Airbnb removed 3 rental vans parked in New York City after neighbors complained of feces and urine outside

• Airbnb removed listings for three vans in NYC's Upper East Side neighborhood after complaints.
• Each listing featured a mattress, sink, and toilet that guests were encouraged not to use.
• Although Airbnb removed the listings, two of the vans appear to be listed on Tripadvisor.

Earlier this year, if Airbnb users zoomed into New York City's Upper East Side neighborhood, they could spot three unusual listings.

The listings weren't for luxe lofts or ritzy apartments in one of NYC's most expensive neighborhoods — they were for vans.

Starting at $96 a night, guests could rent the "lovely rv place," the "NYC Van Experience," or "The NYC RV," the New York Daily News first reported on July 25. Reviews for the listings on Airbnbs had gone back to February, according to the outlet.

Inside each van, guests could find a mattress, a small sink, and a toilet with a sign reading, "For Emergency USE only please! Please avoid doing #2 here!," the Daily News' Ellen Moynihan reported. 

After complaints from neighborhood residents and an investigation by the Daily News, the listings were removed from Airbnb's platform in July — but as of Tuesday, two of the vans appear to be listed on Tripadvisor. 

Locals complained that van guests would use the streets as their bathroom

The vans frequently moved around public parking spots within the neighborhood, the Daily News reported. 

The outlet noted that since the vehicles lacked a traditional bathroom and shower, the host required guests to use a bathroom located in a nearby apartment; in the now-deleted listings, the host told guests they could shower at her home and "just text" before they needed to use it, according to the Daily News.

But local residents told the Daily News they saw Airbnb guests using the streets as their restroom. 

"Where are they going to do it?" a building super, who asked that his name not be used, told the outlet. "They don't care. They go between the cars or on the building stairs across the street."

A resident named Stacey told the Daily News that she didn't spot the vans until she noticed "the smell of urine and feces."

In the listings on Airbnb, the host stated that anything less than a five-star review was considered a negative review, according to the Daily News.

However, that didn't stop Airbnb guests from leaving less-than-positive reviews. 

According to a review on the vacation-rental platform seen by the Daily News, one guest named Virgile thought the van they stayed in was too expensive. 

"Just have in mind *it's a mattress in a van in the street*. No restroom (a toilet you cannot use) and it was complicated to come take a shower to the host place," they wrote in the review, according to the Daily News. 

Airbnb removed the listings in July

According to the Daily News, the Airbnb host was Magdalena Kulisz, who went by the name Magda Agata on the platform.

Kulisz, the cofounder of the networking group Miss Immigrant USA, told the Daily News that the vans were legally registered with the state, and in the now-deleted listings for the vans, Kulisz wrote that each was "legally parked and insured." Kulisz declined to comment when contacted by Insider for this story.

In January 2022, New York City adopted a law that requires hosts to register their Airbnb and short-term properties with the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement. However, the deadline to register those short-term rentals is September 5 of this year, according to the Office of Special Enforcement's website. A representative for the office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Kulisz told the Daily News that she was under the impression she didn't need to do that. "I'm not an attorney but it's not an apartment so I don't think I need to register it with the city," she told the news outlet.

A spokesperson for Airbnb told Insider that the vans violated the vacation-rental company's policy, which doesn't permit hosts to have listings on public land. 

"Following an investigation, these listings have been removed from the platform," the Airbnb spokesperson said.

Two of the vans appear to still be listed on Tripadvisor 

While Airbnb removed postings for the vans from its platform, two listings that appear to feature the same vans were still active on Tripadvisor as of Tuesday under a host named Sha K. 

When Insider reached Miss Immigrant USA to ask for comment from Magdalena Kulisz, she responded along with Sha Kenan, who is also a cofounder of the organization. Kenan declined to comment when contacted by Insider, and representatives for Tripadvisor did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. 

In the Tripadvisor listings, which were viewed by Insider, the host wrote that they "had happy guests staying for more then a month, weeks or just over night." 

As of Tuesday, the listing for the "NYC Cozy Van Camper Experience" had two one-star reviews (which you can see below), while the other for "Van Experience NYC" didn't have any. 

One reviewer of the "NYC Cozy Van Camper Experience" said it was "an uncomfortable experience with countless inconveniences," and wrote that they had trouble finding a time that worked with the host to use the apartment bathroom that had been offered in the listing. (As with the now-removed listings for the vans on Airbnb, the Tripadvisor host says in the listing that guests "are welcome to have shower in our home a block away.")

"We were also told not to use the toilet in the van too much which was ridiculous," the reviewer who goes by Culture62288004542 on Tripadvisor wrote. "Basically, there were some days when we could not shower at all," they added, saying they had "to use public restrooms whenever we could."

Another guest gave the listing one star, writing: "This 'van experience' is not a fun experience."