The city missed out on $61,000 in fines from the infamous Prince Hotel in Bay Ridge because an inspector made a “half-hearted” attempt to serve notice to the owner, a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge ruled on May 12.
Officials filed a motion to collect on $114,000 in penalties for two building violations issued to the alleged flophouse, which the city hopes to shutter and auction off. A judge gave the city the green-light to seize funds for one violation, but struck down the other because a city inspector did not do his due diligence to alert the owner, ruled the judge.
“Here, the City failed to demonstrate that prior to resorting to the City Charter’s alternative method of service, [the Department of Buildings] inspector made a ‘reasonable attempt’ to personally serve the [notice of violations],” wrote Justice Dawn Jimenez-Salta in a May 12 court ruling. “This Court must deny the City’s request for enforcement of the [notice of violation] 12Z as it finds the City’s single, half-hearted attempt to effectuate personal service inadequate.”
Inspectors issued the pair of fines to the inn on 93rd Street off of Third Avenue for space that was illegally converted into additional hotel rooms in June 2014 and April 2015, according to Department of Buildings records.
Owner Moses Fried has racked up nearly $400,000 in fines for building-code, safety, and quality-of-life violations. And of them the 2014 infraction earned Fried a whopping $61,000 in penalties — which the court threw out — and the 2015 order levied a hefty $53,000.
But the judge ruled that the inspector botched the protocol for serving Fried by not making multiple attempts, losing the city thousands of dollars in fees. It’s rare, but not unheard of, for a judge to dismiss a notice of violation on procedural grounds, according to a spokesman with the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement.
“It happens,” said Alexander Schnell. “It’s not with a high frequency, but it does happen occasionally.”
The city has filed an appeal to overturn the court’s decision and maintains it took the necessary steps to serve Fried, according to Schnell.
Neighbors have long complained that the inn is a den of vice, calling for its closure. Mayor DeBlasio assembled a task force to investigate the hotel in 2015 after locals panned his plan to erect a pre-kindergarten down the block.
Department of Finance sheriffs raided the hotel last year and seized the cash on hand toward paying off Fried’s debts.
But the beleaguered Prince Hotel has persisted and to this day remains open for business. Officials planned to auction off the inn, but Fried blocked the plan in court and now city lawyers are considering possible alternatives.
