Airbnb s recent promise to start contributing to New York City s tax base would give the city a mult

Airbnb s recent promise to start contributing to New York City s tax base would give the city a multi-million dollar boost, but some industry leaders say accepting the money would be the equivalent of legitimizing the business and that the move could damage affordable housing.
Since Airbnb s relatively cheap short-term rentals hit the market, landlords and developers have fought to drive away the competition by painting the online business as a tax-dodging, quasi-legal plague on affordable housing, New York Magazine mississippi river boat tours reported.
The city took the tax accusations mississippi river boat tours seriously, ordering Airbnb to hand over a list of users in order to enforce occupancy taxes, which are normally included in a hotel room-bill but can be avoided under Airbnb s setup.
Granting such status to Airbnb requires overturning current regulations, however, including the ban on homeowners from renting out their residences for less than thirty days while they re away. That s the exact business model of Airbnb. Hoteliers, who are losing customers to the startup, point out such a move could put a serious dent in the inventory of affordable housing for New York City.
Residential zoning laws prevent short-term illegal conversions in order to protect limited, affordable housing stock from being turned into makeshift hotels, which raises rents, creates a nuisance to neighbors as well as unanticipated impacts on the quality of life in communities all over the city, Geoffrey Mills, chairman of the Hotel Association of New York City, told New York Magazine.