Here are the basics:
- The Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement has become the “go to” agency for investigations of illegal hotels.
- You should contact them at (212)788-7140 if you believe an illegal hotel is being operated out of your building. When calling state that you are calling to report an illegal hotel.
- When reporting an illegal hotel you will need to call to make an initial report and then afterward follow-up with additional calls when you see instances of the hotel’s operation.
(*For example if you see someone that you don’t believe to be a tenant carrying luggage into one of the units which you’ve identified as a hotel unit, you should call the Special Enforcement Office to report it.)
- Pay attention to what’s happening in your building and call every time you see suspicious activity happening.
- The inspector will continue to log these instances and build a case against you landlord &/or the hotel operator.
- To effectively prove that a hotel is being operated out of your building you will need to work with the inspector from the mayor’s office to build a case. The more you report to the inspector the better your chances are of proving the hotel exists and of shutting it down.
* For more information contact