Greenport Village approves new laws allowing short-term rentals

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The Village of Greenport approved new laws allowing short-term rentals with no minimum stays. Residency rules are designed to deter investor-run vacation rentals. Rental properties must be owner-occupied for part of the year. Property owners are only entitled to one short-term rental permit under the new law. Critics say the rules favor part-time residents and don’t address the need for year-round housing.


So Greenport Village is going against the grain when it comes to regulating short-term rentals on the East End.


Tara Smith reports in NEWSDAY that as other municipalities clamp down, village trustees have approved new rental laws that contain no minimum lengths of stay. The law, which takes effect in January, imposes residency rules designed to discourage investor-driven real estate purchases.


The current law bans rentals for less than 14 days in single-family homes unless they are owner-occupied. The new provisions will allow entire single-family homes to be rented as long as an owner lives there part of the year.


Short-term rentals, popularized by sites like Airbnb and Vrbo, have set off debates in seasonal vacation communities over property rights, housing affordability and availability. In Greenport, tensions have flared: At one end of the debate are some residents who say short-term rentals bring too much noise, traffic and trash to their streets. But others argue that short-term rentals are crucial to the region's economy, including neighbors who say they depend on additional income, as well as businesses eager for tourist spending.


Mayor Kevin Stuessi voted against the legislation, which was approved 4-1 on Dec. 4. He said he supported a two-week rental minimum.


“All of the laws elsewhere on the East End … are much more restrictive than what we just passed,” Stuessi said in an interview.


In August, the Village of Southampton enacted a two-week minimum stay. The Town of Riverhead doesn’t allow rentals of less than a month, while Southold Town has a 14-day minimum requirement. Southampton Town is planning to lift a two-week minimum during the U.S. Open golf championship next year, Newsday reported.


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New York State Attorney General Letitia James yesterday filed a lawsuit against UPS, alleging the company stole millions in wages from thousands of seasonal delivery workers for years. Brianne Ledda reports in NEWSDAY that an investigation opened in 2023 found the logistics company failed to accurately track hours worked, required off-the-clock labor from its workers and manipulated timekeeping systems to reduce paid hours, the attorney general’s office said.


These actions saved UPS millions while robbing seasonal workers trying to support their families, A.G. James stated at a news conference in Manhattan on Monday.


"They earned every dollar of their wages, and UPS had no right to take those dollars away," she said.


The state is seeking restitution for current and former seasonal workers and an injunction that requires UPS to adopt reforms to prevent these issues from happening again, James said.


UPS acknowledged the state's suit in an email, and said while the company takes "all accusations of wrongdoing seriously," it denies "the unfounded allegation of intentionally underpaying UPS employees."


"We offer industry-leading pay and benefits to our more than 26,000 employees in New York, and we remain committed to following all applicable laws," company spokeswoman Natasha Amadi said in an email.


The impacted workers include assistants who help full-time drivers and seasonal drivers who use their personal vehicles to make deliveries, according to a news release from the attorney general's office. UPS has three facilities on Long Island.


Joshua Pomeranz, director of operations at Teamsters Local 804, said on Monday that many of the seasonal workers had never met a union official and were unaware of their rights.


The union reported the alleged violations to the state after drivers raised the alarm, he said.


Many of the seasonal employees willing to take on the low-paying work are financially vulnerable, Pomeranz added, lacking cellphones or steady places to live.


"They are taking this job because they need to," he said. "It’s another day of trying to scrape by."


In Local 804's jurisdiction — which covers Long Island, all New York City boroughs except for Staten Island, and the area stretching from Westchester to Yorktown — UPS hires 5,000 seasonal employees each year from Oct. 15 thr...