New York City’s Airbnb Crackdown Under Local Law 18 Fails To Ease Housing Crisis As Travel Demand Surges: Hotels Thrive In Manhattan And Outer Boroughs

Published on September 8, 2025

New York City’s eager enforcement of Local Law 18, designed to curb unregulated short-term rentals for illustration those connected Airbnb, has concluded its 2nd year—yet nan lodging shortage remains unresolved. Despite removing tens of thousands of listings from nan market, nan expected benefits to rental readiness and affordability person not materialized. What has changed: less disruptive guests successful residential buildings and boosted edifice room demand. But pinch vacancy rates astatine historical lows and median rent soaring—especially successful Manhattan, now nearing $4,700—the city’s lodging situation endures. The crackdown whitethorn person guided visitors toward accepted hospitality and improved vicinity livability, but it falls short of delivering alleviation for renters. This heavy dive examines nan data, authorities actions, tourism impacts, and what it intends for New York’s early of lodging and travel.

Local Law 18’s Enforcement and Impact

Local Law 18, introduced successful 2022 and actively enforced since September 2023, requires hosts offering short-term rentals to registry pinch nan metropolis and stay coming during immoderate impermanent stays. Platforms specified arsenic Airbnb must forestall bookings from unregistered hosts, aliases look fines. As a result, much than 14,000 buildings person been added to nan prohibited list, and complete 3,000 big registrations person been officially approved by nan Office of Special Enforcement.

The rule specifically targeted listings that violated nan longstanding prohibition connected renting retired full apartments for less than 30 days. This was seen arsenic a awesome displacement successful nan city’s attack to combating forbidden rentals, giving regulators nan devices they lacked successful erstwhile years.

Listings Plummet but Long-Term Rentals Don’t Rise

Following enforcement, nan number of short-term rental listings successful New York City dropped dramatically, pinch immoderate platforms seeing an 80–90% simplification almost overnight. While this initially seemed for illustration a triumph for nan lodging market, grounds suggests that galore of nan delisted units person not returned to nan accepted rental pool.

Instead, immoderate spot owners shifted to offering 30-day aliases longer stays, avoiding nan law’s restrictions while maintaining a grade of flexibility. Others person kept their properties vacant for individual aliases seasonal use. As a result, nan expected summation successful disposable semipermanent lodging has not materialized successful immoderate measurable way.

Rising Rents and Persistent Housing Pressure

Despite nan removal of tens of thousands of short-term rental units, New York City’s lodging proviso remains highly tight. In July 2025, Manhattan’s residential vacancy complaint hovered adjacent grounds lows astatine 2.45%, while median rent climbed to an all-time precocious of $4,700 per month.

These figures propose that different factors, including precocious request and insufficient caller construction, play a much ascendant domiciled successful nan city’s lodging crisis. The short-term rental restrictions person not meaningfully shifted nan affordability scenery for astir residents.

City’s First Legal Action and Ongoing Monitoring

The metropolis has begun enforcing Local Law 18 pinch ineligible consequences, including its first suit against an unregistered host. Fines tin scope up to 3 times nan gross earned from forbidden rentals. The Office of Special Enforcement has besides issued warnings to hundreds of hosts, indicating an ongoing strategy to show and penalize noncompliance.

This ineligible model marks a displacement successful enforcement, moving from reactive complaints to proactive compliance checks and penalties. While this has improved quality-of-life issues successful galore neighborhoods, it hasn’t straight improved lodging access.

Hotels Reap nan Benefits, Outer Boroughs Feel nan Loss

The simplification successful short-term rentals has redirected request toward accepted hotels, which person seen a surge successful occupancy and revenue. Hotel owners, peculiarly successful Manhattan, person benefitted from reduced title and rising nightly rates. In July 2025, nan mean complaint for a edifice room successful New York reached $283, up 7% from 2 years ago.

However, outer boroughs for illustration Queens and Brooklyn, which antecedently relied connected Airbnb bookings for tourism-driven income, person knowledgeable a downturn. Local businesses, from cafés to car services, person reported reduced ft postulation and spending. The absence of neighborhood-based accommodations has shifted tourer dollars backmost toward midtown and downtown Manhattan.

Policy Debates and nan Political Future of Short-Term Rentals

The statement astir Local Law 18 continues, particularly arsenic governmental momentum builds up of upcoming metropolis elections. While lodging advocates and edifice unions support nan existent rules for protecting semipermanent lodging banal and workers’ rights, Airbnb has accrued its lobbying efforts to revise aliases soften nan regulations.

Airbnb’s projected changes would let definite homeowners—such arsenic those successful one- aliases two-family homes—to rent retired properties for less than 30 days without being physically present. Supporters reason that this would thief middle-income homeowners spend their mortgages. Opponents interest it would reopen nan doorway to wide portion nonaccomplishment successful high-demand neighborhoods.

With nan 2026 World Cup finals expected to tie a surge of world visitors to adjacent New Jersey, nan mobility of really New York accommodates travelers—without sacrificing lodging for residents—has taken connected renewed urgency.

What This Means for Travelers and Residents

While nan crackdown connected short-term rentals has improved vicinity stableness and boosted edifice revenues, it hasn’t delivered nan affordable lodging benefits that galore had hoped for. For tourists, this intends less home-share options and higher edifice costs. For residents, rents stay unaffordable, and nan rental proviso remains critically limited.

What’s clear is that lodging argumentation successful cities for illustration New York cannot trust connected enforcement alone. Broader strategies—such arsenic expanding lodging construction, incentivizing semipermanent leasing, and preserving affordability—are needed to make a lasting impact.