New York Post: Turning Your NY Apartment into a Hotel Is Illegal

Nicole Gelinas cuts through the Airbnb talking points with this thoughtful column on short-term rentals from Monday's New York Post:

Airbnb’s other argument is that its “hosts” need cash. We all need money, but we can’t break the law. Plus, by enabling rent-stabilized tenants to violate their leases as well as the law, Airbnb puts its “hosts” in danger of eviction...

Airbnb also says the money its hosts make helps them keep New York affordable. “This income is actually helping them to stay in their homes,” Airbnb policy director Molly Turner said last month.

But a landlord can get $3,000 a month for a one-bedroom legally, or $9,000 illegally. After he eventually cuts out the middleman — the tenant who thinks she’s smart in making a few extra bucks — that’s an apartment that someone can’t live in, pushing up rents for everyone.

You don’t have to believe in rent control to realize that the city should enforce laws to keep apartments as apartments.

Read the full column at the Post.