Police towed several unregistered vans and RVs being rented on the roads of New York City, including one that was featured in a YouTube video, a report said.
The New York Sheriff and the NYPD removed seven camper vans illegally parked within the city’s East Village and Chelsea last week after a YouTuber shared his not-so-glamorous camping experience with one of the vehicles.
Three vans in the fleet had expired New Jersey license plates, three had plates from different cars, and one was not registered, police said.
This might be the reason why owners seem to shrug off all parking tickets they received.
YouTuber Uptin Saiidi says he paid $97 to spend the night in a van located in the East Village last month. It’s a bargain when you consider the hundreds you’d have to pay to stay in a hotel. However, Saiidi claims he received exactly what he paid for.
Saiidi states that his Airbnb host instructed him to shower at the nearby pool, take breaks in the bathroom at the nearby Starbucks, and then go to the bar across the street to take late-night bathroom breaks.
The van itself was equipped with a bed, a “funky” smell, and no air conditioning. It meant he was forced to open the windows while listening to passers-by in the middle of the night.
He said it was “shady” coming out of an automobile the next day, but his rest was actually “cozy.”
Later, the police posted images of the same van being removed during their operation, dubbed “Operation Room Service.”
Airbnb claims it has a “robust information-sharing agreement” with New York City and that it shares regular information regarding rentals with officials.
“We do not tolerate this behavior,” an Airbnb spokesperson told another local news. “Both the host and listings in question have been banned from the Airbnb platform.”
