Appellate Court Upholds AirBNB Law [UPDATE: Court of Appeals Denies Leave to Appeal]

Court found that DOB letter of objection exception to the Multiple Dwelling law was no longer valid. On March 17, 2016, New York Appellate Court reversed a Lower Court’s Decision and thus denying Grand Imperial LLC’s Petition for a Letter of No Objection to rent its property for shorter than the legally required time period. Grand Imperial LLC owns a Single-Room Occupancy building, located at 307 West 79th Street on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, … <Read More>


Two Housing Advocacy Groups Issue Report on Airbnb’s Effect on Residential Rental Rates

The report found that the pervasive use of Airbnb in New York City is likely the indirect causation of incredibly low residential vacancy rates and rising rental rates. In June of 2016, housing advocacy groups Housing Conservation Coordinators and MFY Legal Service jointly issued a study on the impact Airbnb and similar short-term rental-facilitating platforms have on the traditional housing market in New York City. While there are several companies connecting short-term rental apartments with … <Read More>


Airbnb Opposition Makes for Strange Bedfellows

There are some things you can always count on here in New York: alternate side of the street parking, the subways always running (except when they’re not, like late nights and weekends), the Yankees making the playoffs (except when the Mets do) and landlords and tenants being diametrically opposed. Like Superman and Kryptonite, oil and water, landlords and tenants have always had one thing in common – a mutual distrust of one another.

That is … <Read More>


City Officials Continue Push Against Airbnb Bad Actors

Following Mayor’s appearance on Daily Show, Deputy Mayor Glen calls on release of names of bad hosts.   On March 7, 2016, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen requested that Airbnb provide the City with the names and addresses of the hosts illegally using its website.  Deputy Mayor Glen’s letter was written in the wake Mayor Bill de Blasio’s March 3rd appearance on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, where he discussed the … <Read More>


Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement Brings Suit Against Illegal Short-Term Rental Operation

The lawsuit alleges the owner conducted around $2 million in illegal transactions for short term rentals over the span of four years. On Monday, July 12, Mayor Eric Adams and Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement (OSE), Christian J. Klossner, held a press conference to announce a lawsuit against an illegal short-term rental operation in Manhattan’s Turtle Bay neighborhood. The administration officials were joined by Rich Maroko, president of the Hotel Trades … <Read More>


Owner fined for eliminating unit

Owner added staircase to create a duplex but failed to get permit to do work. The corporation AS 303 LLC owns an apartment building located on 303 East 46th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenue, in Manhattan. The building was authorized to have eleven class “A” units over the five floors. The owner converted apartments 2E and 3E into a duplex by building a staircase connecting 2E to 3E and added another bedroom. The owner … <Read More>