In this case, the law being enforced protects the quality of life of our neighborhoods and the physical safety of tourists, both of which are endangered by
illegal hotel operators.
«This would finally allow enforcement to focus
on illegal hotel operators while protecting regular New Yorkers who are trying to make some extra money to live in a city that gets more expensive by the year,» he added.
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.»
At noon, Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, Goodard Riverside Law Project, local elected officials, affordable housing advocates and tenants holds a press conference to announce the filing of a temporary restraining order
against illegal hotel operator Michael Edelstein, owner of the Imperial Court, a single room occupancy building on the Upper West Side, 230 West 72nd St., Manhattan.
«Every day I hear from New Yorkers who are sick and tired of living in buildings that have been turned
into illegal hotels through Airbnb because so many units are rented out to tourists, not permanent residents,» Rosenthal said.
The city ordered two more apartments accused of
illegal hotels in the troubled building empty on May 4.
The goal, Mr. Schneidermann said at the time, was to hunt down so - called
illegal hotels using the service.
De Blasio spokeswoman Amy Spitalnick said, «We look forward to discussing the council's priorities through the budget process,» but she insisted, «We have a strong enforcement apparatus to pursue complaints
of illegal hotel activity.»
According to Politico, the Council is expected to roll out a bill within the next month that would require hosts on short - term rental sites to provide the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement with addresses for their listings, as well as provide their full names and primary addresses, making it easier for the city to identify hosts that are
operating illegal hotels instead of renting out their own homes.
During the hearing, a city official said 681 complaints
about illegal hotels have been registered since January.
NEW YORK CITY —
Illegal hotel complaints increased 62 percent last year because short - term rental sites such as Airbnb are violating the law, hurting efforts to provide affordable housing and placing the safety of legal tenants at risk, elected officials said Tuesday during a marathon City Council hearing.
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.
«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.
But when they
say illegal hotels, sometimes they mean anything that's not a hotel,» Blecharczyk said.
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.»
A law meant to stamp out
illegal hotels also prohibits tenants from renting out their apartments while they're on vacation.
The facts are simple: Most Airbnb hosts share only the home in which they live, and it's just wrong to lump regular New Yorkers in with large -
scale illegal hotels.
In an interview with the Daily News, he said his work with the office — the main city enforcement unit
targeting illegal hotels — will be similar to what he did for the Bronx district attorney in the special narcotics unit.
Called the Airbnb Community Compact, the document outlines several ways that the popular company plans to work with municipalities, including sharing anonymized data on the hosts and guests who use the service,
preventing illegal hotel landlords from operating on the platform, and promising to pay its «fair share» of hotel and tourist taxes in cities that have them.
The Times urges city and state officials to do something to make sure young tourists can find affordable places to stay (just
not illegal hotels).
«I have introduced legislation to require Airbnb and other platforms that allow ads
by illegal hotel operators to share information with cities that is critical to ensure public safety and protect affordable housing.
Critics claim they want to keep hosts from «warehousing» units — using them year - round as
illegal hotels rather than for permanent residences.
Rechnitz paid a $ 48,200 fine for using apartments as
illegal hotel rooms — and failing to install a proper sprinkler system and fire alarms.
NYC has hired Christian Klossner, a former narcotics prosecutor, to go
after illegal hotels that advertise on home - sharing sites like Airbnb, part of its more aggressive approach to cracking down on the apartment - hogging operators.
Over half of Airbnb users in New York City might be breaking the state law banning short term apartment rentals, but very few are big -
time illegal hotel operators, according to data released by the tech company today.
«This plan will ensure that New York City has a smart enforcement framework to hold Airbnb and
other illegal hotel operators accountable,» Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal (D - Manhattan) said.
As Cuomo ponders a bill to curb Airbnb, the online booking service said it's policing its website to remove commercial operators in the city, addressing a chief complaint of critics who say it
promotes illegal hotels and effectively takes scarce apartments out of circulation.
He will testify Friday at a City Council hearing on several bills that aim to
curb illegal hotels, including one that could fine operators who repeatedly break the law as much as $ 50,000.
«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.»
She has also tried to penalize landlords who turn residentially zoned units
into illegal hotels.
Airbnb has come under fire from elected officials and affordable housing advocates in New York, who say the company is helping
operate illegal hotels and potentially driving up the cost of housing throughout the city.
«We are pretending that we are talking
about illegal hotels but we are going after everyone,» said Hantman.
«There must be zero tolerance
for illegal hotels,» said Council Speaker Corey Johnson, whose district includes the property.
«Unfortunately, the current law groups responsible New Yorkers, who occasionally share their own home,
with illegal hotels that remove permanent housing from the market.»
«This bill will have a chilling effect on unscrupulous landlords renting out affordable housing units
as illegal hotels,» Johnson added.
Quinn added that she isn't just worried about the loss of affordable housing —
illegal hotels also pose a safety hazard.
Airbnb spokesman Nick Papas said, «The facts are simple: Most Airbnb hosts share only the home in which they live, and it's just wrong to lump regular New Yorkers in with large -
scale 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.
«This is nothing but a shameless ploy by a corporate behemoth that has facilitated the proliferation
of illegal hotels while exacerbating the affordable housing crisis and directly threatening the jobs of the workers they're claiming to «applaud» and «support.»
Just last month, Johnson, who has long - running ties to HTC, promised a strong crackdown
on illegal hotels and illegal Airbnb listings.
Elizabeth Glazer, head of the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement, said the agency handled 1,150
illegal hotel complaints last year, a 62 percent increase from 2013, performed 883 inspections and issued a total of 804 violations.
New York's existing law protects affordable housing and public safety against
illegal hotel operators, and that's not up for debate,»