«There must be zero tolerance
for illegal hotels,» said Council Speaker Corey Johnson, whose district includes the property.
«The law should be carefully amended to make it possible for regular people to occasionally share only the home in which they live, while not providing loopholes
for illegal hotels to operate,» the company wrote.
Not exact matches
The state said Airbnb runs afoul of New York's
illegal -
hotel law, which forbids residents from renting rooms
for less than 30 days (and which forced the reasonably priced, centrally located
hotel where a certain Canadian business writer always liked to stay to close).
New York's existing law protects affordable housing and public safety against
illegal hotel operators, and that's not up
for debate,»
ShareBetter, run by Neal Kwatra, the former political director
for HTC, spent millions to get their message out and successfully pushed
for stronger enforcement against
illegal hotels, including many Airbnb listings.
A
hotel - industry group is breaking out the big guns to go after Airbnb, hiring a former NYPD officer to look
for illegal rentals on the popular home - sharing service.
Critics claim they want to keep hosts from «warehousing» units — using them year - round as
illegal hotels rather than
for permanent residences.
Aronson echoed calls
for Urstadt Law repeal (a popular stance among many city Democrats) and vowed to crack down on
illegal hotels she alleged have been driving up housing prices in the area.
Something that we're going to do is the Federal appropriation bill
for $ 600 (million), some chapter amendments
for Tier Four drug issue and a chapter amendment dealing with
illegal hotels.»
For those of you in to this sort of thing, here's the
illegal hotels chapter amendment and bill memo, and the Tier Four chapter amendment and its supporting memo.
Renting an entire apartment
for 30 days or fewer is
illegal in New York, and Airbnb has faced opposition from a broad coalition of interest groups including
hotel operators and unions, tenants groups and affordable - housing advocates.
«
Illegal hotel laws exist
for a reason.
Gov. David Paterson signed a bill into law that makes it easier
for the city to shut down
illegal hotels.
At 10 a.m., NYC Public Advocate Tish James joins Council members and the Share Better Coalition at a press conference to protest Airbnb ahead of a Council hearing aimed at combatting the growth of
illegal hotels and penalties
for Airbnb, City Hall steps, Manhattan.
In a letter to Williams, Chris Lehane, head of global policy
for Airbnb, thanked the councilman
for allowing the company to testify at the hearing and reiterated that Airbnb is willing to work with the Council to crack down on
illegal hotels while protecting New Yorkers who legally rent out their homes.
Airbnb officials says a recent poll it commissioned showed that 65 % believe lawmakers «should not penalize middle class families renting out their homes
for less than 30 days the same way they penalize people operating
illegal hotels and removing housing from the market.»
It's a win
for everyone except
illegal hotels.»
In a statement, Airbnb spokesman Nick Papas said the 2010 state law that makes it
illegal for people to rent out their homes
for less than 30 days if they are not living in the home was «drafted too broadly» and was intended to target
illegal hotels.
«
For a hardworking New Yorker that pays their rent, no one should have to live in a building or next to someone whose apartment is being used as an
illegal hotel.»
UPPER WEST SIDE — Housing activists are planning victory parties, but lawyers
for New York's so - called «
illegal hotels» are vowing to fight a new law that cracks down on running
hotels in residential buildings.
Under state law, it is
illegal to turn an apartment into a
hotel, even if it's just
for a short time, Quinn said.
Together, Council Member Van Bramer and these New Yorkers in need will express why they believe Airbnb needs to be held accountable
for allowing tax - subsidized affordable housing units to be posted as
illegal hotels on their website.»
«Along with proactively removing bad actors from our platform,» he said, «Airbnb is supporting legislation in Albany that would provide
for rigorous enforcement against
illegal hotel operators, among other things.»
The de Blasio administration has also adopted other pro-labor policies, like going after
illegal Airbnb rentals, an action supported by the
Hotel Trades Council, and supporting the campaign
for a $ 15 minimum wage.
Paying cash
for a
hotel room can be a sign that something
illegal is going to happen — especially if the room is only needed
for a few hours.
Most recently, the EEOC extracted a $ 72,000 settlement from a Holiday Inn Express
hotel on behalf of nine
illegal immigrants from Mexico who were fired as housekeepers in alleged retaliation
for leading a successful union organizing drive.