A week after New York City enacted a law tightening regulation of short-term home rental services, Airbnb has announced that it will donate $10 million to seven local nonprofits, the New York Times reports.

In a bid to draw attention to a bill in the New York State Legislature that would allow Airbnb to collect taxes from its guests — much like hotels do — the company said the $10 million pledge represents a small part of the $100 million in annual tax revenue the state could receive if lawmakers were to approve the bill. The recipients of the grants include the New York Immigration Coalition, the New York Mortgage Coalition, the New York State Rural Housing Coalition, Women in Need, the Gay Men's Health Crisis, the NYC Foundation for Computer Science, and the Abyssinian Development Corporation.

"We wanted to make the point of what the impact of tax collection and remittances would be if we were able to collect on behalf of our community here," said Josh Meltzer, who handles public policy for Airbnb in the Northeast.

The proposed legislation would effectively legalize a significant number of the apartment listings on Airbnb's website by amending a state law that makes it illegal in most buildings to rent an apartment for fewer than thirty days unless the owner is present. It also would allow hosts to legally list rent-stabilized apartments on Airbnb under certain conditions. Introduced by Assemblyman Joseph R. Lentol, the bill has eighteen co-sponsors, compared with the nearly forty who have signed onto a separate bill introduced by Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal that would place more stringent rules on Airbnb.

"To me, this is about a company that has suddenly realized that it has no more friends left and because of that it is trying to form new relationships," said Rosenthal of the donations. "It's like an arsonist that sets a fire and then goes to put it out."

(Photo credit: Katie Haugland Bowen)