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February 7, 2007

Update on the Lefferts Hotel?

We spent a lot of time talking about the problem-ridden Lefferts Hotel last summer and we haven't heard much talk in the neighborhood since. According to one commenter In last week's discussion of the near-by Broken Angel, things have not improved:

The stipulation agreement entered into by the City and the Prince Hotel Group is killing the Lefferts Hotel; he can't make any money as a legitimate business concern. The place is dead and appears on the brink of shutting down. At the same time, property values are soaring all around the hotel and this section of Clinton Hill. If there was every a good time to get Mr. Fried to sell this beautiful building it is now.

What can other residents of Lefferts Place tell us about recent problems with the hotel? Why wouldn't the owner, Moses Fried, be dying to sell? He could make a lot of dough and free himself of numerous headaches.
More Details on the Broken Angel Project [Brownstoner] GMAP
More on Hotel Deal, Shooting on Downing [Brownstoner]
Lefferts Hotel Cuts Deal with Tish James [Brownstoner]

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Comments

I just banged a hooker there last week. Who says business is down?

Posted by: Lawyer Taking Lunch at February 7, 2007 9:35 AM

Is there some sort of organized crime involvement that means decisions about the hotel's future are subject to "non-commercial" considerations?

Posted by: bill_stickers at February 7, 2007 10:22 AM

Anon 11:11, you'd never even get elected if you were running for a city council seat. You couldn't do half of what Tish James has done. She is one of the best regarded members on the city council.

Posted by: Shahn Andersen at February 7, 2007 12:01 PM

11:11:

Where do you live? It doesn't sound like you live anywhere near the Leferts Hotel, or you would care. What remedies do you suggest for dealing with these problems? Status quo is not good for anyone.

Posted by: Anon on Greene at February 7, 2007 12:49 PM

Perhaps Moses Fried keeps his money-losing hotel for the same reason Christopher Morris has priced the recently-landmarked #70 Lefferts at $1,000,000 above the already overmarket price he paid for it: being a Money Guy doesn't necessarily make you a Brain Guy.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2007 2:02 PM

Actually the area does seem better, but I think that is more due to the cold than anything else. Closing the hotel, and the one on Classon would certainly reduce the street "traffic." And yes I am okay with that. I am not sure what Ms James has to do with all this. What sort of substantive political action are earlier posters suggesting?

Posted by: putnam-denizen at February 7, 2007 2:05 PM

I looked over the earlier posters comments again and I don't read them as advocating any specific course of action. Instead, the suggestion appears to be that it is futile to simply move the problem around from one location to another, and so anything we do that is less futile than this will be a step in the right direction.

I also don't see what Tish James has to do with this, though I agree with the earlier posters that she's been terrible for our part of Brooklyn.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2007 2:25 PM

The hotel is bleeding money left and right because the City, politicians, local authorities and residents are nothing but steadfast in their commitment to shutting it down and ending its illegal practices - precisely drugs and prostitution. As an illegal operation, the hotel was making money hands over fist, but it can't make a dime as a legitimate business and is thus suffering greatly. Unbeknownst to the owners, the neighborhood has vastly changed and a local flophouse of this sort will not be tolerated in any way shape or form. Perhaps if this was a swank and hip boutique hotel catering to a more upscale clientele the hotel may succeed but definitely not this filthy and disgusting flophouse.

In short, the Stipulation Agreement entered into by the City and the Lefferts Hotel has handcuffed the operators to the point that it has totally eliminated the prostitution and drug activities. The Stipulation Agreement requires that the hotel must provide: (1) 24 hour on-site security; (2) 24 hour camera surveillance (tapes must be saved and are reviewable by police); (3) that all guests must show a valid state ID; (4) that all guests must sign the hotel guest registry; (5) only daily room rates shall be available to patrons; and (6) police with unwarranted access to the hotel at any time. As a result of these restrictions, and many more, the drug and prositution problem that once use to hold this entire community hostage has virtually disappeared. The 88th Precinct sent a very strong message to the dealers, prostitutes and pimps that should anyone even "spit on the corner of Classon and Lefferts they are getting arrested." Since July 2006, that corner is essentially the cleanest spot in the neighborhood. I what is even better it simply didn’t move down the block either. It’s gone! You can’t find it anywhere!

How long will this last, hopefully forever. Lefferts Place has a very strong block association in the LPCA and residents are extremely active with civic/community activities in Clinton Hill, e.g., Clinton Hill Society and Cripus Attucks Park. Given all of the strong grassroots activism in the community, not to mention all of those $1MM plus home sales on Lefferts in 2006, I seriously doubt that the nabe will return to the days of the Wild Wild West. There's simply too much at stake and I hope that Moses Fried gets the clear message that the party is over. He should sell, make his handsome profit and allow the neighborhood to continue its organic growth.

No community should allow criminals to run rampant with an utter disregard for the rule of law. We must put our families first and do everything in our power to ensure that we raise our children in a quiet, healthy and safe environment. I love the three blocks of Lefferts Place, in my book it’s one of the most architecturally diverse and significant areas in Clinton Hill. I'm happy to see that the neighborhood is rapidly improving and I have no doubt that the City, local elected officials and community organizations will due more than their part to keep the positive momentum going. I’m ecstatic that 70 Lefferts Place was recently landmarked and I hope the planned expansion of the Clinton Hill Historic District will occur soon and further solidify the many gains made in the community.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2007 3:20 PM

Oppsss...sorry for the typos! :-)

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2007 3:29 PM

"I what is even better it simply didn’t move down the block either. It’s gone! You can’t find it anywhere!"

LOL...that's right, all those drug dealers, drug users, prositutes and johns...why, they're now wheeling and dealing on Wall Street, performing brain surgery and making the world a better place!

I'm impressed with your ability to type and post to blogs, 3:20PM, since you were apparently born just YESTERDAY.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2007 3:41 PM

You know, I don't really know what you naysayers want from the rest of us. Unless I read some other suggestion here, all we can do is address the issue one block at a time. Closing down drug-related businesses is a good first step [absent a complete rethinking of the "war on drugs" and why we criminalize certain drugs but not others]. Of course prostitution and drugs have disappeared, but they have been reduced in that immediate area. A small victory. Maybe not a permanent one. But hey, the only permanence is the grave, right? So maybe the Lefferts Place civic poster was a bit over-enthusiastic - I am still waiting for alternative suggestions from others. (Besides Trish-bashing - who our council member is is pretty irrelevant, altho at least Trish talks the talk - the Bed-stuy councilmember, Van whatever his name is, my council member, doesn't even seem to notice this side of his district). To me the only real improvement will come with the filling in the vacant lots and rehabbing the vacant houses in the area. More people with legitimate jobs and a stake in the neighborhood makes life uncomfortable for street drug dealers and prostitutes.

Posted by: putnam-denizen at February 7, 2007 4:19 PM

Hey troll. We are attempting to have a very serious discussion here about our community. Please go back to the PLG thread. You're being brutally attacked by the masses and perhaps should go and defend your honor.

Get! Get! That'a boy!

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2007 4:48 PM

Putnam-Denizen, for those of us who live on Lefferts it is truly night and day. The block is quiet and calm and has been this way for the past seven months. The "bad guys" are deathly afraid of the hotel because it's a “hot spot” under heavy police surveillance and essentially a one-way ticket to jail. IMHO, getting rid of the old Lefferts Hotel was a very good thing in that it was a drug and prostitution emporium, a public and open market of sin, indecency and immorality, who’s very existence slapped law enforcement, elected officials, community leaders and the entire neighborhood in the face. For years it stood defiantly as a haven for criminals, dealers and addicts. Everyday that it was allowed to exist in our midst and run afoul of our laws offended our moral dignity and was a constant reminder to every decent person in this community that the problem was not them but indeed us: despite our indignation and moral outrage we were yet too afraid, feeble, weak and/or selfish to take a stand for righteousness and civility.

But in 2006, that all changed. In the end, the community took action because we couldn’t live under the weight of our own shame, sense of self-abandonment and indirect complicity. We knew that if we were to live true to own values and ideals, and in the process save our homes, families and neighborhood, that the hotel, prostitutes, dealers and addicts had to go. A community which once lived in constant fear of reprisal and retribution rose to become one of strength and togetherness united in the common purpose of improving our quality of life and bringing the reign of the Lefferts Hotel to an immediate and bitter end. Over the years, the hotel ruined many people lives, young and old, and destroyed families from the inside out: our sons became dealers and pimps; our daughters became whores and addicts; and our husbands bought diseases home to their wives. Ask me and I will tell you that I could not be happier than to witness the hotel’s demise. Hopefully and God willing I will live long enough to witness it’s reincarnation into something beautiful and beneficial to the community.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2007 5:39 PM

Can I put my step mother-in-law up there?

Posted by: west at February 7, 2007 5:45 PM

I have to disagree with the idea that the problem just moves. Think of NYC in 1993 and all the neighborhoods that were bad. Thats a lot of crime to move. Where are they going. Are you going to tell me that East New York has gotten that much worse? that every junkie and prostitute just gets pushed further out? It really dosent work that way and even if it did I would prefer not to have crack whores on my block even if they are only 3 blocks away. Luckily for them there is another HO-tel just down Classon. Also theres a methadone clinic on Waverly and there used to be a good place on Putnam to buy crack or get stabbed. The combination of these spots make the corner of Classon and Fulton a great place to be a degenerate. Once this place is closed for good we can focus on the Plesant Stay and the Clinic and eventually it wont be as desirable for those types.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2007 5:51 PM

Tish has done a stand up job. The folks at Prospect Heights deeply appreciates her efforts.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2007 5:55 PM

I agree that we must do more than simply move the problem somewhere else. The first and most critical step in addressing the issue of crime is for local residents to take a staunch and firm stance against the criminal element and let the "bad guys" know that as a community we will not tolerate illegal and illicit activities among us. Crime can only fester and grow where there is a complacent environment conducive to its existence.

The second step is to get local authorities to enforce the law. When residents bring illegal activities to the attention of the authorities, they must make every effort to make arrests, stamp out the criminal footprint and prevent its reoccurrence. The community must hold local elected officials and police strictly accountable. There can be no compromise here.

The third step is to assist grassroots organizations and/or community service groups in attacking the problem on the back end by: (a) providing drug intervention, counseling and prevention programs; (b) creating prostitution prevention initiatives such as the “Brooklyn STAR Project” and “Project Respect”; and (c) developing school and youth programs for at-risk and troubled teens.

The solution to the problem of crime is not simply limited to the aforementioned three. Certainly, on a societal level we must address issues of poverty, racism, discrimination, and inequality in employment and educational opportunities, etc. However, one can’t simply wait for these macro issues to be resolved before taking the more real and immediate action of personal involvement on the local community level and dealing with specific micro issues as it relates to impacted community.

Moreover, just because the problem of crime is vast and complex doesn’t mean that we should shrink from the task at hand and simply do nothing. The war on crime can only be won one battle at a time, over many years and after many setbacks and failures. Yes, it surely will be difficult but the quest for a solution must have a beginning before it can have an end. The community of Lefferts Place should be commended for taking that first brave initial step.

Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes is doing a lot to address the problem of crime in communities like Clinton Hill, not just in terms of law enforcement and punishment but also in developing community outreach programs to attack the problem at its source. See the link below.

http://www.brooklynda.org/toc/toc.htm

Posted by: Lefferts Res at February 7, 2007 6:25 PM

Okay, 5:47PM. Please school the rest of us who you think are merely selfish in attempting to eradicate crime from our community and in the process improve our quality of life. You seem to do a lot of condemning but I've yet to hear of your solution to this very real and serious problem. You appear to have the perfect plan. Am I correct? If so, let's hear it.

But let’s make this interesting and hear of your plan given these facts:

“You are a resident of Lefferts Place. You grew up in this community and you love the neighborhood (moving is not an option). You own a home that you bought years ago and have spent your entire life savings restoring and making it into a place that you are truly proud of. You are married. You have three kids under the age of 7 and plan to make Clinton Hill and Lefferts Place your home for the next twenty years. Your wife is a homemaker and you drive a bus for a living. The rent roll from the two apartments in your brownstone helps with the mortgage but still you feel like you're living paycheck to paycheck. On the corner is the Lefferts Hotel, a notorious drug and prostitution flophouse. You and your family must walk by this corner to and from work and school, often stepping over the addicts blacked out on the sidewalk. At times you personally witness open-market drug dealings, sometimes you’re even approached. On other occasions, after a long hard day at work, you have been solicited by prostitutes on your way home to your family. There's also have been a few instances when gathered with family in the living room that everyone had to dive for cover as the startling sound of gunfire could be heard just feet away from your windows. You, your family and your neighbors live in constant fear of having your life taken or the life of a loved one."

Now please tell me 5:47PM since you are obviously so unselfish and a sage beyond measure what you would do in the above circumstance under these facts. I'm waiting.....

Posted by: mobey at February 7, 2007 7:00 PM

BTW remember that the name of the poster is at the bottom, not the top of the post. (I think I got put in the "don't do anything because all it sdoes is move to another block " crowd when in fact I am in the "I am not sure how I feel about the drug war in general but specifically I think it is right to discourage drug dealing in front of my front door" crowd).

Posted by: putnam-denizen at February 7, 2007 7:31 PM

"There has to be a first step and in more cases than not the first step is to remove the problem."

Sounds great, only you're not talking about removing anything. You're talking about moving the problem, not REmoving the problem. Get the distinction?

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2007 11:28 PM

"Ralph, perhaps you can help? You seem in favor of attacking the problem from the top down rather than from the ground up"

I'm in favor of attacking the problem from whatever angle works. It doesn't matter to me whether it's top down, bottom up, side to side or diagonal. If it works, go for it! I do ask that it work, though.

Posted by: Ralph at February 7, 2007 11:30 PM

"The most successful form of social activism occurs on the local level. Sometimes when you start so big you dilute the strength of your efforts and lose focus of the primary objective. It's far better to start small, set small goals and then build on small successes."

I couldn't agree more, but notice: Even if you're operating at the local level, you really do have to START. And you really have to make sure that what you're calling activism really is that. Rosa Parks, you will recall, refused to give up her seat. In doing so, she actually addressed an unjust requirement. She didn't simply pass that unjust requirement along to the black woman sitting to her left, insisting that SHE surrender HER seat. She actually did something. She addressed a problem. She didn't simply move a problem to a new location. She didn't simply redescribe a problem in the belief that semantics had some magical ability to alter the facts of injustice.

Bottom line: I'm all for progressive social action on whatever level it occurs. If it's local, that's great. But my calling it "local" isn't accompanied by a wink and a nod. If you're going to address the problem locally, fine. Just don't forget to address the problem, and don't think for a second that the Lefferts Hotel is even relevant.

Posted by: Ralph at February 7, 2007 11:40 PM

"That leaves ordinary people like you and me to defend our inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Sure, but this has nothing to do with the topic of the thread.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2007 11:42 PM

"I have to disagree with the idea that the problem just moves. Think of NYC in 1993 and all the neighborhoods that were bad. Thats a lot of crime to move. Where are they going."

Gee, I don't know. I'd better check behind the couch cushions. I can't imagine where else all of that crime might have gotten to. I mean, the world surely doesn't extend very far beyond my couch cushions.

"Are you going to tell me that East New York has gotten that much worse?"

It ain't exactly the UES, you know.

"It really dosent work that way and even if it did I would prefer not to have crack whores on my block even if they are only 3 blocks away. Luckily for them there is another HO-tel just down Classon."

LOL...yes, I think we've finally discovered what this is really about. You don't give a damn about social justice so long as you don't have to SEE the ugliness that's out there. But you know what, we're going to make progress anyway, even if it's despite you. Sorry to disappoint you.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2007 11:48 PM

Ralph, why even waste your breath. These creeps sound like a bunch of rednecks from Alabama.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2007 11:49 PM

I am getting the sense now that the race of many of the folks hanging out at the Lefferts Hotel is somehow relevant. It sounds to me like this has nothing to do with addressing social issues and a whole lot to do with making Lefferts whiter. Pathetic.

Posted by: Maria at February 8, 2007 12:25 AM

Some of you guys are soooo tedious. I can't believe I spent the time to type this...

Posted by: anon at February 8, 2007 2:01 AM

"I don't think anyone has a problem with a black person who wants the best for his family. What people might have a problem with is a black person who wants what is best for (only) white families. If you fit this description, then yes, you're going to encounter resistance here."

Holy crap!! I've heard it all!! That must be the most stupid statement ever uttered on Brownstoner in the past two years!

First, how the hell do you infer from any of the above posts that black people on Lefferts Place are not fighting for what is best for their own families but instead white families?!?

Second, how is that the eradication of drugs, prostitution and crime from Clinton Hill can be in the best service of white families but not black families? Please explain this salient difference!

It is abundantly clear that you my friend are shamelessly schilling for the Prince Hotel Group and probably have a financial interest in this hotel. No one in their right mind would make such absurd statements!

Posted by: mobey at February 8, 2007 8:57 AM

"So, you don't want him to rape your community, but you don't mind if some other community gets raped."

Who is this guy? Is he for real?

Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't following your logic. I stand corrected. "Dear Mr. Pimp and Mr. Dealer please conduct your unlawful trade in front of my house so my neighbors from the next block over wil not have to bear witness to your vile and immoral acts." WTF?!?!?

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 9:17 AM

Anon 8:18AM: No one wants ANY community to get raped. We would like to clean up ALL communities. With that being said, what are your solutions? You appear to be very long on blame but very short on any credible ideas.

Posted by: mobey at February 8, 2007 9:22 AM

9:09AM. Lefferts Place is 90% black and Clinton Hill is about 65% black. Dumbass! Removing the drugs from Lefferts Place is indeed helping black families on this block and should serve as a shining example for the broader community. If you are so concerned for this community then what the heck are you doing to fix the problem?!?! Do you even live in Clinton Hill?!?!

Posted by: Lefferts Res at February 8, 2007 9:35 AM

Are you retarded, you prick? For your information, there are many black families living beyond the boundaries of your precious little nabe. Kindly pull your head out of your ass and do something constructive for a change. Stop sweeping all the dust under someone else's rug. Jerk.

Posted by: LMP at February 8, 2007 9:45 AM

"You're the one who is long on blame. The earlier poster pointed out that what is being done with the Lefferts Hotel is utterly and thoroughly futile. Because no other positive strategy has been offered, is that then an argument in favor of continuing to do what is completely futile?"

How do you know that "no other positive strategy [have] been offered"? Are you active in this community? Are you a parent in this community? Do your kids go to school in this community? You are obviously not a member of the 88th Precinct Community Council, LPCA or any of the other neighborhood organization that's been fighting for years to correct this problem. Please tell me your level of engagement in this community otherwise please STFU!

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 9:52 AM

You want me to give you personal information about myself?

You can go fuck yourself.

Either back up your position with sound arguments or shut your pie hole.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 10:07 AM

9:32AM, I'm actively engaged in all of the above and so are most of the lcoal activists who fought to clean up the Lefferts Hotel. Drug abuse counseling and prevention? I do it! Teen prostitution prevention? I do it! Employment programs for ex-cons? I do it! I could go on if you like but I think that you're geting the picture. I've been involved in this community for the past twenty five years. Please don't lecture me on issues of personal and community responsibility. Now lets agree to disagree and move on.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 10:24 AM

Final Score:

Lefferts Activist 34
Hooker Hotel Schiller 0

That was pure entertainment!

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 10:31 AM

I would love if the person who keeps insisting that closing the hotel and cracking (no pun) down on crime will just move it to somewhere else.
My point about NYC in 1993 is that a lot of areas have been cleaned up and its not like that crime just moved.
It is possible for a neighborhood to get better, then the next area gets better.
Fort Greene used to have a lot of the same problems. Now its better, does that mean Bed-Stuy has gotten worse?
Absolutly not.
Also, I dont adhere to the idea that if theres going to be crime on my block I better just get used to it because otherwise Im just sending it somewhere else.
I really dont see it being a race issue either. The block association has been here longer than the whites and the whites havnt really added too much. Its a primarily black block and its not like it was just a shithole till us rednecks from alabama came and showed blacks how to live clean.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 10:33 AM

I think I should have been taking drugs when I read this thread. All the anonymous posting made it very hard to follow - especially when it was anonymous cursing at anonymous! I hope the folks on Lefferts Place have accomplished a real improvement of their block. Some folks in my neck of the woods - Putnam Avenue - have spoken of creating our own block association to build upon the victories on Lefferts. The problem is that Putnam is really still underpopulated, and thus vulnerable. I know some of the larger neighborhood associations - Society for Clinton Hill, Fort Greene Association - have worked in the past to help start up block associations. I imagine that PCC does similar work. Obviously the building of larger efforts to reduce the opportunities for unfettered drug dealing and prostitution will reduce the chance of it just being moved from one block to another. I certainly saw the downside of that this summer when the police activity on Grand moved the addicts over to Irving (thanks to Ben the drug dealer in the red house about three doors down from Putnam on the east side of the street).

I am still at a loss to understand the point of criticizing the Lefferts Place efforts to use legal measures to close down a facilitator of illegal activity. While of course anyone is able to post their opinion without offering other solutions, it is not to me a very persuasive argument. (Nor, for that matter "shut your pie hole"!) Cocaine use (unlike heroin use) is not steady, and is dependent on ease of access. Similarly the reduction of venues for open prostitution doesn't mean that the prostitutes necessarily end up somewhere else. Increasing the opportunity cost of these activities reduces their prevalence. The answer is more, and coordinated, efforts like that on Lefferts. Of course there are some who believe open drug sales etc are an innoculation against an increase in property values or a change in community make-up. Some of those people may be long term residents fearful of being driven out by upper class and white newcomers. Some of those people may in fact be "hipsters" who enjoy seeing black folks perform for them in their fantasies of an "authentic" New York neighborhood.

Posted by: purnam-denizen at February 8, 2007 10:52 AM

Burn down the methadone clinic, The Lefferts Place Hotel, and The Pleasant Stay.
Actual advice from an actual cop on how to improve the neighborhood. Oh, if I only had the balls. Burn, Baby, Burn

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 10:53 AM

It's so clear that the Greed Monsters/Community Rapists at the Prince Hotel Group are feeling some serious pressure. So much that they are now blogging on Brownstoner to defend their disgusting flophouse. If you can't stand the heat then get out of the kitchen. Sell the damn building and move on.

If it's truly your heart's desire to own and operate a hooker hotel then why not open up a flophouse in Gravesend near your offices on Avenue J. This way the hookers can shower at Moses Fried's house during their lunch breaks.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 11:01 AM

11:03 Why are you blogging? Shouldnt you be collecting from your bitches or slinging your rock or something? Getting some new rims?
Your assumptions that only white folks want to have high property values and run the scum out of the neighborhood are ignorant.
Cleaning up your block is not passing the buck. It's a tired argument.
Your simple like Bush. Go get your thug on so you can keep our block shitty so no one will call the cops on you

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 11:12 AM

Again, I await alternative solutions. I am supposed to allow a prostitute to turn a trick in a bread van at 6:30 am in front of my house? I guess it isn't that hard to go line by line through my thoughts and put a spin on it. I just don't get what your vision of activism is, "11:03." Are you saying drugs should be legal and regulated (okay, I am willing to try that out). Are you saying prostitution should be legal and regulated (that is okay too by me). But condoms on the sidewalk (at least they are having safer sex) is not okay.

It seems to me by your argument I shouldn't turn my light on at night, because it might push a mugger to another block.

At this point I am not sure "we people" need to be more creative. More active, more vigilant, more willing to add social services and not just rely upon policing - sure.

But again, as I read this thread, I don't see a single other suggestion for addressing these kinds of problems. I am serious. Share. Don't just criticize.

(or is this just a joke to you? It isn't to me and my neighbors.)

Posted by: putnam-denizen at February 8, 2007 11:13 AM

Putnam-denizen, your questions were answered long ago, at 9:32.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 11:15 AM

"Your assumptions that only white folks want to have high property values and run the scum out of the neighborhood are ignorant."

The only assumption I've made is that people of all races frequently succumb to the temptation to pass the buck to others.

"Cleaning up your block is not passing the buck."

Cleaning up your block is not necessarily passing the buck, but closing the Lefferts Hotel most certainly is passing the buck.

"It's a tired argument."

If it seems tired, maybe that's because you lack reading comprehension.

"Your simple like Bush. Go get your thug on so you can keep our block shitty so no one will call the cops on you"

Your block will be shitty so long as bigots like you continue to live on it.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 11:20 AM

"It seems to me by your argument I shouldn't turn my light on at night, because it might push a mugger to another block."

It seems to me by your argument I can reform the mugger by putting him on a bus to Bed Stuy.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 11:22 AM

Okay. I agree with those solutions (more social services, etc). I don't see how they are in contradiction with shutting down venues for illegal activity, however. I think there is some false dichotomy here. Perhaps it is based upon an honest misunderstanding of the demographics and motivations of the community activists on Lefferts who have worked so hard to close the hotel. Perhaps some of you really think they are "yuppie scum" who care only for their equity. That is simply inaccurate, and as an previous poster said, potentially reflects an unfortunate assumption that poor and black peeople aren't able to work to improve their own neighborhood. And yes, closing a whorehouse in a residential neighborhood, is an improvement. I simply disagree that such a closure isn't an incremental improvement.

Now I am off to try to get a client back into residential treatment rather than be sentenced to 3.5 years in state prison.

Posted by: putnam-denizen at February 8, 2007 11:22 AM

I've got it. Wet the sidewalks. It will ice over and the crackies will slip and break their necks. HA-HA that would be hillarious. Stupid crack heads

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 11:23 AM

11:22 you forgot to mention reforming the mugger by getting him into pimping or dealing which is easy if you have a place like Prince Lefferts Hotel nearby

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 11:29 AM

"Okay. I agree with those solutions (more social services, etc). I don't see how they are in contradiction with shutting down venues for illegal activity, however."

I didn't say they were in contradiction. I simply said that moving the problem around from one location to another is futile. And it is.

"....potentially reflects an unfortunate assumption that poor and black peeople aren't able to work to improve their own neighborhood."

I certainly haven't made such an assumption. I've assumed that poor and black people are just as susceptible as anyone else to unfortunately pseudo-solutions to serious social problems.

"And yes, closing a whorehouse in a residential neighborhood, is an improvement. I simply disagree that such a closure isn't an incremental improvement."

I agree. It is an improvement--for you. Not for some other unfortunate souls, though.

"Now I am off to try to get a client back into residential treatment rather than be sentenced to 3.5 years in state prison."

That's more like it! There may be hope for humanity yet!

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 11:32 AM

Why the fuck would a biggot live on Lefferts Place? Its a black neighborhood. Biggots like to live around other like minded biggots.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 11:32 AM

11:29 you forgot to mention reforming the mugger by getting him into pimping or dealing which is easy even if you don't have a place like Prince Lefferts Hotel nearby

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 11:34 AM

"Why the fuck would a biggot live on Lefferts Place?"

You should know. Enlighten us.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 11:36 AM

"I agree. It is an improvement--for you. Not for some other unfortunate souls, though."
WHich souls are the unfortunate ones? The people in the other areas with 2 prostitution hotels and a methadone clinic nearby or the addicts, dealers, and whores themselves?

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 11:40 AM

David Tepper is that you at 11:06AM? Or is it Moses Fried? Either way, you guys are some soulless, pathetic and desperate human beings. You've done no service to your situation today. In fact, you've probably done more harm than good. All of Brooklyn now knows what you did to this community and how much you resent the positive change that’s occurring in this neighborhood. I know the Lefferts Hotel was a great cash cow and you had not expected the community to change this quickly but at last all "good" things must come to an end (in your case bitter). But you made a lot of money off of the pain and suffering of families in this community. Now is the time to move on. We will not stop and rest until you have been driven out of this neighborhood. We will continue to call 911 whenever the hotel runs afoul of the stipulation agreement, we will continue to call 311 and report every single DOB, DEP and Sanitation violation at the hotel and we will continue to press the State, City, Dept of Finance and the IRS to investigate your finances and illegal dealings. In time, we hope to put every single principal of the Prince Hotel Group behind bars. Why should the hookers and dealers go to jail but you guys get off with a slap on the wrist? You have destroyed families in this community and for this offense you will pay and pay dearly.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 11:40 AM

I live in Park Slope and would give ANYTHING if someone would open a prostitution hotel here.

Posted by: Sloper at February 8, 2007 11:58 AM

Prince Hotel Group please take note:

2006 sales on Lefferts Place

A. 15 Lefferts sold for $1.49M
B. 61 Lefferts sold for $1.40M
C. 70 Lefferts sold for $2.40M
D. 579 Classon at the corner Lefferts sold for $1.4M
E. 184 Lefferts sold for $970K
F. 208 Lefferts sold for $1.35M

This neighborhood will never go back to the crack/whorehouse days that kept your hotel thriving for many years while the broader community suffered. Those days are over for good! The dealers are gone and so are the pimps and hookers. And no matter how much you beg for the good old days to return, they will never ever come back!

Take your scum to Gravesend and leave the good people of Clinton Hill alone.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 12:09 PM

I'm the poster at 11:40 and 12:09 and I'm black you freak'n moron!

Moses, posting a weblink to a white supremist website doesn't strengthen your argument. You are a racist of rare form. At 75 yrs of age, you are so old school that you cannot even comprehend that black people would want to live in a safe, clean and healthy environment. But why would I expect anything different. You are one of the most notorious slumlords in NYC and your real estate holdings comprise primarily of rat infested tenements in poor black neighborhoods. Because of your hardcore racist views you automatically assume that local activists are white when in fact they are black. You failed to win the battle at Lefferts because you grossly underestimated your opponent and were looking left when you should've been looking right. Nothing like a Mike Tyson right haymaker to the head when your opponent is looking for a left jab!

TKO, Moses. It's lights out.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 12:49 PM

Ok, so if you are against crackheads and prostituion you belong to the KKK.
HMmmm. I dont really know what to make of that.
If I am not a bigot i will leave the scum where it is. I imagine this attitude would offend black people but that probably makes me a racist too.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 12:49 PM

In the 70's parkslope was filled with hookers and ps 321 was a school filled with knuckle heads. Just ask the older citzens they will tell you.
Change will continue to happen one "hood" at a time. Let's take the race card out the game.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 1:37 PM

Half the posts on this thread can be attributed to the same lowlife scum bucket troll who pops up on the PLG threads. What a loser. No one engage this miserably little twerp for the rest of the day. Eventually after a nice bath, warm bottle of milk and diaper change, he'll fall asleep.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 1:45 PM

Yes, it's truly bizarre. He badmouths PLG to no end, then comes to this thread to talk about how fantastic it is that the Lefferts Hotel is closed down. What a jerk.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 1:59 PM

Being as old as I am I forget that some people use the internet as the equivalent of crank calls. Sort of like talking to an echo chamber. I wonder if I can count it as aerobic exercise...

P.S. Because of a water main break in Rikers, my client wasn't produced, so don't know yet if he will get another chance at a programs or be sent to state prison.

Posted by: putnam-denizen at February 8, 2007 2:14 PM

Yeah, well, maybe he needs warm milk and a nap, but he pretty much made the whole anti-hotel crowd look like a bunch of bumbling, sputtering imbeciles. It was beautiful, actually. If I knew who this person is, I'd hire him!

Posted by: Cepacol at February 8, 2007 2:15 PM

echo. Just loop back to top and begin reading. There ain't anythin new happening here.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 2:20 PM

"While we're at it, let's take the poverty card out of the game.

And the HIV card.
And the disability card."

What a fool.
I didnt know the lefferts hotel had high speed internet connectivity. how are you keeping up with the thread?

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 2:22 PM

echo. Just loop back to top and begin reading. There ain't anythin new happening here.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 2:22 PM

2:26 Can you shed somelight to what is happening every sat morning on the corner of classon and fulton? Every time I drive by around 8am I notice a very large crowd. I'm not sure if they're gathering every day but i only notice on sat.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 2:42 PM

thanks. Are they giving out applications?

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 3:04 PM

Brownstoner and the Brownstoner Community:

It is now quite apparent as to the source of all of the aggravating troll posts on every PLG and Lefferts Hotel thread. The truth was smacking us dead in the face all along and everyone missed the connection!

The Prince Hotel Group (aka Moses Fried) owns the Lefferts and Pleasant Stay Hotels in Clinton Hill. He also owns 205 Parkside Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Garden. Mr. Fried had intentions to turn the huge massive building at 205 into an "Apartment Hotel/SRO", i.e., a whorehouse/drug den, just like the Lefferts Hotel. But luckily, the PLG community caught wind of his plan and, being well aware of the happenings at the Lefferts Hotel, quickly organized and prevented Mr. Fried from obtaining the necessary variance to get his hotel built.

Moses Fried is not a stupid man. He knows fully well that he cannot run a successful whorehouse in an area that is pristine and decent so he chooses locations that are predominately black and poor. Well as it turns out he seriously underestimated the speed at which gentrification would spread throughout brownstone Brooklyn and now finds himself holding on to some pretty significant assets that he can no longer use in the manner intended.

Obviously, Mr. Fried could sell his buildings or convert them to either condos or apartment rentals. However, running a flophouse is a pure cash business, and there is a lot of untraceable and “non-taxable” money to be made in the whorehouse/drug den/SRO business (great for drugs, illegal money laundering, etc.), not to mention the lucrative City contracts to house the homeless; people he tries to turn into crack addicts and hookers. Given such strong economic considerations, Moses Fried has no interest to do anything other than what he initial intended to do with these buildings - run them as drug and sex emporiums.

In order for his illicit business to exist and thrive, Mr. Fried needs the local community to be passive, indifferent and complacent and also vilified and perceived as a dangerous threat to the outside world. Why? Well he needs to scare away any potential activist minded gentrifiers and dormant black sympathizers who might attempt to derail his plans and hurt his business. In addition, he needs to create an environment where lawless and a criminal element can be nurtured and promoted. And guess what? For the past two years, Moses Fried and his goons at the Prince Hotel Group have been doing everything in their power to derail community efforts to clean up the areas around their hotels. They allowed their properties to fail into tremendous state of disrepair in an effort to invite filth and blight to the community and drive out decent hardworking residents. They’ve approached numerous property owners in the immediate area and offered to relieve them of the burden of living in the “ghetto” by graciously attempting to purchase their homes at 1985 prices. And last but not least, they’ve been on Brooklyn blogsites all over the web bashings nabes like Clinton Hill and PLG non-stop in an effort to derail gentrification and any other positive community development that might endanger their business. He knows very well that without a cesspool to call home, his hooker hotels could not exist.

By now everyone on this board should know that this troll is clearly under the employ of the Prince Hotel Group. I went back through about 25 threads on PLG and the Lefferts Hotel and witnessed the same troll tirelessly and systematically sabotaging every board with respect to these two areas. By virtue of his writing style, tone and penchant for praising, talking to, and arguing with himself, it became abundantly clear that the PLG troll and Lefferts Hotel troll are two of the same. Given these desperate measures, I can only surmise that Mr. Fried finds himself in quite a dire predicament. I'm happy to see that Mr. Fried and his minions are finally feeling some real heat and succumbing to the pressure. Hopefully, in a few years they’ll also feel the solitude and coldness of a federal prison cell.

Trust me. There is a huge case here. I sense it. And at some point this house of cards will come crashing down.

Sincerely,

Former Assistant United States Attorney
The Criminal Division of the US Attorney Office
for the Eastern District; with many friends and contacts still on the job.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 4:55 PM

Man, that is one long-assed post just to make up for the fact that you got your ass kicked.

Again.

Is that your best? You're not a very good troll at all!

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 4:59 PM

Brownstoner and the Brownstoner Community:

Trust me. There is a huge case here. I sense it. And at some point this house of cards will come crashing down.

Sincerely,

Former Assistant United States Attorney
The Criminal Division of the US Attorney Office
for the Eastern District; with many friends and contacts still on the job.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 5:26 PM

The only doubt I have about this hypothesis stems from the fact that the troll does NOT only surface in connection with PLG and its defenders. Remember a thread a while back about how increases police surveillance in Clinton Hill had cleared a particular intersection of drug dealing? Exactly the same troll sabotaged that thread. I'm also pretty confident that he did the same thing in connection with a post about Flatbush, but I haven't found it yet.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 5:40 PM

Yes....He's trying to get the entire thread deleted by Mr. B. He know that the Press routinely views this site for possible stories and this is about to turn into something very big. I'm sending a copy of this thread to the reporters from the NY Daily News and the NY Sun who wrote multiple articles last year on Moses Fried and the Lefferts Hotel.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2007 5:41 PM

I've had it with the ridiculous conspiracy theories. The Prince Hotel Group...puhleeeezz. I could be wrong, but I'll bet the person who floated THAT lame hypothesis was the little prick who used to post to this blog under the name of "Ed". If so, I can only delight in the irony. Here's this hateful little idiot basking in his elaborate theories about what could set a troll in opposition to PLG, when he himself is enough to make any sane person want to bomb this entire borough back to the Stone Age.

Prince Hotel Group. My ass. What's next....a connection to UFO secrecy and Roswell? Lol.

Posted by: Al at February 9, 2007 8:18 PM

Gotcha 8:08. I wasn't aware of all that, but I figured there had to be SOME explanation. Thanks.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 8:53 AM

I'm sorry but this guys is demented. He seriously needs to get a job, get laid and get psychiatric treatment. He's totally whacko. He has converstations with himself all day long.

"great point" "i agree" " i disagree" "we love him" "he's clever" "he saved this site" "free speech" "first amendment" "the areas too dangerous" "let's keep in dangerous and contained"

He's a totally nut job. I bet he still wets his bed at night. He's probably soaking wet this morning, drenched in urine and feces, laying on the bed with his lap top and a soiled porn mag next to him. Gleefully waiting for the next posted comment on Brownstoner. A true loser.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 9:24 AM

No, he's probably posting in about a dozen other blogs about how the Lefferts Hotel needs to be close down, how you can reform criminals by moving them into poorer neighborhoods, etc. This clown is relentless and I fear Brownstoner isn't the only blog that has to tolerate his bullshit.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 9:40 AM

Oh, and don't forget Park Slope moms.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 9:43 AM

Oh come on, the Park Slope Mommy bashing was so clearly, obviously, blatantly NOT the work of one person and anyone with a brain and ability to read could have seen that. To the PS Mom at 9:43am, sorry you were offended by that thread back when it happened, it did get nasty, but you can't chalk it up to "troll" activity when the topic of the Park Slope Mom has warranted numerous articles and essays in magazines, newspapers and websites, as well as threads on neighborhood blogs for years now. A "troll" is one person posting. Not dozens of people posting.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 10:24 AM

Hey shit for brains...why don't you get yourself a nice reading comprehension test somewhere? No one said that one person made every post in that thread about PS moms. Idiot. The claim was that the troll--the Brownstoner Troll--was responsible for a lot of them and was, in effect, the driving force behind the thread. Got that, genius? Now put that bicycle helmet back on your head so that you don't hurt yourself.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 11:38 AM

Thank you 11:38. What a bloody moron!!

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 11:43 AM

:-)

Posted by: Katie at February 9, 2007 12:39 PM

note how the troll reposted that original e-mail about who to contact, but changed the phone #'s and e-mail addresses...

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 12:52 PM

so go to 4:56 if you actually want the real info.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 1:37 PM

diabolical

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 4:04 PM

Damn. This guy's got it goin' on!!!

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 4:10 PM

I wonder if he's hot. He sounds really hot!!

Posted by: Sarah at February 9, 2007 4:16 PM

BROWNSTONER,

Please delete the Trolls reposting of the contact list. He changed the phone #'s and e-mail addresses.

Who goes to this extent to prevent positive change in a community? I tell you who - principals of the Prince Hotel Group. It's so clear the the Troll is under their employ.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 7:07 PM

Brownstoner, your reluctance to ban this insane lunatic is going to destroy your site. Spend the extra $1,000 to hire a tech guy to give you the ability to ban this idiot. He's presence is not entertaining in the least.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 7:10 PM

Look, hate the guy if you must, but don't say he's not entertaining. He is! For me, he's like a guilty pleasure, and half the people in our office this afternoon were in stitches. Maybe you take yourself a little too seriously. Lighten up. You'll live longer.

Posted by: Vince at February 9, 2007 8:03 PM

Principals of the Prince Hotel Group? Gimme a break. What would they have against Park Slope mothers and bugaboos?

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2007 8:06 PM

Posted by: Anonymous at February 10, 2007 5:12 PM

I've been reading this thread over the past few days and I encourage concerned residents of Clinton Hill, PLG and other Brooklyn neighborhoods to get involved on the issue of the Lefferts Hotel, Pleasant Stay Hotel and the Meth Clinic on Waverly. Please email all interested parties below and express your views on the above issues. Including links to some of the Brownstoner.com “Park Slope Moms" threads would be a good idea too.

Contact List:
Lefferts Place Civic Association (LPCA)
mail@leffertsplace.info

Moses Fried and Prince Hotel Group
PrinceHotelGroup@aol.net
TheHotelPrince@aol.com

Councilwoman Tish James
james@council.nyc.ny.us

State Assemblyman
Hakeem Jefferies
jeffrih@assembly.state.ny.us

Ms. Delia M. Hunley-Adossa
President, 88th Precinct Community & Youth Council - Meets every third Tuesday of every month at 85 South Oxford Street Meeting time is 7:30 p.m.

Philip J. Sferrazza
Commanding Officer, Deputy Inspector
88th Precinct - (718) 636-6511

Posted by: Anonymous at February 12, 2007 10:55 AM

This thread reeks of troll ass. Mr B. you might as well delete it.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 12, 2007 12:57 PM

THE TROLL HAS ALTERED ALL OF THE CONTACT INFORMATION AGAIN. WHAT A PATHETIC LITTLE TWERP!

HE'S SO STUPID TO ACTUALLY THINK THAT COMMUNITY CONSCIOUS RESIDENTS OF CLINTON HILL - WHO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT OUR NEIGHBORHOODS, FAMIIIES AND BOROUGH - WOULD NOT TAKE THE EXTRA TIME TO DIG UP THE RIGHT INFORMATION FOR THEMSELVES. WHAT A RETARD!

BROWNSTONER, I AGREE WITH THE ABOVE POST. IT WOULD BE BEST TO DELETE ANYTHING ON THIS THREAD STARTING FROM SAT. FEB. 10TH. THEN SIMPLY END THE ABILITY FOR COMMENTS.

KEEP THE REST BECAUSE IT SERVES AS NOTICE TO CORRUPT INDIVIDUALS THAT CLINTON HILL RESIDENTS WILL NOT TOLERATE SHADY DEVELOPERS, LANDLORDS, ELECTED OFFICIALS OR A CRIME RIDDLED ENVIRONMENT.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 12, 2007 4:23 PM

diabolical.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 12, 2007 5:42 PM

So is this a good place to get a good hit and quit?

Posted by: tylerblowther at May 21, 2008 9:47 PM

« Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up Bustin' Out: Blogging Full Time »

February 7, 2007

Update on the Lefferts Hotel?

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