East Village Airbnb Host Fined After Reports Of Loud, Drug-Fueled Parties

EAST VILLAGE, NY — An East Village resident has coughed up $1,000 after renting out her apartment in a city-subsidized building, where her Airbnb guests used it for late-night parties with loud music and drugs, according to city officials

The East Village woman, Jennie Livingston, was one of the first two city residents to be fined under a new law targeting short-term Airbnb rentals throughout the city.

Livingston and a resident of Trump Tower both paid $1,000 fines for the violations last month. Livingston was illegally renting her apartment, located inside an affordable co-op, for about $450 a night, a city spokeswoman told Patch, thus profiting off a unit meant to be reserved for affordable housing. City investigators were first alerted to the apartment's frequent Airbnb rentals after neighbors complained of loud music, late-night parties, drug use and gambling, among other activities, authorities said.

The state law, passed last year, prohibits advertising an entire apartment for less than 30 days in a building with three or more units. So essentially, tenants in building with multiple apartments can't advertise their entire apartment for short periods of time. (It's ok to rent out a single room within a larger apartment for a shorter period of time, or the entire place for more than a month.)

Both of the fined city residents have removed their ads on Airbnb, a city spokeswoman confirmed to Patch

"The state law prohibiting illegal rental ads is helping us stop those who turn homes into hotels. The city has started receiving payments of these fines — including by a homeowner in Trump Tower and a Lower East Side resident who frequently rented out a home specifically reserved as affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers," the spokeswoman said in a statement. "Disrupting your neighbor’s quality of life and diminishing New York’s affordable housing stock will not be tolerated."

The East Village apartment was rented out dozens of times since 2014, inside city subsidized building meant to provide affordable housing for low-income families. Patch was not immediately able to contact Livingston for comment.

New York City and Airbnb have long had fraught relationship, and in his new budget Mayor Bill de Blasio is looking to expand the office that investigates and cracks down on Airbnb violations. (For more news from the East Village, subscribe to Patch news alerts here.)

Lead image via Shutterstock.