Monday, June 4, 2012

[Updated] Hotel Toshi takes up residency at newly renovated 147 First Avenue

Funny, back in May 2010, a construction worker told Matt at Neighbohoodr that 147 First Avenue was going to be a motel. Ha, ha. Good one!

Anyway, work looks pretty complete on the upper levels here at East Ninth Street... and we've been waiting for any kind of rental-condo listings to go live at the Icon Realty website.


Well, turns out the construction worker was nearly right — the space is now part of the Hotel Toshi/Smart Apartments empire. Per the Smart Apartments website ...


"This is a self-service apartment style hotel located in the East Village on the corner of E9th Street and 1st Avenue. There is no front desk and check-ins must be completed at an iPad kiosk located in the building lobby. At a compact 280 square feet, this corner unit studio apartment packs everything you need for a modern and comfortable stay in New York City. The East Village is full of things to do: consignment and vintage shopping (Tokio 7, Ina), brunch (Prune, Sunburnt Cow), bars, cafes, lounges, and boutique shopping."


We typed in some random dates this month to see about rates. The "studio: corner series" is $299 a night ... and the "studio — standard" is $279.


[Updated] Here is the temporary certificate of occupancy.... the city issued this on May 4; it expires on Aug. 2. (The PDF is here.) It shows a Class B designation, which allows for short-term occupancy, such as hotel rooms...



Icon Realty is also listed on DOB permits as the owner of 325 E. 10th St. where another short-term apartment has been operating ...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ninth Street and First Avenue shocker: Motel ... Hello?

Hotel Toshi takes over 325 E. 10th St.

When Hotel Toshi took over an East Village building

Hotel Toshi hit with all sorts of violations on East 10th Street

19 comments:

  1. Residential or not, it's illegal to rent out an apartment for less than 30 days in NYC. Sorry, but sticking an iPad in the "lobby" doesn't make this a hotel. It's a crime scene waiting to happen.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I give those IPads 30 minutes before they're on sale on 14th St

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is against the law. Neither a landlord nor a leaseholder may offer a lease of fewer than 30 days in a Class A building as defined by the New York City Department of Buildings. This is a violation of Chapter 225 of the Laws of New York State of 2010, which took effect on May 1, 2011.

    ReplyDelete
  4. well as you may have heard they have been running Hotel Toshi at 325 for around two years. i am wondering why Rosie Mendez and other public officials have been unable to do anything. These buildings are in the Icon Realty portfolio. how depressing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. DOB may list R2... but the certificate of occupancy lists R1, which is hotel.
    looks legal to me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @anon 11:50 Bloomberg is trying to make NYC a tech city. If he or Rosie enforced this law, startup companies like Airbnb, Roomorama, HomeAway, etc., wouldn't be able to operate here. And if they can't operate here it may impact tourists and their spending. He would never want to jeopardize business with either of these camps.

    ReplyDelete
  7. There is a discussion going on about this on TripAdvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k5466450-Grand_Opening_of_The_East_Village_Hotel-New_York_City_New_York.html . I and other NYers are trying to explain to tourists that this is highly questionable, but a guy who claims to be the property's manager is claiming the contrary there. F.U. Toshi.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a legal hotel, use group 5.

    ReplyDelete
  9. THE NOTORIOUS L.I.B.E.R.A.T.I.O.N.June 4, 2012 at 1:56 PM

    I'd love to stay in a "hotel" where the only onsite staff is an iPad!

    ReplyDelete
  10. iPad check in? iWon't be recommending this to my friends when they come here to visit.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Even if 12 rooms could potentially be classed to be rented as a hotel room; the "manager" claims there are 18 rooms, not 12.

    Questionable and should be investigated. Tourists are continually getting taken by a bunch of scam artists in NYC and Toshi is a master at the game.

    ReplyDelete
  12. THE NOTORIOUS L.I.B.E.R.A.T.I.O.N.June 4, 2012 at 3:20 PM

    Marty! lol

    ReplyDelete
  13. They (Icon) are also renting out renovated apartments in 331, 333 and 335 E. 9th as hotel rooms. As was stated above, this is illegal as of last May. It should be noted that Christine Quinn voted AGAINST the bill.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Somebody needs to drop a dime on this!

    Someone tried this kind of monkey business in a friend's building. The "hotel guests brought NOISE and bedbugs!!! The "hotel guests" could care less about the residents of the building....

    ReplyDelete
  15. My first New York apartment was at 149 First Avenue, way back in the early 1970s. The rent for my fifth floor walk-up was about $60 a month, and it was a bit overpriced at that. Greenberg's Natural Foods was down the street. The Paradox Restaurant was on 7th Street and the Cauldron on 6th.

    What I wouldn't do to have those days back. **Sigh**

    ReplyDelete
  16. Icon Realty and Toshi have teamed up again, so there are sure to be numerous violations as there are at the illegal hotel at 325 East 10th. DOB has issued about $40,000 in violations ranging from "illegal occupancy", "doors swinging in instead of out - blocking egress", “no sprinkler system for transient hotel”, “no fire alarm system for transient hotel”, etc. Not the kinda place one should want to spend the night. So now this all happened on 4/30/12, and for some reason they are still open. Seriously can’t some elected official from our part of town do something about this, before someone gets hurt! As far as the new building, anyone who is posting saying this is legal is just plain wrong. The new zoning of the EV does not allow for hotels, regardless of what the DOB site may show for “use group “. The day someone sees anyone coming out of this place let us know so we can call DOB again. It might take years for them to respond, but they eventually will. By the way why is the Bean renting space from such shady characters?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ah, the endless scamming. Eventually these vultures will turn all rentals into these overpriced "temporary" hotels, to suck the blood out of tourists and drive New Yorkers who aren't gazillionaires out. Ain't in grand!

    Bloombuck$ for EMPEROR 2012!

    ReplyDelete

Your remarks and lively debates are welcome, whether supportive or critical of the views herein. Your articulate, well-informed remarks that are relevant to an article are welcome.

However, commentary that is intended to "flame" or attack, that contains violence, racist comments and potential libel will not be published. Facts are helpful.

If you'd like to make personal attacks and libelous claims against people and businesses, then you may do so on your own social media accounts. Also, comments predicting when a new business will close ("I give it six weeks") will not be approved.