Airbnb strike: Authorities impound vans used for overnight stays in the East Village

You may have noticed fewer vans parked on East Village streets. 

Late last week, the city Sheriff's office and the NYPD Document Fraud Unit discovered an "operation of alleged fraudulent and illegally registered vehicles being used as Airbnb rentals," Sheriff Joseph Fucito told the New York Post. 

Five of the seven vans, which reportedly had New Jersey plates and expired tags, were parked in the East Village.

Sheriff's Road Patrol Deputies were busy this week impounding seven alleged fraudulent and illegally registered vans being used as Airbnb rentals on various streets in Manhattan. 🛑🚦🚔 pic.twitter.com/rBZ1TBZ2xt

— NYC SHERIFF (@NYCSHERIFF) September 25, 2021

California-based journalist/video creator Uptin Saiidi recently slept in a 1999 Ford Econoline parked on Second Street — for $97 a night. 

Spoiler: He was glad he did this for a night but would never do it again...

   

As for the recently confiscated vans, it wasn't clear if the same person owned all of them. 

Back to the Post:

Sleeping overnight in a van is legal, according to the city's Department of Transportation — provided it’s not parked in the same spot for 24 hours in restricted areas. 

When parking is not otherwise restricted, no person shall park any vehicle in any area, including a residential area, in excess of seven consecutive days, the agency's rules note. 

Fines typically start at $115, the NYPD has said. The Sheriff’s office did not comment further except to say the "investigation in this matter is ongoing."

The van listings have since been removed from Airbnb, per CBS 2. 

A few weeks back, EVG contributor Stacie Joy spoke with this traveler from Toronto who rented a van on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B for $85 a night. (Not sure if the authorities confiscated this van.)

According to Stacie, the guest was excited about this Airbnb adventure. He was not worried about the lack of a bathroom or shower. (The Airbnb host leaves suggestions for nearby businesses to use the restroom and options for showers.)

Stacie climbed in for a moment and noted that it was clean but hot and stuffy. The front seats were empty — and drapes were partitioning them from the bed in the back. The keys also did not work in the ignition.

As ABC-7 noted, authorities dubbed this impounding as — no kidding — "Operation Room Service." 

Thanks to all the readers who shared these links. Top photo via @NYCSHERIFF.

Council Member Carlina Rivera introducing bill that would fine Airbnb for undisclosed listings

District 2 City Council Member Carlina Rivera will introduce legislation today that seeks to fine Airbnb for every listing it fails to disclose to the city.

Here's more about the bill via Politico:

The legislation would require online home-sharing companies to submit identifying data about their individual listings to the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement, which is tasked with going after illegal hotel operators. They would have to report the addresses of all booked listings, the hosts' names and their home addresses, as well as the online posting numbers.

The city would be able to fine Airbnb and similar companies between $5,000 and $25,000 for each listing left off the report.

Rivera, sponsor of the bill, told Politico: "[T]o be clear, this bill is not going to punish the operators — it's going to mandate consequences, financial consequences, that apply only to Airbnb, not the operators, if they do not hand over the info that we're requiring. We are trying to get as much info as possible to make links to identify the bad operators."

For their part, Airbnb seeks passage of a state bill that would legitimize its business practice. And Airbnb representatives have suggested that this new city legislation would violate internet privacy laws.

"Let's be clear about who will feel the pain from this bill: seniors who share their space to avoid economic hardship while living on a fixed income; millennials who have opened their doors to pay off student debt; families of color who share their home to stay in their home amidst rising rents," Josh Meltzer, Airbnb's head of policy in the Northeast, said in a prepared statement.

Under state law, residents of most apartment buildings are barred from renting their units for fewer than 30 days unless they are present. Airbnb is reportedly looking to do away with this stipulation, as the Daily News reported in March.

The Real Deal had more about the bill last month. (Find that article here.)

Image via Shutterstock

ICYMI: LES landlord hit with $1.2 million Airbnb lawsuit; 536 E. 14th St. among the properties

[Photo of 536 E. 14th St. last December by Michael Paul]

In case you didn't already see this story from earlier this week...the city slapped LES landlord Rose King with a $1.2 million lawsuit. City lawyers allege that she illegally rented multiple units in three buildings through Airbnb.

According to the Post:

King has been hiding behind a middle man and at least nine aliases to create a network of transient hotels at 536 E. 14th St., 123 Ludlow St., and 127 Rivington St., according to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit.

And one of the building’s permanent residents told city officials that King is trying to evict rent-stabilized tenants from her properties to convert even more units into cash-cow ­Airbnbs, sources said.

Last December, as we noted, the city booted the longtime psychic at 536 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. City documents said that the storefront was illegally converted without "means of egress." There were also complaints on file that the landlord was operating an illegal hotel here.

As for King's alleged operation, the Post quotes the Mayor: "It's outrageous, it’s illegal, and we will stop bad actors from hurting our neighborhoods. New Yorkers can’t afford to see affordable homes turned into hotels." (Maybe someone can tell the Mayor about this on 11th Street.)

Report: The city would need 43 years to crack down on Airbnb violators

As noted yesterday, an East Village resident was one of the first two Airbnb hosts to pay a fine ($1,000) under the new state law banning advertising for home rentals of less than 30 days.

Crain's has some perspective on the challenge ahead for the city to enforce this.

The number of potentially illegal Airbnb listings was 23,639 as of April, according to data from the company, though a portion of those ads could be for a stay in a single-family home or another type of dwelling exempt from the legislation. But based on current rates, it would take the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement 43 years to run down those potential violations.

At least for now, hosts with only one listing have a slimmer chance of being caught, and according to Airbnb's site, 96% of hosts fall into this category. Since they stand to earn $750 a week on average, paying off the fine might not prove to be much of a deterrent.

The Daily News reported that the East Village resident was getting $446 a night for her city-subsidized affordable co-op on Sixth Street.

Report: East Village resident pays fine for renting out city-subsidized home on Airbnb

An East Village resident was one of the first two New York residents to pay a fine under a law banning listings for short-term rentals, the Daily News reported.

The resident, listed as Jennifer Livingston, was reportedly renting "a city-subsidized affordable co-op on E. Sixth St. meant for low-income families." Her Airbnb listing said that the unit was going for $446 a night for the unit.

Per the News:

The city’s regulatory agreement with the building precludes it from being used for anything other than permanent housing, according to the city. But the two-bedroom, two-bath unit with a private deck was booked by guests often enough that it has more than 90 reviews on [the resident's] still-visible Airbnb host page.

The city found out about the listing after a neighbor complained in December, alleging loud music, parties and drug use.

Livingston paid a $1,000 fine.

The New York law went into effect last October but wasn't enforceable until February.

In New York, it is illegal to rent out an apartment for fewer than 30 days unless the host is present. The new law allows lawmakers to fine hosts for violations.

"The state law prohibiting illegal rental ads is helping us stop those who turn homes into hotels," Melissa Grace, a spokesperson for Mayor de Blasio, told the News.

According to a study released last fall, the zip codes 10009 and 10003 have a combined 418 full apartments listed on Airbnb — among the top-five most in the city.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village etiquette for AirBnBers: 'Don't piss off the locals'

Report: East Village zip codes in the top-5 citywide for illegal Airbnb listings

As you probably know, Gov. Cuomo last Friday signed into law legislation that prohibits advertising illegal short-term rentals. Airbnb quickly responded with a lawsuit, asking "a judge to declare the law unconstitutional and block the state and the city from enforcing it."

Under Cuomo's bill, per Bloomberg:

The fines for those who advertise vacant apartments in a multi-unit building for 30 days or less could be as high as $7,500 for repeat offenders, threatening the company’s operations in the state. People are allowed to rent out a room in their house or apartment as long as they are also staying there.

The new law would apply to buildings with three or more units.

Leading up to this, ABC News reported:

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office conducted an investigation of Airbnb rentals from 2010 to 2014. It found that 72 percent of the units listed in New York City were illegal, and that 36 percent of rentals came from commercial operators who made up only 6 percent of hosts.

In any event, I wanted to mention this data that ValuePenguin, a personal finance website, released on which NYC neighborhoods would be hit hardest if and when the fines take effect, as DNAinfo reported.

According to ValuePenguin, the zip codes 10009 and 10003 have a combined 418 full apartments listed on Airbnb, which would/will violate the state's new law ... taking two of the top-five slots citywide...



Last night, Reuters reported that Airbnb Inc and New York state are in talks to resolve the lawsuit.

You may now report your annoying Airbnbers directly to Airbnb

Back in March, Airbnb officials announced that they'd be launching a new website to let residents file complaints about guests directly with the company.

As DNAinfo reported, that tool is now live.

Here's the Airbnb blog with more:

Every time a host welcomes a guest into their home, they are also welcoming them into their neighborhood. We’re proud that since Airbnb got started, there have been over 80 million guest arrivals in Airbnb listings and those guests have been welcomed by hosts and their neighbors in over 190 countries worldwide.

The overwhelming majority of Airbnb guests are respectful travelers, so complaints and issues are incredibly rare, but we always want to do everything we can to help our community members be good neighbors in the places our hosts call home. To help achieve that goal, today, we’re launching a new resource for neighbors of Airbnb hosts.

Starting today, anyone can go to airbnb.com/neighbors to share specific concerns they might have about a listing in their community. These concerns could include things like noise complaints. From there, our team will review their concern and, if necessary, follow up with the host regarding the issue.

Neighbors can submit information without having their name disclosed to a host or allow our team to pass along their contact information so the host can follow up with them directly. Once a neighbor submits feedback, we will send a confirmation email, along with a case number.

City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal wasn't impressed with the new tool, telling DNAinfo: "New Yorkers already have a way to file complaints against neighbor disturbances: 311. Airbnb's complaint submission page is a way to prevent its users from getting the fines for breaking city laws."

In New York, it is illegal to rent out an apartment for fewer than 30 days unless the host is present.

Airbnb films commercial on Avenue A; announces new website for complaints

[Photo from Saturday]

A crew filming a commercial for Airbnb was out early this morning on Avenue A... an EVG reader spotted them inside the Pyramid between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street.

It all went well, except that the crew showed up drunk at 4 a.m. and couldn't find the front-door key, so they hit every buzzer in the building...

On the topic of Airbnb... BloombergBusiness published a piece today titled Airbnb to Let Neighbors Give Feedback on Hosts, `Party Houses.'

The company announced in Japan that they will soon "give people renting out rooms and homes through its website a better way to find out how the strangers showing up at their properties are behaving."

Per the article:

The feature, set to debut next month, will let neighbors enter comments in an online form. Feedback will be reviewed by Airbnb’s customer-support team, who will then take action as necessary. Airbnb didn’t say whether the information will be made public or if the identities of neighbors will be disclosed.

Airbnb’s rapidly growing service has sometimes pitted neighbor against neighbor and landlord against tenant. Cities have puzzled over how to regulate the startup, which was last valued at $25.5 billion. New York City has scrutinized Airbnb and taken steps to push back against commercial renters. San Francisco, Airbnb’s hometown, voted down a divisive ballot initiative that would have restricted home sharing in the city. Airbnb neighbors the world over have complained of “party houses” that attract rowdy renters ...

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village etiquette for AirBnBers: 'Don't piss off the locals'

Reader report: Reporting excessive Airbnb worked

An EVG reader shared the following with us about his or her apartment building:

Our building was pretty much an illegal hotel all summer. Large, loud groups of international travelers ... parties nightly, suitcases banging up and down the stairs, people buzzing all apartments when they couldn't find the front-door key, and last but definitely not least, four apartments with bedbugs.

So, hoping 311 would be helpful for a change, several of us called in the situation. The first resident was evicted [late last week].

Lesson learned; You do not have to put up with this kind of intrusion on your living space.

Report: 28% of East Village apartments serve as illegal hotel rooms on Airbnb

The East Village is the most popular neighborhood for Airbnb rentals, with 28 percent of the neighborhood's rental units converted into illegal hotel rooms, according to the analysis by affordable housing advocates the New York Communities for Change and Real Affordability For All.

In covering the study, the Daily News reported that the 20 most popular Airbnb neighborhoods — in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island City — have lost 10 percent of their available housing units to Airbnb.

The study also found that the average rental was available for 247 days a year, and rented 109 nights a year, dispelling the notion that Airbnb users are just tenants looking to rent out their apartments when they happen to be out of town.

And Airbnb's reaction to the study? Per the Daily News:

Airbnb blasted it as “lies, fuzzy math and faulty stats.”

“The notion that 1 in 4 apartments in the East Village is rented via Airbnb is not just ludicrous, it is also not supported by a single piece of data,” said a spokesperson.

You may download a PDF of the study here via the New York Communities for Change site.

Meanwhile, last month, Gothamist wrote about a programmer who created Inside Airbnb, which "extracts every publicly available bit of information about Airbnb rental listings across New York City."



The data show how many of the listings are for an entire home (red) versus a room in an apartment (green) as well as how many are controlled by the same host, among other things.

Rosie Mendez co-sponsors proposed new city legislation cracking down on Airbnb

Local City Council member Rosie Mendez is one of two sponsors behind new legislation that would potentially empower tenants to sue their landlords for using Airbnb or other short-term stay services to rent out neighboring apartments as hotel rooms.

Here's the official release via Mendez's office yesterday:

NYC Council Members Rory Lancman and Rosie Mendez announced the introduction of legislation to crack down on tenant harassment from illegal hotel conversions. Their bill would expand the definition of harassment to include illegal conversions of residential units, and create a new civil penalty for landlords who use Airbnb and other illegal hotel companies to harass and push out tenants using illegal conversions.

"Airbnb and illegal hotels destroy the quality of life of those around them and pose a grave threat to New York's affordable housing supply. This bill lets tenants take landlords to court to win injunctions against illegal conversions and impose fines that support the city's housing enforcement efforts. We need to call out illegal hotel conversions for what they really are — tenant harassment," said NYC Council Member Rory Lancman, Chair of the Committee on Courts & Legal Services.

“I am proud to co-introduce legislation with Councilman Rory Lancman that would enable tenants to sue their landlords in housing court for renting out residential apartments, contrary to the law, as hotel units,” said NYC Council Member Rosie Mendez.

Tenant harassment complaints in Housing Court have nearly doubled since 2011, and complaints of illegal hotels in New York City have also greatly increased in recent years. In 2014, there were 1,150 illegal hotel complaints, a 62 percent increase since 2013. 883 inspections were performed in response to those 1,150 complaints and 804 violations were issued. Unsurprisingly, the growth of illegal hotel activity in New York City has matched rapid growth of online short-term rental websites like Airbnb.

There are currently over 28,000 residential units being listed for transient hotel use on Airbnb. This represents a 5,800 percent growth in units from 2009, when Airbnb first began allowing New Yorkers to list their residences online. A report published late last year by the New York State Attorney General analyzing Airbnb bookings in New York City from January 1, 2010 through June 2, 2014, found that nearly 75 percent of Airbnb’s listings were in violation of state law.

Furthermore, a new data tool – www.insideairbnb.com — launched by an independent software developer that collects all public data points from Airbnb’s website showed:

• The value of 77 percent of Airbnb listings comes from illegal rentals of entire apartments;

• Nearly 60 percent (16,000) of Airbnb listings offer the entire home/apartment (in violation of state law), and those units are available for rent an average of 247 days (68 percent of the year); and

• Nearly one-third of Airbnb listings come from hosts with multiple units, such as commercial landlords, not regular New York tenants.

Currently, the definition of what constitutes legally actionable harassment does not include illegal conversions. If passed, this new expanded definition of harassment would allow a court to impose a civil penalty against a landlord of between $1,000 and $5,000 for every unit in which the court finds a tenant who is lawfully entitled to that unit has been harassed (through the existence of an illegal conversion).

Just last week, Governor Cuomo, Attorney General Schneiderman, and Mayor de Blasio announced the launch of a joint enforcement task force, titled the Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force, to investigate and bring enforcement actions – including criminal charges – against landlords who harass tenants. The task force will confront the rise in complaints that landlords are using a variety of tactics, including disruptive and dangerous renovation and construction projects, to force tenants into vacating rent-regulated apartments.

Under the Lancman/Mendez tenant harassment bill, illegal hotel conversions would be included in the definition of harassment, and therefore could fall under the jurisdiction of the Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force and be subject to its investigations and enforcement actions.

Airbnb spokeperson Nick Papas told the Post: "We strongly oppose large-scale illegal hotels and we know most Airbnb hosts share only the home in which they live and use the money they earn to pay the bills."

East Village etiquette for AirBnBers: 'Don't piss off the locals'

[Click on the image for a better read]

Here is an Urban Etiquette Sign from inside a 110-year-old tenement on First Avenue near East Sixth Street that has seen a weekly parade of transients/backpackers/tourists for the past year.

Per the sign's creator:

I know it puts me in the category of 'passive-aggressive note-posters.' I don't care anymore.

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman recently announced that nearly three-quarters of all Airbnb rentals in the city were illegal.

Is a member of the NYPD listing his apartment on Airbnb?

The New York Times recently published an article about a group of Stuyvesant Town tenants turned detectives who uncovered nearly two dozen short-term rentals on Airbnb.com.

One new listing the tenants discovered is of particular interest because the Airbnb host says that he is a police officer.

Here is the Airbnb ad titled "Room Available 18th St & 1st Ave" ...

"I’m a Police Officer from New York who secretly takes singing and dancing lessons. And I make a mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I'm Greek and yes I do put Windex on everything."

One of several accompanying photos on Paul's Airbnb profile page shows him in uniform, posing with a civilian in front of an NYPD police cruiser.

Stuy Town's spokesperson, Joe DePlasco, recently told the Times that Stuy Town is actively pursuing the tenants listing their apartments as short-term rentals on Airbnb. He says nearly 50 cease-and-desist letters have been sent to residents since the middle of last year, 15 of which have moved out.

(For most residential buildings, a 2011 law prohibits rentals of fewer than 30 days. Although those who microsublet for fewer than 30 consecutive days and remain present in the unit along with their guests — and those who don't accept money from renters while away on vacation — are exempt, according to city officials, as the Post recently pointed out.)

If it is in fact true a member of the NYPD is listing his apartment as a short-term rental, this will only fuel the Airbnb controversy. We'll no doubt be hearing more about this.