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Are you sure the victim wasn't just waiting for Comcast to install their cable modem?
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Are you sure the victim wasn't just waiting for Comcast to install their cable modem?
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It would be bad for business if they openly said, 'Oh yea, some guy died and was starting to decompose and getting kind of gooey.\"
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At least corpse juice wasn't raining on his bed.
Better a dead body on your floor than the floor above your bed.
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And just think -- now that room can at last be refurbished to create inexpensive accommodations for visitors to the fair city! Maybe there can be a surcharge for potential hauntings added for the paranormal crowd.
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@JulesNoctambule: Great. If the poor person was actually waiting for their Comcast cable installation as pegr suggested upthread, whoever stays in that room is going to overhear ghostly and frustrated phone calls to customer service and complaints of missed appointments!
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@pecan 3.14159265:
[spooky ghost voice]
\"OoOoOOOooO! Your representative said they'd be here between nine and one! It's two forty twoooooooooo! *rattles chains, kicks a router*\"
I have to say that I love the blogger's attitude. \"Yeah, the hall was crazy smelly, but the room itself was comfy and I got to see my daughter and damn, I don't want to die like that dude.\" I can think of a lot of people who would have gone ballistic. He seems like he'd be a lot of fun to travel with.
As an aside, we watched 4 Rooms last night. Always check for dead hookers under the bed.
@squinko: I really enjoyed the concept and the execution. I always used to warn my fiance to check for bodies under the bed when he'd travel for business. For years he thought I was making a reference to 4 Rooms, rather than the real-life cases of dead bodies stashed in hotel rooms. When he figured out I'd never seen the movie he insisted we watch it, and I'm glad he did.
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@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes: Especially check in the hotels/motels with the mattresses on top of a box. The Iceman Mafia hitman did one guy in and stashed his body under one of these. The third! person after him renting the room complained about the smell and that's when they found the victim...
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I know this isn't BoingBoing! But after this and the porn story, can I have a nice beautiful Unicorn Chaser story to wash these down with, Meg?
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@Meg Marco: I come here as a representative of the puppy union. We demand equal puppy coverage!
Dude. Look at this face. How can you not love this face?
I know NYC is expensive and all, but is $115 for this hole in the wall a bargain? The NYU website says Chelsea Star Hotel [starhotelny.com] is one of the most affordable hotels within walking distance of campus. It's only $80 and tax for a single room.
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@pecan 3.14159265: I refer you to the article, where the guest cites a bunkbed arrangement paired with a two-by-six-foot space to walk in.
Did you see the word \"feet\"? Feet! A NYC apartment that is so lavish that they measure walking space in feet!
Yeesh. $110/night is a steal.
PS: $200-$300 wouldn't be insanely expensive. Thank the gods I have friends there for when I travel. Once I move their fold-out ironing boards out of its niche and tuck myself inside for the night, I'm pimpin' it large, like Louis XIV!
@Trai_Dep: Um, everywhere measures floor space in sq feet. That's 12 sq ft even if he didn't do the math.
@thisistobehelpful: Not New York. When they start saying things in feet you can actually feel your wallet trying to escape out of your pocket.
@The Porkchop Express: My brother strangely found a great place in Brooklyn even if it was in Bushwick. It was like 800 sq ft and he was paying $400/mo with a roommate. While they may take up every inch of the chartered city they do measure things in feet :)
@The Porkchop Express: at least from what my friends pay for rent. they do have a nice view of Rikers Island though!
@The Porkchop Express: Yeah but it works out to be $94.88 a day. The hotel lists taxes at the bottom so I calculated them all up.
I've never stayed in NYC before. Is $115 a night actually a good deal?
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It's a very good deal. In fact, I never knew about the Jane, and I'll definitely consider staying there next time I'm in town.
@pecan 3.14159265: I live in NYC and yes, that is a good price. :) There are some incredibly disgusting places in Chinatown that might be cheaper than that, but take my word for it and never stay at one of those. It's hard to find a decent room for under $200/night.
@lolan64: In Manhattan it's more like less than $400 so this is. Dude coulda got a double queen at the La Quinta in Queens for like $140/night. On top of that it's down the road from a White Castle and it's a $7 cab ride into the city.
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@pecan 3.14159265: I've pricelined a 3 star Hilton in midtown for $100. But I wouldn't count on paying that.
@pecan 3.14159265: Don't know to be honest. I always stay witha friend. I just know everything else seems to cost a lot more.
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@pecan 3.14159265: $115 is a really good deal in NYC. Most hotels are $200+, and those are just the chain hotels, not the Waldorf. It looks like that would be the $99 base price, so $20 more than Chelsea Star, but they are in different neighborhoods, so that makes a big difference and the Jane looks like it had a much better renovation than Chelsea Star did. Chelsea star looks like basically a hostel.
@Narockstar: I found the Chelsea based on the fact that he said he was visiting his daughter at NYU. I've never been to NYU but I suppose if he wanted to stay somewhere in NYC and could reasonably commute to visit his daughter, or they'd just meet up somewhere halfway, it's reasonable that he'd stay somewhere not exactly walking distance from the campus.
@pecan 3.14159265: You can stay at my place for 75 bucks a night. Make it yourself breakfast included!
Sounds kind of like the \"Toolbox Murders\" building.
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The smell of a decomposing human is not something you forget. But I guess the call of money means more than an appropriate burial, the kind of burial that humans have felt was appropriate for the past 10,000 years or so... until this hotel came along, that is.
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@floraposte: Hehe well humans definitely haven't agreed on the same method of disposing the dead. We got christians who prefer burials, buddhists who prefer creamation, and captain hook who prefers davy jone's locker
@moore850:
Has nothing to do with the Hotel. NYC has a perfectly decent Potter's field for the indigent dead--much better than many jurisdictions:
[en.wikipedia.org]
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@moore850: I'm not sure I'm following. Are you saying the guy staying there should have paid to bury the dead guy? Or that the hotel should? And that humans have all agreed on the same method for disposing of the dead for 10,000 years?
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is $115/night really considered \"cheap\" for NYC?
i'm putting together a pseudo-reunion for my high school class (5 years in may!) and we looked at a motel in Galax, VA that is $42/night for 2 queen beds (that's before our 15% \"pay in full\" discount)
@gStein_has joined the star bandwagon: For $115, you can get a park bench in Central Park, but you'll probably have to double up. Yes, $115 for anything in New York (outside of the Bronx or Staten Island, both of which technically are part of New York City) is dirt cheap.
We used to try to get rooms at the Y. They were a bit cheaper than the regular hotels.
@gStein_has joined the star bandwagon: I remember Galax! Went to the fiddler's convention there when I was 16 or so, drove through there a few times on the way to Asheville and other places. $42 seems like a good deal there. You might be able to get a really revolting hostel accommodation in NYC for that :)
@gStein_has joined the star bandwagon: There are premiums on desirability.
It's why apartments in nice neighborhoods cost more than apartments in shitty neighborhoods, and why broadway shows can charge more per ticket than a dinner theatre in some podunk town.
Why is it shocking that things cost more in NYC than they do in a southern town which no one has heard of?
@gStein_has joined the star bandwagon: Well, Galax, VA is very different from NYC. I'm from VA, and on Tuesday night's election I was looking at returns and I had no idea where most of the counties were in the state. Anything more south than Fredericksburg is off my radar.
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@pecan 3.14159265: Galax VA is way up in the Galaxy, as in the Galactic mountainous region bordering West Virginia.
@pecan 3.14159265: Yeah, southwest Virginia is the deep south. I lived there one summer. I would recommend against it.
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@gStein_has joined the star bandwagon: If you want to stay in NYC then $115 a night is very cheap. Normally for that much you'd be staying in some roach infested hell hole.
You can however occasionally luck out with priceline. I managed to stay at a very nice DoubleTree for $150.
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Healthcare, blah blah blah. Senior death panel...blee blee blee.
There. I have now tainted this thread as well.
Regarding the price of the hotel, $100 / night (The Jane's normal rate, not sure why it was $115 for the blogger) is a good rate for a boutique hotel. You can hostel for $20 - $60 / night (depending on how \"flexible\" you are with \"safety\" and \"cleanliness). Major chain hotels in popular parts of the city will typically run $200+ per night.
Part of The Jane's allure is that it has a checkered past. The fact that the hotel is currently embroiled in a struggle with its remaining residents (Google this, there's plenty of coverage out there) just makes it that much more appealing to some. I would imagine this latest incident even moreso.
Reminds me of a documentary I saw about a man who has a \"remains clean up\" service. (I think that is similar to the business in the movie Sunshine Cleaning.) The documentary followed him as he cleaned up crime scenes. He also would get calls from supers when a resident would die and no one knew until the person who lived below the now deceased tenant would smell something yucky and/or see something yucky coming down the ceilings and walls.
It truly is sad that some people just \"slip through the cracks\". Maybe this story can serve as a reminder to check in on your Nana everyone few days.
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@gfonner: Not the one you were referring to, but 'Cleaner' has Samuel L. Jackson, and we all know he makes everything better. ;)
@gfonner: See something yucky coming down the walls? Slip through the cracks? I see what you did there.
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@gfonner:
I think one of the companies is named BioTrauma...I read a magazine article about them. Apparently it is good work, probably a little easier if you are an anosmiac.
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@dfens42: Here I thought you were just a lousy speller:
Anosmia: No sense of smell, due to loss of the sense of smell or failure for it to develop.
@dfens42: I once tried helping clean up a freeze full of decomposing animal parts. I discovered that I can't work around that smell; I had no choice in the matter, as soon as my nose got involved it triggered involuntary retching.
Oo-ooh, that smell...
@Lez Lemon: Folks in that line of business put something like Vick's vapo-rub only stronger under their nostrils to drown the smell out.
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@gfonner:
Crime Scene Cleanup- It's big business, especially because the police/investigators take zero responsibility for cleaning up the scene when they are done and there are strict regs for cleanup of biowaste. Also note that there are alot of scams out there that offer to get one into the business...
The gentleman in the apartment across from mine died on his bedroom floor. The apartment didn't notify police to have the body removed until it had already decomposed. The smell is unforgettable and while they replaced the carpet in the bedroom, the entire apartment still reeks of death and decomposition.... and yet they're showing it to potential tenants... focusing on the brand new carpet in the bedroom...
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@chemmy: Realtors are really some of the most despicable human beings. No souls whatsoever, and many of them probably sell Amway on the side too. Yeah, I know, someone has to do it, but still...
But don't take my word for it: Watch!
I know, it's just a movie role, but Annette Bening nailed it! :)
I can't believe no one has mentioned the irony of the load graphic on the Jane's website being a skull and crossbones.
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@VagrantRadio: I dunno, the fact that the \"rooms\" section is headlined with a chick that looks like a prostitute?
My old neighbor apparently died while shovelling snow in the beginning of winter.
I found him after the snow melted.
@Covertghost: That is so sad.
My elderly neighbor fell in his apartment, and no one could get to him. Fortunately, his family visits him regularly and has keys to his place! I wish he'd had medic alert, though. He was down for hours.
@kateblack: People joke about the device, \"I've fallen and I can't get up,\" but it could actually be a lifesaver for an invalid.
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I'm sorry that selfish person went and died and ruined your morning coffee run.
I think most hotels have a \"deny-deny-deny\" policy when it comes to death. There are many guests who wouldn't stay in a room if they knew that someone died in there.
@RandomHookup:
Which is kind of strange when you think about it--in any long-populated area, people have died everywhere you look.
Would everybody please stop putting quote and quotation marks before commas and periods? Unless you're a Brit, it isn't correct. Stop it. Oh, and the entire Jane Hotel (including the bar) stinks. Avoid.
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@xxoo: Actually, it depends on what's being quoted and if you are capable of italicizing a word.
If you're quoting a word or phrase because it has some connotation other than it normally would that the quotes, through context, are conveying to the reader, then the quotes definitely come before the punctuation marks (comma, perdiod, etc).
If, in an account of a past incident, the story-teller is quoting what someone said, then yes, the punctuation falls inside the quotes.
Besides, if you're going to be a Nazi about grammar, then don'do so while using sentence fragments as whole sentences.
So -1 for the grammarian.
@RogerTheAlien:
Except ... there's no sentence fragments in his post.
I suspect you think \"Avoid\" is a fragment. It isn't. The verb is avoid, and the subject is understood to be the reader. Imperative sentences are often one word.
Uh... did anybody else notice that Jane's website has a loading bar with skull and crossbones? Bwahahaha.
Ummmmm....anyone dial 911 yet? I mean really if you saw a dead body in the street or the alley you would call, how is this any different?
I just ask because honest to God I called for for my 90 year old lady neighbor - nobody had heard from her in weeks, and her car hadn't moved, and relative called me concerned. Sure enough, found her deceased in the tub.
The impressive thing was that solid front door of hers - took twelve police guys and 20 hits with the battering ram to get it down.
It really kind of disturbs me though at the level of idiocy that whole groups of people will see something, know the right thing to do, and never do it, but instead gawk and gossip and move on.
@Areyouagoodlittleconsumer: It might not even help even if you do dial 911 - they didn't find the alleged Cleveland serial killer until he was caught in the act of raping someone.
People repeatedly complained about the smells in the neighborhood - the city flushed the sewers, inspected gas lines, and the sausage factory (right next door) cleaned thoroughly, but the smell persisted.
The smell was due to bodies buried in the back yard and crawl space.
The room had been sealed by the *police, not the corpse-removal fairy. rtfa.
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I stayed in a hostel in NYC for about $30/night. Like the blogger's room it had bunk beds, but the room was much bigger than his, as was the window. Didn't notice any corpes either.
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I love the fact someone in the comments mentions that people who have to deal with death every day burn coffee to combat the smell. I think it would turn me off of coffee--if I drank it on a regular basis.
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Gross...
I wonder if they're going to bother to replace the mattress? Also, doesn't maid service come by at least once a day? And no one noticed? They thought the smell was somebody's sox?
@H3ion: The deceased actually LIVED there, so wasn't a guest and therefore it was unlikely that he had cleaning services.
@soloudinhere: Sure, but someone must have walked down the hall. A dead person does not smell like Chanel No. 5.
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Was it also in the Dowisetrepla district?
@MaytagRepairman: Hygiene? Or was it \"Hi, Jean!\"
@MaytagRepairman: It is an up and coming neighborhood with slanted floors!