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.

Posted by: BrooklynMosaic at July 27, 2006 6:28 AM in response to Lefferts Hotel Cuts Deal with Tish James

I'm told the architects are Pratt graduates who now own and operate an architectual firm out of Park Slope called Brickology (sp?). Is this true? The developer is at fault but also the architects too! They should not escape blame here either. Shame on them. Should their firm go out of business they need not look any further than 1067 Fulton for the reason!!

Posted by: BrooklynMosaic at August 11, 2006 10:08 AM in response to The Shame of Fulton Hitting Market

Radusky, Henry - Bricolage Design Associates
6321 New Utrecht Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11219-5425
(718) 259-1100
http://www.bricolagedesigns.com/

Posted by: BrooklynMosaic at August 11, 2006 11:51 AM in response to The Shame of Fulton Hitting Market

I just viewed Bricolage Design Associates' portfolio. They appear to do decent work. They can't be the architects on this monster! Can anyone confirm?

Posted by: BrooklynMosaic at August 11, 2006 12:12 PM in response to The Shame of Fulton Hitting Market