[gumby]

He’s whistling past the graveyard, as I suppose he should be. As others have commented, Airbnb was never enough to move the needle on hotel prices in NY anyway.

But they did move the needle on quality of life for people who live there, which is whom the government represents. Historically it’s the visitors who get soaked everywhere (car rental fees at airport, hotel visitor taxes and of course Cheesecake Factory in Times Square). The sheer mass of these charges in NY are another reason why Airbnb had no impact on costs.

[Simulacra]

If not then why is the city and hotel industry fighting so hard to shut them down? Airbnb was competition.

[gumby]

I believe the real pressure is coming from city residents who don't like having an ABNB nearby or object to the reduction of rentable apartments, while the hotels are just piling in on the scrum.