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Oops Re: Astoria
| Message Board > General Chitchat > Oops Re: Astoria |
| _Griphin_ User Info... | Apparently the police did a undercover for 10 weeks to hunt for hotels scamming welfare fraud/living conditions for poor people living in those situations, and the first hotel they showed was The Astoria. Jeez, that place looks like shit!!! And they have bands play there?!? - Mon, 19 Dec 2005 11:04pm | ||
| Lurker User Info... | The Astoria rules as a punk bar. - Tue, 20 Dec 2005 12:33pm | ||
| jay brown User Info... | You shoulda seen the Cobalt, or for that matter ninety nine percent of the bars and hotels in east van Phil. The Astoria aint bad at all and yup it does rule as a punk bar. It aint about how pretty the room is Phil it's about what they do in the room. - Tue, 20 Dec 2005 3:24pm | ||
| ROSS B AY User Info... | Go easy on phil, he's a retard. Hey Brown I heard things got nuts...... - Tue, 20 Dec 2005 4:15pm | ||
| _Griphin_ User Info... | Ummm... I used to live in the 500 block of East 8th for a few years, and yeah, I remember walking past the Cobalt everyday (it's across the street from the CN Railway, and just passed it is the bridge on Main Street?!?). In any case, apparently these landlords were ripping the tenants off, and I really dislike that. Hey I'm not retarded, I'm mentally disabled!!! - Tue, 20 Dec 2005 4:33pm | ||
| Jesspsycho User Info... | They weren't ripping tenants off. They were ripping off the welfare system. Collecting direct to landlord cheques from people who didnt live in the building and then splitting the money with them. - Tue, 20 Dec 2005 5:22pm | ||
| MURDALIZER User Info... | Best tranny b-j I ever got. - Tue, 20 Dec 2005 6:34pm | ||
| Adrenaline Animal User Info... | there was always some strange liquid leaking from the roof at the cobalt, I always wondered what it was, but I was always too scared too ask - Tue, 20 Dec 2005 7:29pm | ||
| Jesspsycho User Info... | My guess is it had something to do with Murdalizer and the tranny B-J. - Tue, 20 Dec 2005 8:36pm | ||
| _Griphin_ User Info... | Ewwwww......... strange liquid. Doing a search on Google resulted in: Ten week Vancouver Police undercover operation Targeted criminal activity in three buildings: Astoria Hotel (769 East Hastings) Lucky Lodge (134 Powell Street) The Gastown Hotel (110 Water Street) Locations were chosen because they were known to be a centre of criminal activity in the DTES A number of undercover police officers were inserted into these hotels posing as tenants. Over the next several months, these undercover officers gave the appearance that they were actually living there. During this period evidence was collected on drug activity, stolen property and welfare scams. Welfare cheques intended to pay for accommodations were purchased by hotel operators for a fraction of their value {on a $450.00 cheque the tenants would get $100 for instance}. The residents are essentially trading their cheque money intended for rooms, just so they could feed their drug habit. Once this money was spent they are forced to live out on the streets. The rooms would simply be rented over and over again for the same period by the hotel operators. Results: 17 drug trafficking charges multiple counts pending for welfare fraud business licence reviews pending by the City Liquor control and Licensing Branch reviews pending for two licensed premises - Sun, 25 Dec 2005 1:34pm | ||
| _Griphin_ User Info... | Then I found... Welfare fraud by hotels a 'big' problem Tackling the crime is a top priority, says B.C.'s minister of employment and income assistance Janet Steffenhagen Vancouver Sun Wednesday, December 21, 2005 The Astoria Hotel at 769 East Hastings and two other downtown eastside Vancouver hotels face possible changes of welfare fraud and drug trafficking. Welfare fraud by unscrupulous Vancouver hotel operators is a multi-million-dollar problem and is a top priority for the province's 25 fraud investigators, Employment and Income Assistance Minister Claude Richmond said Tuesday. "I didn't realize it was as big as it is," Richmond said in an interview after police released findings of a 10-week undercover operation, recommended multiple charges against three hotels, and said an additional 30 hotels are still under investigation. "I was as amazed, I guess, as anybody else that it was on [that] scale." Crown counsel is considering charges of welfare fraud and drug trafficking against the Astoria Hotel, Lucky Lodge and the Gastown Hotel as a result of the investigation. The hotels are accused of taking welfare cheques from recipients in exchange for cash, but not providing them with accommodations. Richmond, who became minister responsible for income assistance in June, said he became aware of the problem with welfare fraud by hotel landlords over the summer. "It's unfortunate, but we have really unscrupulous people preying on the most vulnerable in our society. And I don't think you can get much lower than that." Richmond said the province will work with the City of Vancouver, which has the authority to shut down unscrupulous hotels by cancelling business licences. It has also stopped providing the three hotels with welfare cheques, which totalled more than $60,000 a month paid on behalf of 214 welfare recipients. "I hope that this operation . . . sends a message to a lot of these other people that we're coming after them. We can't put up with this and we're not going to," Richmond said, although he admitted that stopping welfare fraud altogether is likely impossible. Paul Teichroeb, Vancouver's chief licence inspector, said Tuesday it is too early to say what the city might do -- if anything -- about the three hotels. "We're not taking any action at the present time. We haven't received the information from the police department yet," he said, adding that he expects to receive a report soon. Depending on the report, Teichroeb said he could suspend licences or refer the matter to the city's business licence hearing panel, he said. "We're not making any assumptions about suspending [licences]. Obviously, we've seen the press release and we've heard from the police what they've observed, but what we have to see is the actual police report as to what the evidence is and how it's been substantiated." The city is paying particular attention to Lucky Lodge because the operator, Mario Laudisio, applied in September for a new licence, said Barb Windsor, deputy chief licence inspector. The previous licence was held by Park Regent. Although there have been other similar investigations in the Downtown Eastside, Teichroeb said he doesn't recall any other police investigation that identified such a broad range of issues. Previously, bars have been targeted for drug dealing and selling stolen property "but it gets much more complicated when it's in the rooms and who's responsible." Police told a news conference Monday that undercover agents were amazed at the level of crime inside some hotels. They also reported that some were filthy and infested with rodents and insects. Some of the hotels were considered too dangerous for undercover operations, Insp. Bob Rolls said. Teichroeb said it's difficult for the city to investigate allegations of fraud and drug dealing without an undercover operation. "Our inspectors walk into a hotel and the activities aren't blatantly happening in front of us." Richmond said the province will find other housing for welfare recipients living in substandard hotels. The problem appears to be centred in the Downtown Eastside, he added. "There may be similar problems going on in a couple of other large centres. I'm not sure about that but we're going to find out. It certainly isn't prevalent anywhere else that I know about. "The scale of these operations would just boggle your mind. At least it did mine. We're talking a lot of money here," he said. "We're probably talking, when you take all of this type of operation, it's probably into the millions." He said he doubts the province will recover welfare money taken fraudulently. Earlier in the day, community activists and two NDP politicians -- Jenny Kwan and Libby Davies -- said urgent action is needed by the provincial and federal governments to end homelessness. They said there is a dire need for low-cost permanent housing so that people don't have to rely on hotels and shelters. - Sun, 25 Dec 2005 2:24pm | ||
| jay brown User Info... | o.k. but what on earth does any of that have to do with having bands play there? Oh and you have way too much time on your hands.... - Sun, 25 Dec 2005 3:26pm | ||
| _Griphin_ User Info... | Yes, I do have too much time on my hands. Actually, I don't think it had anything to do with bands playing at the Astoria. - Sun, 25 Dec 2005 3:43pm | ||
| canon.docre User Info... | another chapter in the gentrification of vancouver's east side for the olympics in 2010. - Mon, 26 Dec 2005 2:42pm | ||
| _Griphin_ User Info... | When I lived in the East side, it was normal cept for needle park down the road, where all the bums drank themselves to death. You never really had to worry about much, so it wasn't like watch your back walking down the road. Gawd knows what it's like these days. - Mon, 26 Dec 2005 4:45pm | ||
| jay brown User Info... | Um I dont know when exactly you lived there Phil but it hasnt been normal for a long time. I was living in china town in the early nineties and we used to have to clean used needles out of our yard every day and eventually decided to move when someone got shot on our sidewalk and a bullet actually stuck in our doorframe. - Mon, 26 Dec 2005 7:46pm | ||
| _Griphin_ User Info... | 92/93 I think, it was when Coast 1040 was on the air, and I moved back shortly after the station went bellyup. Wow, Coast 1040 was a good station. - Tue, 27 Dec 2005 2:35am | ||
| dumpstermesh User Info... | Wow, I lived in Richmond at the same time. I actually recall that Jay, and his hair, were almost always getting on or off the ferry I was just boarding/leaving. I was a victim of a violent assault in East Van. Nothing to worry about? Speak for yourself mister. - Tue, 27 Dec 2005 2:50am | ||
| shitpiece User Info... | all this faggotry and still so much insolence. it doesn't take 20/20 to see that east van is a shithole, and sure the astoria is a dump, but... i dunno where i was going with this but i'm with ross bay phil is a retard, and should be pittied. p.s. if we keep all the junkies in east van and attract more, in just a few years we can nuke the shithole and nearly wipe the junkie population off the continent. merry christmas. - Tue, 27 Dec 2005 6:52am | ||
| _Griphin_ User Info... | Am I?!? Your probably more a tard then I'll ever be. I got lucky. :) Pitted?!? *grin* If my head isn't still fucked up, I might take you up on that. :) - Tue, 27 Dec 2005 10:59am | ||
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