I was a hair model for a photo shoot at this studio on 11/20/2016 and arrived at 12:40 pm for a 1 pm start since my call sheet read arrive by 12:45 pm. The place was jam packed with a group of Asian men, women and children (some in strollers), maybe 50 people.
I inquired of the older man handling the bookings about where to wait and he said to sit in the lobby, although there was no lobby. Later an orange sofa and a chair were brought from a closed room into what I became the lobby area. I waited there with people from the music video shoot. The large group filed out as others arrived for our hair shoot as well as a music video shoot.
By 1 pm the studio had cleared out with the exception of the people waiting for the hair shoot and the music video. The music video group ended up leaving since they couldn't shoot at the same time as the hair model shoot. The huge space was vacant with the exception of the people at my shoot, 2 stylists, the photographer, 2 makeup artists and models. We were in studio 3, across from the bathrooms on the second floor.
The man running the bookings came over to tell the stylists that the booking was for only 9 people so someone had to leave. They asked about paying for an extra person and he wasn't receptive. I wasn't needed until 2 pm so I was asked to leave.
I came back later and while I was having my hair styled, the guy came back over to make a scene about another model who arrived (around 3 pm) making the count at 10. The 2 stylists who booked the studio walked over to the reception area to speak with him and he was loud and rude. I heard him asked "is she empowered to speak" since one stylist had been doing all of the talking. I later heard him say "I don't think you understand math" after they offered, again, to pay for the 10th person. He threatened to shut down the shoot despite models being in the midst of hair and makeup. He refused to allow payment for an extra person despite the space being vacant with the exception of our group. He did allow payment for an extra hour, until 6 pm. There was no fire code issue. with respect to the 10th person. He was rude and difficult to deal with for no apparent reason. He ruined the vibe of what had been a fun photo shoot to help launch the website of the stylists.
I would never recommend this studio based on how the customers were treated. I've already told my husband, who books studios for his artists for photos and videos, not to ever use this studio. There are far too many other options in NYC to put up with this kind of behavior from a service provider.