VIDEO: Airbnb Is Just a Charity for Struggling Real Estate Moguls, Says New Ad
The city’s fight against Airbnb continues to rage on, and this latest video created by ShareBetter jabs at the home-sharing company’s gross neglect when it comes to preserving much-needed affordable housing. Satirically dubbed “Save the Moguls,” the 60-second spot likens the multi-billion dollar powerhouse to a charity trying to being relief to the anguish that real estate bigwigs face when it comes to sustaining their extravagant lifestyles. “What would you do if you saw a real estate mogul right in front of you, all alone, clearly suffering?” the video posits. “They need your help to keep the sharing economy alive. By renting out just one of the hundreds of apartments and homes they’ve listed on Airbnb, you can join the fight against affordable housing.”
Recent research shows that more than 58 percent of the site’s listings are illegal. And according to the video, nearly 40 percent of revenue generated by Airbnb goes to moguls and not the average New Yorker it claims to be benefitting (as seen in their ads plastered across NYC). Airbnb has increasingly provided a vehicle for commercial landlords to force out long-time tenants in order to make way for unlawful listings that generate them millions of dollars in revenue.
[Via ANIMAL NY]
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Go ahead and laugh at the ad, BUT short term apartment rentals help students, scholars and travelers afford to fully immerse themselves in a neighborhood. Paris is learning the hard way that shutting down short term rentals does not automatically increase affordable housing stock. It just means that foreign investors and corporations snap up these spaces rather than leaving them in private hands. Then they stand empty and unused. And frankly, hotels are not a viable option for those of us who want to stay in one place for longer than a few days. Not only are hotels prohibitively expensive, but they lack amenities like washers and kitchen facilities. I’m all for affordable housing, but shutting down short term rentals only means I’m stuck in my apartment with a useless sabbatical.