UPPER WEST SIDE — The parent company of a crime-prone hotel has decided to drop the inn from its roster after a series of violent incidents.
Choice Hotels — a national company that owns a variety of hotel brands including Comfort Inn, EconoLodge and Rodeway Inn — has severed ties with the Rodeway Inn on at 31 W. 71st St., a spokeswoman said.
"Our hotels are independently owned and operated franchises. We are immediately removing this franchise," said Sarah Lee, the company's director of public relations.
"They will no longer be associated with Choice Hotels, in any way."
As of Monday morning, the Rodeway Inn location was no longer listed on Choice Hotels' booking website.
The removal came in response to a string of crimes at the hotel, including a homicide, a rape and, most recently, an armed robbery, Lee confirmed.
Nearby residents and the West 71st Street Block Association are calling for the hotel to be shuttered completely. The local 20th Precinct's new commanding officer said that's not something the police have the power to do, but he pledged to monitor the area more closely.
"Given the many incidents of violence at that hotel, which include a homicide, the hotel should be shut down immediately," said Katina Ellison, the co-coordinator of the West 71st Street Block Association in an email last week to DNAinfo New York.
"We are appalled this has been going on; residents have a right to a safe neighborhood. We intend to be in close touch with the authorities on this matter."
Rodeway Inn Manager Michael Gray said he hadn't yet heard the news that the franchise would be dropped by Choice Hotels and couldn't comment.
