The New York Post on Sunday report that the old Ramada Plaza hotel, with nearly 500 rooms, is still sitting vacant near New York’s JFK airport because of a labor dispute involving wages.

Why still? Because the hotel last checked in guests in December 2009, the Post says.

The article says “protracted talks” between the group charged with revamping the property (New Castle Hotels & Resorts) and a union group has stalled the redevelopment of the 487-room hotel. The owner is the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is losing money on rent payments, the story says.

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“A spokesman for the New York Hotel Trades Council confirmed wages were a major issue,” the Post says.

Readers: Where do you usually stay when you need to stay near JFK? We’ve stayed at a Holiday Inn Express over there a couple of years ago. It did the job, and even surpassed my low expectations by giving us free breakfast bags when we left at 5:30 a.m. to catch our flight to Park City, Utah.