Airbnb’s super PAC has spent $1 million on a commercial attacking three candidates for New York mayor who do not support short-term rentals in the city.
The ad, put out online on Monday, singles out Democrats Zohran Mamdani, Scott Stringer and Brad Lander, accusing them of ignoring “common sense solutions” to making New York more affordable.
“It's hard out here – to make rent, buy groceries and raise kids. And New Yorkers know, the wrong mayor will just make it worse,” the voiceover states.
“So what about Zohran Mamdani, Scott Stringer and Brad Lander? Their policies will make New York even more expensive. And they oppose common sense solutions that would make our city more affordable.
“So much is hard. But this choice is easy. New Yorkers can't afford a mayor who makes New York more expensive.”
The commercial is paid for by Affordable New York – a political action committee associated with Airbnb. The group was the first PAC to start spending on New York City’s 2025 primary elections, back in March.
An attack on the three candidates means that their rival Democratic candidate and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, has support from two sides of the city’s hospitality industry – having already been backed by the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council.
Airbnb has been sidelined in New York City, due to a state law that prohibits rentals for fewer than 30 days while the host is not present. The city doubled down in 2022, with the introduction of Local Law 18.
LL18 requires short-term rental hosts to register with the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement, and prohibits the company, and others, from booking service platforms from processing transactions for unregistered short-term rentals.
The law resulted in an over 90 percent drop in Airbnb listings across New York City following its implementation in September 2023, according to the company.
It comes as the race for the Democratic primary for New York City mayor – taking place on June 24 – narrows to an almost two-person race between Cuomo and Mamdani.
A survey conducted by Data for Progress by a super PAC backing Mamdani found that Cuomo was ahead by only two points, while a poll from Cuomo’s camp came back with a 12-point lead.
The Democratic candidates faced off in their first televised debate on June 4, with Cuomo coming under repeated attack from his rivals. Cuomo’s governorship ended acrimoniously after 10 years with his resignation in 2021, following investigations into allegations of sexual harassment. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Mamdani is considered a favorite among progressives in the party, having won the backing of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez following the debate. "Assemblymember Mamdani has demonstrated a real ability on the ground to put together a coalition of working-class New Yorkers that is strongest to lead the pack. In the final stretch of the race, we need to get very real about that," Ocasio-Cortez toldThe New York Times.
They are among the names vying to replace beleaguered New York mayor Eric Adams, who announced he was running as an independent, not a Democrat, amid ongoing accusations of corruption and a political storm over an alleged quid pro quo with President Donald Trump to avoid criminal charges. Adams insists he has done nothing wrong.
Eleven Democrats are running, one Republican – Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels and a longtime anti-crime activist – and two independent candidates, Jim Walden, and Adams himself.
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