Even if your lease allowed you to sublet, the short term whole apartment rentals when the owner is not present that Airbnb does are illegal in NY anyway. The only way to do that legally is to have a bed and breakfast license from the state. Next time you look for an Airbnb in NYC, see if that's mentioned in the listing.
My building in a popular area of NYC does not allow sublet, and specifically calls out AirBnB as well. Given that, I would estimate 15-20% of the units in the building are now full-time AirBnB rentals. The suspicion I've had in the back of my head, that AirBnB "businesses" are driving up rents, is gaining momentum.