The conversion of the Hotel Breslin, a scruffy landmark SRO at Broadway and 29th Street, to the boutique hipster-housing Ace Hotel has been a rocky road. And as the opening date of the hotel draws closer, the ire of some long-term Breslin tenants—still living in the building—gets stronger. Following up on a number of charges (bedbugs, dangerous debris, lack of heating, etc.) recently made by a tenant, a representative of building owner/developer GFI issued this response:
GFI has been very careful to make sure that conditions in the building are safe and as comfortable for tenants as possible in the context of a major renovation and upgrade to the property. GFI has worked very closely with the Tenant Association in the building to address any tenant concerns and most of the tenants in the building are very excited to see the major improvements to the building which they will enjoy. There are a small handful of tenants in the building that are spreading false information in order to attempt to get large buyout payments.
These tenants have expressly asserted their plan to spread false information in order to harm ownership. The facts are that all tenants have been provided with temporary heat while the decades old boiler was replaced with a state of the art HVAC system which will serve the tenants. The facts are that tenants have been advised to only use elevators due to debris in stairwells caused by renovations and exterminators visit the property weekly to ensure that the public spaces and hotel rooms remain pest-free.
The facts are that over a third of the apartments in the building turned over every year for decades because the population of the building was dominated by young students. Those students in residence when the conversion to hotel became a reality were thrilled to accept large payments in exchange for their agreements to leave the building, which nearly all planned to do in any event within a few years. The facts are that the tenants that chose to remain in the building all will receive, in addition to a state of the art new heating system, brand new sound proof windows and the benefit of beautiful new hallways and a great new lobby. Once the property opens, Ace Hotel New York looks forward to offering a communal place for hotel guests and residents alike.
Angry response to the response to come in 3...2...1...
