Lefferts Hotel: shut down!

dailyheights

So... looks like "Short Stay America" is getting the clampdown, and Tish James is claiming credit. Got this from her press officer, Kate Suisman:

Council Member Letitia James has been working with residents regarding a hotel at 147 Lefferts Place near Classon Avenue. Under an agreement Council Member James has brokered, the hotel will be closed until October 1st, and at that time it will reopen under different circumstances. After October 1st, it will be a long-term, residential hotel, not a short-stay one. It will be monitored by security cameras 24-hours a day with regular patrols by the precinct.

Contact Council Member James at 718 260 9191 for more information.

dailyheights

More from Tish James, as of Sept. 6:

The hotel owner and the city reached an agreement. Hotel will be closed until October 1 for renovations , it will then reopen and operate as a hotel in accordance with the law- no short stays will be permitted, a security company will be retained, video and audio recordings will be activated in the office and common areas of the premises. Hotel was fined 2500.00 and will be monitored by police. Meeting of block association is tomorrow at 7:00 - outpost cafe, I have invited the owner and his lawyer to attend meeting.

By way of background, the Lefferts Hotel was home to rampant drug trade and prostitution. Here are a few articles about the undercover operation that "exposed" what residents knew for quite some time:

http://www.nysun.com/article/35689

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/story/434320p-365910c.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/431382p-363420c.html