Coliseum Motor Inn in East Meadow closed by Hempstead Town over unsafe and unsanitary conditions

The Coliseum Motor Inn in East Meadow has been closed due to unsanitary and unsafe conditions, including structural damage and mold, Hempstead officials said Tuesday.   

The Town of Hempstead announced the closure after Supervisor Don Clavin said the town building department inspected the motel and found it unfit for living. Clavin said the town worked with Nassau County agencies, including police, to vacate residents and relocate them to a new location in Hicksville. Nassau spokesman Chris Boyle said 19 people who were staying at the inn were relocated. 

The Hempstead Turnpike motel is across the street from Eisenhower Park and neighbors several restaurants and shops. Town spokesman Casey Sammon said town officials have been monitoring the motel after “a recent surge in criminal activity.”

Nassau police spokesman Det. Lt. Richard LeBrun said in an email: "Location has been plagued with overdoses and criminal activity which has led to dozens of arrests." He said, so far in 2023, there were 155 calls for service to the inn, and 222 calls in 2022.

The motel’s disrepair is extensive. Sammon said the building’s structural steel was severely damaged, as were the brick walls from water intrusion, along with exterior stairways, doors, windows and roof. Excessive mold, soiled carpets and frayed wiring also posed issues, as did the lack of working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, the spokesman said. 

The town has inspected the building multiple times, most recently in May. The building was not condemned, but was closed by the town, Sammon said. 

Records filed with the New York secretary of state's office show the inn registered to Apple Core Hotels, a Manhattan-based hotel group. The company's vice president of legal affairs Holly Burke on Wednesday said Apple Core Hotels never owned the motel but instead helped administer the property until May 2019. She said the company had "virtually nothing to do with the management of the property."

Sammon said Wednesday the town's most recent documents show the owner is Mahadev Equity Partners LLC, a company that listed the East Meadow property as its location.   

The owner has had previous opportunities to upgrade the motel, but “fell short of making required upgrades to keep occupants safe,” Sammon said, adding that the owner has another chance to work with the town to restore the property. 

“The onus is now on the owner to bring it up to compliance,” he said. “The building department is ready to work with the owner to accomplish this goal, with the safety of occupants and neighbors at the forefront.” 

With Caroline Curtin

By Brinley Hineman

brinley.hineman@newsday.com

Brinley Hineman covers the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach for Newsday. She previously was a reporter in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a West Virginia native.