Sunday, April 22, 2012

Williamsburg - anyone knows the ZIP 112

Anyone knows the ZIP112 hostel in Williamsburg?

Hope anyone can tell me something usefull about this area and this hostel.

Thanks in advance!

Nicole

Williamsburg - anyone knows the ZIP 112

That lodging looks brand new.

The location is sublime- Bedford and Berry, seriously? Totally central to the hipster mosh pit that is Northside, with all of its hipster bars and hipster record shops and hipster vegan cafes and hipster concerts at hipster abandoned swimming pools.

Williamsburg - anyone knows the ZIP 112

Wow .... I didn%26#39;t even know that hostel existed before you just posted it. That%26#39;s a great location on North 6th Street in Williamsburg. It looks like it%26#39;s right up the block from Sea (a popular Thai restaurant) between Berry Street %26amp; Whyte Street (near the water). The train station is on North 7th and Bedford Avenue so you only have a three block walk to the rain. You%26#39;re only 5 minutes from Manhattan Union Square by subway where you can switch for all the uptown %26amp; downtown trains. Bedford Avenue has everything you want in terms of bars, restaurants, pharmacy, etc. The area is full of young artist. I live there so please let me know if you need any recommendations.

I can%26#39;t tell you anything about the hostel itself but the location is definitely a home run ..... touch all the bases. Go for it !!!!


That building is an office building, not a hotel/hostel. You can bet that the fire department is going to evacuate that place in a second. Shame on the landlord.


Lotus--why don%26#39;t you look at it if you have a chance.


NYC10025 ..... yes I plan on taking a look first chance I get and will report back on what I discover. So we shall see.


If you%26#39;re curious about what this place is and don%26#39;t want to take the train over there, try a Google search of ';112 N 6th'; and ';Brooklyn.';

It%26#39;s clearly a building not intended for residential use, and it is stated that the ';hostel'; is on the 5th floor. It%26#39;s an illegal hotel.


Thanks for your replies all!

Ok.. so... do I need to worry and book another hostel? Or just go for it and see what happens? I would be terrible if I arrive in NY and the hostel doesn%26#39;t exists anymore!

Need some advice ;-)


Another question... or a follow-up one actually.

I have searched the NYC buildingssite ( 鈥yc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet鈥?/a> ) to see if there is anything about permissions to have a hostel there, but I don%26#39;t understand everything.

I can see that they have build two new stories in 2002, but I don%26#39;t see anything about permissions for a hostel. Should it be in here?

Would someone be so kind to have a quick look and see if everything is allright? (BIN# 3062169)

Thanks very much everyone!


Nieks, the building is listed as an office building- that means that no one is allowed to sleep there under any circumstances. There%26#39;s not going to be any information about being a hostel, because these people are clearly running that illegally.

Good for you for checking, though.


Okay Nieks ..... just for you ..... I went and took a look at this Zip112 %26#39;hostel%26#39;. So here%26#39;s the skinny ..... the place is not only near SEA ..... it%26#39;s right next door to SEA. First, there is no sign or anything indicating that there is a hostel in the building (which does seems a tad bit suspicious). On the first floor of the building there is a yoga spa which has a sign outside but otherwise ..... the building is incognito. There is a set of buzzers outside but the top floor buzzer only says; ';112'; on it, so again, no mention of %26#39;hostel%26#39;. You enter the hallway and there is a door which you need to get buzzed into ..... after several tries ringing %26#39;Zip112%26#39; someone finally buzzed me in to the hallway. The halls are battleship gray cinder-block and very non descript. The %26#39;hostel%26#39; is on the top floor ..... no elevator ..... walked up a lot of stairs but finally got to the top.

On the top floor there is a glass office door with a lot of paper over it blocking the view inside ..... but once again ..... no sign at all for a %26#39;hostel%26#39;. I knocked on the door but no one answered. However, I could see some people moving about inside and earlier someone did ring me into the hallway ..... so I knocked some more. Finally two young women came to the door. I asked; ';Is this the hostel?'; they said which one because there%26#39;s another %26#39;hostel%26#39; right next door (see the website below). I said; ';Zip112'; and they asked me; ';Do you have reservation?'; I said; ';No I just came to check the place out for a friend.'; The two women claimed they know nothing about the hostel and I was led to believe that they are just staying there. I asked; ';Is anyone here?'; and they pointed me to an another locked door and said they%26#39;re not in. They claimed the manager/owner is only around when you check in and I should check the website for info.

The place looked like it was just renovated, big kitchen area and a small spiral staircase that I guess leads up to the dorm rooms and what looked like a small deck area with a table outside. But the place clearly does exist.

However the burning question remains ..... is it legal. Well the property sure looked like an office building to me. I checked the city Building Department records and it says the building is a %26#39;09 miscellaneous office building%26#39; as opposed to a %26#39;08 miscellaneous office building with apartments%26#39; ..... so how come they have these apartments on the top floor? The fact that there are no sign saying %26#39;hostel%26#39; makes me believe that the owners really don%26#39;t want to advertise that they are in the building. The door to the %26#39;hostel%26#39; right next door only says; ';Loftstel office';. Below you will find they%26#39;re website.

http://www.loftstel.com/greene/index.php

So my guess is that ..... here%26#39;s the drill .... the owner rents the space and insist that he has to give the tenant a commercial lease but he probably looks the other way as to what actually happens in the space once the lease is signed. Later the owner will be able to claim that he leased it to a commercial tenant and he had no idea they were running a hostel (i.e. he%26#39;s a poor %26#39;victim%26#39; too). The business card for the Vice President/Graphic Designer of %26#39;Zip112%26#39; simply says the person%26#39;s name, address and; ';Travel accomodation'; and then ';Zipny, Inc.'; with several phone numbers and web addresses. But again, no mention of %26#39;hostel%26#39; so I wouldn%26#39;t be at all surprised if the lease says ';travel agency'; and the owner will later simply claim that; ';Hey I didn%26#39;t know that was a hostel. The tenant said it was a business that arranges travel accomodations.';

But what%26#39;s most confusing to me is actually ..... the kitchen. See in a commercial space and office building the property owner would not put in a kitchen because that%26#39;s like him recognizing that there are people that will be ';living'; there. So who put in that very nice kitchen is a mystery to me.

Or maybe it is legal? Who knows ..... but I can definitely tell you ..... it does exist.

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