The Standard, East Village Hotel And Andre Balazs Try Not To Disturb Neighborhood

Could an order of $7 french fries and outdoor ping-pong help chronic hotelier Andre Balazs convince East Village residents his new hotel will not be like its peep show-inclined counterpart in the Meatpacking District?

When news broke out last fall that the beleaguered Cooper Square Hotel would be transforming into the latest addition of the "Standard family," Balazs was quick to begin his peace campaign and reassure residents that the space would not be yet another raucous party magnet.

Now a new UrbanDaddy post from Tuesday reveals that the Standard, East Village is attempting to blend in with "easygoing comfort food house" and outdoor ping-pong. While Balazs doesn't directly mention such amenities, in a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Balazs appears to be very much continuing his campaign:

I know the guys who built [the Cooper Square Hotel] originally, and I thought they miscalculated a bunch of things. New York has distinct neighborhoods with distinct feelings, and the East Village is completely different than the Meatpacking District. I love the East Village...It's a very residential community and they managed to make a design that pissed off the neighbors immediately. That's a mistake.

From Edie Sedgwick to the Baldwin brothers, the city has long been fraught with hotels doubling as wild party venues. The Gramercy Park Hotel recently came under fire from neighborhood residents who blasted the alleged excessive noise and hoards of partiers, despite the hotel's attempts to coexist in peace.

A neighbor scoffed while plugging her ears, "They keep saying they want to be good stewards. Then shut up."

Time will only tell if a pleasant game of ping-pong can convince East Villagers that the Standard, East Village will not do the same.

Comments

[OzNYCaficionado]

07:24 AM on 02/23/2012

Was consistently spelling Andre Balazs' name incorrectly throughout the article deliberate?

[Sizzzle]

12:38 AM on 02/23/2012

I don't like his hotels. They maybe be beautifully designed but the service is just awful! I don't want to stay at a hotel where the staff gives you an attitude until they know you're a guest, and even then they're aloof and seem annoyed by the slightest request.

[bushwickfreddy]

05:13 PM on 02/22/2012

I actually love the hotel---it's a great place to have cocktails with friends that doesn't involve screaming in a sports bar--and a lovely place to put relatives and out of town guests when "crashing on my couch" is not an option...