In a civilised society, you don't get to pick and choose which laws you think are worth following, and just ignore the rest. Don't like a given law? Then engage in the political process to seek changes to it.
I live in downtown Toronto and here are some of the issues i face due to Airbnb:
i) Some of the residents make living a hell. They come to party, don't respect the neighbours, are loud till late, trash the place and some have even gone to break the buttons in elevator.
ii) With Airbnb, new owners and renters are priced out of market. People with more money but new units as secondary investment and just Airbnb it instead of renting it, thus creating artificial shortage of available units to full-time renters.
One of the fascinating things about NYC is it's vast array of local businesses. Guess who do these local businesses need? Full time employees who go to work every day and not for 3-11 days.
Another short-term resident would be there in his place on the days he's not in NYC. Year round there will almost always be someone staying in his unit.
And short term renters tend to spend more per day than long-term residents, so they probably contribute significantly more to the city's tax base.
