The Moxy Hotel in Williamsburg remains open, despite being hit this spring by a ruling that deemed it improperly zoned. Mayor Eric Adams’ former chief of staff, Frank Caron, may have been involved, court documents show.
David Lichtenstein’s Lightstone Group hired Carone as its attorney shortly after it opened in March, the New York Daily News reported. report. Caron is no longer part of the administration but is in charge of Adams’ re-election campaign.
The Moxy opened on March 7, just days after a judge challenged its basic zoning agreement because the building department had previously issued a temporary occupancy certificate. The certificate was originally scheduled to expire at the end of May.
After being hired by Wrightstone, Carrone began pushing for a quick re-debate on the controversy. In a letter to the judge, Caron said closing even part of the hotel would cause “irreparable harm” to the hotel and its developers.
At a hearing on May 25, the judge did not respond to Carone’s letter. However, on the same day, the Buildings Department issued a temporary certificate of occupancy to the hotel, valid until August 23.
While Karon was filing the lawsuit in court, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff, Menashe Shapiro, contacted the DOB about the hotel, sources told the Daily News. From January to March, a government relations firm also lobbied Shapiro on Lightstone’s behalf.
Shapiro declined to comment to the media. A spokesman for Carone said there had been no contact between the former chief of staff and Sharprio, Adams or any administration officials regarding Moxy.
Under the ethics law, Caroun has until January 2024 to lobby the government. While he has not been charged with violating the law, a government watchdog has pointed to ethics concerns.
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The zoning dispute dates back many years to a four-story building at 353 Bedford Avenue that adjoins the 216-room hotel. Lightstone allegedly excluded the adjacent parcels in a 2019 filing and later amended and added three taxable parcels without the consent of the adjacent parcel owner entities.
A representative for a neighboring hotel involved in the zoning dispute said no temporary or permanent certificates of occupancy will be issued until a “review” of the disputed hotel is complete, a DOB official wrote. The audit is still ongoing and could ultimately result in the revocation of Lightstone’s license to operate.
— holden walter warner
