Mr. Pittsburgh Steelers Cap

Go look at the Website for the White House Hotel. They have a funny page of testimonials (which must be edited to disclude anyone who ever had a bad experience).

One of the testimonials includes this passage:

The staff had time for us which was appreciated and i also think they conveyed the easy new york vibe very well - especially mr. pitsburgh steelers cap who isn't a steelers fan and the super chilled older black guy, i don't know their names but both very good folk! It was also good to talk to miguel about harlem, u.s and european culture, it's not every day we can sit about for a few hours talking to people from the other side of the world, all very interesting. I guess the white house was a good place to get to meet local folk, which helps me to get a alot more out of new york than going shopping and some night clubs. Also a true bonus for us was meeting a few of the residents too. Going out for an evening with jeff paz was probably one of the best things we did out here, it was a top night away from the touristy areas with a genuinly good guy. Also the other resident with the long blond hair a la jeff was a good guy, the ten minuite/ half hour we talked to them every day just helped make the trip a better one.

From:  Jimmy and Grant
Date:  Sunday,  June 30, 2002 7:45 PM
To: manager@whitehousehotelofny.com
Subject:  RE: Youre stay at the Whitehouse

You mean the White House Hotel doesn't exist?

Here's some quickie background info about flophouses. I'll have some more up here soon, but this article gives a little context.

Such scenes have defined the Bowery since the first lodging house opened in 1874, creating a cheap, transient place to stay for New York City’s homeless Civil War veterans. Small cubicles then cost a quarter, and a dime bought a canvas sling for the night, hung from the ceiling of a crowded room. By the early 1900s, the Bowery was lined with flophouses and their attendant whiskey bars, dime museums, theaters, slop joints and some of the first tattoo parlors in the country. By the Great Depression, more than 100 lodging houses dotted the Bowery, sleeping between 25,000 and 75,000 men each night.

Flophouse Redux: A new generation of cubicles goes up on the Bowery.
By Elana Berkowitz
December 3, 2003
NEW YORK PRESS

But don't put too much weight on Ms. Berkowitz' reporting. She later writes: "Today, there are only three flophouses left on the Bowery, the last of the others having been turned into backpacker hostels or sold to Chinese businessmen who lease the spaces to arriving immigrants."

While it's true that many flophouses have been converted, and the number is dwindling, it still hovers closer to 7. Proof? The author lists the three remaining flophouses, but doesn't include the White House Hotel...which, if you've been reading, obviously still exists.