NYC Suing Midtown Building Claiming It Was Used As Hotel
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - New York City regulators say an apartment building blocks from Times Square has been turned into a de facto hotel, and they're suing to put a stop to it.
Wednesday's lawsuit came a day after a City Council hearing about a boom in homes being rented out like hotel rooms. The Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement has filed two other, similar suits in recent years.
Scores of proponents and critics of Airbnb packed a City Council hearing Tuesday on how the short-term rental boom affects the city's housing market and economy.
On one side, tenants say landlords are unlawfully turning their homes into de facto hotels by renting apartments to high-paying tourists instead of full-time residents. On the other side are homeowners and tenants who say they comply with the law, and that sharing their homes help them afford to stay in them.
In New York, it's generally illegal to rent an apartment for under 30 days unless the apartment's resident also stays there. But the city's lawsuit says up to 80 percent of the 96 apartments at a West 41st Street building are being booked as hotel rooms, despite repeated violation notices.
Calls to a principal in companies that own and operate the building weren't immediately returned.
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)