Friday 9 August 2013

LOOKING FOR A CHEAP PLACE TO STAY IN NEW YORK? INSIDE THE COCKROACH-INFESTED 'HOTEL' WHERE MORE THAN 100 MEN SLEEP SIDE-BY-SIDE IN CHICKEN WIRE 'KENNELS'


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Heinous: John Arkue sits in his tiny room at the Sun Bright Hotel
It’s a New York hotel offering 'cages' for just $10 a night - and you get what you pay for.  
The single rooms at Chinatown's The Sun Bright Hotel have been described as 'animal shelters', where more than 100 disadvantaged men live side by side in cockroach-infested chicken wire boxes. 
Only men are allowed in the 'kennels' on the third and fourth floors, and the rooms are just seven by five feet - smaller than a prison's solitary-confinement cell.
And at least one resident reported the body of a man was left to rot in his room for 15 days before it was removed - and the room wasn't even cleaned afterward.
Suffering: Double leg amputee Michael Fidler, 66, has lived in this room for 11 years
Suffering: Double leg amputee Michael Fidler, 66, has lived in this room for 11 years

The allegations come from the New York Post, which sent a reporter to check out the cut-rate hotel.
'It was horrible - like an animal shelter,' a first responder recently called to the hotel told
'I picked up a suit on the wall and roaches fell out. Hundreds of them.'
More than 100 men on the floor share one bathroom with two shower stalls, four toilets and one urinal. Cockroaches, vermin and fleas infest the dilapidated building, and black mold covers most of the walls, according to the Post. 
The owners of the hotel have not responded to allegations. Managers were not available for comment to MailOnline early Monday.
The six-story building doesn't have an elevator, and most floors lack air conditioning, according to reports. 
New York Post reports the city Department of Buildings has issued the budget hotel with 46 summonses since 1988. 
It has 22 open violations for converting the second and fifth floors into a hostel and installing laundry equipment on the second floor.
Micheal Fidler
Shocking: Double amputee Micheal Fidler, 66, sits in his 3rd floor cubicle. Cockroaches and trash line the rooms at Chinatown's The Sun Bright Hotel
Hellhole: A block of 32 cubicles, each about 90 by 58 inches, separated above the door frame by chicken wire
Hellhole: A block of 32 cubicles, each about 90 by 58 inches, separated above the door frame by chicken wire

David Rodriguez, 74, has lived in his room for 16 years, paying just $310 a month for his little bed in a cockroach-infested cubicle.
'Somebody died on the other side, and he was there about 15 days,' the retired cab driver told the Post. 
'[Management] left it dirty. It smelled very bad -  a dead man!
'There’s a whole bunch of nuts around here. I don’t feel comfortable, but what am I going to do? I can’t do nothing. I can’t pay $1,000 for an apartment.'
The story about a dead man being left inside a room for more than two weeks has not been verified. 
However many of the dorm rooms which aren't occupied by long-term tenants are rented out to backpackers.
Heinous: John Arkue sits in his tiny room at the Sun Bright Hotel
The hotel boasts on its website that rooms are 'cozy' and affordable.
'Whether you're traveling for business or pleasure, Sun Bright Hotel offers a variety of room types to ensure comfort for your needs at low prices,' the website states. 'Our rooms are clean, affordable and very cozy.'
However the promotional pictures of the rooms it has posted, which have also been uploaded to online review guide Yelp, do not paint the full picture. 
The rooms are small, but clean, with white walls and spotless toilet facilities. 
One Yelp reviewer wrote: 'The place is a total dump. Don't stay here if you don't like camping, are afraid of cockroaches, mold or mildew.' 
Another wrote: 'Prison! The second floor looks clean but if you go to other floors, you'll ask yourself what have you done to deserve this. You'll see cats, cat food, roaches, floor tiles peeling off, smell of cigarettes even though it says no smoking.'
The same hotel? This image of a hotel room on Yelp is a far cry from the reality
The same hotel? This image of a hotel room on Yelp is a far cry from the reality
Sun Bright Hotel
Sun Bright Hotel
Misleading? These images from the review site Yelp offer a stark contrast to the scenes of squalor depicted inside the hotel by the New York Post

Disabled construction worker John Arkue has lived on the third floor for 15 years.
'They keep all the garbage all on this floor,' he told New York Post. 
'Sometimes the garbage sits here. Like on a Saturday, we don’t put the garbage out. We got roaches, we got flies, you know? Did you look in the bathroom? It’s falling down, the ceiling and stuff.'
Two months ago, the building was sold for $14.8 million to Bowery 88 LLC, which shares its address with the headquarters of clothing retailer Dr. Jays.
Mail Online contacted Dr. Jays but no one was immediately available for comment.
Prison-like: This is the third floor entrance, where men live in tiny cubicles with no air conditioning
Prison-like: This is the third floor entrance, where men live in tiny cubicles with no air conditioning
No options: David Rodriguez, 74, moved into the Sun Bright Hotel in 1997, after he retired from cab driving
No options: David Rodriguez, 74, moved into the Sun Bright Hotel in 1997, after he retired from cab driving
Hellhole: The Sun Bright Hotel is on Hester St on the edge of Chinatown
Hellhole: The Sun Bright Hotel is on Hester St on the edge of Chinatown

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