The city is investigating a Manhattan apartment on Airbnb that became a nightmare for a California couple.
The Post reported last Sunday how talent agent Annette van Duren and her producer husband Alan Sacks were booted after just one night from a flat at 451 West 22nd St. in Chelsea for which they paid $2,081 for 10 days.
Their Thanksgiving holiday odyssey grew worse when they had to move to a price-gouging midtown hotel and failed to be fully reimbursed by Airbnb for the fiasco, they said.
A day after The Post’s expose, an official with the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, a task force that probes quality-of-life issues, reached out to the couple, they said.
“They wanted to know what the Airbnb listing and host IDs were,” said van Duren. “They also asked us to share copies of the reservation confirmation and other emails that were detailed in the Post article.
“The Mayor’s office … expressed concern about quality of life issues, which includes the numerous illegal Airbnbs throughout New York City,” she added.
The city would not comment on the couple’s specific case, but mayoral spokeswoman Melissa Grace said, “The City takes allegations of risky and illegal home-sharing seriously. We are very concerned about the impact on visitors and New Yorkers alike and encourage the public to call 311 when faced with potentially illegal short-term subletting.”
Gov. Cuomo signed a law on Oct. 21 that imposes fines of up to $7,500 for hosts posting short-term rentals. The renting of entire apartments for than less than 30 days has been illegal in New York City since 2010.
Despite the restrictions, Airbnb generates $1 billion in annual revenue in New York City.