Liar, Liar, Tishman Speyer Pants on Fire

Or the Planting Graveyard Revisited....

I'm convinced that Stuy Town reps read this blog and Lux Living's blog, as at times I see action being taken when a problem is addressed on either blog. And certainly any mention by the neighborhood's newspaper Town & Village makes Stuy Town notice--and sometimes, though rarely, respond with actual answers from a Tishman Speyer employee.

In last week's Town & Village (dated Feb. 12, 2009), a sidebar mentioned the planting graveyard situation this blog brought up in a pervious entry.

"As of last Friday, some of the plants and trees still appeared to be alive, but others were brown and bone-dry," the article stated. "According to the rep for management the plantings were removed later that day."

Oh, really?

Well, this Stuy Town Reporter checked the area over the weekend. I found that, yes, most of the trees have been removed (curiously a few were left behind), but that many of the potted plants were still around and still in a process of dying or already ensconced in the great green heaven beyond. Here are the photos:













Now, I was tempted to take two or three living plants to adorn my Stuy Town windowsill and save those plants from death, but it would be my luck to be arrested by security somewhere along the way for taking Tishman Speyer's property. (No doubt, all "squad" cars would have decended on me in a scene out of Police Academy.) So the plants remain in the planting graveyard.

What I found most exquisite in the T & V piece is that a spokesperson was quoted on this matter, and here's what this person said:

"In keeping with our ongoing effort throughout the community to produce landscapes that are fresh and vibrant all year round, some trees are removed during the winter season and stored for future installation. The storage area had been maintained temporarily on site but has now been removed."

I have to ask: Where does Tishman Speyer get these idiot spokespeople? For one, take a walk about Stuy Town now and help me find "landscapes that are fresh and vibrant." Pure bullshit spin because there are no such landscapes at this time of the year. Even the winter cabbages are gone because they rotted and were eaten by rodents. And two, does this spokesperson really think that dead or dying trees are being removed "for future installation"? Because there was a significant amount of them in the planting graveyard, and the ones that were still alive have no doubt died by now in whatever storage area Tishman Speyer currently uses. (My bet is that all trees were disposed of somewhere--off site, of course.)

No wonder that TS generally chooses not to offer up any comment when requested! When a response is given it is usually part laughable spin, part obvious lying, and 100% avoidance of the real issue. And it just makes Stuy Town tenants detest these bozos even more.