Post by High Priestess on Jun 25, 2016 14:27:11 GMT
SEe today's New York Times article ---
www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/nyregion/airbnb-and-the-battle-of-suitcase-alley.html?_r=0
Early this year, Mike Quinn, a lawyer in the art world, moved from the West Village to the East Village, into an apartment in an eight-unit building located on Third Street between First and Second Avenues. The twin plagues of chain commerce and luxury residential towers have eradicated much of what had originally distinguished the two neighborhoods historically, but Mr. Quinn noticed one big difference right away — all over the East Village, and where he lived in particular, people were hauling luggage around all the time. He began referring to his block as Suitcase Alley. Airbnb guests from around the world remain always in view.
On June 17, the State Legislature passed what would become one of the most stringent home-sharing laws in the country, if not the world, should Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo approve it. The measure would forbid not only landlords, but also tenants, to list apartments for short-term rental on Airbnb and similar sites, and would impose fines of up to $7,500 on those who flout it. It is already illegal in New York to rent out an unoccupied apartment in a building with three or more units for less than 30 days, but Airbnb is full of advertisements for such places regardless; about 55 percent of Airbnb listings violate the law, according to housing activists.
The company doesn’t dispute the figure; it instead seeks to have the legislation modified, so that a costume designer living in Chelsea, for instance, could sublet her rental apartment for the four or five days a month she worked in Los Angeles with no worries that she was engaging in an illegitimate transaction.
www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/nyregion/airbnb-and-the-battle-of-suitcase-alley.html?_r=0
Early this year, Mike Quinn, a lawyer in the art world, moved from the West Village to the East Village, into an apartment in an eight-unit building located on Third Street between First and Second Avenues. The twin plagues of chain commerce and luxury residential towers have eradicated much of what had originally distinguished the two neighborhoods historically, but Mr. Quinn noticed one big difference right away — all over the East Village, and where he lived in particular, people were hauling luggage around all the time. He began referring to his block as Suitcase Alley. Airbnb guests from around the world remain always in view.
On June 17, the State Legislature passed what would become one of the most stringent home-sharing laws in the country, if not the world, should Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo approve it. The measure would forbid not only landlords, but also tenants, to list apartments for short-term rental on Airbnb and similar sites, and would impose fines of up to $7,500 on those who flout it. It is already illegal in New York to rent out an unoccupied apartment in a building with three or more units for less than 30 days, but Airbnb is full of advertisements for such places regardless; about 55 percent of Airbnb listings violate the law, according to housing activists.
The company doesn’t dispute the figure; it instead seeks to have the legislation modified, so that a costume designer living in Chelsea, for instance, could sublet her rental apartment for the four or five days a month she worked in Los Angeles with no worries that she was engaging in an illegitimate transaction.