From The New York Shitty Inbox, Part III: Gratitude

A personal we’ll call “D” writes:

Hi Miss Heather,

Thanks to your coverage I was able to avoid renting at 239 Banker. I was very close to moving in when I saw your posts. So after some savvy DOB research and a couple calls I decided it was not worth it. These folks are shady! Here are some bullet points as to why.

1. On the phone they had me meet at another location instead of giving the address. None of the advertisements for this place show the address anymore. Because it’s not a legal building.

2. They are advertising 2-3 bedrooms but even if the building were legal the spaces cannot be legally be divided up to be more than 1 bedroom without a window in each.

3. They say they will build out the space for move in, but there is no toilet, no heat, no stove, no appliances, the windows are unsealed, the doors don’t have locks, floors unfinished. Getting all that work done in a couple weeks is doubtful. Finishing floors alone can take a week with all the fumes and dust.

Don’t get me wrong. We all know folks who inhabit work lofts with a wink-wink nudge-nudge agreement. And I’m okay with that. But this is masquerading as an apartment conversion and charging near market rates. I don’t want these people to end up on the street all over again!

Take care

xo

Thanks for the kind words, D! On a lark I headed over to Craigslist (which is apparently where a number of advertisements for this space are to be found) to see what’s shaking. Follows is one I found:

As you can see this place is apparently for rent by owner. Fascinating. Those of you who desire to do so can view this advertisement by clicking here.