Stanley urges limits on shortterm rentals
Town Supervisor Robert Stanley wants the state to stop Airbnb and other short-term rental sites from advertising rental properties, to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19.
Earlier this week, Stanley said the population of his Catskill Mountain town has doubled in the previous two weeks as people flocked from more densely populated metropolitan areas where the number of confirmed cornavirus cases continued to rise.
He said he found it “contradictory” that Gov. Andrew Cuomo would order people to stay home as much as they can in order to slow the spread of the pandemic, while allowing businesses like Airbnb, VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner) and others to continue advertising short-term rentals.
“We’re hitting what we consider a slower season and our population has doubled in the past two weeks,” Stanley said. “We know it because we can see it.
“There is a car in every single driveway in the town,” he said.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the Ulster County town of Shandaken, a mountainous town that lies entirely within the Catskill State Park, had a population of 3,085. Typically, it’s sparsely populated this time of year, but is a hot spot other times of the year, attracting, skiers, hikers, and nature lovers.
Stanley said he shut down his own bed-and-breakfast establishment, The Wheelhouse Inn, because the state was urging people to stay put and practice social distancing.
Although hotels and accommodations are among the “essential businesses” permitted to remain open under Cuomo’s directive, Stanley said he doesn’t believe that should apply to “vacationers.”
A review of the Airbnb site showed dozens of listings for Shandaken and the surrounding area. At 2:23 p.m. a note on the Airbnb site said searches for Airbnb rentals during the next two weeks were up 142 percent over the same time last year.
Stanley said the town doesn’t have the capacity to absorb the numbers of visitors coming into the area at a time when steps are being taken to restrict contact, adding that one of the small, local food stores in the town is locking its doors and allowing only two people in at a time.
“I just don’t understand why the state won’t step in,” said Stanley.
Stanley’s view of people
coming into Ulster County to get out of the city is in stark contrast to that of Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan.
“Those are not the values we have,” Ryan said earlier this week when asked about calls from county leaders in Greene, Delaware and Sullivan for outof-towners to stay home.
“Especially in a moment of challenging crisis, we’re supposed to all be in this together,” Ryan said. “It shouldn’t matter what your ZIP code is or where you are coming from. If you need help, we’re gonna help you. That’s what Ulster County is. That’s what our community is.”
Officials in those three neighboring counties, however, offered a decidedly different view in statements asking out-of-towners to stay away. Greene County went a step further, urging local residents who rent space to visitors to remove online listings.
On Friday, there were still pages and pages of listings for Arbnb rentals throughout Greene County.
Dutchess County Executive Molinaro, while not issuing a call for non-residents of the Hudson Valley county to stay away, said people shouldn’t be looking for sanctuary outside of their primary county of residence. He also criticized as “selfish” those who are offering rental housing to people looking to get away from places like New York City, saying they “putting people at risk.”