STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The lights are on, but nobody's home.
That's because the city of New York filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the owners of two North Shore properties that the city says were operating as illegal hotels through listings on short-term rental websites like Airbnb.
The city is seeking over $500,000 in damages.
Named in the suit are married couple Alissa Eason, a.k.a Alissa Vasquez, and Sal Vasquez, who own the buildings; Amanda Perri, who worked as the couple's assistant, and the two properties, 14 St. Mark's Pl. and 163 Clinton Ave.
The Vasquez family lives in Mount Arlington, N.J., and Perri resides in Mariners Harbor, according to the suit.
Christian Klossner, Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement, said his office will continue to hold the people operating these hotels accountable.
"When illegal hotel operators persist in breaking the laws, we will elevate our response as we seek to safeguard the character of the City's residential neighborhoods and protect New Yorkers and visitors from dangerous, deceptive, and overcrowded accommodations," Klossner said.
The city claims this home at 14 St. Mark's Pl. was operating an illegal hotel through online rental listings like Airbnb. (Staten Island Advance/ Paul Liotta)
A spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio's office said the city brought the suit after the two illegal hotels remained in operation even though the city had levied over $100,000 in fines in the nearly six years they were open.
While the city has filed lawsuits against these types of hotels in other boroughs, this is the first on Staten Island.
The city also alleges that the two homes posed a serious safety risk due to the high occupancy limits listed on 29 different websites like Airbnb.
Up to 18 guests were welcome at the St. Mark's Place property, and 30 were able to stay at the one on Clinton Avenue, according to the city.
For its part, Airbnb has attempted to shut down commercial listers with multiple homes on its site since 2016, a spokeswoman for the website said.
"Starting November 1, 2016, hosts in San Francisco and New York City will only be allowed to have listings at a single address in that city. Hosts can have multiple listings at that address, but can't have listings at different addresses," a policy listed on Airbnb's site says.
Messages left at phone numbers listed for the three defendants were not returned Wednesday night. Lights were on at both homes, but no one answered either door, which had combination lock boxes attached to them.
Illegal hotels operated in New York through online short-term rental sites have long been an issue in the city.
A 2014 report from state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman estimated that 72 percent of Airbnb listings in the city operated illegally.
This is the 12th lawsuit brought by the city against building owners and operators participating in illegal hotel activity, according to a statement from the mayor's office.
In December 2017, a landlord paid a $1.2 million lump sum in what was the largest-ever settlement with the city in an illegal hotel nuisance abatement case involving four buildings