Airbnb drew a red card.
Big Apple lawmakers are refusing to roll back any restrictions on home-share rentals ahead of the World Cup – a stinging rejection for Airbnb’s hopes that soccer superfan Mayor Zohran Mamdani would loosen the laws, The Post has learned.
Airbnb recently helped push new legislation in an attempt to break back into New York City’s market after a 2023 law effectively shut down short-term rentals in the five boroughs.
City Council leaders released a letter declining to relax the Big Apple’s restrictions on home-sharing rentals like Airbnb ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer. REUTERS
Supporters of changing the short-term rental law argue that the city doesn’t have enough hotel rooms to go around for the multi-week event.
There’s also a looming strike of hotel workers, with their union contract set to expire smack dab in the middle of World Cup festivities.
The latest bill to reverse the regulations would have allowed single-family homes to be rented out without the host present and increased the cap on guests from two to four.
But the Hail Mary shot by Airbnb ran into a block from a coalition of City Council committee chairs.
“We want to make it clear: this is not a proposal that we will entertain,” a letter to City Hall, which was obtained by The Post, states.
“These rules are in place for a reason. Suspending short-term rental regulations, even temporarily, would undermine housing stability at the exact moment when renters are the most vulnerable.”
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Freshman mayor Mamdani sided with the council, shutting down the proposal.
“The Mamdani Administration is excited to welcome visitors from all over the world to enjoy our city and the World Cup. But we will not do so at the expense of working-class families,” City Hall spokesperson Cassio Mendoza said when asked about the proposal.
Mamdani at a campaign soccer event in Brooklyn on Oct. 19, 2025. City Hall said the noted soccer nut is not considering making changes to the city’s short-term rental regulations for the tournament. Aristide Economopoulos
“The Mayor is not considering any changes to the short-term rental laws that could raise housing costs for New Yorkers.”
Airbnb has been trying to overturn Local Law 18 since it was passed three years ago, which largely killed the home-rental market in the city by strictly regulating any rentals under 30 days.
Rob Solano, cofounder and executive director of Churches United For Fair Housing, railed that Airbnb was “pushing a fantasy” to overturn the 2023 law.
The 2026 Fifa World Cup starts in June and will play its final at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey. REUTERS
“[T]his administration isn’t for sale,” he said. “Mayor Mamdani and the people of this city are aligned: our housing market is for New Yorkers, not for corporate speculation. With a catastrophic 1.4% vacancy rate, our city is already at the breaking point.”
But the dismissal struck at least one powerful Big Apple leader as out of bounds.
Steven Fulop, who heads the Partnership for New York City, called it “short-sighted.”
“With millions of sports fans set to land in our region for the World Cup, opening up our short-term rental market, even temporarily, could give New York’s entire economy a boost,” CEO Steven Fulop said.
“All the Council is doing is turning away tourists and sending billions of dollars in potential investment across the river to New Jersey.”
An Airbnb rep contended the company is not directly backing the bill, despite recently spending millions of dollars to push it.
“The exemption proposal to City Council isn’t from Airbnb,” said a company spokesperson. “(The Hotel and Gaming Trades Council), yet again, is espousing bold-faced lies to distract from their role in perpetuating a failed status quo that has done nothing to fix our city’s affordability crisis.”