As the city’s top fiscal officer, Comptroller Scott Stringer has lots of issues he could discuss with New Yorkers, from the record municipal workforce to the billions of dollars needed to fund the pension system.
But in a robocall this week to thousands of residents, Stringer had something else on his mind — the evils of Airbnb.
“Our city is facing an affordability crisis with rents constantly on the rise. A new study by my office shows one of the reasons why New Yorkers paid an additional $616 million in rent is because residential apartments are being used as tourist rentals by Airbnb,” Stringer says.
The call was funded by the Share Better Education Fund, an anti-Airbnb group bankrolled largely by the hotel industry.
One person who got the call said she was shocked by Stringer’s involvement.
“It’s an outrage. Scott Stringer is spamming me to promote his own personal, political agenda,” the recipient said.
Stringer has received $36,500 in donations from the Hotel Trades Council since 2001, records show.
Asked why the comptroller let an industry group pay for the call, a Stringer rep said: “The fact that Airbnb is complaining about a phone call the same day they launched a seven-figure advertising buy — featuring a TV ad attacking the comptroller personally and a Twitter war against housing advocates who support our report — is truly hypocritical.”