August 28, 2016
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo must soon decide whether to authorize hefty fines for many people who offer to rent out their New York City apartments on Airbnb. Meanwhile, the online booking service said it’s policing its website to remove commercial operators in the city, addressing a chief complaint of critics who say it promotes illegal hotels and effectively takes scarce apartments out of circulation. Peter Ward, president of the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, said Airbnb has been breaking laws with impunity for years, depleting affordable housing stock and threatening middle-class union hotel jobs “that are the backbone of New York’s tourism economy.”…
Source: https://skift.com/2016/08/28/airbnb-says-its-cleaning-up-new-york-listings-while-governor-mulls-new-law/