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Exactly. The market is filling a niche here and it seems the only response is that "it's wrong because the rules say it's wrong".
by matt_wulfeck 10y ago
Exactly. The market is filling a niche here and it seems the only response is that "it's wrong because the rules say it's wrong".
- davidf18 10y agoNo, the response is that we don't want transients in our apartment buildings. NYC is a very large, dangerous city. Many, many buildings have doormen who keep transients out and help to protect the safety of children, the elderly, and women. As for that market niche, I assume you mean affordable hotels. A Priceline search yields $60 per night hotels/motels in Union City, NJ. Union City is about 15 mins by transit from Times Square.
- ch4s3 10y agoNYC is very large, and on the whole very very safe. It is in fact the safest city in America. The real problem with permanent whole apartment rentals is that is puts a strain on the limited housing supply. Its easier to regulate against non-conventional use than to rewrite zoning to allow more affordable housing to be built. So, that's the regulation we get.
- davidf18 10y agoNYC has a homicide rate 3 times per-capita of that of London. There is a lot of violent crime and there is also property crime. I live in NYC and nobody I know of wants transients in the buildings. One of the functions of doormen is to keep strangers out. AirBnB is like a "back door" to allow these people into the building. People should instead use affordable hotels $60 per night according to Priceline in Union City, NJ 15 mins by transit from Times Square.
- wcummings 10y agoHeaps of people in NYC live in buildings without a doorman without being viciously murdered.
- jrockway 10y agoI assume people intent on murder are happy enough to take out someone blocking their path. I've never lived in a doorman building, but I'm pretty sure they don't wear bullet proof vests and carry guns. The reason most people aren't murdered is because nobody wants to murder them.
- davidf18 10y ago1 in 5 women are raped or experience attempted rape according to CDC http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/feb/16/barack-obama/barack-obama-says-nearly-1-5-women-us-has-been-rap/ http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/feb/... Violent crime happens to random victims.
- jrockway 10y agoThe comment I was replying to used the expression "viciously murdered".
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- davidf18 10y agoIn NYC buildings without a doorman have locked outer doors were people are buzzed in once they have spoken to the person they want to visit over the intercom.
- ch4s3 10y agoYeah, because NYC has a rate of just over 3 per 100,000 and London's is just over 1.1. Both are insanely low. A rate of 1.1 is pretty typical across Western Europe, but the rate in L.A. is 6.3, 5.3 in SF so its kind of relative. For the US, New York is very safe. If you're really worried about safety, lobby for an end to the drug war, improved mental health services, and policies that decrease income inequality.
- davidf18 10y ago8.5 million/100K * 3 is > 250 homicides in NYC every year. For every death there are many cases of violent crime including rape, property crime. It is a big city. > If you're really worried about safety, lobby for an end to the drug war, improved mental health services, and policies that decrease income inequality. Banks should not use vaults to protect their money. Instead they should lobby.... Just as banks want to protect money in their care, we value our lives. In an idea world, banks wouldn't need vaults and we need not lock our front doors. But this is not an ideal world.
- khedoros1 10y agoGood things: - Makes visiting the city cheaper - Increases tourism - Enriches land-owners Bad things: - Skirts consumer protection laws - Makes it harder for law-abiding hotels to survive in that situation - Reduces inventory of rental units on the market, driving up local prices in an already expensive place - People in a "hotel room" are more likely to misbehave than someone that actually intends to live somewhere It's not wrong just because it's illegal, it's wrong because it causes various problems in the city and for the people that live there.
- orblivion 10y agoIf it's not wrong for being illegal, I wouldn't argue that law abiding hotels especially deserve to stay in business.
- matt_wulfeck 10y agoYeah. It's like the argument "because it's against the law, it's fundamentally bad." Just take a look at dealership laws. Do you really think those laws are there to protect consumers? Or do they merely protect the incumbents which helped push for the laws? And now we're forced to buy used cars from sleazy middlemen because they have a legislated monopoly. Good thing those laws are there to protect us!