Tenants Not Tourists

Throughout 2025, CUFFH Action has served on the steering committee of the Tenants Not Tourists (TNT) campaign. This project brings together a broad coalition of housing organizations and allies across New York City to oppose a rollback of sweeping regulations against Airbnb and other short-term rental companies, who for years have exacerbated New York City’s housing crisis by taking apartments off the market to be used as short-term rentals. CUFFH Action led the fight to stop Airbnb from corporatizing our neighborhoods and worked tirelessly throughout the year to ensure that short-term rentals would remain regulated and would not further impact the housing crisis.

In 2022, the City Council passed Local Law 18, which enacted broad reforms on the regulations and laws governing apartment rentals in New York City. This law limited the uses of New York City apartments as short-term rentals, requiring landlords to register with the city government if they wish to rent our their homes in the short term (i.e. With rental booking companies), and prohibited landlords from operating unregistered or “under the table” short-term rentals. This law protected tenants with established leases from being displaced from their homes in favor of a short-term rental conversion, and incentivized landlords to continue renting out their homes in the long term and through the proper legal channels. In 2024, Airbnb announced a campaign to pass two proposals that would repeal a stipulation of this law applying to 1- and 2-family homes which had previously been used as short-term rentals. As this would immediately take a large group of apartments off of the housing market — particularly in predominantly Black neighborhoods such as Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights — CUFFH Action and the TNT coalition leaders mobilized our bases to stop this takeover in its tracks.

Over the course of about 18 months, CUFFH Action and the TNT leadership fought Airbnb at every turn. We turned out our member bases to rallies at City Hall, spotlighting our volunteers, many of whom have faced the housing crisis firsthand in gentrifying neighborhoods and who have had to deal with Airbnbs and VRBOs popping up in their neighborhoods and displacing their community members. We attended hearings and testified before the City Council on the importance of Local Law 18, highlighting the need for profound fixes to the housing crisis rather than corporate loopholes. We also held special events and brought in guests from outside the coalition to support our cause, building awareness and education on the importance of standing up to corporatized policy campaigns. Our victory came in December 2025, when the City Council’s Housing Committee declined to advance the two proposals to a vote.