Airbnb is trying to claw its way back into New York City’s short term rental market by injecting $1 million into what’s been framed as a grassroots movement of homeowners who want to rent out their one- or two-family homes.
The online rental company suffered an embarrassing defeat in fall 2023 when the City Council passed a law that imposed strict regulations on home-sharing, forcing Airbnb to remove from its site tens of thousands of Big Apple rentals at the time and sending traditional hotel rates soaring.
Local Law 18 requires hosts to be present when guests are home, but Airbnb’s covert lobbying supports a new bill from Councilmember Farah Louis and supported by Speaker Adrienne Adams that would upend that.
The new bill would allow short term rentals when the owner is not physically present in one or two-family homes.
Some critics say Airbnb is pumping money into group’s to fabricate a grassroots movement that doesn’t exist.
“I don’t think most people who own one- and two-family homes want to see this kind of activity in their neighborhoods,” Michael McKee, treasurer of the Tenants PAC told The Post Tuesday. “We’ve certainly seen no broad evidence of that.”
The billion-dollar tech company buried their lobbying expenses in other coalitions or nonprofits that support the legislative changes Airbnb is after, a move known as an “astroturf” campaign, McKee said.
For example, Airbnb spent nearly $400,000 to a coalition called Communities for Homeowner Choice, a lobbying organization started this past February.
Airbnb is the sole funder of Communities for Homeowner Choice, according to lobbying reports filed with the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government and obtained by The Post. But the group has no contact information on its website and hasn’t posted on any of its social media accounts in six months
“I do not believe there’s a real grassroots movement. I don’t think there are thousands of homeowners who want to do this,” McKee said.
There was no contact information listed on the website for Communities for Homeowner Choice and no one immediately responded to a Facebook message.
Restore Homeowners Autonomy and Rights is another supposed grassroots group supported only by Airbnb — but a spokesperson said their membership goes much deeper.
RHOAR’s website says they are a group of New York City homeowners who want to restore their right to short term rental of their homes.
The group spent $600,000 on an ad campaign targeting the City Council since May, and Airbnb is listed as the sole funder of RHOAR, according to lobbying records filed with the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government.
Both RHOAR and Communities for Homeowner Choice have paid Bamberger & Vlasto Strategies, a political consulting firm, to handle advertising campaigns and lobbying, according to records obtained by The Post.
A spokesperson at RHOAR who gave her name as Gia S. told The Post the group has over 600 members.
“To come together to advocate, we have private message groups containing about 450 members that are active daily where we discuss this and other homeowner issues and create advocacy initiatives, along with virtual town halls to make attendance easier for our members,” Gia said.
Airbnb’s policy director Nathan Rotman told The Post Airbnb’s support of the groups was not meant to be hidden.
“We’ve never hidden the fact that we support the hosts who are advocating for these changes,” Rotman said. “That’s nothing new or unusual for us to do.”
Rotman also said Airbnb supports the amendment to Local Law 18 because it would empower certain homeowners to make extra money renting out their home while they are not there “like every other major city all over North America and all over the world.
“This law will allow people to rent out their home when they’re away for a weekend, when they’re on vacation, and when they want to make some extra money,” Rotman said.
