New York City’s Illegal Non-Hotels

New York Times Editorial

The Web sites show happy young travelers bunking within a few blocks of Broadway. And they offer a place to stay in such a glamorous, expensive city for only $15 a night. The problem is that a growing number of these “hotels” are unsafe, unsanitary and illegal.

Rogue hotels offer a quick buck for the landlords and a problem for almost everybody else — other residents who need affordable housing, the neighborhood that needs stability, the city that loses on hotel taxes and often even the visitor who goes home grumbling.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/opinion/10sat4.html?_r=1