New York mayor, Bill de Blasio, has been urged to crackdown on illegal hotels which are becoming a threat to tourists visiting the city and also to locals who use them.

New York City

New York City Image by Steve Parker / CC BY 2.0

Manhattan councilman Ben Kallos has written to the mayor saying there should be more information published about these hotels and apartment owners who are using such sites as Airbnb. Tourists and locals who book such accommodation should have a place a separate category to lodge their complaints with the city.

The Upper East side representative said that a five-storey Manhattan building which went on fire was operating as an illegal hotel – a reason why there was an urgent need for greater transparency around these unlawful businesses, the New York Post reports.

His proposal by letter last week to the city’s Department of Information Technology comes on the heels of a fire in a building where the owners had racked up costs of over $100,000 for illegally renting out apartments.

This example hit a nerve with the mayor’s office who replied that they will follow those who put people’s safety at risk.