The short-term apartment-rental Web site Airbnb — which is under legal fire from New York officials — claims the city benefits big time financially from the service.
The Web site claims that over the past year, it has generated $632 million in economic activity in New York, even though short-term apartment rentals in residential buildings are illegal.
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has already subpoenaed Airbnb’s data on 15,000 host users in New York City as part of an investigation into illegal short-term rentals.
But Airbnb is “working with leaders in New York and Albany to fix a law that shouldn’t apply to regular people who want to share their homes,” according to a spokesman for the Web site.
In fact, 62 percent of all Airbnb apartment hosts said the extra cash they earned helped them keep their homes, the site claims.
Generous New Yorkers also used Airbnb to rent out their homes for free or at steep discount to fellow New Yorkers left homeless because of Hurricane Sandy, according to the site.
As for tourists who pay to stay in New Yorkers’ homes, they spend more money than those who stay in hotels, said Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky.
Airbnb commissioned a study that found 87 percent of people who rent out their homes on the site are middle-income earners who use the extra cash — an average of $7,530 per year — to help make ends meet.
Airbnb guests also paid about $31 million in sales taxes to New York City and state while visiting from August 2012 to July 2013, according to the study.
The study also found that half of all Airbnb hosts are freelance workers and students.
Airbnb users on average rent apartments for about 6.4 nights, compared to 3.9 nights for hotel guests, and spend $880 compared to $690 for average New York visitors.