According to city records, the five-story building near the East River in Manhattan houses eight residential apartments atop the doctor’s office.
But city inspectors in recent years have noticed people carrying suitcases in and out of the building. On one occasion, five guests told the inspectors that they were from Italy. They said they booked a six-day stay for over $3,000.
In a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, New York City officials asserted that the building was in fact one of the largest illegal hotel operations available to visitors over the past year.
The lawsuit is first person submitted by the city for the purpose of a short-term rental program identified through a new law that requires services like Airbnb to regularly report some information about hosts and transactions.
And it is at the latest in a year efforts by the city to stop illegal short-term rentals, which officials in many US cities say exacerbate housing shortages by serving tourists instead of residents.
New York State law primarily prohibits rentals of apartments for less than 30 days in the absence of the landlord. And New York City officials have imposed several restrictions on rentals for years.
But thousands of homes that appear to be breaking the rules continue to be listed on the companies’ platforms.
Mayor Eric Adams said the city is likely to bring additional lawsuits to force landlords to follow rules aimed at mitigating the housing crisis and supporting the hospitality industry, which has capital struggled during the pandemic.
“We’re not going to let the bad guys, regardless of their attitudes, they’re not going to deplete the housing supply and the industry,” Mr. Adams said at a news conference outside the building on East 51st Street and 1st Avenue. our hotel area.
The investigation found that the operators advertised the apartments through Airbnb and other online listing services, raking in about $2 million between 2018 and 2022 from visitors, and in violation of a law that states that the apartments in the building must be permanent residences, according to the lawsuit.
Inspectors also discovered faulty fire alarm systems and sprinklers, among other problems with the building.
Adams and other city officials also said the building’s owner and a realtor operating the operation repeatedly ignored violations brought by city inspectors.
The lawsuit, seeking a court order to shut down operations, was filed against Arron Latimer, a real estate broker; Apex East Management, the owner of the building; and Esther Yip, Apex’s managing agent.
Mr Latimer did not respond to a request for comment. One woman contacted by phone and identified herself as Ms. Yip said she was unaware of the lawsuit and needed time to understand the allegations.
Nathan Rotman, Airbnb’s regional head of public policy, praised the city Tuesday for “acting quickly against illegal hotel operators who were following the rules.”
Eliminating illegal short-term rentals will only alleviate the city’s housing shortage. But those rentals are still a source of friction between the city and companies like Airbnb.
In 2018, Airbnb sued New York City after the lawsuit try to force Airbnb and other platforms to share more host data, resulting in a settlement in June 2020.
The city says the lawsuit filed Tuesday is the product of an agreement reached in that settlement, in which Airbnb began sending some information about servers and transactions to the city.
Christian Klossner, executive director of the mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, which has directed investigations into illegal hotels, said that his office estimates about 13,000 Airbnb listings. Illegal short-term homes are regularly rented, based on data provided by Airbnb. and city-specific analysis.
That number has dropped in recent years, especially as the travel pandemic hits New York City, which has long been one of Airbnb’s most important markets.
Officials expect the number of illegal rental listings to drop further. Last year, the city passed a bill for the first time requiring landlords to register before renting a home for a period of less than 30 days.
The bill, which goes into effect January 2023, mirrors regulations in other cities, including Boston and Santa Monica, California.
Mr. Latimer is accused in the lawsuit of using more than two dozen fake hosting server accounts to advertise various rental services. The city estimates more than 6,500 guests stayed at the rental properties he runs between 2018 and 2022.
Klossner said the city was able to match the account information of several different master accounts to target Mr. Latimer. He said the city believes Mr. Latimer is still operating and advertising illegal rentals through other websites.
Mr. Rotman, of Airbnb, said in a statement on Tuesday that the company issued a cease-and-desist letter “several months ago” to operators of the illegal listings that were the subject of the lawsuit.
He said Airbnb wants to work with the city and state “to distinguish between responsible service providers who need protection under the law and those who operate properties like these, who have no position on our platform.”
