There are 8 million stories in the naked city — and more than 7,000 convicted sex offenders.
On Monday a new site will tell tourists whether the Airbnb rental lodgings they are looking to book are near any of them.
Of the 7,152 registered sex offenders in the city, 1,319 live in Manhattan, 2,305 in Brooklyn, 1,768 in The Bronx, 1,493 in Queens and 304 in Staten Island, state records show.
There are about 20,000 New York City “home sharing” listings on Airbnb.
The “Share Safer” tool allows Airbnb guests to locate their booking address on a city map and then view a map with a cluster of red pins indicating the number of convicted sex offenders who live within a few blocks of their booking and precise information about each offender’s crime.
The site also allows Airbnb customers to check for outstanding building-code violations for a building in which Airbnb listings are located.
The ShareBetter Coalition — a hotel-industry-backed group that opposes Airbnb — designed the site.
A random search of 37 Airbnb units on Share Safer found 150 registered sex offenders located within a few blocks — including some right next door.
For example, there are 10 Airbnb units listed on 132nd Street between Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard and Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem.
There are four sex offenders listed as living within a square block of those listings.
“Airbnb and other illegal hotel web sites keep consumers in the dark about public-safety risks. By shining a light on these hidden dangers, the Share Safer tool puts consumers just a mouse click away from the information they need to keep their families safe,” said Councilman Mark Levine, a Share Better member whose upper Manhattan district includes dozens of Airbnb listings.
Airbnb slammed the Share Safer site as a scare campaign against New York hosts and visitors.
“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,” said Airbnb spokesman Nick Papas.
