act ensures our hotels are safe, healthy and clean so the tourism industry can thrive and create jobs. This is a victory for working people, the tourism and hospitality industry, and all New Yorkers.”

The bill, sponsored by City Council member Julie Menin, was amended twice before it was passed and drew criticism from industry groups including the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) and the American Hotel and Lodging Association. AAHOA President Miraj Patel says the recent law sheds light on issues that actually concern hoteliers.

“While we acknowledge the passage of the Safe Hotels Act and its attempt to accommodate smaller properties, this change still fails to address our broader concerns,” Patel said. “Hoteliers of all sizes deserve flexibility in managing their operations. The unintended consequences of the bill will disproportionately impact minority-owned businesses, stifling entrepreneurship and innovation in the hospitality industry.”

With nearly 800 hotels in municipalities, all will now should be licensed by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), in accordance with . As crime increases in the city, hotels will likely be required to employ front desk and housekeeping staff over contract employees, in addition to have emergency buttons for workers in case of dangerous situations.

Under the DCWP, 45,000 businesses in New York are licensed, excluding hotels. Menin, a former DCWP commissioner, said it’s one among the few industries without regulation.

“There are many cases where hotel workers, mostly women, experience real sexual violence,” Menin said. “It also protects guests because ultimately we don’t want guests to come to our great city and have an experience in one of these crappy hotels… This is important because it’s a public safety issue. There have been 39 murders in hotels in recent years.”

Thirty-four of the council’s 51 members signed the bill, but the industry says the recent regulations will result in job losses and room rate increases, leading to an absence of tourists visiting the Big Apple.

“Hotels are now safe,” said New York Hotel Association President and CEO Vijay Dandapani. “New York has the best, cleanest and safest hotels in the country, if not the world. It’s an innovation center. We are the center of ideas. So to say that our hotels are not safe is a travesty.”

Over the past five years, the New York Police Department has filed greater than 14,000 complaints about crimes committed at hotels and motels.

A famous metro Atlanta soul food restaurant has announced that it is going to soon be closing its Panola Road location, but not by selection.

This is it! is situated in DeKalb County on Panola Road near Interstate 20. The restaurant, which has 10 other locations within the Atlanta metro area, announced the closure on Instagram.

“Since 2010, our Panola Road location has been more than just a restaurant — it’s a place for family, friends and treasured memories,” the statement read.

“Due to GDOT’s new development, we will soon be saying goodbye to Panola,” the statement read.

According to the Instagram post, the restaurant plans to shut its doors on November 11 but hopes to stay open until December.

Customers who frequent the restaurant were surprised to learn that the restaurant was at risk of closing.

This is it! Patron of Mark Somerville they praised the restaurant employees for customer support.

“The food is excellent and the service is excellent. I’m a bit of upset,” said a Somerville patron

Restaurant owner Shelly Butch Anthony said the state is using existing eminent domain laws to shut the restaurant together with three other nearby businesses. Anthony says replacing the restaurant, which is in a main location, can be a challenge.

“We sit here on I-20 and Panola Road. Where can we find another way Panola?” said tconcerning the socket.

The Panola Road expansion is a part of the I-285/I-20 East Interchange project. The Georgia Department of Transportation is planning develop the interchange at 1-20 and Panola Road. GDOT says the improvements will “address inefficient traffic flow and safety.

Eminent domain laws allow the federal government to seize private property if the owner refuses to sell. The Fifth Amendment states this seized property under eminent domain laws, they need to be for “public use” and owners must receive “just compensation.”

Anthony didn’t discuss the financial details of the acquisition, but said he has retained a lawyer to assist them navigate the method.