LETTER TO THE EDITOR

In response to "Hoping for Pay Dirt on Super Bowl Weekend," Jan. 30

I was very surprised to see your cover article about the renting out of apartments for the Super Bowl weekend mainly emphasizing the use of AirBnB and Craigslist with absolutely no regard or mention that such activities are mostly against the law in New York. Like prostitution and drug dealing, renting out apartments to transients can be illegal, dangerous, immoral and insidious. That should have been explored in detail, if you were responsibly presenting this subject and were exposing the issues involved.

Regulated tenants (stabilize or controlled) are not allowed to rent their apartments in this manner. Most co-ops and condos have strict rules forbidding such transient rentals for safety and usage concerns.

You irresponsibly and unabashedly gave promotion for something which is (1) against the law and (2) a lot of people really see as a threat and invasion of our community. As a resident in an apartment building, I certainly DO NOT want strangers easily gaining access to the premises.

The desperate need for affordable housing in New York and the preservation of that dwindling stock, never mind the almost fruitless efforts to create more affordable housing for the middle and working classes, is seriously, and I mean SERIOUSLY threatened by a whole range of unscrupulous landlords, developers and parasites who will utilize services like AirBnB to oust or replace more city residents to make even more money in short term rentals than full time residents can afford.

You did a great disservice to New York residents by promoting an idea and activity that on the surface may sound cute or novel, but which has terrible unintended side effects and actually does damage by adding burdens to the most difficult problem for average New York residents: affordable. I hope you will try a lot harder to get in touch with the lives of real New Yorkers and their day-to-day concerns.

Sincerely,

Edward Maloney

E. 80th St.