The answer is vibes. Airbnbs and other short-term rentals were banned because it was bad vibes more than anything. At the time, it was very much in vogue. Airbnb was a clear villain, with a...
The answer is vibes. Airbnbs and other short-term rentals were banned because it was bad vibes more than anything. At the time, it was very much in vogue. Airbnb was a clear villain, with a short-term "fix", whereas "we should upzone neighborhoods to build more housing" is not only a years long endeavor, but upzoning and development is always controversial.
edit:
Also, it's really easy to see what makes rent high - Manhattan aside, in Brooklyn and Queens it's usually based on distance to MTA.
Expand MTA - the biggest different in QoL between Manhattan and the other boroughs is that subway access in Brooklyn and Queens is very spotty. Vast parts of them have a 15-30 minute walk to get to the nearest MTA station. A lot of housing supply will be unlocked by MTA access.
One of the most disappointing parts of the Mamdani mayorship is he killed Queenslink. C'mon bro. May have died even with mayor support but like at least try to walk the walk on transit.
It's another frustrating example of bait and switch for the "obvious" thing rather than the "useful" thing. It pulls attention away from the real problems/solutions. I'm not crying tears for...
It's another frustrating example of bait and switch for the "obvious" thing rather than the "useful" thing. It pulls attention away from the real problems/solutions.
I'm not crying tears for Airbnb, but initiatives like this STOP the ones that might actually solve things because "oh well you're just protecting the corporations" becomes the attack.
I like this take from the r/neoliberal comments section: I’d add to that that some of this stuff (like Mamdani’s proposed rent control tweaks, the NYS data center moratorium, ) is helpful in...
I like this take from the r/neoliberal comments section:
I know this isn't a popular idea here, but if there is a broadly popular idea that isn't good policy but it has a pretty neutral outcome it can be a win just to make people feel heard by government. Considering that we're at crisis levels of mistrust in government and a general feeling that government only helps big corporations and the wealthy, policies that signal support for the average American can have a significant impact on people's views of responsiveness of government and trust in democracy.
I've talked to a lot of people about this housing bill because I think it's important to say when government does good things right now, and people pretty overwhelmingly like the least effective policies the best.
You have to deal the hand you're dealt and not the one you want-- I think a lot of people here wish they could only pass highly effective policy wonky stuff and disregard the views of the majority, and I think doing that is actually corrosive to faith in democracy in the USA at least. We don't have a populace of highly informed people and it's insane to me to govern as if we did.
I’d add to that that some of this stuff (like Mamdani’s proposed rent control tweaks, the NYS data center moratorium, or the build-to-rent ban in the new housing law) is helpful in getting people to support more substantive, but also more contentious policy (like upzoning or by-right fourplexes).
This is something that I wish more neoliberal types would accept. I'm sympathetic to the ideal of effective evidence-based government, but so many neoliberal types (or, at least, the ones who are...
This is something that I wish more neoliberal types would accept. I'm sympathetic to the ideal of effective evidence-based government, but so many neoliberal types (or, at least, the ones who are vocal online) are frustratingly stubborn and seem to simply not care about winning.
Where was build-to-rent ban? Are you talking about the new housing bill from congress? Didn’t ban corporations owning preexisting single family houses but ALLOWED it when build to rent.
Where was build-to-rent ban? Are you talking about the new housing bill from congress? Didn’t ban corporations owning preexisting single family houses but ALLOWED it when build to rent.
I didn't see it mentioned in the article after a quick skim, but an important note is that AirBNB's were pretty locked down in NYC even before whatever this ban is. Short term rentals (i.e....
I didn't see it mentioned in the article after a quick skim, but an important note is that AirBNB's were pretty locked down in NYC even before whatever this ban is. Short term rentals (i.e. AirBNB/Vrbo) are illegal in the city unless the host lives in the apartment, you don't get to rent out an apartment entirely to a guest, it has to be an apartment you live in (yes at the same time as the guest is there). I'm finding it hard to pin down a date, but I definitely remember this being the case in the late 2010s.
So when we say "ban", it's not a ban from "people using their apartments as hotel rooms via airbnb" to "no short term rentals at all", it's "people using a spare room in their apartment as a hotel room via airbnb" to I guess "no short term rentals at all".
I think that's an interesting point, and will likely make some difference, as will the fact that NYC continues to have more people wanting to move there, invest there, etc. It doesn't surprise me...
I think that's an interesting point, and will likely make some difference, as will the fact that NYC continues to have more people wanting to move there, invest there, etc. It doesn't surprise me that that change didn't "solve" everything, and maybe the restrictive regs were enough (or maybe prices would be even higher without the change).
I will be curious to see the impact of similar bans in smaller cities and see if at lower volumes it's enough of a pressure valve. People in NYC will pay huge rents for closets, perhaps in alternative locations that trade off point is at a more reasonable (to me) equilibrium
The tone of this article is very confusing. The way it’s framed seems to be pro airbnb? As someone who lives in the area, I don’t think I’ve heard a single person complain about losing air bnbs....
The tone of this article is very confusing. The way it’s framed seems to be pro airbnb? As someone who lives in the area, I don’t think I’ve heard a single person complain about losing air bnbs. Hell, Jersey almost had a building with 100 apartments that was going to be 100% airbnbs and the city stopped it. No one locally wanted it. If there are no regulations, what’s to stop manhattan from just becoming 100% airbnbs and hotels decades from now? More and more towns in Jersey are removing short term rentals. Hoboken is one of the few embracing it and they are struggling with housing, parking and some insane flooding.
True, the tone is off maybe bc they intentionally didn’t want to focus on the issue. The fact that housing shortage is in relation to availability of space and if you don’t have new space you...
True, the tone is off maybe bc they intentionally didn’t want to focus on the issue. The fact that housing shortage is in relation to availability of space and if you don’t have new space you don’t have housing. Hoboken and NJ in general suffers from NIMBY a lot so that’s why Mount Laurel. Hoboken I think in addition to NJ NIMBY issues has the biggest problem of having NYC next door. It has nothing except location to make money on, property taxes are not going to cover it all so they need something else, location location is all they got. Ain’t nothing else, nobody going to Hoboken for bars, food or culture if you are visiting NYC.
Unsurprisingly, rent and hotel prices have only increased. I was fortunate enough to visit NYC early in 2023 and stayed at the Hyatt above Grand Central station and the price I paid for a room...
Unsurprisingly, rent and hotel prices have only increased. I was fortunate enough to visit NYC early in 2023 and stayed at the Hyatt above Grand Central station and the price I paid for a room then was $180/night and now its like $280/night (for a room around a similar date in 2027 since I went in late winter/early spring). I've seen more dramatic increases elsewhere in the city too.
Rents increasing is to be expected given the slow upzoning and construction of new housing across the city and the US too. I would love to move to NYC some day but it's tough pill swallowing just how expensive rent can be in certain places. I know people in Long Island City in Queens paying $4k/mo for a 1b1b apartment!
The answer is vibes. Airbnbs and other short-term rentals were banned because it was bad vibes more than anything. At the time, it was very much in vogue. Airbnb was a clear villain, with a short-term "fix", whereas "we should upzone neighborhoods to build more housing" is not only a years long endeavor, but upzoning and development is always controversial.
edit:
Also, it's really easy to see what makes rent high - Manhattan aside, in Brooklyn and Queens it's usually based on distance to MTA.
Expand MTA - the biggest different in QoL between Manhattan and the other boroughs is that subway access in Brooklyn and Queens is very spotty. Vast parts of them have a 15-30 minute walk to get to the nearest MTA station. A lot of housing supply will be unlocked by MTA access.
One of the most disappointing parts of the Mamdani mayorship is he killed Queenslink. C'mon bro. May have died even with mayor support but like at least try to walk the walk on transit.
It's another frustrating example of bait and switch for the "obvious" thing rather than the "useful" thing. It pulls attention away from the real problems/solutions.
I'm not crying tears for Airbnb, but initiatives like this STOP the ones that might actually solve things because "oh well you're just protecting the corporations" becomes the attack.
I like this take from the r/neoliberal comments section:
I’d add to that that some of this stuff (like Mamdani’s proposed rent control tweaks, the NYS data center moratorium,
or the build-to-rent ban in the new housing law) is helpful in getting people to support more substantive, but also more contentious policy (like upzoning or by-right fourplexes).This is something that I wish more neoliberal types would accept. I'm sympathetic to the ideal of effective evidence-based government, but so many neoliberal types (or, at least, the ones who are vocal online) are frustratingly stubborn and seem to simply not care about winning.
Where was build-to-rent ban? Are you talking about the new housing bill from congress? Didn’t ban corporations owning preexisting single family houses but ALLOWED it when build to rent.
Fixed, I thought it was still in the passed bill.
I didn't see it mentioned in the article after a quick skim, but an important note is that AirBNB's were pretty locked down in NYC even before whatever this ban is. Short term rentals (i.e. AirBNB/Vrbo) are illegal in the city unless the host lives in the apartment, you don't get to rent out an apartment entirely to a guest, it has to be an apartment you live in (yes at the same time as the guest is there). I'm finding it hard to pin down a date, but I definitely remember this being the case in the late 2010s.
So when we say "ban", it's not a ban from "people using their apartments as hotel rooms via airbnb" to "no short term rentals at all", it's "people using a spare room in their apartment as a hotel room via airbnb" to I guess "no short term rentals at all".
I think that's an interesting point, and will likely make some difference, as will the fact that NYC continues to have more people wanting to move there, invest there, etc. It doesn't surprise me that that change didn't "solve" everything, and maybe the restrictive regs were enough (or maybe prices would be even higher without the change).
I will be curious to see the impact of similar bans in smaller cities and see if at lower volumes it's enough of a pressure valve. People in NYC will pay huge rents for closets, perhaps in alternative locations that trade off point is at a more reasonable (to me) equilibrium
The tone of this article is very confusing. The way it’s framed seems to be pro airbnb? As someone who lives in the area, I don’t think I’ve heard a single person complain about losing air bnbs. Hell, Jersey almost had a building with 100 apartments that was going to be 100% airbnbs and the city stopped it. No one locally wanted it. If there are no regulations, what’s to stop manhattan from just becoming 100% airbnbs and hotels decades from now? More and more towns in Jersey are removing short term rentals. Hoboken is one of the few embracing it and they are struggling with housing, parking and some insane flooding.
True, the tone is off maybe bc they intentionally didn’t want to focus on the issue. The fact that housing shortage is in relation to availability of space and if you don’t have new space you don’t have housing. Hoboken and NJ in general suffers from NIMBY a lot so that’s why Mount Laurel. Hoboken I think in addition to NJ NIMBY issues has the biggest problem of having NYC next door. It has nothing except location to make money on, property taxes are not going to cover it all so they need something else, location location is all they got. Ain’t nothing else, nobody going to Hoboken for bars, food or culture if you are visiting NYC.
Unsurprisingly, rent and hotel prices have only increased. I was fortunate enough to visit NYC early in 2023 and stayed at the Hyatt above Grand Central station and the price I paid for a room then was $180/night and now its like $280/night (for a room around a similar date in 2027 since I went in late winter/early spring). I've seen more dramatic increases elsewhere in the city too.
Rents increasing is to be expected given the slow upzoning and construction of new housing across the city and the US too. I would love to move to NYC some day but it's tough pill swallowing just how expensive rent can be in certain places. I know people in Long Island City in Queens paying $4k/mo for a 1b1b apartment!