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.

Thursday's parting shot

Fourth Street at Avenue A today...

Noted

Real-time marketing on Avenue A with the We-Vibe van...

A video posted by EV Grieve (@evgrieve) on Oct 9, 2016 at 6:04am PDT

About that Bill de Blasio-tagged van on East 6th Street

The other evening we noticed this van with the Bill de Blasio tag on it parked on East Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Turns out the van belongs to Vit Horejs, artistic director of the Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre. He owns several vans, all named Molly, to transport theatrical equipment.

According to Bonnie Sue Stein, Vit's friend and director of the nonprofit organization 7 Loaves Inc/GOH Productions, the de Blasio tag arrived about two weeks ago.

"The van was not tagged for weeks when we got it, but as soon as one person started, it hasn't stopped," said Stein, a community organizer in the East Village for more than 30 years. "It's frustrating. Vit says he wishes they did a better job. It's not very well-executed. It's a mess. People have been laughing about the de Blasio tag. And one woman who saw it said we should sell the van to a museum because of the de Blasio tag."

Paint splattering van vandals strike again

Back in January, we noted the above on East Seventh Street near Avenue A... at the time, we weren't sure if it was some kind of van-owner-created art... or vandalism. (Turned out to be vandalism, or whatever you'd like to call throwing paint bombs at vans.)

Fast-forward to yesterday... a resident reports the following...

"This is my van and I found the lovely work this morning. Odd thing is that I moved the van into that spot at 4:30 am and didn't notice it when I left on foot at 11 am."

The resident discovered the splatter upon returning three hours later.

"The paint was still warm and came off a bit when I came back at 2:15 pm. The police [officer] said he noticed it earlier and was wondering if that was intentional. (Ha! No.)

Such a pain in the ass."

Space for Target now stumping for Vans

At Avenue A and St. Mark's Place.

May!



Today!



Previously on EV Grieve:
Goodbye yellow brick ad

Speaking of the Sunburnt Cow, have you seen my collection of Moo Mobile photos?

Previously.

A new twist on the Man With Van moving wars

Previously.

Meanwhile, the Love Saves the Day van makes an appearance

On Second Avenue near Ninth Street.

This baby can really moooove

The Sunburnt Cow's "Moo Mobile" usually parks on Avenue C.... (Uh, near the restaurant, of course...) Does the horn make the sound of a cowbell? Does the driver yell "don't have a cow man" to other drivers in traffic? Does this van go to the drive-in to watch moo-vies? If a tire gets a puncture, is it a beef-flat?

Heh. Oh jeez, that's bad.

Meanwhile, I'm hoping that Slum Goddess and friends get a chance to peak inside to see what's what...

The Ram-into-the-ATM-in-a-van bandit busted

As only the Post can report:

Cops who busted a dumb-as-chum crook suspected of trying to steal an ATM won't have trouble finding the loot from his previous heists -- he used his one call from the station house to contact a friend and blurt out: "Get all of the cash out from my mattress!" sources said yesterday.

The bizarre saga -- which included a dip in the East River -- began when Valentin Garcia attempted to swipe the cash machine outside a store at 23 Rutgers St. on the Lower East Side by knocking it from its foundation with his van, the sources said.

Cops said Garcia is also the prime suspect in a rash of other knock-over ATM thefts around the city, including the LES, in December and January.

Now pitching for the Mets...

[Updated: Oops! Had the schedule wrong...Mets open at home NEXT Monday... They're in Cincinnati today...]



And if the bullpen car is to return, the van pictured above by Chico seen around the East Village gets our vote. I think JJ Putz will love it.

Definitely cooler than this.



Or this.

Peter Frampton called: He wants his van back

Oh my. Our friend Hunter-Gatherer took this shot (and others!) of this boss van (with Jersey plates, natch) in SoHo. He has been humming "Dream Weaver" ever since....