The controversial Loft Law was recently extended to protect tenants in improperly converted warehouse buildings, but the law also makes officials take longer looks at buildings that have been flying under their radars, thereby threatening those very tenants. The Post reports that a pair of famous (in certain circles) Williamsburg loft buildings were recently 'raided' by inspectors, Metropolitan Avenue arts collective 3rd Ward, and 151 Kent Avenue, which replaced 184 Kent as the neighborhood's biggest hipster dorm when that building was cleared and converted to luxury rentals. The Brooklyn Paper has the scoop on an artist-heavy Clinton Hill building also caught up in the sweep.
The Loft Law doesn't protect tenants from eviction if major safety violations are found, but the inspections didn't turn up any emergencies, though the situation at the Clinton Hill building, 338 Flushing Avenue (aka hipster rave central, and the punching bag of at least one NYU student), is looking dicey. And if the DOB gets around to reading that they're being accused by tenants of being "a stuffy old granddad that doesn’t like their communal, artsy lifestyle," we'll upgrade that to double dicey.
· City raids two illegal lofts [NYP]
· City boots artists from studio–turned-nightclub [Brooklyn Paper]
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