Van down by the river is back in business

The chooch renting out vans down by the East River in LIC as hotel rooms is back at it again. Here are some recent reviews:

"To start with, it all happened to turn out a little different than expected. Due to an article someone had written about Jonathan’s vans there was a boom of media hype so he had to relocate all vans, including the one we had booked.

Jonathan brought us some charged batteries for an electric fan to use in the car, because in the summer it really does get hot in the van. In our first night we made the mistake to open the windows for some fresh air. Although there are nets against mosquitoes there must be a loop so we ended up having to wrestle with 15 to 20 mosquitoes inside the van in the middle of the night. However, the second night much wiser we spend with closed windows and had a quite comfortable night, although the bed is a little small for two people, but it works out."

"I never felt unsafe walking to and from the van, or in the van itself. However, there were a couple of expectable "car" problems. It got hot in the day, and so staying in was not an option. It stayed noisy until the wee hours, and asking the cars to drive softly was not an option. It got stuffy at night, and opening a window was not an option. You see what I'm saying? In addition, you need to consider that you have no shower/toilet/power. You need to do your business elsewhere!"

"Not being able to shower was definitely a negative seeing as New York City isn't very clean so you get dirty easily. It wasn't quite on the water, it was actually parked up the street on the side of the road but was within a quick walk of the waterfront. The space was cramped but enough to put our luggage and have some leg room. The bed is comfortable and cozy. If you don't mind feeling dirty for a few days and need to save money, than this is for you."

It's pretty obvious that this dude got in trouble the first time but has no intention of stopping anytime soon. James Van Bramer probably thinks this is fabulous since he hasn't released a statement about it or called for an investigation and come to think of it, none of the news outlets that packaged this as an "exclusive" after cribbing it from this blog bothered to ask any elected what they plan to do about it even though they had the resources and opportunity to do so.

Adventures in blog poaching

Just wanted to mention that the Daily News, Gothamist, and DNA Info all ran with my Van by the River story. None credited New York Shitty or Queens Crap (although DNA Info reporter claims her editor took it out). This is the epitome of Lazy Journalism 101. The sad thing is that not only do I always give them proper attribution and provide links to their stories, but I often send their reporters tips on things that I don't put on the blog. (Thankfully, Curbed showed more professionalism and linked to the correct source.)

If these "reporters" had any talent as journalists, they wouldn't need to poach off amateurs. And what further info did they add? None of them called Jimmy Van Bramer, the Mayor's office or AirBnB to inquire as to how the hell this is allowed to go on in NYC.

And here's a dose of whoopass straight from the original source.

- QC

UPDATE DNA Info & Gothamist have corrected their stories to provide attribution.