The Prince’s fate is in the hands of the court.
A judge will decide this month whether the city may auction off the infamous Prince Hotel. Mayor DeBlasio promised swift action against the long-maligned flophouse during a February town hall, but the inn remains open while the city builds a pre-kindergarten a few doors down — a prospect that frightens local parents, one said.
“It’s insane to me that this school could be up and running before the hotel is shut down, that it’s even a possibility,” said Melanie Roselli, who recently moved to the area with her 1-year-old daughter. “No way would I enroll my kid there.”
Neighbors say the hotel attracts drugs, prostitution, and fights, and Fried owes the city more than $400,000 in fines for unsafe building conditions.
DeBlasio assembled a task force to investigate the hotel after outraged Ridgites ripped into his plan to build the pre-kindergarten in 2015 and then promised action earlier this year.
Department of Finance sheriffs raided the hotel a day later to collect fines, and officials later announced they planned on auctioning off the building to recoup what Fried owes.
But he got a judge to halt the sale and promised to bring the building up to code. If Fried makes good — and pays off the fines — the hotel will continue operating, but local leaders remain skeptical he’ll succeed.
“It appears they’re now trying to address the outstanding violations,” said Community Board 10 district manager Josephine Beckmann. “But his track record hasn’t been good to date.”
To emphasize the neighborhood’s disgust with the hotel, Councilman Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge) is organizing written testimony and a petition. The councilman hopes to submit the petition and complaints to the court before the September ruling is made.
Fried did not respond to requests for comment.
