The study was immediately lauded by affordable-housing advocates as more evidence that Airbnb was exacerbating thorny problems that had rankled New Yorkers for decades, including gentrification, a lack of affordable housing and the impact that rising rents can have on minority communities.Īnd it was quickly denounced by Airbnb as more evidence that entrenched hotel groups, shortsighted politicians and other special interests are stifling the more positive impact the service has had on the city, such as bringing more customers to small businesses in minority neighborhoods and generating income for people who need the money. The “Short Changing New York City” study said that hosts in New York City generated about $1 billion in 2015, of which Airbnb takes a cut. The report contends that Airbnb takes housing off the market for significant chunks of the year and impairs Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to create or preserve 20,000 affordable units a year for the next decade. It also found that more than one-third of Airbnb listings in New York City were considered commercial, meaning a property that is primarily dedicated to generating revenue through short-term rentals and not lived in by the host. The report found that 55 percent of the 51,000 or so Airbnb listings in New York City violated a state law that prohibits rental of a residential with three or more units for less than 30 days unless the permanent resident is present. The report, called “Short Changing New York City,” used 2015 Airbnb data and was commissioned by affordable housing advocates who had long been critics of Airbnb.

Bedford-Stuyvesant, a historically African-American neighborhood in Brooklyn, has become one of the latest battlegrounds in the war between New York City and Airbnb.Ī study released last week showed that rents had risen fastest in the New York City neighborhoods where Airbnb, which lets users list their homes for short-term rentals, is the most popular - including gentrifying, predominately minority neighborhoods like Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Brooklyn airbnb with balcony