Crime & Safety
Umbrella Hotel Supervisor Charged With Creating Unsafe Conditions
Prosecutors said the man was in charge at the time of a fatal shooting outside the troubled Kew Gardens hotel on New Year's Day.
KEW GARDENS, QUEENS — A night-shift supervisor for the Umbrella Hotel has been arrested on criminal nuisance charges, after a triple shooting outside the hotel on New Year's Day left one dead and prompted Mayor Bill de Blasio to call for its closure.
Gulshan Gandhi, 68, was arrested on two misdemeanor charges after prosecutors accused of him of "maintaining conditions that endangered the safety and health of hotel guests and the community at large," the Queens District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Gandhi was in charge at the time of the triple shooting that killed 20-year-old Rosedale resident Robert Williams and during two other shootings last summer at the hotel, according to prosecutors.
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Prosecutors said Gandhi repeatedly allowed "unsafe gatherings" at the hotel, which closed Friday night amid pressure from neighbors and elected officials, including the mayor.
"This hotel has been a danger to the community," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
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Gandhi was given a desk appearance ticket and is due back in court on April 11, according to a spokesperson for the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
Gandhi could not be reached for comment. It's unclear whether he has retained a lawyer.
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