Airbnb announces an 'anti-party' plan for New York

Airbnb is cracking down on parties this summer with a full arsenal of "anti-party" measures in New York and across the country.

This week, the vacation rental website, announced that it will be "cracking down" on potential party situations for both Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

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Guests who try to book one-night reservations and do not have a history of positive reviews on Airbnb will be blocked from booking entire home listings.

Those trying to book two-night reservations will be bound to more stringent restrictions. For example, StreetEast will leverage and amplify its technology that restricts certain local or last-minute bookings by guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb. (Guests who have a history of positive reviews on Airbnb will not be subject to these restrictions.)

Airbnb users will also need to agree that they understand that Airbnb bans parties and if they break that rule, they may be subject to legal action from the company.

"We do not take these measures lightly," StreetEasy said in a statement. "Both Memorial Day and the Fourth of July are meaningful weekends that allow our hosts to facilitate all kinds of responsible travelers including families."

Airbnb also has a 24/7 Neighborhood Support Line where neighbors of Airbnb locales can flag issues in real-time. From there, Airbnb can work with law enforcement and take action against partiers.

"We will continue working with local law enforcement, neighbors and our community to try to stop unauthorized parties, and we look forward to sharing announcements along these lines in the coming months," it explained.

The anti-party policy isn't exactly new—similar initiatives were piloted for Halloween and New Year's Eve 2020. Airbnb says the Fourth of July weekend in 2021 was "quiet" and had a substantial decrease in reports of disruptive and unauthorized parties.

Overall, over 126,000 guests without histories of positive reviews were impacted by the anti-party system over the Fourth of July weekend in 2021, according to Airbnb.

Specifically in New York, more than 7,400 people were deterred from booking entire home listings over July 4, 2021 due to these defenses.

"Both Memorial Day and the Fourth of July are meaningful weekends that allow our Hosts to facilitate all kinds of responsible travelers including families," the company said. "This is why our anti-party system and policy allows exceptions on these bookings for those who have a history of positive reviews and have earned that trust through Airbnb. We also understand that the simple fact of not yet having reviews does not mean that a guest is trying to throw a party—this is a trade-off we are willing to make in the interest of trust and safety."