NYCHA, Please Be Cautious of Tenant Abuse (Airbnb)
Pros
-I was thankful to find a studio that didn’t break the bank (I believe it was less than $1,400 for the month I stayed there) -Kitchen is big for a studio — there could practically be dancing space -The living room was big too, at least 500sq ft. Maybe even 1000sq ft -The closet was huge - it lasted the hallway. Smartest use of space I’ve ever seen. It lined the hallway to the door of the apartment (basically was “in” the wall) -The neighborhood is so quiet, it’s freaky. Despite being a NYCHA residence, I barely saw people going in and out of the building
Cons
-This is illegal. On Airbnb, us renters have zero idea what building we’re getting ourselves into. We don’t see exact addresses for safety reasons. I basically rented a NYCHA apartment without knowing and that’s illegal, against the lease. I had to lie saying “I’m a relative” so nothing happened to me or the host -There was a mold situation that the host tried to mask with an auto febreze (the one that sprays the air in intervals). It infected all of my belongings and I couldn’t just pack up, leave since Airbnb back in 2017 rarely sided with the renters -The building is right by a highway so the cars made it noisy 24/7 -The windows have no curtains and I know several construction men right outside my window were just watching me sleep in the morning (it’s a studio, remember) -I’ve had the door wide open to the apartment during a nap twice. Whoever that was, it must’ve been attempted burglary -It’s difficult to get there. First we need the 2/5 train then a bus then we have to cross streets leading up to a highway. In other words, the street lights don’t favor humans and I always made sure I was crossing the street with other people
Advice to the owners
Please, NYCHA, make sure your tenants aren’t illegally hosting the property on Airbnb. I don’t care if it was cheap — I felt so uncomfortable because even though I didn’t know NYCHA rules then, I knew something was wrong when the host said I had to say I was his relative. I was afraid other tenants would stare at me and go, “You new here?”