Monday, February 29, 2016
Factory operated as hotel vacated
From the Daily News:
The city raided an apartment in hipster Brooklyn last week that had been operating as an illegal hotel through Airbnb and other websites, sending several unlucky out-of-towners scrambling for places to stay.
The Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement — which just had its budget nearly doubled in order to crack down on illegal hotels — busted 210 Cook St. in East Williamsburg on Tuesday after receiving complaints about it through 311.
Inspectors found a brightly colored loft space — complete with wall murals, Ikea-style furniture and tons of potted plants — that had been converted into an eight-room hotel.
Guests would punch a code into a keypad at the door to get into the space, which was divided into cubbyholes marked 1 through 8.
Rates started at $31 a night on Airbnb, where it had a 4.5-star rating.
Visitors shared one of two bathrooms, had access to a kitchen and received free Wi-Fi, according to the listing on Airbnb.
It's amazing the lengths that the city will go to in order to keep tourists safe, but doesn't care much about illegal conversion of permanent residences.
6 comments:
Jerry Wolkoff, owner of the former 5 Pointz building, once carved up his factory into illegal artist lofts.
Jimmy Van Bramer took a $10,500 chump change contribution from this commercial slum lord.
Councilman Jimmy has been busy butt fucking his constituents ever since. He needs real estae money to become mayor some day.
THIS ENFORCEMENT NEEDS TO CONTINUE !! DON'T SLOW DOWN !!
Any why are white tourists and the typical bands (priced out of NYC hotels & parking)for one or two nights being targeted ?
All the other hotels are $200 a night and more and you cant watch your car or van ---its pure RAPE. LOOK at all the shit going on in Elmhurst, Woodside, Jackson Heights with illegals living 8 to a room committing REAL CRIME AND QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES for New York City!!
Why not go after those slumlords first ?
One more proof that DOB is imcompedent. This property had 5 ECB violations for illegalconvertion to apartments in 2005 and 2006. There were all 'written off' without paying a penny.
Seems like an industrial zone is exactly the place to put this, where there's no neighbors to disturb at night.
No tourists have no place to stay since the hotels and motels in Queens are now homeless shelters.
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