Relay: The Airbnb Red Herring

Much was made this summer about the crowds, “the biggest ever,” our way of life lost, “trouble right here in River City.” It got crowded, yes, and Labor Day weekend topped it all, but why the surprise?

Merchants, who for years have bemoaned lackluster seasons, are thriving, capitalizing on the Hamptons and Montauk brands that they — the real estate industry in particular — have worked so assiduously to create. So, who exactly is complaining about the crowds? Is it only the relatively few people who are not merchants, real estate brokers, lawyers, restaurateurs, club owners, and yes, newspaper publishers? I’ve listened to a lot of very successful businessmen and women bemoaning the crowds they worked hard to draw.

The only people who really have a gripe are those on fixed incomes or who have been otherwise left behind in the gold rush, yet are left paying the Hamptons cost of living. Those responsible for affixing the Hampton brand to everything imaginable have succeeded in drawing crowds here to pay their inflated prices. Many of these same people now can be heard cursing the monster they have helped create. Yes, folks, we have broken an ancient rule. We, as an economically successful community, have squatted in our own kitchen, and look to government to open a window.

Let’s see, whom shall the Town of East Hampton punish for disrupting our tranquillity? By the sound of it, it looks like our politicians aim to crush the people on fixed incomes, the ones who see a way to pay their taxes and mortgages by renting their houses on weekends during the summer.

Elsewhere on these pages it was reported that as many as 600 homeowners rented their properties Airbnb-style last summer, the sort of thing the town apparently wants to restrict.

Let’s analyze this. Say the average number of renters per house was three, and the average size of the family making room for them was also three. That’s 1,800 visitors and 1,800 residents. The latter group must find alternate digs. Many of the homeowners leave town, but let’s say only a third leave. So, as I see it, in reality the “stress on our infrastructure” that is allegedly threatening our way of life amounted to about 1,200 people for all of East Hampton this season, a tiny percentage of the day-tripping population on any given day, and the motel-dwelling population on any given night. The numbers may be off a little, but you get the point. The Airbnb threat is a red herring served up by the self-serving. 

As for the health and safety issue, it’s true, we can’t have people buying houses for the sole purpose of stuffing as many people into them as they can. Group houses are already restricted. The truth is, the houses being rented via Airbnb are “homes,” owned by residents who have abided by all the health and safety requirements already on the books. In addition, houses rented via real estate agents are not registered and inspected by town government, as is being proposed for those properties rented outside the broker-controlled box. The town seems to be imposing a double standard.

An administration that came to power promising a return to a quality of life that — let’s be honest — we haven’t seen for a decade or two, should walk softly, drop the stick, and communicate with all the townspeople. Let’s punish the abusers, not the abused.

Russell Drumm is a senior writer for The East Hampton Star.