New York City is taking a Brooklyn landlord to court, accusing him and several associates of quietly turning apartments into an illegal hotel operation that, according to the city, pulled more than $1.3 million worth of housing out of the long-term market.
In a newly filed lawsuit, the city says the group converted units in two Brooklyn buildings and a Bronx property into short-term rentals and racked up roughly 1,400 bookings since April 2023. Prosecutors say registrations that were supposed to cover legitimate hosted stays were instead used to run entire-unit rentals, often in spaces that did not comply with fire-safety or zoning rules.
According to the city’s verified complaint, filed April 16 in Kings County Supreme Court, landlord Chananya Bineth, along with several family members and business associates, allegedly submitted fraudulent paperwork to the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement to obtain six short-term rental registrations. The filing says guest payments were then routed into corporate accounts tied to Bineth-controlled entities.
The lawsuit also claims some guests were placed in converted non-residential spaces, including a mezzanine, an office and a garage. Inspections by the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, the city says, have produced dozens of summonses and more than $47,500 in fines so far. You can read the city’s verified complaint on the New York State Courts website.
How the city says the operation worked
Once the registrations were in hand, the defendants allegedly flipped the script, according to the complaint and local coverage. Listings that were supposed to be for hosted stays were updated to advertise full-unit rentals, the city says, with stays that routinely involved more than the two guests normally allowed.
News 12 reports the operation also allegedly relied on fake profile photos and fictitious names to obscure who was actually running the show. City lawyers argue that, taken together, the practices turned what should have been permanent housing into a de facto hotel while sidestepping safety, zoning and occupancy requirements.
City steps up enforcement
Mayor Zohran Mamdani cast the lawsuit as part of the administration’s broader effort to keep apartments available for actual residents, saying, “This lawsuit is about making clear that our housing stock belongs to the people of this city.”
The Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement says it plans to lean on powers created under Local Law 18 to seek civil penalties, revoke registrations and demand restitution where appropriate. The Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement notes that the 2022 law created a registration system and a prohibited-buildings list designed to make it harder for bad actors to quietly convert homes into illegal hotels.
Legal stakes
The suit leans on a dense mix of city laws, including Local Law 18, the Nuisance Abatement Law, the Consumer Protection Law and several building-code provisions. City attorneys are asking the court for injunctive relief, cancellation of the disputed registrations, restitution and civil statutory penalties.
The complaint also seeks compensatory damages and requests $1,000,000 in punitive damages for what the city characterizes as an ongoing public nuisance, while pointing to statutory fines that can run into the thousands per violation. For a detailed rundown of the laws and remedies the city is invoking, see the filing on New York State Courts.
What this means for neighbors
City officials say the case is aimed at sending a message to other operators who might be tempted to turn permanent housing into high-turnover, unregulated rentals, along with the noise, traffic and safety worries that can come with them.
OSE and city lawyers are urging legitimate hosts to play by the rules, which generally require hosts to be permanent occupants and bar most entire-unit short-term listings. They warn that violations can result in fines, restitution and loss of registration. News 12 notes the lawsuit is the latest move in the city’s stepped-up enforcement push under Local Law 18.
