New York City is Airbnb's largest U.S. market, generating about $1 billion in rentals last year, according to The New York Times. Airbnb responded filing a lawsuit against the state Friday, claiming the legislation "would impose significant immediate burdens and irreparable harm on Airbnb" and violates the company's constitutional right to free speech. "In typical fashion, Albany back-room dealing rewarded a special interest—the price-gouging hotel industry—and ignored the voices of tens of thousands of New Yorkers," said Josh Meltzer, head of the company's New York public policy. Regulators and the hotel industry have long criticized Airbnb for enabling what amount to illegal hotels ; in New York in particular, real-estate developers control thousands of apartments in which they never intend to live, but buy them specifically to rent out to Airbnb users.