An overpopulated, illegal hostel in Williamsburg that served as a frat house for hipsters and out-of-towners was shut down today by city buildings inspectors, leaving dozens on the street.
Owners of the Loftstel at 112 N. 6th St. have been squeezing as many as 16 people into each of the building’s 12 apartments, Assemblyman Joe Lentol said. The building is zoned for commercial use and lacks fire escapes and sprinkler systems, city officials said.
Operators of the hostel were charging up to $1,000 a month per bed for students and $1,100 for non-students, according to the Loftstel Web site, which was shut down hours after inspectors began evacuating residents.
The Loftsel’s Facebook page, which has over 3,000 members, was also taken down.
Many who use the hostel are from overseas. The Loftsel boasts itself as “the favorite destination for students and interns. “
“This means I have to move back home, which stinks because I go Brooklyn College and the commute will be disgusting,” said Adriana Lee, 23 of Bergen County, NJ.
The Red Cross was putting up the residents who couldn’t find temporary shelter in a local hotel, and some didn’t seem to mind the inconvenience, saying they planned to have a big party at the hotel.
The building’s owner, Jae Kim of Montclair, NJ, did not return a message seeking comment.
According to residents of the hostel, the operators of Loftstel – who were unavailable for comment — were renting the building from Kim and didn’t know of the violations.
“My heart goes out to the people affected by this,” the assemblyman said. “We are going to do everything we can to help the people affected and to ensure these things don’t happen in the future.”