NY official: Airbnb stay illegal; host fined $2,400 • Hacker News Board

Re: NY official: Airbnb stay illegal; host fined $2,400

#51

Post by dreen » Tue, May 21, 2013, 3:09 PM UTC

Diamons wrote: post #38

awolf wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please do explain. I think the sharing economy is brilliant and the way of the future. If there's spare capacity in the world, why should it not be utilized. Unsafe? Is it more unsafe to a degree that the ends don't justify the means? I doubt it.

Perhaps sharing tools, yes. Sharing cars, MAYBE. But sharing living spaces and housing, no. Housing is one of the most intimate services out there services out there. I have standards, I have rights, and I want to feel safe and secure where I live. I am a New Yorker and I don't want to feel like I'm living like a poor person with a hotel next door. EDIT: The very definition of a hotel - An establishment providing acc…

That is very elitist of you. But then again, you did say you're from NY.

Re: NY official: Airbnb stay illegal; host fined $2,400

#52

Post by Diamons » Tue, May 21, 2013, 3:09 PM UTC

greghinch wrote: post #47

Diamons wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps sharing tools, yes. Sharing cars, MAYBE. But sharing living spaces and housing, no. Housing is one of the most intimate services out there services out there. I have standards, I have rights, and I want to feel safe and secure where I live. I am a New Yorker and I don't want to feel like I'm living like a poor person with a hotel next door. EDIT: The very definition of a hotel - An establishment providing acc…

Why does having a "hotel" next door make you feel like a poor person?

I phrased my point incorrectly. What I mean is when I buy a house or rent an apartment, I want stability. I want to know who's around me and see familiar faces. I don't want the variable of some new short term resident LIVING every other week right next to me. It's like choosing to live in a rich neighborhood vs a poor one; I want to minimize the risk factor of crime as much as possible as do my neighbors.

Re: NY official: Airbnb stay illegal; host fined $2,400

#53

Post by greghinch » Tue, May 21, 2013, 3:09 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #42

toomuchtodo wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

God forbid we more efficiently allocate resources in a dynamic way. If done safely and ethically, its a fabulous with for consumers.

How do you define 'efficient'? Is pushing out people who want to live in the city in order to fit more visitors an efficient use of resources? I would argue that it is not.

The free market is deciding what the best use of the space is, in terms of generating revenue and value for all parties involved. That's the power of the sharing economy

Re: NY official: Airbnb stay illegal; host fined $2,400

#54

Post by Diamons » Tue, May 21, 2013, 3:10 PM UTC

dreen wrote: post #51

Diamons wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps sharing tools, yes. Sharing cars, MAYBE. But sharing living spaces and housing, no. Housing is one of the most intimate services out there services out there. I have standards, I have rights, and I want to feel safe and secure where I live. I am a New Yorker and I don't want to feel like I'm living like a poor person with a hotel next door. EDIT: The very definition of a hotel - An establishment providing acc…

That is very elitist of you. But then again, you did say you're from NY.

When NYC residents tell you we don't want this and some startup founders in California tell you yes you do, that is elitist.

Re: NY official: Airbnb stay illegal; host fined $2,400

#55

Post by droopyEyelids » Tue, May 21, 2013, 3:11 PM UTC

rwhitman wrote: post #39

Illegal hotels are actually a legit problem in NYC. I'd have to dig up the article but I've read about shady landlords evicting residents and turning entire apartment buildings into Airbnb hotels. Its big business, my friend pays his entire rent with Airbnb. Real estate is at an extreme premium and hotel space is scarce. There are a lot of scammers and shady people in this city so its only natural that Airbnb will be…

Care to share how someone tried to con you? I'd really like to know what to avoid, myself.

Re: NY official: Airbnb stay illegal; host fined $2,400

#56

Post by greghinch » Tue, May 21, 2013, 3:13 PM UTC

Diamons wrote: post #52

greghinch wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does having a "hotel" next door make you feel like a poor person?

I phrased my point incorrectly. What I mean is when I buy a house or rent an apartment, I want stability. I want to know who's around me and see familiar faces. I don't want the variable of some new short term resident LIVING every other week right next to me. It's like choosing to live in a rich neighborhood vs a poor one; I want to minimize the risk factor of crime as much as possible as do my neighbors.

This sounds more like your own personal paranoia than any sort of rational argument agains Airbnb. The fact that you might have visitors from all over the world passing through the area only enriches the culture and worldliness. To assume that a bunch of tourists paying $150 or more a night will result in increased crime sounds baseless

Re: NY official: Airbnb stay illegal; host fined $2,400

#57

Post by Diamons » Tue, May 21, 2013, 3:13 PM UTC

cheald wrote: post #40

Diamons wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the end of the day, it's a hotel. I don't want to live next to someone from somewhere else who isn't here to be my neighbor. What about my rights?

What makes you think you have any kind of right to choose who lives next to you, or to have a say in what they do with their property? If you take Airbnb out of the equation, the assertion is ridiculous.

I have a right to say no to AirBnB. Does my individual opinion matter? Probably not. Does the collective opinion of my neighborhood matter? Yeah it kind of does.

We've been saying no to AirBnB for years, this isn't anything new. NYC says yes but for some reason the rest of the world thinks we're wrong to choose how we want to live.

Re: NY official: Airbnb stay illegal; host fined $2,400

#58

Post by brador » Tue, May 21, 2013, 3:13 PM UTC

prawn wrote: post #35

darkarmani wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The whole sharing economy thing is unsafe, ridiculous, and kind of pathetic. How do New Yorkers win by having less choice?

Their neighbours are more likely to be people there for the long term and with an interest in the community, rather than just renting out their place to people a night at a time. I can see the negative side of AirBnB, though that said I just booked a place in Paris because every central hotel under $300/night appears to be booked for next week.

Do you not worry that someone will setup cameras in the WC, record you pooping, then sell the videos, together with your personal details, on an underground tor darksite in exchange for Bitcoins? And you'll never know?

I used to be very trusting of places until I stayed at a university accom during a conference one time. The janitor was up to no good, but we had to leave and no one wanted the trouble of reporting it to front desk.

Re: NY official: Airbnb stay illegal; host fined $2,400

#59

Post by yebyen » Tue, May 21, 2013, 3:14 PM UTC

dillonforrest wrote: post #21

macleanjr wrote: post #4

This ruling only applies to the 5 boroughs of New York City, not the entire state.

This is actually an annoying thing about NYC. In NYC, when people say "New York," they actually mean "New York City's five boroughs." When people say "upstate" or "upstate New York," they mean the rest of the state of New York minus NYC. When people say "the city," they mean "Manhattan." The title only makes sense to residents of NYC.

Actually, I am a resident of Rochester and I understood the title intuitively. Rochester is far (6 hours+) from The City. I was from Buffalo before that, even farther away. I am used to hearing about odd laws that only apply in NYC (the boroughs), from special conditions on a learners' permit license, to bans on 16+oz fountain drinks, when I hear "now illegal in New York" I tend to think naturally, it must apply only in New York City.

We are actually second-class citizens, the legislature of NY is only for NYC (and the benefits of all the taxes we pay, union dues, etc, at least to hear my father tell it.)

Re: NY official: Airbnb stay illegal; host fined $2,400

#60

Post by nawitus » Tue, May 21, 2013, 3:14 PM UTC

rwhitman wrote: post #39

Illegal hotels are actually a legit problem in NYC. I'd have to dig up the article but I've read about shady landlords evicting residents and turning entire apartment buildings into Airbnb hotels. Its big business, my friend pays his entire rent with Airbnb. Real estate is at an extreme premium and hotel space is scarce. There are a lot of scammers and shady people in this city so its only natural that Airbnb will be…

>I'd have to dig up the article but I've read about shady landlords evicting residents and turning entire apartment buildings into Airbnb hotels.

Why shouldn't landlords have the right to turn their buildings into Airbnbn hotels? (Assuming that the landlord pays taxes as usual, and the evicted residents were evicted under the rental agreement).