Would you rather live next to an Airbnb rental or a bunch of rowdy college students?
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You can't choose your neighbors, and in New York City, odds are you have a lot of them, very close by. That said, if you could choose, would you rather share a wall with an apartment that's being used as an Airbnb rental, or a bunch of rowdy college students? We asked five New Yorkers which they would go with, if presented with these arguably ugly options.
'Airbnb people eventually check out'
“And since they're visiting from out of town, they will spend most of their time outside exploring the city anyway. I live in a high-rise and currently have a group of young, obnoxious recent grads as neighbors across the hall. Music is blasting at all hours and it’s essentially a never-ending pre-game that everyone on our floor can hear! When you’re past your mid-20s, it’s cool to be quiet.”—Shruti Shah, Hell’s Kitchen
Vacationers aren't all party animals
“The two college girls above me constantly have parties and they wear their high heels in their apartment, so all I hear is 'Clip clop, clip clop, clip clop.' They also do not have the required 80 percent coverage of their apartment with carpets. That’s why I would give the world to have an Airbnb above me instead. At least some percentage of the renters would be quiet and considerate. Also, I would probably know the owner of the apartment, and I would be able to tell him or her whether the guests were rowdy or not, which could potentially go in the feedback that s/he would provide on Airbnb. So there would be incentive for the travelers to at least be somewhat civil.”—Dan Nainan, Chelsea
Short-term rental hosts may fear consequences, unlike some people
"I don’t mean to generalize about rowdy recent college grads, but no weed, thanks! And, if my neighbors have to be annoying, at least I have something to hold against the Airbnb hosts, while those college grads have nothing to lose. Plus, if these Airbnb visitors are willing to stay in Astoria, they can’t be first timers to New York City. I bet they’d be respectful.”—Durra Leung, Astoria
Betting on the lesser of two disrupters
“I would rather have an Airbnb neighbor than live anywhere near rowdy college kids. I still wanna live in peace!”—Diana Ring, Upper East Side
Airbnb and me
“This is a hard one to answer. While I don’t want to live in a building where half the units are Airbnbrent-outs and I don’t want to live in a building where there are no young people, I like to get to sleep at night so I guess I have to go with I’d rather live near an Airbnbsublet than rowdy college students.”—Rich Cohen, Meatpacking District
The verdict: These folks don't seem to have experienced any short-term vacation rental horror stories yet, because they all choose Airbnb.
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