Monday, March 5, 2018

Corona AirBnB flophouse shut down

From the Daily News:

The city has shuttered a Queens flophouse that operated as an illegal hotel listed on the Airbnb site — even offering travelers a $21-per-night stay in backyard tents.

The Corona home at 98-13 Northern Blvd. was one of two hit with a partial vacate order last month after officials deemed them “imminently perilous to life (and) public safety.”

“There is about 40 people on the two floors,” a caller reported to the city last October.

“The backyard has air beds under tents, also.”

When investigators from the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement showed up on Feb. 21, they found 27 mattresses crammed into two floors, four guests and one permanent resident.

The two-family property was illegally converted to seven furnished bedrooms where transient guests lived alongside one permanent resident, officials said.

41 comments:

JQ LLC said...

Such enterprising creative people that use Airbnb. These parasites took the retarded concept of glamorous camping, most recently enabled by the federal government with two sites in Riis Park and Fort Tilden last autumn and actually was able to get idiots to lodge in the filthy backyard.

So much for the new standards and diligent vetting that the billion dollar company that they promised to abide by in council hearings last year.

Joe Moretti said...

AND what type of idiot assholes would use such a place. So is the future of the kind of people that will populate NYC, not that the last 15 years has been so wonderful for the types of people that have been coming to NYC and especially Queens, the 4th low-class third world ghetto ass dirty world borough, a potpourri of what is wrong with other countries that have been made a mess of and then bring that crap here.

Anonymous said...

MANY HAVE COMMENTED IN THE PAST ABOUT THIS PROBLEM BUT THE REALITY IS THAT CORONA AND ELMHURST ARE INUNDATED WITH THESE ILLEGAL AIRB&B'S. THE D.O.B DOESN'T HAVE THE PERSONNEL TO ADDRESS EACH CASE BUT IT BETTER GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER. SAFETY IS WAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN SOME HALF-ASSED IDEOLOGY CALLED 'PROGRESSIVISM'. WHAT IS DRIVING THIS ILLEGAL ACTIVITY ARE ILLEGAL ALIENS BUT BECAUSE WE ARE A SANCTUARY CITY, WE ARE GOING TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY.

Gary W said...

21 bucks to sleep in a tent in a backyard in Corona? WTF is wrong with people!?!?

Anonymous said...

They've finally found a way to make visiting NYC affordable!

Zoë said...

21 bucks to sleep in a tent in a backyard in Corona?
Yes, because a hotel would cost you $275 to use a room for 6-8 hours of rest and use a bathroom. That leaves $254 spending money.
Dump that 20% hotel tax, set fair price room-rate regulations and you will prevent a good half this problem.
These Arabs & Indians who own most the hotels are price gauging, raping us. Its out of control and needs to be regulated. Some shitty room near LGA or Maspeth aint worth no $275 a night plus get your car busted into and another $275 for the broken window and glovebox lock.
Screw that, AIR-BNB is a godsend for middle class and travelers on a budget who just need a quiet corner or floor to sleep.

Joe Moretti said...

Anonymous Zoë said...

21 bucks to sleep in a tent in a backyard in Corona?
Yes, because a hotel would cost you $275 to use a room for 6-8 hours of rest and use a bathroom. That leaves $254 spending money.
----------

Zoe, you sound like one fucking asshole. Do you travel much, $275 is not that awful. But you think that sleeping in a tent in some backyard of shithole Corona is great.

Like I said, you are a fucking asshole.

Anonymous said...

I am from out of town. Here it is much too cold to sleep in a tent outdoors. My apartment, a 2 bedroom, with utilities, rents for under $500 a month. A hotel room is $35 a night, much cheaper for a longer stay. A room, if one can even find one, as there are very few...is about $85 a week. We have NO basement apartments at all. No one would ever consider making a basement into an apartment. Are your housing stocks made of gold that they are charging so much? I cannot understand how these landlords practices are tolerated.

Here $275 will almost rent a one bedroom apartment for a month. WE have few studios, they are about $300 a month. We have both older structures and newer construction here.

Heat here, is included in the rent. Here is very cold all winter, often well below zero at night. Your landlords should be prosecuted as thieves for severely overcharging. Here as it gets very cold, we require extra protection against the extreme cold.

We do also have homeless. WE also have the highest property taxes in the entire state.

JQ LLC said...

zoe. IF You think sleeping outside in someones backyard where the neighbors have to see them or sleeping on the floor for 20 bucks is acceptable just so you can save $250 to spend? You obviously don't have any common sense at all.

AirBNB is as much of a godsend as a hurricane, which is the effect it's having on affordability on renting an apartment, which one of these floors could have been properly used for.

You do make a point about the tax rates hotels are being levied with, which they don't seem to mind considering they can just get a contract to house the homeless and make a bigger profit. You lose though by believing Airbnb's propaganda that they exist to help the middle class and budget-wary tourists, for if the latter were concerned they wouldn't make a trip to a place they can't afford.

If you think sleeping on the floor is suitable, you can do that for free in a train station or under a sidewalk shed, and it's actually safer than lodging in a house cramped with forty people and 2 others in a tent next to you.


georgetheatheist said...

Joe:

I go camping all the time. I sleep better on an airmattress with a fluffy sleeping bag than I do in my own bed. Gotta be honest here: some of my best nights of restful sleeping were and are in a tent. When I vacation out West, the tent, sleeping bag, air mattress and other gear go into my checked luggage.

I rent a car at whatever airport and head for the nearest state/national park. Price per night there is $16 to $40. Went camping in the Florida Keys last year just 40 miles outside of Key West. $40 bux a night (and that's the absolute high for pitching a tent!) while people in hotels shell out maybe $400 for the same overnight Key West stay. And for what? As Zoe said 6-8 hours of shuteye and a bathroom? BTW campgrounds have wonderful toilet/shower facilities and are patrolled by rangers for security.

Also, a friend of mine who lives in Queens 2 years ago stayed in a hotel in Montreal and looked out her window the next morning and her $40,000 SUV was stolen from the hotel parking lot.

Me? I wouldn't pay $275 to park my carcass for a few hours when that same parking of the carcass could be done for $25. So, if the Corona site is secure?...Hmnnnnnnn.

Zoë said...

I travel all over.
You are the asshole for thinking $275 guarantees you to clean linens, carpets, safety and a safe place for your car.

Summer yard and rooftop hosting its no different then camping. Actually more like glamour camping because you have a bathroom, shower, bar, movie, hot tub, and freedom to hit a nice local restaurants or bars with the savings.
You go and throw your $275 down the toilet to sit in a cement box with sealed windows.

Anonymous said...

At Joe Moretti: $275 and higher to sleep seven or so hours, take a dump, catch crabs, get mugged by homeless AND get your car busted up and stranded on Maurice ave at the mercy of some crook mechanic is not awful enough ?
Have you gone friggan mad ?

Anonymous said...

Will my NYS Empire Pass work in Corona ?

Joe Moretti said...

What the hell are some of you talking about, do you really comprehend anything in this twitter world. First off, Zoe, tell me exactly where you are paying $275 for a hotel in Corona, WHERE. There are no hotels that cost that amount of money in that area. In Manhattan, sure, but where in Corona. AND that seemed to be your point for sleeping in the backyard of some shithole place in Corona.

And your comment "You are the asshole for thinking $275 guarantees you to clean linens, carpets, safety and a safe place for your car."

Yes, it pretty much does if you are staying at a reputable hotel with a parking garage. I don't know when the hell you stay, but that has never been an issue with me in all my travels. BUT it certainly does not if you are staying in someone's backyard in shitty Corona to save some bucks.

No wonder we are in the shape we are, not only in Queens but elsewhere, where people write without much thought or comprehending anything, just so they can be heard. Pretty much like our asshole President. This is the new world order, unintelligent gibberish, facts be damn and "I read it on Facebook or Twitter or some other idiotic mind numbing social media platform.

Anonymous said...

Hell....I've got a 50'x50' backyard with two nice sheltering trees. Maybe I'll consider running an Air B&B in "Deluxe" northeast
Flushing during the US Open. I might even put up a practice tennis net. LOL!

Anonymous said...

WHERE IS FERREIRAS, MOYA, AND PERALTA?? CAN ANYBODY TELL ME? WE'LL THEY ARE ABSENT AS USUAL !!

Zoë said...

Joe Moretti :
I dont know where the hell you travel East bumblefuck Pensylvania perhaps but I'm sure your not stating in NYC hotels.
The least expensive reputable hotel with a parking garage close to the city is the Marriott near Astoria is now @ $189 a night AND THATS OFF SEASON a couple hotels around LGA same price (if not more). The Maspeth hotels (with all the bums) near Bushwick or Williamsburg oddly will cost you even MORE money.
After your 20% NYC hotel tax, parking surcharge, 8% state tax that $189 room is actually OVER $275 a night and that is off season rates and MORE, NEAR DOUBLE DURING SUMMER !!
We do the Airbnb 3 weekend nights then sometimes swing a Manhattan Hotel every 4th night on a boring weekday when nothing happening and rates are lower taking advantage of the full day 22 hour check-in/check-out
AirBNB Is the only way its affordable in New York because a 2 week stay will cost over $5000 in a reputable hotel.
I did my research, been doing this for years and know these matters so stop posting bullshit Joe Moretti.
Backyard porches, tents and rooftops are not that bad, we are usually groups at night, its a lot of fun and very safe. More safe then some of these hotels and our SUV with everything we need is literally steps away so stop being an a'O !!

I rest my case

Zoë said said...

So, if the Corona site is secure?...Hmnnnnnnn

George: Great factual editorial and 100% correct on all accounts.
I'm glad to see great logical minds still exist in New York, its a rarity.
I personally have no knowledge or fact on this Corona sight but in general these personal houseguest accommodations are more secure then hotels.
The hosts dont want trouble or idiots and make huge efforts to avoid it at all costs.
We sleep much better on a floor (or fresh air breezy rooftop) in tent in my own sleeping bags then some strange bed where 100s have been. The homeless and broke ass don’t even want to stay in hotels and shelters.
Keep in mind to use AIRbnb you need to have good feedback ratings, it’s become very strict. 1000s use it everyday it’s always the one or two assholes hosting mid-representing themselves using the service for these orgies & wild party's you hears about. The public is being mis-informed by this smear campaign of lobbyists (like Joe) for the greedy city and hotel industry where no amount of money is never enough.
Also keep in mind not everybody can write off some shitty airplane, rental car & $$$ hotel route as a business expense.
It is the city's own greed, failure to create campgrounds (what’s wrong with a nice campground out in that eastern Rockaway desert by the train) and now WORSE the banning short term rentals that has driven AIRbnb.

Anonymous said...

This is right around the corner from my house and I do not appreciate these people that keep coming here and doing that. It’s always some foreign person that will come here and do that shit here because this is what flies wherever they come from. ( which is usually some backwoods Third World country and why they leave there and come to America in the first damn place ) People have been complaining to buildings department, sanitation department about these things going on for years and neither office does anything about the problem. Community boards are useless, community leaders don’t do anything after your point them to Office. What the fuck do they think happens to the people that have to live around this nasty shit? They get smart and finally leave because the city is just done for. There’s nothing good about the city at all. New York City is going to before of a whole bunch of illegal and foreign assholes that have turned this whole city into a Third World country while your mayor looks the other way.

Anonymous said...

The Rockaway desert?
What WTF that's a first, These dam illegals & hipshits are making me effing crazy

Joe Moretti said...

BUT what the hell does camping have to do with plopping in someone's back yard in shitty community. I mean why is this even being discussed.

Joe Moretti said...

Zoe, you keep making yourself out to be a total ass every step of the one with each and every statement you make on this subject.

Anonymous said...

@Zoe: You get it! Glad to see someone does.

@Joe & JQ: What an absurd overreaction. Saving $250 is common sense, especially in these economic times, not wasting it on a cheap motel that's insanely overpriced and then paying all the NYC/NYS taxes and fees tacked on to it. When I travel, I'm looking for some place clean and soft to rest my head, and some place secure to leave my belongings. Nothing else. I don't care if it's bunk beds, I'm not visiting for the accommodations, I'm visiting to see the area.

Anonymous said...

I just Google mapped it.
What bad neighborhood, you people are crazy.
That's technically Corona but actually more East Elmhurst near Astoria Blvd blocks from King of Corona and the park were the Italian men toss wooden balls. The area actually gets better every day. A house will cost near a million dollars now. Must be over 1000 walking distance shops, stores, bodegas, bars and restaurants.
No wonder the hipsters have zoomed in to camp out and party.
I'm beginning to think some of these people are to dam old and haven't been to that area in 10 years. With Williamsburg & Ridgewood priced out I think its going to be the next Soho or Greenwich village.
To many old cranks bitching about nothing perhaps need a good dose of Exlax.

Hey isn't that guy attacking Zoe the same Joe that lives in that worst CRAPJHOLE of all (Jamaica). If so get me get this right: He of all people is talking shit and throwing stones at Zoe?
--Holy shit !!

JQ LLC said...

The hipshit cabal is strong on this thread.

I don't like to get personal with other commenters but these defenders of Airbnb takes the shitty frosting on the cake. Funny how they have these ready made stats and they accuse dissenters of being a hotel industry lobbyist. It would behoove me to call one of the above anons the same considering that he doesn't know Riis on the west side of Rockaway nowhere near the trains. Those lame ass tents are gone now but you wouldn't save shit spending a 100 bucks a day to sleep on a soccer field.

You think sleeping on a floor is better than staying at a hotel or motel, listen to yourself you know how insane that sounds, what about all the feet or even roaches that walked on it. Are you bozos and all your bunkbed renting morons really saving money, when all you do is eat shit all day and get loaded at night. Houses are meant to be lived in and grow roots in the neighborhood, not as temporary lodging with strangers going in and out every day.

Airbnb being strict is a fucking laugh, they don't vet anyone and I am certain they thought this host was a top rater considering the amount of customers he had. The most recent famous Airbnb host was none other than Jona Rechnitz, who used the apartment building he was running in midtown as a hotel by telling de Faustio to keep the DOB off of him. Other scumlords have been using the platform too.

Airbnb is a big factor of all the gentrification and displacement of working people from their apartments and homes. It has clearly also had an effect on longtime businesses closing shop after decades and the short lives of new businesses, mostly quirky theme take out places or bars not even lasting 2 months.

Are you bozos and all your bunkbed renting morons really saving money, when all you do is eat shit all day and get loaded at night? That 250 probably disappears in 5 hours.

Most of all you hipshits lose credibility when you attack the elderly or who you consider old. You afraid of getting old? Plan on killing yourselves before you're 30 or 40?

Zoe and the others may be trolls trying to get a rise out of the regulars here (mission accomplished) but these are the types the city prefers to cater to and shape the boroughs around and it's scary and unsustainable.

By the way, you think things are getting better because there are places to party every step you take from your airmattress, you should be aware of that the bad days are back.

Corona the next Soho or Greenwich Village?!!, what are you a lobbyist for some predatory developer?









Anonymous said...

Not riis park (that Irish snob club for Roxbury and Breezy elete. !
EAST As in that 2 mile of Chernobyl looking runes going the other way toward Far Rockaway. Make it a RV friendly campground & surfing park.

Joe Moretti said...

Anonymous said...

I just Google mapped it.
What bad neighborhood, you people are crazy.

---------------------------

Wow this story has really brought out the assholes, who tend to NOT focus on the issue at hand, this illegal AirBnB, the damage that AirBnB does and how it affects the quality of life. Zoe stating how AirBnB is safe, really, have you read REAL newspapers about some of the shit that has happened at some of the AirBnB in New York City, which this blog has posted about many times.

So the topic turned to the price of hotels, camping, hipster Zoe making a point about who knows what and now this asshole who "googled" the area. How about taking your do nothing ass directly to the area and check it out in person. Many people here know the communities of Queens well....................and newsflash, I am not in Jamaica...................and when I was I always called it a ghetto shithole.........so what relevant point are you even trying to make with that........or are you pumping up the next "hot" hood of Queens, are you on the payroll of real estate developers or a Russian troll preparing for the next election.

So you and Zoe save your money, sleep in shitty Corona in a backyard with 50 other people (which by the way, the only decent section is the Italian section you mentioned, which is just a small sample of shitty Corona, something that "googling" would not tell you), and spend your savings on $6.50 fancy coffee while eating an overpriced pastry in a gentrified neighborhood. So young hipster, millennials, whatever, might want to do some reading and see where you stand: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/28/california-anti-gentrification-hipster-yuppie

Anonymous said...

THEY MEAN BUSINESS NOW.....

Amazon Prime chief leaves to lead Airbnb Homes

Greg Greeley, who helped forge Amazon's formidable Prime loyalty juggernaut from the very beginning, spent 18 years with the company.

Anonymous said...

Yes indeed they mean business, Airbnb could be the next Amazon under Greg Greeley.
They are also setting aside billions for building owners who reside on the same private property's with their houseguests to lawyer up.
Look at the bright side, would you rather have A: Zoe next to you or B: Some building gone section 8 filled with deBlasio's MS-13 related inmates and pregnant illegals. Each with 6+ kids and hordes of boyfriends and baby daddys coming and going.
--I think I will take option A

JQ LLC said...

Last anon:

What if that next person sleeping on the floor or in that tent in the yard is not zoe or some hipshit but an ms13 banger or a brooding guy influenced by isis?

Anonymous said...

@JQ: I think most younger people would much rather spend $250 on food and booze than on hotel accommodations. People come to Queens for the food, no one comes to Queens for the hotels; doubly so now that most of them have more homeless staying there than tourists.

Anonymous said...

Me thinks the lady protesth too much. Easy peasy- the pro Air Bnb
commentors are in their employ- The PR team. The Social Media team

how about this goody?

Not riis park (that Irish snob club for Roxbury and Breezy elete. !
EAST As in that 2 mile of Chernobyl looking runes going the other way toward Far Rockaway. Make it a RV friendly campground & surfing park.

He can't spell elite or Riis. He doesn't know the surfing park is in the Beach 90's. And that surfers have been beaten to a pulp on the east end, Far Rockaway.

The day of the hipsters saving Rockaway is gone when Playland Motel closed.
AND if he wants to go sleep in a tent in Gang Banger controlled territory Far Rockaway oh be my guest. You go buy your crack and then get attacked, robbed and worse. if you are lucky you stay alive.

Corona in a tent? PULEEZE. I'm laughing my ass off.

Anonymous said...

JQ LLC - What if that person in the sleeping bag next to is a convicted felon or a convicted sex offender? Or maybe just a crack head.

How can you even sleep in those conditions?

Queens Homeowner said...

""What if that next person sleeping on the floor or in that tent in the yard is not Zoe or some hipshit but an ms13 banger or a brooding guy influenced by isis"

That can happen on any property and HAS happened,and in EVERY ONE of this cases the tenants were LEGAL on the books protected by discrimination and dozens of other laws. YOU elected this shit sanctuary city Sandinista Marxist mayor inviting those asshole, killers and homeless here to push on landlords in neighborhoods that are "too white"

Why is AIRbnb attractive to homeowners ?
Actually unlike a property contracted section 8, public housing, a public real estate listing A private homeowner who lives on the premises is allowed to pick and choose (discriminate)and most do.
The law clearly states including New York City, buildings with four or fewer units, a two-family house is exempt from the city's Human Rights Law if occupied by the owner or a member of the owner's family and if the rental is not offered to the general public. Outside the city, a two-family home is exempt from the state's Human Rights Laws & federal Fair Housing Acts if the building is owner-occupied. This big mistake these landlords ar doing is making 4 units into 6 or more, a stupid move that pre-empts their own protections

1A Owner-occupied housing: An owner lives in a building with four or fewer units
1B Owners of single family homes: A single family home is owned by a private person and rented without the use of a real estate broker or discriminatory advertising
1C Housing owned by religious organizations and private clubs:
1D-*****Housing that limits occupancy to its members (*** this is where AIRbnb applies***)

Other legal reasons that a landlord can reject a prospective tenant include:
A landlord must base the selection of tenants on pre-established and objective criteria based on a fair screening process that requires all tenants to undergo the same application process. A landlord may consider the following when screening a tenant:

Credit history
Income
History of nonpayment of rent
Prior bankruptcies
References
Some types of criminal convictions
Pets

AIRbnb (see 1D above) is not offered to the general public limiting occupancy to its members like a club, AND you must agree to its terms for membership. You are a short term guest and part of that is if your an asshole, filthy pig any reason a property owner don't like you, your denied cant sue or say shit. A landlord can even return your$$ and say GTF off my property. Its partly why its become so attractive to so many landlords.
All these communist liberals like that asshole NYC mayor you elected don't like that idea. They also don't give a shit about you or what some landlord gets stuck and cant do a dam thing about without years of tenant/landlord court.
That' all fact
People need to sit back and think about it, AIRbnb nor some hipshit girl is the enemy here. YOUR STINKING SCANTUARY CITY POLITITIONS ARE !!
IF YOU DONT LIKE IT CHANGE THEM INSTED OR REWARDING THEM WITH RE-ELECTION.

Zoë said...

What about all the feet or even roaches that walked on it ?
You wear shoes just like you would on the street, bus or subway in New York
To sleep you don't even touch the floor or ground, you lay big sheet newspaper (the Wall Street Journal makes perfect lining) then make a circle with deep wood off, pop the tent on top of it and turn the blower air mattress blower on (I have a professional Swiss Army air mattress that takes 2 D battery's and folds to the size of a shoe box)
The whole process from SUV to finish less then 4 minutes, packing and folding it all back together actually takes more. You then get the trashcan and clean up, thank your host and go on your way.

Jeez, do think we are all a bunch of dirty, low life, barefooted environmental slobs -SMH I give up.

JQ LLC said...

"To sleep you don't even touch the floor or ground, you lay big sheet newspaper (the Wall Street Journal makes perfect lining) then make a circle with deep wood off, pop the tent on top of it and turn the blower air mattress blower on (I have a professional Swiss Army air mattress that takes 2 D battery's and folds to the size of a shoe box)
The whole process from SUV to finish less then 4 minutes, packing and folding it all back together actually takes"

Wow, you are gross Zoe. This type of thinking and makeshift planning is what I expect from a bum.

To the last anon, I personally didn't elect this mayor and the current city council of dunces and they didn't do shit to tamp down on Airbnb until they were pressured to take action, and judging by this Corona dive they are still 10 steps behind and Airbnb is still not vetting their hosts properly, especially the ones that have high volume and make the most money for them.

JQ LLC said...

You know, these Airbnb boosters neoliberal comments is the same shit I used to peruse on Gothamists disqus threads.

Joe Moretti said...

Zoe stated:

Jeez, do think we are all a bunch of dirty, low life, barefooted environmental slobs -SMH I give up.

------------------
No, just an idiot, and this newest rambling again has nothing to do with the topic. We are not talking about camping in nature, but crappy Corona in crappy Queens.

JQ LLC said...

One more final thing about the imbecile who suggested East Rockaway for camping out. By the way it's called Far Rockaway.

It is impossible and actually dangerous to build a camp out there considering the violent winds and unpredictable tides. And if a storm comes your out in the open glam tent is a lightning rod.

If you think camping out in the sand is such a great concept, take a trip to Syria or Yemen or any poor African village.

Anonymous said...

Corona....synonymous with crap!
Always had been. Always will be.
WTF do you expect from a nabe adjacent to the GreatCorona Ash Dump...,now FMCP?

Anonymous said...

Oh come on, it not that bad lots of Italian and Brazilians. That 3rd world cesspool between Woodside station and 74st subway hub is what you call bad, REAL BAD.
--What a bunch of crybabys