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City Council: Let's Triple Number Of Airbnb Investigators
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 12, 2015
Modified Mar 12, 2015
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Rabi Abonour/Gothamist
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 12, 2015
Modified Mar 12, 2015
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The city's been cracking down on infamous rental site Airbnb of late, and it looks like they're stepping up their efforts—City Council reportedly plans to add at least 25 staffers to the office investigating illegal hotels.
The Post reports that a plan crafted by City Council’s Progressive Caucus calls for tripling the staff of the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement. Currently, the office tasked with looking into illegal hotels has only 12 investigators, and at a City Council hearing in January, council members voiced concern that the OSE was understaffed and overwhelmed.
"You're a complaint-ridden office that responded to 1,100 complaints last year, all I'm asking is that the administration...enhance your team and your capacity so that you're in a comfortable place to go after the 14,000 units operating illegally in the city, wreaking havoc," Council Member Helen Rosenthal said at the hearing.
City Council's plan, which calls for about $2 million in spending, would also help relieve the OSE of some of its other investigations, which include illegal bootleg markets and nightclubs operating outside their licenses. In addition to the OSE, City Council hopes the new plan would create investigative teams within the FDNY and Department of Buildings, among other agencies.
The city says it has fielded complaints from building residents who believe apartments are being rented out on Airbnb's site illegally, either by building landlords or apartment tenants. Airbnb spokesman Nick Papas told the Post that "[m]ost Airbnb hosts share only the home in which they live, and it’s just wrong to lump regular New Yorkers in with large-scale illegal hotels.”
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