Lefferts Hotel Cuts Deal with Tish James
More news on the status of the Lefferts Hotel, which was recently shuttered after an undercover operation exposed the rampant drug and prostitution trade being conducted on the premises. In recent days, Council Member Letitia James has brokered an arrangement with the hotel owners, we have learned, that will keep the hotel closed until October…
More news on the status of the Lefferts Hotel, which was recently shuttered after an undercover operation exposed the rampant drug and prostitution trade being conducted on the premises. In recent days, Council Member Letitia James has brokered an arrangement with the hotel owners, we have learned, that will keep the hotel closed until October 1st at which point it will re-open “under different circumstances.” The only details we have are that it will be a run as a long-term, residential hotel not a “short-stay” one. In addition, the owners have agreed to have the premises monitored by security cameras 24-hours a day with regular patrols by the precinct. We’re not sure how this sounds. Seems like the owners are getting off too easy to us, but it can be quite hard to make these charges stick and it may be that this was the best that could be achieved from the community’s point of view. The only concern we have is that without substantial capital improvements who is going to want to stay there? Not exactly the kind of clientele residents are hoping for, we’d guess. And what about the egregious buildings violations? Are they being addressed as part of this deal? Tish James can be contacted at 718-260-9191 for more information.
Drugs and Ho’s Bring Down Lefferts Hotel [Brooklyn Record] GMAP
I went to Brooklyn for the first time this weekend and I never heard of this hotel we are talking about. I did however get a room at the Rivieira motor inn on Atlantic ave with my friends for the nite and when we went in to pay it was an hourly motel. $50 for 4 hours. We needed to shower and get ready so we got the room. It was disgusting and not only that the second we turned on the tv porn popped on. That is a HOtel and needs 2 be looked at. I was disgusted
In a thread that ran a few weeks ago, there were some critics of the shuttering of Lefferts Hotel; apparently, they felt that the closing of this “den of iniquities” was a threat to the authenticity of the neighborhood. Have people expressed this view openly at any community meetings, or only anonymously on this blog?
In a thread that ran a few weeks ago, there were some critics of the shuttering of Lefferts Hotel; apparently, they felt that the closing of this “den of iniquities” was a threat to the authenticity of the neighborhood. Have people expressed this view openly at any community meetings, or only anonymously on this blog?
Moses Fried might be a ruthless business man but he’s definitely not a very smart business man. Even at 76.
According to Property Shark, the yellow Victorian at 70 Lefferts Place sold in May for $2.4 million and at least two other brownstones on this block have fetched close to $1.5 million in the past three months. The purchaser of the Victorian home is a developer who plans to knock down the building (a tragedy in and of itself) and erect condos. Similar plans are slated for 76-90 Lefferts Place and 96 Lefferts Place.
Why would an owner of two large prime properties in Clinton Hill choose to operate these buildings in such a deplorable and unacceptable manner? It doesn’t make any sense. The Lefferts Hotel and adjacent five story brownstone could easily fetch $3 million plus. One would imagine that even a reputed slumlord would eventually wake up and smell the coffee. Condo development is occurring all around the Lefferts Hotel but the owner would rather operate it as a whorehouse/flophouse or a rundown SRO. It’s a shame. PLG residents better organize soon because 205 Parkside is going to be next.
http://www.pshark.com/mason/Reports/showsection.html?propkey=180319
I didn’t mean that the city was paid off. I was saying that if the Lefferts Hotel and the other places mentioned, “Pleasant Stay Motel on Classon & Putnam next. Then check out the Washington Hotel and Apartments on Washington & Greene. Two more HO-TELS in the hood” continue the illicit business. There must be some sort of “agreement” that enforcement looks the other way. Which means someone gets something.
Don’t be so quick to attribute this to a “pay-off”, TomPLG. Who are you suggesting was paid off? Tish James? City lawyers negotiating the settlement? The judge? The reality is that most settlements are made to avoid the expense and uncertainty of a trial, in which the burden of proof would have been on the city. What a settlement like this does is change the rules of the game for the next match. If the owners fail to live up to the settlement (and I have no doubt that they will be watched like hawks), then further action can be taken. And in the meantimet the place is closed for the rest of the summer. Not bad, not bad at all.
I’d have to question whether or not the neighborhood needs a hotel or not. I suspect there is a lot of pent up demand for upscale hotel rooms (family, those who want a more authentic NY experience) on one hand, and quite frankly we will always need “flophouses” for the casually employed who don’t have enough stability for permanent housing but don’t want to enter the shelter system. NYC has lost a lot of the bottom rungs of the housing ladder. Poor does not equate drug user or prostitute.
I’m a Clinton Hill resident and I’ve been following this issue very closely as well. I’m appalled that in this day and age a brothel of this magnitude could operate so blatantly in Brooklyn, in the open, and for so many years. I’m astonished and embarrassed for this community, borough and city. I’m happy to see that something is finally being done to address and remedy the situation.
With that being said, I think that Moses Fried is an immoral and ruthless human being. According to the NY Sun article and his own words, he is a 76 year old “religious” Jew and holocaust survivor. IMHO, he is a disgrace to his faith and the great Jewish tradition of tolerance and understanding for the less fortunate. You would think that this man would know something about tyranny and oppression yet he survives the atrocities of the holocaust only to leave the indelible legacy of being a slumlord and brothel owner! He is an embarrassment to his people, family, faith and heritage! His chronic and habitual negligence in managing his properties and blood sucking approach to business has done irreparable damage to this community.
Clinton Hill residents should mount a massive PR campaign to bring his evil deeds to the light. In fact, they should invoke the following strategy:
(a) locate his home and business address and write countless letters to Mr. Fried, his colleagues and neighbors expressing community outrage over his ownership and operation of the hotel/whorehouse;
(b) protest and hand out leaflets in front of his home and make his community aware of his illegal business dealings and practices;
(c) locate his synagogue and contact the rabbi and solicit his assistance in the matter – perhaps he can exert some influence;
(d) area residents should contact an attorney and explore the possibility of filing a civil suit against him and the hotel;
(e) contact DOB and (i) file numerous complaints for building code violations until the charges stick and hefty penalties are imposed, (ii) if there is construction work on the site during building renovation process, make sure that every required permit is filed with DOB, and (iii) investigate the building CofO and make sure that the property usage is consistent with it and definitely protest to block any attempts to secure a variance from the city;
(f) contact the city housing dept and make certain that if Mr. Fried turns any portion of the hotel into an SRO that he and his company are not awarded any city contracts to house the homeless or displaced families – he’s an absentee slumlord who provides unsafe living conditions and thus shouldn’t be rewarded with city contracts; and
(g) contact the IRS and both NYC and NYS Dept of Finance and request that they investigate the hotel’s finances -an extensive audit of Mr. Moses tax returns will surely uncover something.
Opponents of the hotel should not give up. They must continue the pressure and use every available means to communicate to Mr. Moses that a hotel of this nature will never operate again in Clinton Hill. Good luck.
Sounds like if they made a deal, there was a payoff or something. When a place like this and the other buildings mentioned that continue to do illicit business it becomes GLARINGLY obvious to me there are people on the take and a general resistance to make it stop by the powers that be. I have a friend that lived by a brothel and she and her neighbors threw eggs at the prostitutes every day until they left. Perhaps at the first sign of the return to illegal activity the neighbors could gather in front and protest with signs and make some noise…everyday…
Hello:
Will Tish’s town hall meeting date be posted on this site, or somewhere else?
I am not a Clinton Hill resident but have been following this Lefferts Hotel story closely for the last few weeks. Are there other community meetings I should know about?
Thanks.