Over at Brick Underground, a homeowner’s community board, there’s been an interesting turn in the case of the Jane Hotel and its neighbors. A New York Times piece about the conflict was squashed after Jane Hotel owner Richard Born complained that the writer was biased, given the fact that she had penned an earlier story for Brick Underground telling neighbors how to get rid of nuisance clubs like the Beatrice Inn. The Times writer, Teri Karush Rogers, has posted the killed story on Brick Underground, and not only does it quote a pastor who shares a wall with the ballroom complaining about patrons “urinating and smoking dope on our doorstep,” but it breaks the code of silence about smoking and dancing there (the club says its employees police such behavior) and it links to a YouTube video, a blog, and a Twitter page that neighbors are using to document the so-called “nightmare on Jane Street.” Residents have invested $10,000 to complain to the SLA that the hotel isn’t honoring its original intention of having only background music, but they’re going to be up against some heavy artillery: Born tells Rogers that “500 people turn up each night and collectively spend about $15,000-$20,000.” Whatever the case, the Boom Boom Room (the reader favorite over at Guest of a Guest) has to feel good about being 22 stories up right now.
Why the Times won’t be running my story on the Jane Hotel this weekend [Brick Underground via Curbed]
