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Chicago Tribune
7 hours ago
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Alderman seeks power to ban short-term rentals from Chicago precincts
If a Far Northwest Side alderman gets his way, Chicago City Council members could gain the authority to block short-term rentals like Airbnb's from popping up in their wards. Ald. Anthony Napolitano, 41st, is pushing forward legislation that would give aldermen the ability to unilaterally ban new rentals on a precinct-by-precinct level. The rental companies could overturn the bans by collecting signatures from 10% of the precinct voters, around 150 to 200 signatures, he said. Napolitano, whose ward includes Edison Park and surrounding areas near O'Hare International Airport, argued the amendment he seeks is about 'being able to advocate for your residents when it becomes a problem,' citing party complaints in particular. 'Because it doesn't exist right now,' he said. 'We can't advocate for them at all.' The City Council's License and Consumer Protection Committee is set to consider the legislation Wednesday. If it advances, it could face a full City Council vote next week. Airbnb criticized the proposed ban, arguing in a statement it threatens to destabilize short-term rental tax revenue earmarked to fight homelessness and aid domestic violence survivors. 'The proposed ordinance amendment is an unnecessary violation of Chicagoans' constitutional property rights and echoes the city's dark history of 'Restricted Residential Zones,' which once controlled who could visit, travel through, and own homes in certain neighborhoods,' Airbnb Public Policy Manager Jonathan Bucker said in the statement. There has been a 78% decrease in the rate of party reports made to Airbnb in Chicago since 2020, according to the company. Airbnb pointed to efforts to curb parties, among them reservation screenings and support lines. It also touted the $191 million Chicago hosts earned last year, as well as the tourist spending in neighborhoods the company says the stays generate. The city's current short-term rental ordinance allows for precinct-level bans only after 25% of the precincts registered voters have signed a petition requesting the ban. Some aldermen, like Southwest Side Ald. Marty Quinn, 13th, have pushed forward with signature-collection efforts that have blocked Airbnb in large swaths of their wards. Napolitano said his measure 'flips the script' to place the onus on companies instead of residents. He likened the powers his ordinance would grant aldermen to the one they already have over new liquor licenses going into neighborhood businesses: 'Open it up, drop some in and close it again.' He said he would 'look at' a ban in problem areas immediately if the amendment passes, but would leave other spots untouched. Even after aldermen voted last month to require short-term rental companies to share more data with them, Napolitano said the added transparency is not enough because he does not have the power to fix issues 'in real time' when parties happen in his ward's single-family homes. 'It isn't fixed by Friday or Saturday, but they're gone by Sunday, and then the neighbors are left to deal with the problem, and then it pops back up two, three weeks later,' he said. Pre-existing short-term rental units would be allowed to continue operating if rentals were banned in a precinct, Napolitano said. He shared concerns that the rentals drive up housing costs or harm tax revenue brought in by hotels, but added that his goal is 'not to hurt Airbnb.' 'We can't go into this and destroy an industry,' he said. 'It does work in a lot of areas, it does work well, it does help some residents to keep a home because it brings a substitute income.' The one-bed, one-bath Airbnb that Jackeline Torres and her husband rent out from their Norwood Park home would be grandfathered in if Napolitano, Torres' alderman, banned rentals in her area. Still, the City Council effort to control where Airbnb's can go bothers Torres. The paralegal rents out the separate upstairs space to help pay for rising property taxes, she said. Short-term rental bans would be 'intrusive to my privacy' and rights, she argued. 'An alderman shouldn't restrict who I allow into my home and my freedom of allowing people to stay in my home,' Torres said. 'One person shouldn't determine that.' Her unit is rented out over half the year, she said. It's been available for three years. Most of the guests she welcomes are traveling professionals or tourists visiting nearby family. Safety is top of mind for the mother of three young children, and it has never been an issue while renting, she said. 'We always had a positive experience with the people who were staying here,' she said. 'It supplemented our already existing income and gave us a little extra cushion to make sure we were in a better financial position.' Three different guests have even decided to look for homes in the area after their stays, she added. But while Torres said her Airbnb rental has helped keep her in her home, Ald. Jessie Fuentes worries rentals might push her residents out of theirs. Parts of Fuentes' Northwest Side ward include some of the city's fastest-gentrifying neighborhoods, she said. And in pockets of her 26th Ward like East Humboldt Park, where many of the ward's short-term rentals are concentrated, Chicagoans are making the difficult decision to stay and face higher costs or leave, she said. 'When you begin to short up the amount of units in our communities because we're putting so many of them online for Airbnb, it sort of begins to also inflate those prices,' she said. Fuentes added that she gets 'a lot of concerns' from residents about rental parties that are 'disruptive to the natural ecosystem.' 'I am not anti-Airbnb,' she said. 'I just think there needs to be some form of regulation.'
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chicago dubbed America's murder capital as Democrat leaders 'demonize' police, splurge on migrants: alderman
A Chicago alderman told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that city officials still want to divert funding away from the police department, even though the city was once again the nation's homicide capital in 2024. "I said this for the last two mayors too," said 41st Ward Alderman Anthony Napolitano. "It's not even so much so that these last two administrations are turning a blind eye. They're ignoring the crime rate because their objective … is to demonize the police department, make it seem like there's not there's not as much of a crime issue as there is, because their goal is to steal the police budget." In 2024, Chicago had 573 homicides, leading the nation in that category for the 13th year in a row. The homicide rate per 100,000 residents in the city was five times higher than New York City's 377, and three times higher than Los Angeles' 280, according to an analysis by Wirepoints. Chicago O'hare Airport Shooting Leaves 1 Injured After Fight Erupts Inside Terminal "They want to take that police budget because it's an extremely high budget and allocated to other resources or projects that they want to accomplish in their tenure in office," said Napolitano. "It's destroying our city. It's evident what's going on." One of those projects, INVEST South/West, was an "epic fail," according to Napolitano. Read On The Fox News App According to the city, $250 million in taxpayer funds were allocated for that project, which began in 2019, in an attempt to revitalize southwest Chicago in the hopes of luring businesses to the area. "INVEST South/West is one of the biggest epic fails that they've had," Napolitano said. "Instead of investing in just one neighborhood, in one area, why don't we make the entire city safe by investing in our police force and the safety of our city, so that investors on a larger scale want to come to all of Chicago, not just specific neighborhoods? They refuse to do that." Napolitano also noted that the city's leadership has used immense resources to support illegal migrants for political purposes, thinking they would get more aid from the federal government if former Vice President Kamala Harris had won the November election. Chicago City Council Approves $70M For Migrant Care Despite Voter Backlash "The federal government didn't give us anything when [Democrats] were in office," he said. "Now when the administration changed, we're getting absolutely nothing at all because we're remaining a sanctuary city, which I was adamantly against in my 10 years in office. So this is just one failure after the next." He also said that his constituents are furious because in his ward, there is not a lot of violent criminal activity, meaning that police resources are directed away from the district to deal with violent crime elsewhere. That means when a burglary or other minor crime takes place in the 41st Ward, residents have a more difficult time getting the help they need. "So it's an evolution of just pure bull---- by these people," he said. "The last two administrations are the worst this city has ever seen." Fox News Digital reached out to Mayor Brandon Johnson's article source: Chicago dubbed America's murder capital as Democrat leaders 'demonize' police, splurge on migrants: alderman
Fox News
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Chicago dubbed America's murder capital as Democrat leaders 'demonize' police, splurge on migrants: alderman
A Chicago alderman told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that city officials still want to divert funding away from the police department, even though the city was once again the nation's homicide capital in 2024. "I said this for the last two mayors too," said 41st Ward Alderman Anthony Napolitano. "It's not even so much so that these last two administrations are turning a blind eye. They're ignoring the crime rate because their objective … is to demonize the police department, make it seem like there's not there's not as much of a crime issue as there is, because their goal is to steal the police budget." In 2024, Chicago had 573 homicides, leading the nation in that category for the 13th year in a row. The homicide rate per 100,000 residents in the city was five times higher than New York City's 377, and three times higher than Los Angeles' 280, according to an analysis by Wirepoints. "They want to take that police budget because it's an extremely high budget and allocated to other resources or projects that they want to accomplish in their tenure in office," said Napolitano. "It's destroying our city. It's evident what's going on." One of those projects, INVEST South/West, was an "epic fail," according to Napolitano. According to the city, $250 million in taxpayer funds were allocated for that project, which began in 2019, in an attempt to revitalize southwest Chicago in the hopes of luring businesses to the area. "INVEST South/West is one of the biggest epic fails that they've had," Napolitano said. "Instead of investing in just one neighborhood, in one area, why don't we make the entire city safe by investing in our police force and the safety of our city, so that investors on a larger scale want to come to all of Chicago, not just specific neighborhoods? They refuse to do that." Napolitano also noted that the city's leadership has used immense resources to support illegal migrants for political purposes, thinking they would get more aid from the federal government if former Vice President Kamala Harris had won the November election. "The federal government didn't give us anything when [Democrats] were in office," he said. "Now when the administration changed, we're getting absolutely nothing at all because we're remaining a sanctuary city, which I was adamantly against in my 10 years in office. So this is just one failure after the next." He also said that his constituents are furious because in his ward, there is not a lot of violent criminal activity, meaning that police resources are directed away from the district to deal with violent crime elsewhere. That means when a burglary or other minor crime takes place in the 41st Ward, residents have a more difficult time getting the help they need. "So it's an evolution of just pure bull---- by these people," he said. "The last two administrations are the worst this city has ever seen." Fox News Digital reached out to Mayor Brandon Johnson's office.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chicago Columbus statues could return as city faces art controversy
The Brief Some Chicago aldermen are questioning why Columbus statues remain in storage while controversial artwork is allowed to stay. Ald. Anthony Napolitano introduced an ordinance to reinstall the statues removed in 2020. The debate comes as the city defends an art exhibit criticized as anti-Semitic. CHICAGO - Some Chicago aldermen are renewing efforts to reinstall statues, including monuments of Christopher Columbus, that were removed in 2020 amid nationwide protests against racial injustice. The push comes as city officials refuse to take down a controversial art exhibit, prompting criticism over what some see as inconsistent policies on public art. What we know On Wednesday, Ald. Anthony Napolitano introduced a plan to restore the Columbus statues and other monuments that were taken down nearly four years ago. The statues were removed following protests over the murder of George Floyd and the police shooting of Breonna Taylor, and they have remained in storage ever since. The ordinance is being proposed as city officials defend the presence of an exhibit titled U.S.-Israel War Machine at the Chicago Cultural Center. The artwork, which depicts Uncle Sam and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as murderers, has been criticized as anti-Semitic. Despite the backlash, Cultural Affairs and Special Events Commissioner Clinee Hedspeth has defended the display, stating that art is designed to stir emotion and should never be censored by government, even if some find it offensive. What they're saying Some aldermen see a contradiction in the city's stance on public art. "It's funny how some people feel that it's okay for this art to stay, but yet art that has been up in the city for 90 years and 50 years, meaning the Columbus statues, had to come down," said Ald. Nicholas Sposato of the 38th Ward. What's next If Napolitano's ordinance passes, the Columbus statues and other monuments would be restored to their original locations within 60 days.
