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Judge orders UWS resi building to stop renting rooms to tourists
Less than one-third of rooms rented to long-term tenants
A New York State Supreme Court judge on Wednesday ordered the owner of Upper West Side apartment building 307 West 79th Street to stop running it as an illegal hotel.
Landlord Ron Edelstein has been renting out two-thirds of the building’s 173 single-occupancy rooms to tourists via travel websites like hotels.com. The remaining third are leased to long-term tenants, who complain about elevator waits and accumulation of trash due to the tourists, the Daily News reports.
Tenants’ lawyer Rachel Hannaford told the Daily News that the building is “basically a commercial hotel and should not be.”
In May, City Hall slapped Edelstein with a $65,000 fine for building code violations. It had already racked up over $50,000 in prior fines.
For now, Supreme Court judge Kathryn Freed has merely signed a temporary restraining order at the request of five tenants. She said she will hold a hearing on July 26.
Travel website Trip Advisor currently lists the building as “Imperial Court Hotel.” [NYDN] — Konrad Putzier