Airbnb accuses New York City Council of collecting "hundreds of thousands of dollars" from the hotel lobby, following a city council decree against it.
Another spanner has been thrown in the works of Airbnb which, shortly after having been called to order by the European Commission to demand a modification of its conditions of use, must now face the decree of New York City Hall. This one indeed obliges the online hosting platform to communicate the names and addresses of its hosts to the city's town hall. Airbnb currently lists nearly 52,000 properties for rent in New York.
This is its largest market in the United States, so the collaborative platform fights the restrictions that New York City wants to impose. The company tries to justify itself by bringing the argument of privacy protection that would not be compatible with the fact of submitting information of its hosts to the city.
Airbnb asked a Manhattan judge to refuse the request for data transmission to New York City regarding 7 midtown buildings. The city sued Airbnb this month, seeking to force it to comply with its laws.
Airbnb accuses New York City of corruption and dishonesty as well. Company spokesperson Liz DeBold Fusco justified the charges: "After receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the hotel lobby, we are not surprised by this decision by City Council”.
New York City Hall specifies that its decree has the effect of fighting against those who rent several dwellings at the same time and would prevent a drop in rental costs in the city. The latter also wishes to impose its own laws, such as prohibiting the rental of an entire apartment for less than 30 days in a building with more than 3 apartments.
