First Vancouver now a bigger Apple, from the FT:
Airbnb faces a fight for its life in the Big Apple as Andrew Cuomo, New York’s governor, prepares to sign a bill that would in effect end the home-sharing company’s business in New York City.
The San Francisco start-up has waged an eleventh-hour campaign to thwart the legislation, offering to impose a mandatory host registration system to help the state keep track of renters and a “one host, one home” rule to curtail the challenge it poses to New York hoteliers.
Mr Cuomo must decide whether to sign the bill by the end of next week. If it becomes law, it would impose fines of up to $7,500 on any host who advertised short-term accommodation through Airbnb.
Linda Rosenthal, the state assemblywoman who co-sponsored the bill, told the Financial Times that Airbnb’s concessions were “absolutely not” enough to address her concerns.
“The lawbreaker does not get to make the law, the lawmakers do,” Ms Rosenthal said, adding that Airbnb was reducing affordable housing stock in Manhattan. “The most hypocritical part of this is that Airbnb says they are really looking out for the average New Yorker who needs to make ends meet.”
The online service, which connects owners of homes and flats with tourists and other renters in cities around the world, has often clashed with regulators which accuse the company of facilitating illegal hotel businesses and reducing affordable housing stock.
It’s a trend that will intensify as the anti-globalisation movement draws blood everywhere. Tremble all ye specufestors!
