5 ms·

NYC has an incredible dearth of affordable short-term housing. I'm honestly not sure how I would have been able to afford moving there without AirBnB.

by ng12 10y ago

busterarm 10y ago
> NYC has an incredible dearth of affordable housing. I fixed that for you. The thing is, in most cases what is being done with these units was already illegal.
- ng12 10y ago
  You mean Manhattan has a dearth of affordable housing. Nobody's complaining about AirBnB's in Coney Island.
  - busterarm 10y ago
    Most of Brooklyn, Queens and at least 2/3 of the Bronx has an affordable housing crisis as well. Picking out the one or two unattractive neighborhoods to live in doesn't really do anyone any good.
    - ng12 10y ago
      And you think AirBnB has anything to do with the rental prices in the Bronx or Queens? I'm just saying I don't really feel bad about a unit in Lower Manhattan somewhere being off the market because it's rented to tourists.
mtalantikite 10y ago
When I moved here 9 or so years ago I signed a lease on a studio without seeing it first. Honestly, it wasn't so hard.
- ng12 10y ago
  Hard? No, but that's an undeniably worse process.
  - mtalantikite 10y ago
    I could have also rented a room for a couple of months while I figured things out (which is still legal, even on Airbnb), but this was a rent stabilized apartment in a nice neighborhood. It's pretty common for deals like that to be rented sight unseen. Either way, there are many options for moving to the city. This doesn't really make moving to the city significantly more difficult than it has always been.
    - ng12 10y ago
      > It's pretty common for deals like that to be rented sight unseen. Given the prevalence of the broker industry I'm not sure that's the case. Either way -- the city only cares because they're missing out on hotel taxes. I don't think the city actually cares too much about who can afford an apartment in the desirable neighborhoods that have a high volume of AirBnBs.
      - mtalantikite 10y ago
        > Given the prevalence of the broker industry I'm not sure that's the case. I paid a broker that I found on Craigslist. No one said renting an apartment in NYC doesn't suck. > I don't think the city actually cares too much about who can afford an apartment in the desirable neighborhoods that have a high volume of AirBnBs. As a resident that lives in one of those desirable Brooklyn neighborhoods that has turned into Times Square for European tourists, I actually do think the city is looking out for me.
        ng12 10y ago
        > As a resident that lives in one of those desirable Brooklyn neighborhoods that has turned into Times Square for European tourists, I actually do think the city is looking out for me. Now that's an honest argument: "I just don't like tourists". The whole raising-prices-displacing-real-new-yorkers thing is just disingenuous.
saalweachter 10y ago
There are many ways! The ones used by myself, my friends, and my family when moving to The Big City and looking for a job/permanent housing included: 1. Couch surfing with friends/family. 2. Youth hostels / YMCA. 3. Renting a terrible apartment cheap, sight-unseen, breaking the lease early when better options became available. 4. The Daughters of Divine Charity, et al, run boarding houses. 5. Rent a place in the outer boroughs, Jersey, Yonkers, etc, take the train in until you find something closer. 6. Walk around until you see "room for rent" signs. 7. Check papers, Craiglist for roommates (*actual* room sharing -- a number of people I know started off renting a *bed*, not even a bed*room*.)
- ng12 10y ago
  Ok, I wasn't being entirely literal. The point is AirBnB was just about the only way to find safe, convenient, relatively affordable housing for a few weeks. And it's probably going to get worse now given that this legislation applies to services like Craigslist as well.
  - busterarm 10y ago
    And I think the point that people are trying to make is that your convenience may be coming at the expense of others.
    - braveo 10y ago
      and the question is how?
    - ng12 10y ago
      I think that's a false assumption. Is AirBnB really the bottleneck for NYC rents?
      - busterarm 10y ago
        AirBNB units make up 1/5 of 1% of the NYC's rental units. A bottleneck? no, but sizable and impactful, especially when you consider that these tend to be clustered around where they're convenient.
tzs 10y ago
The law does not prohibit short term AirBnB rentals in general. It prohibits them when the owner does not also occupy the unit. You'd still be able to use AirBnB to rent someone's spare room short term.

NYC has an incredible dearth of affordable short-term housing. I'm honestly not sure how I would have been able to afford moving there without AirBnB.

by ng12 10y ago

NYC has an incredible dearth of affordable short-term housing. I'm honestly not sure how I would have been able to afford moving there without AirBnB.

busterarm 10y ago

> NYC has an incredible dearth of affordable housing. I fixed that for you. The thing is, in most cases what is being done with these units was already illegal.

ng12 10y ago
You mean Manhattan has a dearth of affordable housing. Nobody's complaining about AirBnB's in Coney Island.
- busterarm 10y ago
  Most of Brooklyn, Queens and at least 2/3 of the Bronx has an affordable housing crisis as well. Picking out the one or two unattractive neighborhoods to live in doesn't really do anyone any good.
  - ng12 10y ago
    And you think AirBnB has anything to do with the rental prices in the Bronx or Queens? I'm just saying I don't really feel bad about a unit in Lower Manhattan somewhere being off the market because it's rented to tourists.

mtalantikite 10y ago

When I moved here 9 or so years ago I signed a lease on a studio without seeing it first. Honestly, it wasn't so hard.

ng12 10y ago
Hard? No, but that's an undeniably worse process.
- mtalantikite 10y ago
  I could have also rented a room for a couple of months while I figured things out (which is still legal, even on Airbnb), but this was a rent stabilized apartment in a nice neighborhood. It's pretty common for deals like that to be rented sight unseen. Either way, there are many options for moving to the city. This doesn't really make moving to the city significantly more difficult than it has always been.
  - ng12 10y ago
    > It's pretty common for deals like that to be rented sight unseen. Given the prevalence of the broker industry I'm not sure that's the case. Either way -- the city only cares because they're missing out on hotel taxes. I don't think the city actually cares too much about who can afford an apartment in the desirable neighborhoods that have a high volume of AirBnBs.
    - mtalantikite 10y ago
      > Given the prevalence of the broker industry I'm not sure that's the case. I paid a broker that I found on Craigslist. No one said renting an apartment in NYC doesn't suck. > I don't think the city actually cares too much about who can afford an apartment in the desirable neighborhoods that have a high volume of AirBnBs. As a resident that lives in one of those desirable Brooklyn neighborhoods that has turned into Times Square for European tourists, I actually do think the city is looking out for me.
      - ng12 10y ago
        > As a resident that lives in one of those desirable Brooklyn neighborhoods that has turned into Times Square for European tourists, I actually do think the city is looking out for me. Now that's an honest argument: "I just don't like tourists". The whole raising-prices-displacing-real-new-yorkers thing is just disingenuous.

saalweachter 10y ago

There are many ways! The ones used by myself, my friends, and my family when moving to The Big City and looking for a job/permanent housing included: 1. Couch surfing with friends/family. 2. Youth hostels / YMCA. 3. Renting a terrible apartment cheap, sight-unseen, breaking the lease early when better options became available. 4. The Daughters of Divine Charity, et al, run boarding houses. 5. Rent a place in the outer boroughs, Jersey, Yonkers, etc, take the train in until you find something closer. 6. Walk around until you see "room for rent" signs. 7. Check papers, Craiglist for roommates (*actual* room sharing -- a number of people I know started off renting a *bed*, not even a bed*room*.)

ng12 10y ago
Ok, I wasn't being entirely literal. The point is AirBnB was just about the only way to find safe, convenient, relatively affordable housing for a few weeks. And it's probably going to get worse now given that this legislation applies to services like Craigslist as well.
- busterarm 10y ago
  And I think the point that people are trying to make is that your convenience may be coming at the expense of others.
  - braveo 10y ago
    and the question is how?
  - ng12 10y ago
    I think that's a false assumption. Is AirBnB really the bottleneck for NYC rents?
    - busterarm 10y ago
      AirBNB units make up 1/5 of 1% of the NYC's rental units. A bottleneck? no, but sizable and impactful, especially when you consider that these tend to be clustered around where they're convenient.

tzs 10y ago

The law does not prohibit short term AirBnB rentals in general. It prohibits them when the owner does not also occupy the unit. You'd still be able to use AirBnB to rent someone's spare room short term.