New York City doesn’t have enough hotel rooms for hordes of visitors coming to this summer’s FIFA World Cup and should suspend the current restrictions on Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms, business leaders told Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin on Friday.
Groups including the Partnership for New York City and chambers of commerce for all five boroughs say the city must pause its short-term rental laws from June 1 to July 31 so more people can stay in the Big Apple during the games — along with celebrations for the country’s 250th anniversary and Fleet Week.
The groups said throngs of visitors expected to come for the special events won’t be able to land bookings at the city’s roughly 135,000 hotel rooms, where “occupancy already hovers near 97%.”
“Without additional capacity, hotel prices will surge beyond the reach of working families, spending will leak to New Jersey and the suburbs, and neighborhoods hosting events across the outer boroughs — where only 20% of hotel rooms are located — will see visitors but capture none of the overnight economic impact,” states a letter the business groups wrote the elected.
“New York will project to the world that it cannot manage the logistics of hospitality at the very moment it is hosting the planet’s biggest stage.”
The mayor’s office did not comment on the letter but said the administration will meet with business leaders next week to hear out their concerns ahead of the World Cup.
Menin did not immediately answer requests for comment.
While home-sharing apps are not technically banned in New York City, the business leaders noted “almost nobody uses them because city laws say the owner has to stay in the apartment with you.”
The 2023 short term rental law – aimed at stays of less than 30 days – decimated Airbnb and the rest of the short-term rental market in New York City.
It limits the number of guests per booking to two and requires hosts to register with the city or face hefty fines.
Airbnb has spent millions on lobbying efforts to overturn or loosen the regulations. The San Francisco-based company blames the Hotel Association of New York City and the powerful hotel union for the stringent rules.
The law’s backers have said home-sharing apps like Airbnb made homes less affordable by taking units off the market.
The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce launched a digital campaign and petition to drive support for a temporary reprieve for short-term rentals.
“Act Now, NYC! Or our sales will go to New Jersey this summer,” the group warns.
About 1.2 million visitors are expected to converge on the region for eight World Cup games at MetLife Stadium, the letter states.
Another 6 million visitors are expected for events around the 250th anniversary of the country, with which Fleet Week will coincide this year.
But there’s plenty of space, according to Vijay Dandapani, chief executive of the Hotel Association of New York City, who said claims of too few hotel rooms are an “absolute falsity and a red herring.”
“The letter is untethered to any facts and is a propaganda piece put out by Airbnb with the chambers carrying their water,” he told The Post.
FIFA has actually been “canceling room blocks” in New York City because there is not enough demand, he added.
FIFA did not immediately answer a request for comment.
Airbnb is a member of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, whose chief executive Jessica Walker testified at the City Council last week.
“We are recommending a narrowly tailored suspension of the short-term rental ban for the World Cup window,” she said. “This costs the city nothing, while preventing the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars from leaking out of the city.”
Walker told The Post, “People see this is as a reasonable request that is meant to be temporary and have guardrails,” adding that “it’s clear who who we represent: small businesses.”
New Orleans, Kansas City, several southern California cities and other locales have changed their short-term rental restrictions in order to accommodate major events, the new letter stated.
