Management Shake-Up at New York's Essex House

Keeping with the economic theme of late, Crain's New York reports that the Jumeirah Essex House, the luxurious Central Park South property, lost four senior executives in the past week in another example of how hard the luxury hotel industry has been hit.

Among them was general manager Scott Dawson, accompanied by the hotel's controller, revenue manager and resident manager.

The hotel's Dubai-based owner, Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts, issued a statement saying that these were "strategic changes to the senior management [at the property]. A new team will bring innovative thinking and fuel future growth."

The reason for these moves are still unclear. Dawson told Crain's in an e-mail that the parting involved "a huge amount of mutual respect and just natural evolution at work."

Dawson signed on as general manager in 2006.