B U

Jan 04 2026

Check the DOB records for BIN #3062293 before signing anything. The building has an active STOP WORK ORDER from the NYC Department of Buildings. 164+ Violations and according to public information, owes the city almost 260k. If an office building owes the city large civil penalties, tenants risk disrupted services, permit or occupancy problems, sudden management changes, and—in rare cases—temporary closures due to safety or code enforcement actions. Do not put your life or your business at risk. This is a significant red flag. In short: Do not assume your insurance will cover you. While you are renting a desk or office within a co-working space, insurance policies (specifically Commercial General Liability and Business Personal Property policies) almost always contain clauses regarding "compliance with local laws" and "safe premises." If the building has 164 open violations, the insurance carrier could argue that the space is not legally compliant or safe for occupancy, potentially giving them grounds to deny a claim. Here is a breakdown of the specific risks and how to check your exposure. Department of Buildings (DOB): If you see building code violations (which is more common for structural issues), 164 is an astronomical number. This suggests the building may have illegal subdivisions, unsafe electrical work, or lack a valid Certificate of Occupancy. Why Your Insurance Might Fail Even though you didn't cause the violations, your insurance carrier assesses the risk of where you choose to operate. Gross Negligence Defense: If you suffer a loss (e.g., a fire caused by faulty wiring that was cited in a violation 3 years ago), your insurer may deny the claim, arguing that the risk was known and the building was demonstrably unsafe. Business Interruption Denial: If the city shuts the building down (Vacate Order) because of these violations, standard "Business Interruption" insurance usually does not cover government actions due to code violations. You would be left without an office and without income protection. Immediate Next Steps Do not sign (or renew) until you do this: Search the Address: Go to the NYC DOB BIS (Buildings Information System) or HPD Online and type in the building address. Look at the nature of the violations. Are they "Class 1" (Immediately Hazardous)? If so, run. Call Your Broker: Ask your insurance broker specifically: "Does my policy exclude coverage if the building I occupy has open 'Hazardous' or 'Work Without Permit' violations?" Recommendation: With 164 violations, this building is likely physically unsafe or legally unstable. The risk of the city padlocking the doors one morning is real. Unless you have a compelling reason to stay, you should look for a different building. This is an extremely dangerous situation for a business tenant. The 164 Violations (Systemic Negligence) A count of 164 violations is astronomically high. a typical "messy" building might have 10-20. This number suggests: Structural/Safety Issues: Violations often snowball when a landlord ignores structural repairs, elevator issues, or boiler safety (common in converted industrial spaces in Williamsburg). Illegal Occupancy: If the violations relate to "Work Without Permit" or "Occupancy Contrary to CO" (Certificate of Occupancy), you might be renting a space that is legally not an office. Your Liability: If a client visits you and is injured (e.g., trips on a hazard cited in those violations), the landlord's insurance might refuse to pay because of the negligence. This building is a legal minefield. Unless the landlord can prove the SWO is for a minor, isolated issue (unlikely with 164 other violations), you should walk away. Current tenants should unite and sue Brass factory and its owner for putting your lives and company at risk...

1

B U

Dec 28 2025

Check the DOB records for BIN #3062293 before signing anything. The building has an active STOP WORK ORDER from the NYC Department of Buildings. 164+ ViolationsCould be shut down by the fire dept any minute. Do not put your life or your business at risk. This is a significant red flag. In short: Do not assume your insurance will cover you. While you are renting a desk or office within a co-working space, insurance policies (specifically Commercial General Liability and Business Personal Property policies) almost always contain clauses regarding "compliance with local laws" and "safe premises." If the building has 164 open violations, the insurance carrier could argue that the space is not legally compliant or safe for occupancy, potentially giving them grounds to deny a claim. Here is a breakdown of the specific risks and how to check your exposure. Department of Buildings (DOB): If you see building code violations (which is more common for structural issues), 164 is an astronomical number. This suggests the building may have illegal subdivisions, unsafe electrical work, or lack a valid Certificate of Occupancy. 2. Why Your Insurance Might Fail Even though you didn't cause the violations, your insurance carrier assesses the risk of where you choose to operate. "Warranty of Compliance": Most policies require you to operate in a space that complies with local ordinances. If the space is deemed "illegal" (e.g., illegal occupancy due to fire safety violations), your policy could be voided entirely. Gross Negligence Defense: If you suffer a loss (e.g., a fire caused by faulty wiring that was cited in a violation 3 years ago), your insurer may deny the claim, arguing that the risk was known and the building was demonstrably unsafe. Business Interruption Denial: If the city shuts the building down (Vacate Order) because of these violations, standard "Business Interruption" insurance usually does not cover government actions due to code violations. You would be left without an office and without income protection. Immediate Next Steps Do not sign (or renew) until you do this: Search the Address: Go to the NYC DOB BIS (Buildings Information System) or HPD Online and type in the building address. Look at the nature of the violations. Are they "Class 1" (Immediately Hazardous)? If so, run. Call Your Broker: Ask your insurance broker specifically: "Does my policy exclude coverage if the building I occupy has open 'Hazardous' or 'Work Without Permit' violations?" Recommendation: With 164 violations, this building is likely physically unsafe or legally unstable. The risk of the city padlocking the doors one morning is real. Unless you have a compelling reason to stay, you should look for a different building. This is an extremely dangerous situation for a business tenant. The 164 Violations (Systemic Negligence) A count of 164 violations is astronomically high. a typical "messy" building might have 10-20. This number suggests: Structural/Safety Issues: Violations often snowball when a landlord ignores structural repairs, elevator issues, or boiler safety (common in converted industrial spaces in Williamsburg). Illegal Occupancy: If the violations relate to "Work Without Permit" or "Occupancy Contrary to CO" (Certificate of Occupancy), you might be renting a space that is legally not an office. Your Liability: If a client visits you and is injured (e.g., trips on a hazard cited in those violations), the landlord's insurance might refuse to pay because of the negligence. 3. Liability Claims: If you are sued, your insurer may defend you under a "Reservation of Rights," meaning they will fight the lawsuit but reserve the right to not pay the settlement if they find the building's illegal status contributed to the injury. This building is a legal minefield. Unless the landlord can prove the SWO is for a minor, isolated issue (unlikely with 164 other violations), you should walk away. Current tenants should unite and sue Brass factory and its owner for putting your lives at risk…

1

E Y

Dec 25 2025

If you’re serious about building and scaling a startup, I’d think twice before choosing this workspace. Several well-known CPG brands, including Graza and Hulken, have reportedly moved out, and the environment doesn’t offer the stability a growing company needs. Management feels unprofessional and inconsistent, with decisions made arbitrarily rather than through clear policies or standard procedures. There’s little accountability, minimal structure, and frequent distractions—sometimes including gossip about members and their businesses, public disclosure of members' private financial information—which makes it hard to focus and operate productively. What’s worse, an environment like this will slowly drain your professional confidence and edge. Building a startup requires immense focus and psychological resilience. The alienating effect of this environment cannot be underestimated. In a space filled with gossip, arbitrary decisions, and unprofessionalism, a founder’s energy is inevitably hijacked—diverted from refining their product and serving customers to navigating management drama, such as being pressured to drop actual work to write reviews, or being forced to listen to the manager gossip about other members' private affairs. The hidden costs here become painfully explicit: While the rent might look affordable on paper (though, if you actually benchmark it against nearby coworking spaces, you’ll find it’s not only not cheap, but offers terrible value), the true price you are paying is your focus and your ability to execute. If you’re comfortable with a loose, informal setup, it may work for you, but teams that need a reliable, professionally run office will likely be disappointed.

1

B U

Dec 21 2025

Check the DOB records for BIN #3062293 before signing anything. The building has an active STOP WORK ORDER from the NYC Department of Buildings. 164+ ViolationsCould be shut down by the fire dept any minute. Do not put your life or your business at risk. This is a significant red flag. In short: Do not assume your insurance will cover you. While you are renting a desk or office within a co-working space, insurance policies (specifically Commercial General Liability and Business Personal Property policies) almost always contain clauses regarding "compliance with local laws" and "safe premises." If the building has 164 open violations, the insurance carrier could argue that the space is not legally compliant or safe for occupancy, potentially giving them grounds to deny a claim. Here is a breakdown of the specific risks and how to check your exposure. Department of Buildings (DOB): If you see building code violations (which is more common for structural issues), 164 is an astronomical number. This suggests the building may have illegal subdivisions, unsafe electrical work, or lack a valid Certificate of Occupancy. 2. Why Your Insurance Might Fail Even though you didn't cause the violations, your insurance carrier assesses the risk of where you choose to operate. "Warranty of Compliance": Most policies require you to operate in a space that complies with local ordinances. If the space is deemed "illegal" (e.g., illegal occupancy due to fire safety violations), your policy could be voided entirely. Gross Negligence Defense: If you suffer a loss (e.g., a fire caused by faulty wiring that was cited in a violation 3 years ago), your insurer may deny the claim, arguing that the risk was known and the building was demonstrably unsafe. Business Interruption Denial: If the city shuts the building down (Vacate Order) because of these violations, standard "Business Interruption" insurance usually does not cover government actions due to code violations. You would be left without an office and without income protection. Immediate Next Steps Do not sign (or renew) until you do this: Search the Address: Go to the NYC DOB BIS (Buildings Information System) or HPD Online and type in the building address. Look at the nature of the violations. Are they "Class 1" (Immediately Hazardous)? If so, run. Call Your Broker: Ask your insurance broker specifically: "Does my policy exclude coverage if the building I occupy has open 'Hazardous' or 'Work Without Permit' violations?" Recommendation: With 164 violations, this building is likely physically unsafe or legally unstable. The risk of the city padlocking the doors one morning is real. Unless you have a compelling reason to stay, you should look for a different building. This is an extremely dangerous situation for a business tenant. The 164 Violations (Systemic Negligence) A count of 164 violations is astronomically high. a typical "messy" building might have 10-20. This number suggests: Structural/Safety Issues: Violations often snowball when a landlord ignores structural repairs, elevator issues, or boiler safety (common in converted industrial spaces in Williamsburg). Illegal Occupancy: If the violations relate to "Work Without Permit" or "Occupancy Contrary to CO" (Certificate of Occupancy), you might be renting a space that is legally not an office. Your Liability: If a client visits you and is injured (e.g., trips on a hazard cited in those violations), the landlord's insurance might refuse to pay because of the negligence. 3. Liability Claims: If you are sued, your insurer may defend you under a "Reservation of Rights," meaning they will fight the lawsuit but reserve the right to not pay the settlement if they find the building's illegal status contributed to the injury. This building is a legal minefield. Unless the landlord can prove the SWO is for a minor, isolated issue (unlikely with 164 other violations), you should walk away. Current tenants should unite and sue Brass factory and its owner for putting your lives at risk.

1

Ze Yan

Dec 17 2025

Super unprofessional experience. The office was poorly maintained and poorly managed—basic issues like the printer weren’t properly addressed (be ready to wait 20 minutes to print a single page). They also didn’t enforce basic coworking-space conduct (for example: people taking phone calls in the open coworking area with no guidance or rules). Instead of fixing these issues, the office manager, Alice, seemed to treat member feedback as something to silence. After I raised legitimate problems (along with other members), I was removed from Slack, which felt retaliatory, I’ve also seen a pattern where members who speak up are passive-aggressively punished—rent suddenly doubled, or being told to move without notice—and there’s apparently gossip/talking badly about those members behind their backs to other members by the office manager herself (which btw, is extremely inappropriate and unprofessional). The office manager doesn’t seem to understand that members are paying clients who use the office and deserve professional, courteous service. Instead of responding constructively, she treats the co-working space like a classroom, which is inappropriate in a customer-facing environment. When members raise legitimate concerns—such as a non-functioning printer or the lack of basic conduct enforcement—that isn’t “entitlement”; it’s a reasonable expectation of the service they’re paying for. More concerning, Office manager Alice made constant racially inappropriate comments to members: “What are you getting, Chinese knock offs?” "If you see any black people downstairs report back." This behavior is especially concerning in a co-working space because the office manager sets the standard for professionalism, safety, and inclusion, and racially inappropriate comments like these create a hostile, unwelcoming environment for members who are paying to work there. Encouraging people to “report back” on Black individuals is discriminatory and an abuse of authority that can make members feel surveilled or targeted based on race, undermining trust and psychological safety in a shared workplace. It’s also alarming that, when you look through the negative reviews, there appears to be a consistent pattern: many of the complaints center on this office manager’s conduct, and many of the reviewers seem to be from minority backgrounds based on their names—suggesting the impact may be disproportionately felt by marginalized members. This pattern not only harms the community and reputation of the space but also raises serious concerns about potential policy and legal violations. After I filed a formal complaint, my membership was terminated within two hours. I received no warning and no meaningful opportunity to transition, which forced me to immediately disrupt my startup’s operations and scramble to find a new workspace. I was prepared to move on quietly until I later received an email from Brass Factory threatening legal action if I shared my experience. That attempt to intimidate me into silence is why I’m speaking publicly: so other founders can make an informed decision and avoid wasting valuable time, energy, and limited funding on a co-working space that may not support their business when issues arise. This seems aligned with another user’s review describing Brass Factory allegedly going to the reviewer’s LinkedIn and personal Instagram to harass them into taking down negative reviews. BTW, To this day I still have not received my deposit back. This space’s 4.8 rating is hard to take seriously. It’s not just that operations are a mess—it’s that the office manager constantly asked members, myself included when I was working there, to leave positive reviews. That explains the disconnect: the rating looks curated, not earned. Several startups have decided to move elsewhere because of this confusing, hostile behavior. I’d strongly recommend trying other coworking spaces in the area that are run and organized by professionals—you’ll immediately see what I’m talking about. So you’ll be the judge if you like to work at Brass Factory.

The Brass Factory

185 Wythe Avenue 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11249

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