The ShareBetter coalition launched a website today that will help you know if you’re booking an AirBnB close to a registered sex offender in New York.
If you don’t care to go to the site, then we can help you out. You are definitely booking an AirBnB close to a registered sex offender in New York. Sex offenders are everywhere. (Also, poop, toxic waste or everything terrible.) Here’s the publicly available map that the site draws its info from. See for yourself.
ShareBetter is a special interest group that is made up of hundreds of local politicians and affordable housing advocates rallying against short-term rentals. AirBnB says that the coalition is just a tool of the hotel industry lobby, and while the ShareSafer-site claims to be performing a service, it’s really just trying to give the illusion that AirBnB is a pedophile paradise. Ironic, though ShareBetter may be designed to help the hotel industry, all it really does is make NYC look like a hell-hole full of perverts, so there’s no reason to book a hotel here either.
As of writing this, the site isn’t working due to being flooded with traffic and ShareBetter sees that as a victory, telling Mashable, “This clearly shows that people are interested in using the web tool to learn more about the safety risks of AirBnB.”
Hilariously, they’re winning the P.R. war, forcing AirBnB into the oldest of political tricks: say something outlandish and make your opponent deny it.
“Over 20 million guests have had a safe stay in an AirBnB and we have industry-leading tools that help keep hosts and guests safe. We’re always eager to have a serious conversation about these issues, but this is just another attempt to attack regular New Yorkers who share the home in which they live,” AirBnB spokesman Nick Papas told the Post. (Photo: ShareBetter)
