‘Dangerous’ Gang Throws Huge Party at Illegal Hamptons Rental: City

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — A “dangerous street gang” was trying to book a short-term rental in Southampton, where they were planning to throw a big party, city officials said Thursday.

According to Ryan Murphy, Public Safety and Emergency Management Administrator for the City of Southampton, there have been “ongoing attempts by gangs attempting to rent properties in the city to hold parties”.

This week, Murphy said, a street gang – Murphy did not identify the gang but said it was not MS-13 – was advertising a “large-scale party”. The gang was attempting to use an illegal short-term rental that did not meet the 14-day minimum stay, a standard set in city code, Murphy said.

Find out what’s happening in Southamptonwith free real-time Patch updates.

The residence, advertised on the internet as a short-term rental, was not listed on Airbnb, Murphy said.

Southampton Police Intelligence uncovered the gang’s plan to rent the property, Murphy said.

Find out what’s happening in Southamptonwith free real-time Patch updates.

“The police intelligence community works tirelessly to try to prevent these types of dangerous situations, and the public can help by preventing these illegal short-term rentals from occurring,” city officials said.

“Not only could a rental like this have devastating effects on a property, as seen in the situation the police service responded to in the North Sea last year, to carry out rentals in this way is also an unlawful act on the part of the owner,” said Captain James Kiernan of the City of Southampton Police Department.

In March 2021, people fired into a North Sea house, seriously injuring three people, police said. The three people were shot during a birthday party and rap video shoot that was taking place at the home, located on Long Springs Road, at 2:30 a.m. on March 2, police said. Two men and a woman, all in their twenties, were seriously injured and taken to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital; two were later transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, police said.

Detectives believe there are at least three people involved in the shooting, police said. At the time, Newsday reported that, according to Southampton Police, there were about 40 people, with “six to eight dancers”, at home; it appears that multiple weapons were at the scene, police said, according to the report.

This report also indicated that the police believed there had been a “potential for gang affiliation” regarding the incident.

Murphy said this week that the City of Southampton Police Department is working closely with the city’s Department of Public Safety Code Enforcement Division to try to resolve illegal rental issues across the city. city ​​whenever they become aware of potential illegal rental situations.

“Code enforcement routinely searches the various rental platforms on the Internet to try to identify properties without permits, as well as to respond to complaints from residents about possible illegal rentals,” Murphy said.

His office, Murphy said, is working with the police department to “try to stop” the illegal rental process before “tragic situations” occur, but the ease of listing a home online at renting makes it difficult.

“Landlords who participate in short-term transient rentals put their property at risk and also commit code violations that could result in summonses,” Murphy said.

Although the property involved in the North Sea rental in 2021 has not been listed on Airbnb, the city’s Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management is working with the company to share information about the rules. city ​​rental with Airbnb hosts, including adding city information to Airbnb’s host resource. page, Murphy said.

“The city is excited to embark on this cooperative effort with Airbnb and hopes this awareness translates to greater compliance and safety across the city,” Murphy said.

An Airbnb representative responded to a request for comment from Patch, noting that the property involved in the March 2021 incident was not listed on Airbnb.

However, Airbnb has a background check policy; and officially bans house parties on its platform, the rep said.

“Last month, we announced the launch of an anti-party pilot in the United States to help identify potentially high-risk bookings and prevent these users from taking advantage of our platform,” the Airbnb representative said. For more information on this initiative, click on here.

And, Airbnb confirmed that it is working with cities: “We are working with city officials to share information about the city’s short-term rental rules with hosts through direct email communication and by creating a resource page on Airbnb website“, said a representative.


Get more local news straight to your inbox. Sign up for free newsletters and patch alerts.

Comments are closed.