Saturday, July 24, 2010

Not everyone happy with illegal hotel bill

From the NY Times:

When the State Legislature recently passed a bill meant to stop the use of residential apartments as hotel rooms, tenant advocates and some elected officials spoke favorably of the measure, saying it would end a dangerous and unregulated practice.

Yet that reception was not universal, and in City Hall Park on Sunday afternoon, about 150 people gathered near the fountain, holding aloft placards denouncing the measure and calling upon Gov. David A. Paterson to veto it.

The demonstrators said they owned or worked at hostels or single-room-occupancy establishments that they feared would be harmed if the proposal became law.

“We provide jobs; we collect revenue; we pay our hotel occupancy tax,” said Ronnie Oved, who owns Central Park Hostel and Hotel 99, both on the Upper West Side. “And we bring people to the city.”

Under the proposed rules, such apartments could not be rented for less than 30 days.

State Senator Liz Krueger of Manhattan, who sponsored the bill along with Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried of Manhattan, said in a telephone interview on Sunday that more than 300 buildings in New York City had residential units that had been turned into rooms rented for short periods.

As a result, she said, apartments were removed from the pool available to renters, and permanent residents sometimes had to put up with rowdy crowds.

“Longtime tenants, including the elderly, find themselves in a building with complete strangers riding the elevators, wandering the halls and partying at night,” Ms. Krueger said.

In addition, she said, residential buildings were subjected to less stringent safety measures than hotels, making them dangerous when they are used to house large numbers of visitors.

She added that the City Council and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg supported the measure.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

That this ill should continue to fester under the radar of the preservation community is yet another example of their toothlessness.

Anonymous said...

Not to mention those short term rentals being used as whore houses.

Flooshing abounds with such "on-your-back" rental units!

A line of cars with waiting Oriental men was seen lined up in front of one such "apartment".

Each man left, usually after a 20 minute "visit" and another man "entered".

It's already been turned into NYPD Manhattan central division.

Nobody here trusts the 109th PCT.

Anonymous said...

so with this logic drug dealing should be legal, as dealers pump money into rims,cell phones,jewlrey, etc. thus helping the economy?

cherokeesista said...

Anonymous 2, I agree 100% , Everyone in my neighborhood believes the 109th is FILTHY DIRTY, on my block theres also a couple of whorehouses in a building, but we get middle class white men that park get on their cells go in the building and within 20 min. to an hour the next one goes in:( I can't help myself sometimes I ask the assholes if it's worth taking AIDS home to their wives and they never respond they act like they don't hear me:( But they will hear LOUD AND CLEAR when they find out they have an STD or worse AIDS!!! QUEENS TRIBUNE advertises openly and NOTHING IS DONE:( I'm reporting now to I.C.E. the number is 1-866 DHS-2-ICE :) No more 109th for me!!!!

King Ning said...

ICE won't do anything. Obama's Justice Dept. and ICE attorneys said as much at the hearing for the Arizona immigration law.

Anonymous said...

Also try reporting them to the IRS...cherokeesista.

Uncollected income tax from illegal businesses interests them greatly.

AND if you don't want to remain an anonymous tipster you can even get a reward!

My brother in law was an IRS agent.

He once confided to me that even the FBI feared his badge!

He could report any one of their agents he might suspect was tax evading.

He caught one of them doing just that...moonlighting...earning a big cash extra income.

Anonymous said...

I don't have any sympathy for the 150 who demonstrated to oppose the bill. They need to decide if they want to be apartments or a hotel and comply with the applicable laws and codes. The situation which created these phony hotels created problems which the operators didn't or couldn't fix. Now the government is stepping in. It's too late to promise that you will clean up your act.

Anonymous said...

AFRICAN AND HISPANIC AMERICANS AGAINST LIZ KRUEGER AND RICHARD GOTTFRIED Attention my fellow African and Hispanic Americans: Did you know that LIZ KRUEGER AND RICHARD GOTTFRIED are trying to pass a law that will prevent you from renting even for one day any apartment that is located in a white neighborhood? The “LAWMAKERS” listed above have joined other “LAWMAKERS” in an effort to stop people of color from moving into buildings which are occupied primarily by WHITES. Caucasian tenants in predominately WHITE neighborhoods have been alarmed by the sight PEOPLE OF COLOR “ROAMING” THE HALLWAYS OF THEIR BUILDINGS when landlords were renting to SHORT STAY TENANTS. The SHORT STAY TENANTS can usually book a room over the internet and the LANDLORD and their staff must accommodate them when they arrive, they can not be legally turned away due to the color of their skin. This ease of access by MINORITIES to WHITE NEIGHBORHOODS and PREDOMINANTLY WHITE OCCUPIED BUILDINGS shocks the LONG TERM RESIDENTS and they do not want us in their midst even if only for one day. My friends and I frequently book a room in MANHATTAN, after dinner and an occasional Broadway show, we do not feel like driving back to New Jersey. These short term stay apartments in Manhattan are extremely inexpensive compared to a hotel room and we usually stay FRIDAY, SATURDAY and SUNDAY night, then we head straight to work (my friends and I all work downtown in the Financial District). On many occasions I have seen and felt the UNWELCOME looks and DEMEANOR of the CAUCASIAN permanent residents in these buildings which permit short stay, I have read that both of the “LAWMAKERS” listed above have capitulated to the demands of these WHITE PERMANENT RESIDENTS and are now trying to pass a law that is basically SEGREGATIONIST and it may actually be viewed as a HATE CRIME sanctioned and championed by WHITE “LAWMAKERS”. In the July 5, 2010 issue of the DAILY NEWS Ms. KRUEGER is quoted as saying “Residents will no longer see their apartment buildings OVERRUN by transient tourists” As you can see by the choice of words used by her, she emphasizes overrun, sounds like the kind of word used to describe Mice and Roaches or other vermin. In the same article, Assembly bill sponsor Richard Gottfried called the situation a “nightmare” where “you have strangers coming and going at all hours”. The article further states that “MAYOR BLUMBERG SUPPORTS THE MEASURE…” The legislature is bowing to the demands of the PREDOMINANTLY WHITE OCCUPIED BUILDINGS, where these occupants are HORRIFIED at the prospect that PEOPLE OF COLOR CAN LEGALLY LIVE IN THEIR MIDST. I have importuned everyone I know to launch a campaign where the “LAWMAKERS” who vote for this RACIST BILL RESIGN or BE VOTED OUT OF OFFICE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. Furthermore, everyone should write to their elected officials and ask that the law should be changed to permit as many apartments that become available in a building for SHORT STAY USE not just the 49 percent that the current law permits. Now that will be TRUE INTEGRATION and end to VILE AND DESPICABLE SEGREGATION. As a PARALEGAL and based on my conversation with attorneys, we can sue the city and the lawmakers if a Judge determines that the reasons stated for passing of this new law is a sham and this will expose BLOOMBERG and other RICH LAWMAKERS to a personal lawsuit where they will be personally be held liable for what is essentially LEGISLATING A HATE BILL. NO ELECTED OFFICIAL CAN CHANNEL HIS/HER HATRED OF MINORITIES INTO A BILL THAT IS MOST PROBABLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL. The Lawyers that I have spoken to suggested that it is probably UNCONSTITUTIONAL for the “LAWMAKERS” or any “FEDERAL, STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT” to compel and dictate to any PROPERTY OWNER the LENGTH OF TIME THAT HE/SHE MUST RENT ANY APARTMENT. Finally, I reached out to attorneys who asked many Assistant District Attorney if they recall a single crime that occurred or was caused by a SHORT TERM STAY individual and all A.D.A’s have consistently responded that they have never come across a single case.

Anonymous said...

WOW, non-white people getting nice, nearly-free housing subsidized by white people's taxes complaining that they are not getting enough (freebies).