Airbnb: Good or Bad for Bed-Stuy?

By Kings County Politics News Service

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — In the few days since New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo all but outlawed Airbnb in New York City by imposing a fine of up to $7,500 for listing a room in a building with four-plus units for less than 30 days, city politicians have been lining up on both sides of the battle line.

Firmly on the anti-Airbnb side of the line is Jumaane Williams, Flatbush's representative at New York City Hall. In a statement issued after Cuomo signed the law, Williams said Airbnb "consistently undermines the city's efforts to preserve affordable housing, and regularly attempts to thwart regulations put in place to protect New York City residents."

City Councilman Robert Cornegy Jr., who represents most of Bed-Stuy and northern Crown Heights, begged to differ.

After meeting with multiple Airbnb hosts in his district, Cornegy Jr. said he has come to support the home-sharing service, whose business model he called "truly the wave of the future."

“There are over 1,000 Airbnb hosts in the Bed-Stuy/Crown Heights area — primarily homeowners who have found a way with escalating home ownership costs to supplement their respective incomes while simultaneously acting as ambassadors to these historic areas,” Cornegy said.

“The relationship between these hosts, their customers and local small businesses," he said, "has yielded a unique ecosystem and stimulates the local economy in a way not seen in a long while. I encourage the partnership between the emerging shared economy with brick-and mortar businesses."

The new state law regulating Airbnb punishes homeowners and renters for violating a 2010 city ordinance making home-sharing in multifamily units for less than 30 days illegal in NYC. Under the legislation, which had strong support from the state Hotel and Motel Trades Council, NYC residents are only allowed to rent out a room in their home or apartment as long as they are also staying there.

Hours after Cuomo signed a bill, Airbnb responded with a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court. The new law is unconstitutional, Airbnb's lawyers claimed, and will cause "irreparable harm" to the company.

Airbnb host Richelle Burnett (pictured above, on the left) counts herself among the Bed-Stuy brownstone owners who have turned to Airbnb to get by in the increasingly expensive neighborhood. For the past three years, she and her husband Pela been renting out two of the apartments in the house through Airbnb.

“The home I live in has always been our family home, and we needed additional income,” Burnett said.

"Airbnb allows us to rent the space when we want," she said, "without the responsibility of having someone long-term and things not working out. It also keeps the apartments available for family to use the apartment when they come in from out of town."

Burnett said she and a group of other Airbnb hosts in Bed-Stuy attend monthly meetings to discuss how they can help promote local restaurants, grocery stores and speciality shops — giving the local economy and small businesses a big boost.

Another member of that group is Michelle Yates, who lives in a Bed-Stuy townhouse and rents out her garden apartment through Airbnb.

“I’m not happy with this new law," Yates said. "There’s so many other things illegally done in which to pay attention. The city says home sharing is preventing affordable housing, but we’re not the cause of that. They should focus on all the big developers in Downtown Brooklyn charging lot of money. They’re the ones preventing affordable housing."

Both Burnett and Yates acknowledged that Cuomo's new law doesn’t apply to them, as they both own homes with less than four units. However, both said they were worried the law might soon be expanded to include them.

“I pay taxes and I should be able to choose if I want to host through Airbnb,” Yates said. “That should be my decision and not the governor's.”

A version of this article originally appeared on the Kings County Politics news site.

Pictured at top: Richelle and Pela Burnett, Airbnb hosts in Bed-Stuy. Photo courtesy of Kings County Politics