New York, NY – Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF- Manhattan), author of the 2016 New York State law prohibiting online illegal hotel advertisements and sponsor of state-level legislation to require internet-based short-term rental booking services like Airbnb to disclose address and related data, today put her full support behind New York City Council Int. No. 981, which would require such disclosure at the city level.

“I applaud Councilmember Carlina Rivera, New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and the bill’s cosponsors for taking decisive and desperately needed action to protect New York’s tenants and affordable housing stock. With today’s passage of Int. 981, the city is helping advance our years-long battle to force platforms like Airbnb to comply with New York’s laws,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal. “Despite clear evidence that Airbnb has enabled illegal hotels to deplete our affordable housing stock and drive up the cost of housing for all New Yorkers, Airbnb continues to pad its bottom line at the expense of our communities and the hardworking families who helped to build them. Requiring Airbnb to disclose address and other host data will provide the city with the information needed to effectively enforce New York City and State housing laws, and better preserve safety and affordability of our city’s housing.

According to a recent McGill University report on Airbnb’s impact on New York City’s housing stock, Airbnb is directly responsible for the loss of 13,500 units of housing, which drives up rental prices for the entire city. An audit conducted by New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer concluded that as a result of this Airbnb-caused housing scarcity, New Yorkers paid $616 million more in rent from 2009-2016. What’s more, of the 40,000 active Airbnb listings in New York, estimates suggest that nearly 50% are illegal listings, from which Airbnb generated $435 million in revenue in 2017 alone.

“Like the other darlings of Silicon Valley, Airbnb had a meteoric rise that created a corporate culture of invincibility. Airbnb’s Achilles heel is transparency, and that is precisely what the legislation passed today in the City Council will do – shine a light on Airbnb and prevent it from reaping profits from its illegal activity at the expense of our affordable housing stock, ”said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal. “I look forward to continuing my work to hold Airbnb to account statewide.”