Ahead of its opening later in the spring, Ian Schrager’s Public Hotel is already annoying some of the neighbors. In the past week or so, a giant illuminated sign appeared on the top floors of the 28-story tower at 215 Chrystie St. It’s visible throughout the Lower East Side. Residents have started a petition, urging Schrager to, “turn out the lighted sign.” Here’s their plea made directly to the hotel/nightlife mogul:
Congratulations on your new Public Hotel on the Lower East Side. When you testified at Community Board 3 about the property, you talked about being a good neighbor and that you were a “downtown” person. Now you have lit up this neighborhood with your gigantic two-sided sign shining uptown and downtown. This is not art. It is advertising. This is not Vegas or Times Square. This is our home. We, the undersigned, ask that you turn out the lights and stop creating light pollution for your neighbors.
The Public Hotel will have 370 rooms and includes several restaurants from Jean-Georges Vongerichten. At the top of the glassy tower, Schrager has built 11 luxury apartments, which range in price from $4 million to $23.5 million. According to Streeteasy, all of the units are under contract except for one, a 1300 square foot 1-bedroom for $4 million. The hotel was built on a parcel next to 10 Stanton St., a Section 8 affordable complex. The building site was once a tree-filled garden for the residents of 10 Stanton.
You can find the petition here.
