The pandemic hit New York City harder than any other U.S. lodging market. Tourists stayed away and business travel dried up. Dozens of hotels with thousands of guest rooms closed their doors permanently, more than in any other major market. 

On Sept. 6 at a town hall meeting on the Upper West Side, Mayor Eric Adams declared that the migrant crisis — which has drawn at least 110,000 immigrants seeking asylum — would destroy New York City, shocking New Yorkers and outside observers alike. 

The first week that New York City’s law severely restricting short-term rentals was in effect didn’t produce a higher-than-usual boost to hotel performance, according to early data, but hotel industry leaders expect that in the longer term, the ban will be a boon.

While many hotels around the country experienced a weaker summer than expected, New York is reaping the benefits of scores of visitors.

Airbnb rental options in New York City have shrunk after cumbersome new governmental restrictions went into effect on Wednesday and essentially became a ban on vacation rentals. 

“It’s my house,” says Gia Sharp, a host on Airbnb, a rental platform. “I’ve worked really hard to buy it. So the thought that someone else can tell me what I can do with my house is a little crazy.” But a law which went into effect on September 5th caused Ms Sharp’s Brooklyn listing, and thousands more, to disappear from Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms.

When real estate developer Aspen Hospitality announced its plans to open a 10-story hotel in Rockefeller Center, it became the first company to take on a hotel special permit process that the New York City Council introduced just as Mayor Bill de Blasio was leaving office in late 2021.

The era of unregulated Airbnb services in New York is coming to an end. This is especially true for those landlords who have converted $800 rent-stable apartments into $7000 suites.