Open Thread Wednesday

By on August 30, 2016 11:46 pm in open thread

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • Banet

    So there’s exactly one month left until the alleged October 1 opening of the Bossert hotel.

    A month ago I saw no chance of them making it but a lot seems to have happened in August. And yet there’s still no drywall up on the entire semi-underground level. And there’s a lot of missing drywall on the first floor. And what drywall is there hasn’t even been painted yet.

    What do you think? Are they going to make it? Are you excited for it to open or dreading it?

  • Concerned

    I look forward to it. But I also am extremely concerned about the traffic on Montague and also turning onto Pierrepont from Hicks.
    I also don’t think that they’ll open until 2017.
    I also wonder if they’ll end up selling units in the hotel as condos, as some other Manhattan hotels have done. The hotel is SO massive, it seems impossible to fill on a regular basis. But I’m not in the business so this is raw speculation.

  • Jorale-man

    I found these interesting shots on the NY Public Library’s website of the building on the corner of Hicks & Joralemon Streets. The first is from 1959; the second shows the transformation from about five years later. The gray paint has since been stripped off but the botched upper half remains.

  • Jorale-man

    PS: The changes were obviously snuck in before the establishment of the historic district in 1965.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Also, had Joralemon been two-way there? The car in the foreground is parked east-bound.

  • Jorale-man

    I noticed that too. If the car was parked, I wonder if it was only east-bound back then? There wouldn’t have been enough room for parking in both directions, and two-way traffic.

  • ColumbiaHeightster

    = Joralemon 2.0!!!

  • Moni

    Excited. Hoping against all hope that it will include a decent restaurant. Maybe even two!

  • Moni

    Synergy gym (formerly Gold’s) on Livingston is closing 9/15. Any suggestions for an affordable alternative? (I don’t consider Equinox affordable). Would so appreciate your recommendations/reviews.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    They don’t have to have every single room or section completed in order to open. Only the lobby, which is basically done, and some of the guest room floors. Those larger unfinished rooms are probably event spaces and not entirely necessary for the hotel to open.

  • Concerned

    Lol. Says the person all comfy and cozy on Columbia Heights…

  • ColumbiaHeightster

    If you must know, we moved off of Columbia Hts a few years ago and now live on…wait for it…JORALEMON. I’ve just grown attached to the CH moniker, although, Jorale-Monster sounds cool (and terrifying).

  • Banet

    They don’t need to be done to open the doors but there’s not much more construction you can do when your hotel has paying guests. Screw guns make noise. Paint smells. Sanding spackle makes insidious dust. Debris makes a mess. And I’m not sure they even have a freight elevator.

  • LDS

    Any recommendations for a second hand kid’s clothing store? (Housing works doesn’t carry children’s clothes)

  • SongBirdNYC

    I like Clementine on West 4th. It’s easy to get to on the A/C. Also, Flying Squirrel in Wiliamsburg and Lulu’s Then & Now on 4th Avenue. FYI, Housing Works will accept children’s clothing donations if you mark them as such and put it in a separate bag.

  • LDS

    Thanks!

  • Heights

    I saw several people entering the hotel on Tuesday. They looked like guests/tourists and walked in the front door past several workers on lunch break. Some sort of soft open? Looks like there is still a log work to be done.

  • Banet

    You can also check out ThredUp.com

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Non issues as long as the work areas are properly sealed off. Any elevator can be freight with a couple of pads.

  • Maggie

    Jane’s Exchange in the East Village is awesome.
    http://www.janesexchangenyc.com/

  • Dan

    YMCA on Atlantic Avenue
    http://www.ymcanyc.org/dodge/

  • gc

    Anybody know what Navy ship is docked down by Pier 6?
    Is it open for visitors?

  • Andrew Porter

    Actually, I’ve stayed at several hotels while parts were under construction, including Oxford’s Randolph, where Loud construction noise began at 8am. (So *that* explains those low rates I was charged.)

    And at the Metropole Hotel in Brighton, England, where there were live wires hanging down and scaffolding in the lobby, as construction went on overhead. That was NOT a good experience.

  • Andrew Porter

    Looks like they changed the attic floor to a full one, in those years when old = bad.

  • Banet

    That’s exactly my point. Renovations are not compatible with paying guests. Sure, it’s technically possible but it’s going to lead to a slew of terrible reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor, which isn’t a good way to launch a business.

    And if they DO launch a business that way it doesn’t speak well of what kind of neighbors they’ll be.

  • Banet

    You can try to seal off a floor or two in a residential renovation but it rarely works well in a building that big. Too many plumbing chases to conduct dust and odors. Too many employees to break the rules. And from the sloppy quality of the people I’ve seen working there I have zero confidence they could pull it off.

    In the end, this is an interesting but moot conversation. They’ll open soon enough. They’ll run their business how they run their business. And hopefully the BHA holds them accountable for any violations of their agreement.

  • gc

    My guess is that the average Brit tends to be a bit more forgiving than the average American much less the average New Yorker.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    I’ve been a subcontractor on renovations of a couple of Manhattan’s most prestigious hotels. They did it a floor or two at a time, most of the work was completely invisible to the guests.

  • Andrew Porter

    The people staying at the Randolph are not “the average Brit,” IMHO.

  • Andrew Porter

    I walked by today, and the man at the desk inside the front door, when asked about an October 1st opening date, hedged, finally said, “Maybe November.”

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