‘34 guests in 9 rooms’ Airbnber fined 11G
Mayor de Blasio is taking his Airbnb crackdown to Bushwick, fining a landlord there $11,000 for allegedly cramming 34 guests into nine rooms.
George Lebovits, 68, of Monsey, NY, bought the three-family building at 19 Fayette St. in the Brooklyn hipster enclave last year.
Since then, an Airbnb host listed as Erika has been charging guests $85 to $115 a night to stay in a “beautiful apartment in the heart of Brooklyn,” according to her 11 listings.
The cramped pads — furnished with bunk beds and mattresses on the floor — sleep three to five people per room, the listings said.
On Monday, an inspection from the mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement visited the building and reported “34 short-term guests in nine furnished rooms.”
The city issued six viola- tions for infractions including overcrowding and lack of sprinkler systems. Then the Department of Buildings put a “full-vacate” order on the property.
Lebovits told The Post he was renting the building out to a friend of his son’s, Erika, on a month-to-month basis.
He said that he had “no idea she was doing something that’s illegal” and that he has padlocked the property and plans to demolish it.
A hearing on the fines, which could reach $54,200, is set for October. Erika didn’t return calls for comment.