600+ New Yorkers Urge NYC Council To Reject Airbnb-Backed Bills Ahead of Rushed Hearing

NEW YORK, NY (11/20/2025) (readMedia)-- Today, ahead of the NYC Council's Housing Committee hearing, more than 600 New Yorkers rallied outside City Hall to demand the Council reject Intro 1107 and Intro 948 - two Airbnb-backed bills that would worsen our housing crisis and take thousands of homes from New Yorkers. Despite Airbnb using deceptive tactics to try and convince lawmakers that these bills will help small homeowners, a new report clearly demonstrates that these measures will raise rents and home prices while displacing the very working class families Airbnb claims to be protecting.

Airbnb spent millions lying to New Yorkers so they can pass their dangerous legislation before a new Council and Mayor can stop them. Now, New Yorkers are urging Council Members to stand strong and reject Airbnb's eleventh hour attempt to roll back our housing laws for their profit.

Watch a recording of the event here.

View images from the event here.

Following the rally, an overwhelming majority of New Yorkers are testifying at the Council's hearing against Airbnb's dangerous bills. Speakers who will testify in-person against Airbnb's bills include: 32BJ SEIU, Arc of Justice, Central Labor Council, Churches United for Fair Housing, Coalition Against Illegal Hotels, Community Service Society, Communities Resist, Housing Conservation Coordinators, Hotel & Gaming Trades Council, Inside Airbnb, Insurance Information Institute, Legal Aid, Met Council, Met Council on Housing, New York Communities for Change, Tenants PAC, Tenants and Neighbors, Uniformed Fire Officers Association, the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board and more.

Airbnb knows these bills are toxic, which is why they are pretending they would help working families. But according to a new report from the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), by weakening short-term rental regulations and carving out exemptions for one- and two-unit buildings, Intros 948 and 1107 would significantly raise rents, increase speculation, drive up home prices, and displace Black and low-income tenants – who disproportionately live in the one and two bedroom rentals that are the most vulnerable to short-term rental conversions. Read the full report here.

"New York City is already facing a massive housing affordability crisis, which research has shown is due in large part to a shortage of available rental units. We simply can't afford to take more housing units offline and convert them into short-term stays for tourists," said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. "I urge the City Council to reject AirBnB's end-of-term lobbying, and stay focused on growing the housing supply rather than shrinking it."

"New York City is in the midst of an unprecedented affordable housing crisis that has left countless families dangling on the sharp edge of poverty and homelessness. We must meet this moment by making transformative investments in the growth of our housing stock, but these pieces of legislation endanger that growth and threaten to take thousands of rental homes off the market, all while worsening displacement amongst communities of color." said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. "I urge the City Council to reject Intros 948-A and 1107-A, and instead continue to work across the five boroughs to preserve housing and improve oversight of the short-term rental industry."

"It has taken nearly two decades to implement the right policies for New York City to beat back the scourge of illegal hotels that exacerbated the housing crisis, displaced residents, and endangered communities, but these bills threaten to undo that progress. At a time when affordability should be our watchword, these bills would take critical housing units away from everyday New Yorkers and serve them up on a silver platter to hedge fund speculators and the billionaires running Airbnb, raising rents and home prices for everyone else. I urge the Council in the strongest terms to reject these unaffordable bills," said Senator Liz Krueger.

"For years, I have championed and passed legislation to protect our shrinking affordable housing supply from the illegal proliferation of short-term rentals," said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan), Chair of the New York State Assembly Committee on Housing. "Unfortunately, New York City Council Intros. 948-A and 1107-A undo much of that progress, leaving large swaths of our affordable housing stock vulnerable to speculators and deep-pocketed investors. In 2022, the New York City Council stood on the side of affordability by requiring that all home-sharing hosts be present when renting their units on a short-term basis. I urge the City Council to ensure that New Yorkers, not corporate interests, have the opportunity to lay down roots in our neighborhoods by upholding that common-sense law."

Since the implementation of Local Law 18, Airbnb has unsuccessfully spent millions to fund pro-Airbnb candidates and push legislation that would roll back regulations on short-term rentals and undermine tenant protections. After failing to pass Intro 1107, they are now pivoting to an even more extreme version of the anti-tenant, anti-housing bill the Council already rejected. Airbnb's new bill, Intro 948-A, includes everything in the old bill and goes even further by removing the host requirement for Airbnbs and changing the definition of a family under the city's housing code.

At the same time that Airbnb is exploiting the concerns of marginalized New Yorkers, Airbnb is cozying up with Trump and MAGA Republicans who are attacking the same communities they claim to support. The company donated over $3 million to Trump and MAGA Republicans, while their leadership has referred to immigrants as "criminals" and openly worked with the Trump administration.

"The New York City Council must reject Airbnb's anti-tenant legislation. The company's proposed bills would drive up rent, allow the wealthy to buy up our apartments, and push everyday New Yorkers out of their communities," said State Senator Julia Salazar. "If successful, Airbnb would turn people's homes into short term hotels. Our homes are for New Yorkers to live in, not for corporations to pad their bottom lines."

"New York City is facing a historic housing crisis that we are only just starting to get under control. Airbnb's proposals would set us back, turning every neighborhood into a playground for rich tourists and private equity interests while the rest of us suffer the consequences. The Council should stand with residents and reject these dangerous bills," said Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest.

"New York is in a housing crisis," said Assembly Member Harvey Epstein. "Intro. 1107 could take tens of thousands of permanent homes off the market for tenants. I join the Tenants Not Tourists Coalition in opposing this legislation".

Background

Airbnb's proposed bills – Intros 948 and 1107 – would effectively dismantle Local Law 18, which the New York City Council voted to adopt in 2021 to better regulate the short-term rental market and crack down on predatory short-term rental platforms. Local Law 18 specifically requires short-term rental hosts to register with the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement (OSE), and prohibits booking service platforms like Airbnb from processing transactions for unregistered short-term rentals.

Despite Airbnb's baseless claims, the law has been a success and empowered the City to enforce existing housing laws. Since it went into effect, Local Law 18 has led to a dramatic decrease in short-term rental listings - many of which have since been filled again by long-term tenants.