{"id":789097,"date":"2026-05-11T16:23:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T16:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/789097\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T16:23:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T16:23:17","slug":"airbnb-enlists-al-sharpton-in-fight-against-mamdanis-short-term-rental-crackdown-in-nyc-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/789097\/","title":{"rendered":"Airbnb enlists Al Sharpton in fight against Mamdani\u2019s short-term rental crackdown in NYC: report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Airbnb is reportedly launching a political war on Mayor Zohran Mamdani over New York City\u2019s crackdown on short-term rentals<\/a> \u2014 enlisting Rev. Al Sharpton and other influential black leaders in a bid to loosen restrictions ahead of next month\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n

The home-sharing giant has hosted town halls and outreach events in Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and Jamaica, Queens, as part of an aggressive campaign to roll back the city\u2019s strict short-term rental rules, the New York Times reported Monday<\/a> .<\/p>\n

Airbnb is framing its services as an economic lifeline for black homeowners who want to rent rooms during major tourism events, especially with more than 1 million visitors expected in the region for the World Cup.<\/a><\/p>\n

Rev. Al Sharpton has joined Airbnb\u2019s push to loosen New York City\u2019s strict short-term rental rules ahead of next year\u2019s World Cup. Getty Images for The Met Museum\/Vogue<\/p>\n

The Hotel and Gaming Trades Council repping city hotel workers has long been seen as a key force preventing Airbnb from taking root in the Big Apple. City law bars short-term rentals of less than 30 days unless the host is on premises \u2014 effectively banning Airbnb \u2014 though a proposed City Council bill would loosen the regulations.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have always been supportive of the hotel workers\u2019 union, but there is, in this particular case, unintended consequences, and that is black homeowners,\u201d Sharpton told the Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho are we protecting when the hotels are not sold out and people cannot rent rooms in their homes right there in Southeast Queens?\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Sharpton has personally asked Council Speaker Julie Menin to help ease black homeowners\u2019 ability to offer short-term rentals, according to the Times. A coalition of over a dozen black religious leaders reportedly echoed the request in a May 1 letter to the Manhattan Dem, who has clashed with Mamdani several times since he took office<\/a>. The hotel workers\u2019 union backed her bid for the speakership, the Times noted.<\/p>\n

Since a reported $900,000 lobbying effort failed to bear fruit, Airbnb has been going on a charm offensive \u2014 sponsoring events, giving away 1,000 free World Cup tickets to young soccer players in Queens and opening a new soccer pitch in the Bronx, according to the Times.<\/p>\n

Airbnb told The Post that nearly three years after the city enacted the short-term rental crackdown, \u201crent is higher than ever and virtually no additional housing has been added to the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe broad and diverse coalition of outer-borough leaders leading the fight for modest changes to the law know that homeowners deserve every shot at making additional income right now,\u201d the company added, saying reforms it\u2019s backing \u201cwould do just that without impacting New York renters.\u201d<\/p>\n

The push puts Airbnb on a collision course with democratic socialist Mamdani, who inherited the city\u2019s short-term rental law but has so far rejected efforts to change it<\/a>. Airbnb attacked him during last year\u2019s mayoral election, though the hotel workers\u2019 union didn\u2019t endorse him, the Times noted.<\/p>\n

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has resisted calls to ease New York City\u2019s Airbnb restrictions despite pressure tied to the World Cup. William Farrington for NY Post<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the mayor told the Times that easing the rules would worsen the housing crunch and turn apartments into \u201cinvestment opportunities for predatory actors looking to cash in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The battle has exposed growing political tensions between City Hall, organized labor and some black homeowners frustrated by the inability to legally rent out rooms or apartments for short stays.<\/p>\n

The hotel workers\u2019 union has long argued that Airbnb removes housing from the market and contributes to rising rents and displacement in working-class neighborhoods. It has reportedly been trying to counter Airbnb\u2019s outreach to black clergy by building alliances with pastors and housing advocates opposed to expanding short-term rentals.<\/p>\n

Rev. Robert Waterman, president of the African American Clergy and Elected Officials organization, blasted Airbnb to the Times.<\/p>\n

Airbnb is ramping up lobbying and outreach efforts in New York as it seeks to loosen the city\u2019s short-term rental crackdown. Christopher Sadowski<\/p>\n

\u201cShort-term rentals are driving up housing costs and contributing to displacement in black communities that have already endured generations of disinvestment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Under one proposal that\u2019s yet to gain traction at the City Council, owners of single-family homes would be allowed to offer rentals without the hosts being present for less than 30 days. The city\u2019s limit on guests would also be lifted, from two to four.<\/p>\n

The bill has few sponsors and would not take effect until six months after passage, making it too late to impact the World Cup, the Times noted<\/p>\n

Still, the head of a prominent historically black church in Brooklyn voiced support of reform.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack homeowners deserve the opportunity to make extra income as our city faces an extraordinary affordability crisis and an exodus among our community being priced out. That\u2019s why black leaders are coming together to lead a grassroots fight to reform our short-term rental laws,\u201d\u00a0 Rev. Dr. Adolphus C. Lacey, senior pastor of Bethany Baptist Church, told The Post in a statement.<\/p>\n

The Post has sought comment from Airbnb, Mamdani, Menin, Sharpton and the hotel workers\u2019 union.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Airbnb is reportedly launching a political war on Mayor Zohran Mamdani over New York City\u2019s crackdown on short-term…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":789098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[17053,21072,5229,64,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,21490,5301],"class_list":{"0":"post-789097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-airbnb","9":"tag-al-sharpton","10":"tag-america","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkcity","16":"tag-ny","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa","24":"tag-world-cup","25":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116556871053280547","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}