Most of the fines issued for illegal short-term rentals in NYC are going unpaid. When the City sues operators, it often settles for a small fraction of the generated revenue — and violators have ways to erase their fines or evade penalties altogether.
Lock boxes at an “illegal hotel” on W36th Street that has had 311 complaints since at least 2015. Photo: Phil O’Brien
The City collected just $7,500, that’s 4% of the illegal hotel penalties imposed in 2024 in Council District 3 — Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea and Midtown West — according to the latest annual report from the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement (OSE), the agency leading the charge.
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Joy Bergmann is an investigative reporter who’s lived on Manhattan’s West Side since 2003. Her work has appeared in West Side Rag, Metro New York, Hell Gate, Chicago Reader and the Chicago Tribune. Netflix, CNN, PBS, NPR and Investigation Discovery have created programs from her stories. W42ST links to source documents wherever possible so other reporters can keep probing; we ask that our original reporting is credited when followed up. Have a tip or an investigation idea? Email tips@w42st.com.