AirBnB plays a very minor role in this. Yes, they make short-term rentals possible for landlords who are too dumb and lazy to be able to do it otherwise. There were other simliar platforms before AirBnB, there will be others after them.
That's true, but it wasn't a huge industry like it is now, at least not here where I live (Barcelona, Spain). Once AirBnb appeared on the market, it kind of blew up in popularity. And while hotels/hostels needed permission from the government to make properties into hotels, the vacation rental market didn't (initially) so they ended up buying a lot of property meant for residents, but used it for tourists.
I'm not saying AirBnb is the sole party to blame here, but vacation rental companies do carry some responsibility for this.
Good on NYC to ban short term rentals of residential properties. Short term visitors should stay in buildings especially made for that purpose, such as hotels.
Saying "I didn't do it. I just facilitate it" doesn't absolve them of responsibility for killing cities. And AirBnB is lobbying to get their city destroying service legalized in more areas. They know what they're doing. They deserve the criticism. They could back off at any moment, but choose not to for personal gain.