New York City poised to join Airbnb crackdown

politico.com

33 pointsmlthoughts20183 comments

This is only tangentially related, but I'm reflecting on how much these services like Airbnb intersect. E.g. I was standing outside my Airbnb waiting for my Turo car and UberEats order to show up. When one service like these is used, how likely is it that someone would use others? I'm not really sure how to call them as a group, though. Often Uber is said to be part of the gig economy, though Airbnb doesn't quite fit that, at least completely, but they still seem connected.

They all start with the idea of monetizing an underused resource (cars, houses, curbsides) with a novel business model whose goal is to dance around existing laws.

I don't know of a word that captures what feels like an arbitrage-ish assault on our law books. Without knowing that word I can only suggest something too generalized like organized crime economy

Houses aren't "underused" in many cities on Earth, there's simply a huge price discrepancy between hotels and Airbnb/residential rent. My landlord kicked me out[1] simply saying he's going to use it as an Airbnb instead. Even if he only rented it a few days a week it would be far more profitable, it was rough personally but I don't blame the guy. Holiday season garners absurd amounts in that area and would make a months worth of rent in a matter of days.

[1] No grounds eviction is completely legal in Sydney/NSW.

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