Mayor Bill de Blasio filed the administration’s first lawsuit against apartments operating as illegal hotels.
Investigators charge that brothers Hamid Kermanshah and Abdolmajid Kermanshah — the owners of two residential buildings, one at 59 Fifth Avenue and one at 5 West 31st Street — allegedly violated fire regulations and building codes. City officials claim the pair rented out the units on apartment sharing websites such as Airbnb, according to the New York Daily News .
Earlier this week, the attorney general released a report that found that almost three quarters of Airbnb listings in the city are illegal.
Before the filing of the suit, the de Blasio administration had not yet taken a strong stance on the issue. [NYDN] — Claire Moses