Nine members of the City Council are calling on the Clinton Global Initiative to end its partnership with controversial room-sharing startup Airbnb to provide accommodations to AmeriCorps volunteers.

In a letter sent Sept. 24 to Clinton Foundation CEO Eric Braverman, the council members claim that Airbnb is "the leading operator in the illegal hotel industry that is exacerbating the affordable-housing crisis in New York City." They urge Mr. Braverman to reconsider his group's partnership with the company, which was announced Wednesday during CGI's annual global meeting in midtown Manhattan.

"We believe in the Clinton Foundation’s guiding principle that 'we’re all in this together,' " they write. "But it appears Airbnb does not subscribe to this principle, as it is content to flout our laws, put tenants at significant risk, and deal a serious blow to our efforts to make this city more affordable for working New Yorkers."

The letter is signed by council members Helen Rosenthal, Daniel Garodnick, Corey Johnson, Ben Kallos, Rosie Mendez, Brad Lander, Mark Levine, Antonio Reynoso and Ritchie Torres.

An Airbnb spokesman dismissed the claims of the letter writers.

"We are proud to support AmeriCorps and more than 1,000 new corps members as they embark on their service in schools, health centers, parks and communities recovering from disasters across the country," the spokesman said, referring to the national service program launched during the first few years of the Clinton administration.

Opponents accuse Airbnb of creating a marketplace that gives landlords an incentive to push out low-income tenants so they can rent out their apartments to tourists and others who use the online service. They recently formed a coalition of elected officials, hotel union workers, housing advocates and disgruntled tenants, with a budget of $3 million, to counter Airbnb's lobbying effort. The group, called Share Better, recently rallied at City Hall, where it demanded that Mayor Bill de Blasio sic his Special Enforcement Unit on Airbnb.

The Airbnb/AmeriCorps initiative was announced Wednesday at CGI by Bill and Chelsea Clinton, but it is unclear whether the company is actually teaming up with the Clinton Foundation on the initiative. An Airbnb spokesman said the Clinton Foundation has no involvement, but a CGI spokesman did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

According to the company's website, Airbnb says it is partnering with ServiceNation, a 501c(3) based in Boston that supports AmeriCorps. The partnership is to "support AmeriCorps members around the country by donating accommodations and support for approximately 1,000 corps members as they move to new cities for their year of service," Airbnb states. However, a Google search of "Airbnb and Clinton Foundation" links to the company's website under the headline "Airbnb partners with the Clinton Foundation & ServiceNation," indicating the announcement was subsequently edited to remove the Clinton name.

Airbnb insists the Clintons' involvement was merely passive, citing CGI's goal "to bring organizations together that form commitments and partnerships for good." But Airbnb's co-founder and chief product officer Joe Gebbia is quoted on ServiceNation's website praising his company's "partnership with the Clinton Foundation and ServiceNation will help provide new service corps members with a place to call home as they embark on their year of service to strengthen America's cities and communities."