16 Comments on Presenting The Luxe Guesthouse

neighborhood threat on Fri, 27th Feb 2009 12:54 pm


ad is now gone. 🙂

missheather on Fri, 27th Feb 2009 1:38 pm


No worries. I embedded a screencap of it in this post! 😉

Jay on Fri, 27th Feb 2009 1:50 pm


There’s also this one:

http://greenpointlodge.com/

http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/vac/1045352360.html

walrustaco on Fri, 27th Feb 2009 6:34 pm


I live across the street. That building has annoyed the hell out of me since they started digging. Every morning at 8AM? Clank clank clank, (sound of someone cutting pipe), clank clank clank. Saturday at 8AM? Same thing. I even went to the police, who told me there was nothing they could do. I remember when they were building it and they had painted the inside before they had windows. Seriously, the drywall was up and there was nothing preventing the rain from going inside. Even when people started moving in, I was wondering, how can they get a certificate of occupancy with all those bare wires hanging down all over the place? And now, this.

walrustaco on Fri, 27th Feb 2009 6:36 pm


I am so pissed I had to comment again. And that building is so friggin’ huge…!

marypmcg on Fri, 27th Feb 2009 6:42 pm


How often has anyone reading this gotten to Times Square from Greenpoint in 20 minutes?

missheather on Fri, 27th Feb 2009 6:55 pm


In Beneath The Planet Of The Apes Brent and Nova got from Queens Plaza to Midtown Manhattan pretty quick.

Of course I suspect a full-blown nuclear war (and a lot of film editing) had a lot to do with this.

rowan on Fri, 27th Feb 2009 9:31 pm


I wouldn’t say 20 minutes but I can get to Times Square for my job in about 35 minutes. That includes door-to-door and accommodating the G train.

d on Sun, 1st Mar 2009 1:32 pm


I’ve done it in about 25 – that depends on catching the G *right* when it gets there and then catching the V *right* when it gets there. As you can imagine this rarely happens, catching both of them that quickly on the same day…

al oof on Sun, 1st Mar 2009 6:29 pm


did i miss something that was going on in this building before? or is it just illegal to run a hostel there?

missheather on Sun, 1st Mar 2009 7:15 pm


It was originally intended to be a luxury condominium building or luxury apartment building. They had few takers. Now a hostel is being run out of it. Is it illegal? Probably. The codes (building, fire, etc.), permits, etc. required for transient housing are different than residential. And given how shady/evasive the web site is regarding the location of this “hostel” and their inability to take reservations via credit card only confirms my suspicions.

184 Eagle Street has 24 apartment units. Let’s say six of them have been rented to tenants (with leases, etc.) @ two tenants per apartment. Now we’re up to twelve residents and down to 18 units. Let’s presume the rest are being used for transient housing. Private rooms are being offered. These are probably the top floor “penthouses”. I am guessing there are eight. Let’s say at any given time two people are staying in these. Now we’re up to 30 people and have ten units left. As I understand it, these are housing four bunks a pop. Four bunks = four people (theoretically, of course). This adds 40 more people.

So you’re looking at (potentially, theoretically) 70 people residing in a 24 unit apartment building at any given time. I suspect the actual number of people the Luxe Guesthouse would be willing to accommodate is higher. Do you think the paperwork for this building (as filed at the DOB— and I’ll be honest I haven’t checked) would sanction this many residents— much less give permission to use 184 Eagle Street as a hostel? I seriously doubt it.

More than anything I am concerned/angry about the following:

1. Egress in the event of a fire. If the building is housing more people than allowable (or feasible) for the emergency exits to service we have a major safety issue on our hands.
2. To put my person in the shoes of the long term residents of 184 Eagle Street: would I feel safe living in a building with large numbers of transients coming and who (presumably) have access codes to get into the building? NO.
3. Oh, did I mention this scheme looks really shady? 😉

I’ll be frank: I do not know the vagaries of what it takes to run a hostel in a(n otherwise) residential building. But this looks damned fishy— especially when one takes into account how evasive they are about 184 Eagle Street’s location on their web site. The fact Fizzburg Equity Partners LLC claims to run SIX such hostels in Greenpoint makes me wonder how many more failed “luxury” residences here are being utilized in such a fashion. And the safety, quality of life, and yes, TAXATION issues they pose.

I realize this might not be the authoritative answer you seek, al. I know the limits of my competence (and incompetence). But with what limited knowledge I sport I can safely tell you this “hostel” is very, VERY fishy.

al oof on Mon, 2nd Mar 2009 1:44 am


that’s enough of an answer! i didn’t know any of the history. would it be impossible to call in a housing authority? i remember they just did a piece on one of the local newses about illegal hostels in manhattan that are really sro’s. in some ways it’s the opposite happening here, but, still.

ok, i guess it was this guy http://community.myfoxny.com/blogs/John_Deutzman/2008/11/11/No_New_Yorkers_Allowed

who did the piece.

dapainter on Tue, 3rd Mar 2009 3:30 pm


I think its a great way to have out of towners spending there money here . If they start offering tours Im going to try and get my art involved !!
Ive lived here for 14 yrs and dont like the gentrification as much as all of you, however people coming for a few days and spending there euros is a good thing.

dapainter on Tue, 3rd Mar 2009 3:37 pm


Just did some searching and it looks like its legal because there rented by the week and you have to sign a lease.
http://www.luxeguesthouse.com/

Greenpoint Condo Turned Hostel | Zohray on Sun, 29th Mar 2009 8:06 pm


[…] a few weeks back Brownstoner picked up on a story posted by New York Shitty about 184 Eagle St doing hostel duty on the side.  Apparently a tipster found the Craigslist […]

Zohray on Mon, 13th Apr 2009 8:47 am


184 Eagle Street Update: Offer Anything!…

Seen on Craigslist today: 2 BR in Greenpoint, “Open Offers”.  And guess what? It appears to be 184 Eagle Street, the former condo turned hostel. Originally they had been asking for around $2,900 for the 2 BR/2 BA penthouse and had pulled…

Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!

You must be logged in to post a comment.