Residents caught up in the mess at 1182 Broadway probably thought they were the victims of an early April Fool's gag when they received rent bills last week. After years of residential use without the proper permits, the 16-story loft building next to the Ace Hotel was abruptly evacuated last month, leaving residents scrambling. A Curbed tipster writes:
I thought you might be interested to know that the owners of 1182 Broadway, which was vacated by police and the Buildings Department because it was an illegal conversion with no fire safety precautions, sent around April rent bills today to residents struggling to move out of their apartments. They don't seem to understand that the leases were illegal and even if they were legal MOCAL has breached the terms of the lease!A spokesman for the building's owner Mocal Industries tells Curbed that, "April rent notices that went to residential tenants were accidentally sent out due to a clerical error." Those pesky clerical errors! We're sure everyone at 1182 Broadway is having a big ol' laugh over this one.
· Illegal Conversion Boots Tenants From 1182 Broadway [Curbed]