Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Owner Of Brooklyn B&B Run Out Of 'Crooklyn' Brownstone Says She's Being Targeted By The City
By
Gaby Del Valle
Published Nov 26, 2016
Modified Nov 26, 2016
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Google Maps
By
Gaby Del Valle
Published Nov 26, 2016
Modified Nov 26, 2016
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The owner of a Brooklyn bed and breakfast is saying that the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement is targeting her business under the guise of fighting Airbnb, even though she doesn't list her building on the website.
Liz Mandarano, who owns a bed-and-breakfast at 7 Arlington Place—the brownstone from Spike Lee's Crooklyn—told the Times that her business is a casualty in the city's battle against Airbnb. In September, two police officers, two firefighters, and two Buildings Department officials rang Mandarano's doorbell, ordered everyone in the building to leave immediately and said anyone who returned would be arrested.
"We are not Airbnb. We are classic B&Bs, but we were targeted to show that OSE was doing what it was supposed to do," Mandarano told the Times.
The inspector returned a second time and was turned away by Ambyr D'Amato, the bed-and-breakfast's live-in host. He returned again 19 days later and was turned again—this time, D'amato showed him a letter of support by City Council members Robert Cornegy Jr. and Jumaane Williams.
"The inspector refused to look at it and got angry and said, 'I'm coming back with a warrant,'" Mandarano said. Buildings Department records show that after the last visit, the building's "violation conditions"—individual locks on guests' bedroom doors—were resolved, but Mandarano says the city is refusing to withdraw the building's violations and fines could total "in the low six figures."
In October, Governor Cuomo banned New York City residents from advertising apartments on Airbnb for less than 30 days (renting apartments out for less than 30 days was already illegal). The new law is complaint-based, meaning landlords with illegal listings—Airbnb or otherwise—are only punished for renting out apartments if the city manages to find out about them.
When the latest anti-Airbnb law went into effect, Buildings Department officials said they weren't out to get independent bed-and-breakfast owners. But according to the Times, an inspector went to 7 Arlington Place in September after an extremely detailed complaint was called into 311 on November 3rd, 2015.
The complaint said the building "was a one-family home now has been constructed into bed-and-breakfast, rents the rooms and has people coming in and out with suitcases. Advertises events there." But Mandarano doesn't believe that her neighbors were the ones who made the complaint—she alleges that the caller was someone from the OSE, which has been denied by a spokesperson.
"I feel like there's harassment here," Mandarano said. "We're the people who serve you tea in the morning, we make muffins, we make eggs, we show you guides and say 'Have you thought about taking this walk? You'd enjoy it.'"
"There are bad players," she added. "There are people who violate their co-op and condominium bylaws. We are not those people. We are not fly-by-night people. We are vulnerable because we are easy to find."
Tagged
airbnb
bed and breakfast
bed stuy
brooklyn
crooklyn
Gaby Del Valle
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
6-year-old girl breaks leg after getting hit by falling bricks in Queens
The girl was walking with her mother in Maspeth on Thursday. The Department of Buildings cited the owner of a garage for “failure to maintain” it.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 23, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. ET
Mamdani extends ban on permits for new street fairs due to NYPD overtime
Critics say the moratorium harms businesses in neighborhoods without a tradition of street fairs.
By
Carol Chen
News
Mamdani extends ban on permits for new street fairs due to NYPD overtime
Critics say the moratorium harms businesses in neighborhoods without a tradition of street fairs.
By
Carol Chen
Inside the Midtown Bus Terminal rebuild: Decks over Lincoln Tunnel approach, a new park
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Black couple seeking Queens apartment sues over racist text from broker
By
Brittany Kriegstein
NJ early voting begins Saturday. Here's everything you need to know.
By
Mike Hayes
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .