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NYC landlords racked up almost $300K in fines amid illegal hotel crackdown
Hank Fried's Branic International Realty was fined $55,000, the biggest fine in July
New York landlords accused of illegally leasing short-term rentals were hit with almost $300,000 in fines in July.
As part of the city’s crackdown on illegal short term rentals, where landlords convert residential units and rent them out on a nightly basis, the city issued 43 violations against landlords for using apartments at 11 buildings, totaling $285,375 in fines, according to Commercial Observer.
The city said the single largest offender was Hank Freid‘s Branic International Realty Co., which was issued with $55,000 in fines after he allegedly transformed 2690 Broadway, a residential building on the Upper West Side, into the Marrakech Hotel.
The crackdown is backed by the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement (OSE) which has received an extra $2.9 million and doubled its staffing to 32 employees.
Airbnb recently rebuked the city after it subpoenaed records for info on thousands of the home-sharing website’s users in Hell’s Kitchen, as part of an ongoing $1 million lawsuit. The city is requesting records related to 76 account holders who used the website to list apartments in seven buildings on West 47th Street owned by landlord Big Apple Management. [CO] — David Jeans