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According to a tipster, a protective sidewalk shed went up at 205 Parkside Avenue on Friday. Why is this noteworthy? The property has been owned and neglected for many years by the same character who owns the scourge on Clinton Hill known as the Lefferts Prince Hotel. All the while, it’s been a squatter’s paradise, with gerry-rigged lights visible at night and occasional small fires requiring FDNY attention. Back in 2007, he tried to filed an application to turn the rundown building into a 23-room “apartment hotel,” an effort which encountered significant community resistance. According to the blog Hawthorne Street, the scaffolding that went up was in response to a neighbor complaining to DOB about safety conditions at the site. When we were looking it up, however, we also noticed that DOB just earlier this month again rejected the owner’s application to turn the place into a hotel which, given his track record, can only be assumed to be another den of drugs and prostitution. (A couple weeks earlier DOB issued full vacate orders at the Lefferts Hotel and its sister hotel on Schermerhorn. Maybe there’s a coordinated effort to put an end to this guy’s sleaze empire.) Hopefully the PLG community will step up its vigilance and take a moment to get in touch with Council Member Eugene by phone (718-287-8762), fax (718-287-8917) or email (mathieu.eugene @council.nyc.gov) to make sure he’s on top of the situation. GMAP


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