The New York City Council on Wednesday passed a bill
requiring Airbnb to hand over the names and addresses of everyone in the city
who is renting rooms or apartments through the home-sharing platform.
Chris Lehane, global head of policy and communications for
Airbnb, accused the council of pushing through legislation that would
obliterate the privacy rights of New Yorkers in order to "protect the
record profits of the powerful hotel industry."
Lehane said 31
members of the 51-member council signed onto the bill before it was even
written, indicating they were interested only in "protecting the
privileged" over the many New Yorkers who rely on occasional home sharing
to make ends meet.
"The fix was in from the start and now New Yorkers will
be subject to unchecked, aggressive harassment and privacy violations, rubber
stamped by the City Council," Airbnb spokeswoman Liz DeBold Fusco said
following the vote.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he supports the bill, which
advocates say is designed to preserve affordable housing stock by strengthening
enforcement of laws against short-term rentals that they say leads to rising
rents.
Just before the vote, 56-year-old Brooklyn Airbnb host
Stanley Karol sued the city in federal court, saying officials blanketed him
with violations that could total more than $30,000 after he testified at a
council hearing in June in support of home rentals.
Lehane also indicated Airbnb would sue the city for
violating residents' privacy if the bill takes effect.
In a call with the press on Tuesday, Lehane had called on
the city to reject the measure and instead follow the lead of other cities and
states that have combined information sharing about renters from Airbnb with
regulations that allow responsible residents to rent out their rooms and homes
while providing the enforcement power needed to crack down on bad actors.
Similar legislation to properly regulate home sharing in New
York is being worked on in Albany, so the city action is unnecessary, he said.
"It is clear that the members of the city council are
nothing more than bellhops for the major hotel corporations," Lehane said.
"At the end of the day, it is going to hurt everyday New Yorkers."
Troy Flanagan, vice president of government affairs and
industry relations for the American Hotel & Lodging Association, said that "hyperbolic
rhetoric from Chris Lehane aside, the work undertaken by the New York City
Council ensures its constituents are protected from the negative impacts of
short-term rentals and the excessive steps undertaken by Airbnb to avoid
complying with the law.
"Across the country, municipalities large and small are
following the leadership demonstrated in the Big Apple and taking back their
communities. This is another step in that process and we support New York's
elected leaders, ShareBetter and the many local neighborhood and housing groups
as they fight to preserve affordable housing for the city's workers and
residents."