Council concerned about AirBnB overcrowding

From the NY Post:

City Council members want to grill the subletting service Airbnb about fears renters could die in a fire while struggling to flee an unfamiliar apartment.

“We need to ensure Airbnb is not putting profit over people by allowing listings that cram too many tourists into apartments far too small to guarantee their safe escape from danger,” said Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Upper East Side).

The council’s Housing and Buildings Committee has scheduled a Jan. 20 hearing over “short-term rentals” arranged through Airbnb and other sites.

In a recent affidavit, an FDNY official said that, unlike hotels, apartments being illegally used for “transient occupancy” don’t offer visitors a “detailed fire-safety and evacuation plan.”

Illegal hotel rentals widespread

From the NY Post:

In order to legally sublet an apartment, renters are required to obtain written permission from their landlords, according to state law. It’s also illegal to charge more than 10 percent above the rent.

The vast majority of rental apartments in New York City are also considered Class A apartments, and it is illegal to sublet them for less than 30 consecutive days.
But thousands of New Yorkers sublet on the sly, hiking up their rents to turn their leases into nightly moneymakers.

Critics say the main problem is security.

But more than 1,500 brazen New Yorkers are subletting their apartments -- many on a night-to-night basis, like hotels -- on AirBNB.com.

Some New Yorkers said they’ve even signed leases on other units.