A man died from a drug overdose at Bay Ridge’s troubled Prince Hotel on April 30, officials said.
Neighbors have long alleged the 93rd Street flophouse is a den of drugs and vice. City officials announced they’d take over the hotel near Third Avenue and sell it at auction next month — a sale that cannot come soon enough, the local councilman said.
“The community and I look forward to the June 8th auction date of the property,” said Councilman Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge), who claims the death was drug-related and expressed sadness for the death. “Any thought that the Prince Hotel is a healthy place to stay or live is simply a fallacy.”
A manager found the 42-year-old victim unresponsive on the floor of his room after he did not check out of the room at noon on Saturday, sources familiar with the incident said.
The hotel has racked up more than $400,000 in fines for dangerous building conditions.
And calls for enforcement against the Prince intensified last year after the Department of Education announced plans to open a pre-kindergarten facility about 500 feet away on 93rd Street near Fourth Avenue.
Mayor DeBlasio apologized for not cracking down on the lewd lodge sooner and pledged action at a town hall on Feb. 16. A day later, sheriffs raided the hotel’s register and began garnishing its income. The city announced in March it would seize the building and sell it at auction to recoup the fines.
A medical examiner has not determined the man’s cause of death, officials said.
