Queens man plans to convert his illicit commerical residential space into a commercial space

  

NBC New York

While Sampson Dahl's ex-girlfriend thought the old laundromat he was considering as a potential new apartment was "disgusting," he saw the potential for a great live-work space. He moved in a month later.

"I don't think a space needs to be a perfect representation of what we hope a simple mind looks like," Dahl tells CNBC Make It. "I think a space should be an imperfect representation of the people who are in it at that moment in their lives."

The 27-year-old production designer is no stranger to living in commercial spaces; he used to live in a warehouse in Chicago, so he knew going into his apartment hunt that he wanted to repeat that experience.

"I like the freedom of a commercial space, even though there are definitely fewer tenant rights," he said. "Something feels more ethical about moving into a vacant storefront that's been empty for years than taking up an apartment in some residential neighborhood that you're not familiar with."

Dahl found the former laundromat in Maspeth, Queens, in an online forum in 2019. A former tenant added a small kitchen that gives Dahl enough space to have a sink, stovetop, and toaster oven. The laundromat hasn't been in working order since 2005.

When he first moved in March 2019, the rent was $1750, and he paid two months' rent up front and an $875 security deposit. In 2021, his rent went up to $1850, and on average, he pays $120 for electricity and $60 for the internet.

Dahl is in production design, and one of the perks of the job is access to a lot of free furniture after the projects are done, so he's used that to decorate the space.

"This space enables some [my] hoarding tendencies, but I try to be as decorative with it as possible," Dahl says. "While most of the stuff is technically trash, and a lot of it was free, I try to curate it in the way that is most comfy to me."

Although Dahl loves the space he created, which also includes a songwriting and organ station, he says he only lives there because it's what he can afford right now, but he hopes to move out and have it continue to be a collaborative studio space.

"It'll just be an open store for whoever wants to come in and learn to paint or continue a painting or learn to record a song or continue a song. It's for beginners and people who are already passionate about what they do," Dahl says.

"Living in a storefront has taught me resourcefulness in a way I've never known before. I really can't be too picky about what comes my way; I just have to make the best of it. And that's the greatest skill I could ask for, he added.

"It's nothing I could teach myself; it's something you can only learn from life. That's really in line with the life philosophy I have."

Hipster tinderbox

the only regulations that are being enforced for this hazardous shithole is no shoes or socks allowed inside. This cheapskate hipster won't even buy a dresser for his raggy clothes. He also seems to be renting it out too for lodging and entertainment, which technically makes this a commercial space. This is a smaller version of that hipster commune building that went up in flames and killed dozens in California. This hipster's lucky the Buildings Commissioner is a mess

They're always cited after it's too late

From CBS 2:

The New York City Department of Buildings on Friday ordered a Brooklyn laundromat to remove an illegal parking where a young girl was fatally struck by a vehicle last month.

Residents say they’ve complained about the parking lot before because cars have no driveway across to the street, forcing people to drive perilously onto the sidewalk to park.

The DOB called for the immediate removal of the parking lot, which the NYPD already has blocked off.

DOB records reveal that this laundromat was established in 2002. Since that time, the DOB has been visiting to cite the owner for an elevator violation. I guess they failed to notice the parking lot on the way in for all these years.

There's no place like home

From the Daily News:

I was 10 years old when I crossed over the border into Arizona with my parents in 2005.

We moved to Jackson Heights. My parents, Roberta and Salvador Alarcon, left my younger brother with my grandparents in Veracruz.

In New York, my mother worked at a Laundromat and my dad got a job in construction. He built and demolished houses in Manhattan and Queens. His boss exploited him. My father worked for 12 to 14 hours a day for $80. He had no idea you could sue for lost wages. He was always afraid of being deported.

In 2011, the family was forced to move from a two-bedroom apartment to a one-bedroom. At one point, my father injured his ankle. He was afraid to go to a hospital. In 2012, my grandmother passed away from cancer. My parents decided to go back.

My parents now have a small store in the town. My father is now working on farming and my mother is taking care of the store.

They are happy. But obviously, it’s not the same. Over here, they had cell phones and money to go to restaurants once a month. Now, they don’t have the money and have to work harder to get those things.

I don't understand how they had money for cell phones and restaurants with mom working off the books at a laundromat and dad raking in $80/day. Sounds like Mexico was a better option. And in fact, more Mexicans are returning than arriving these days.

Laundromat goes up in flames

From Fox 5:

A blazing summer sun made battling a raging fire that much more difficult for the FDNY.

A fire at the Bestway Laundromat ignited Saturday at around Noon.

The blaze in the two-story building quickly went to four alarms.

Fire officials say four firefighters suffered minor injuries.