Williamsburg Hipster Trailer Park Shut Down
For the second time, the Meserole Street warehouse that's home to an "artist community/trailer park called "The Nut Factory," has been shuttered by city inspectors, though residents still claim they're in the clear. "I don't know what the Fire Department considers unsafe now," one of the resident artists told the New York Post. "The warehouse has sprinklers, and front and rear egress." Back in February a previous vacate order was "resolved," and so was the "woodworking workshop," deemed unsafe, in the basement. In March, some tenants who had moved outside the building were evicted by the Long Island Rail Road, which owns the land. As for the actual warehouse, the renters are only one year through a five-year lease. This headache is just beginning! 
The Post reports:
Bushwick Project for Arts founder Hayden Cummings things the city has it wrong."We've spent a lot of money bringing this space up to code," said Cummings. "Nobody will tell us exactly what is unsafe about this space. They only say that the order is coming from above their heads."
Taking trucker hats to an extreme, the space first made waves back in December of 2009, with the low rent of $590 per month covering access to "a one-bedroom camper, a darkroom, recording studio, performance stage, gym, storage screen printing room and workshops for ceramics, metal and woodworking." And to carefully follow rules, no smoking or pets allowed! The Craigslist ad at the time went like this:
Here's the story: A few individuals with a rooted commitment to providing affordable studio space for artists have signed a lease on a 6,500ft2 space with access to a huge backyard. The indoor space will accommodate a number of shared facilities (darkroom, recording studio, screen printing room and workshops for ceramics, metal, woodworking, etc.). The backyard will have 25 campers that will be rented out as private artist studios. Imagine your own mini-building with windows on all sides! Rent for a private camper will include access to all shared facilities. Located just off the Montrose [L] stop, it's in the middle of the East Williamsburg/Bushwick hotbed of creativity.
The Post is calling the scrambling for a new space for the forced-out tenants "Grapes of Wrath"-like. Obviously they've never seen Bored to Death.
[NYP]
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