I know the difficulties New Yorkers face. I was born in Brownsville, one of the lowest income neighborhoods in New York City. Because I grew up watching my neighbors struggle to put food on the table and make rent each month, I vowed to live my life in service to making our great city more affordable for all New Yorkers.
I won my first New York City Council race on the promise to address affordable housing. At the time, there was growing concern, voiced by tenant groups, housing advocates, and yes, the hotel industry, that platforms like Airbnb were worsening an already severe housing shortage. Many of my constituents feared displacement, and I took those concerns seriously and voted to rein in short-term rentals.
Research available when I was a City Council member suggested that in predominantly Black neighborhoods, the economic benefits of home-sharing were not reaching longtime residents. As someone committed to protecting Black communities from gentrification and inequity, those findings carried weight. My colleagues and I acted out of an abundance of caution to protect tenants and preserve affordable housing.
Two years after Local Law 18 took effect, the results speak for themselves: the law has hurt homeowners without easing the housing crisis. Illegal hotels have been closed and platforms have complied, but rents remain out of reach and vacancies are few.
The fact is that while New York City has one of the strictest short-term rental regulations in the world, many of our working families are still struggling to stay in their homes. Governments around the globe should take note of the cautionary tale our city has provided and the unintentional harm this law has caused.
I have heard from Black and Latino homeowners across the outer boroughs who say the law has hurt them financially. For families in one- and two-family homes, renting a unit occasionally was not about making a profit, it was about covering the mortgage, keeping their property, and holding onto generational stability.
During my time in public service, I learned that powerful interests, from hotels to developers, will always find ways to advance their own agendas. In fact, some developers built hotels in low-income communities not to welcome tourists at all, but to skirt zoning rules and later convert those properties into emergency shelters.
True equity comes from centering the voices of everyday New Yorkers, not letting those with the most resources dictate outcomes. Today, those voices are clear: Black and Brown homeowners across the outer boroughs are asking leaders to restore a tool that helps them keep their homes.
The impact of Local Law 18 on New York families is why I now support amending the city’s short-term rental rules. While we should never return to the days of illegal hotels or corporate operators exploiting loopholes, we must find a balance to protect tenants and preserve affordability. I support amending Local Law 18 because responsible, owner-occupant homeowners should be allowed to financially benefit from sharing their home.
My entire career has revolved around making housing more accessible to New Yorkers. Prior to being elected to the New York City Council, I served as a senior advisor to the NYC Housing Authority. And after my time on the City Council, I was appointed by President Joe Biden to serve in the Department of Housing and Urban Development as regional administrator for Region II, which includes New York and New Jersey.
From all of this time spent serving New Yorkers, I have found that there is no single policy that will fix the housing crisis we currently face but we must continue to try to find solutions.
Leadership means delivering for our communities who need us most and protecting them from corporate interests. That’s what we thought we were doing when we passed Local Law 18 and now it’s what we must do by amending this law that has caused so much unintended harm.
I implore the City Council to update the city’s short-term rental rules so New Yorkers can provide for their families and stay rooted in their neighborhoods. I also encourage other public servants to learn from New York City and pass short-term rental legislation that balances punishing bad actors with allowing homeowners to share their home with guests responsibly.
Ampry-Samuel is former City Council member from Brooklyn and a former HUD regional administrator.
