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May 9, 2008
HOTEL HELL
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HASA client Abrams shares his housing nightmare at the Saturday rally |
A spirited rally last Saturday targeted landlord Hank Freid for illegally converting commercial single room occupancies (SROs) meant for low-income people, many with HIV, into hotels for tourists.
"It's a crime and a shame," said Eric Abrams, a HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA) client who is suing Freid to stay in his room at Freid's Broadway Hotel on Broadway & 101st Street. More than 50 people attended the rally, organized by the Goddard Riverside West Side SRO Law Project, New York City AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN), City Councilmembers Melissa Mark Viverito and Gail Brewer, the Housing Conservation Coordinators and the West Side Neighborhood Alliance, and included a skit (see below) featuring a HASA representative throwing money at a scary, giant Freid." (see below)...