Our landlord, BLACKSTONE, can't handle Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village. There is a lack of enforcement of certain "rules," and no amount of notice to this alleviates the problems. We are continually being told half-truths and fabrications. And we have no viable Tenants organization, despite our TA asking for dues all the time. So far, the politicians have proven to be basically useless. A typical New York story.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Amazing Stuy Town Apartment
Forget the cheap assembly-line renovated market-rate Stuyvesant Town apartments. This guy knows how to makes a Stuy Town apartment really look like luxury living! Wow!
16 comments:
Anonymous
said...
That is fantastic! I love to see the inside of other people's apartments to see how they made the best of what are large,but rather "utiliterian" rooms.
I was thinking the same thing and would love to receive photos of deluxe interior-designed Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village apartments, which I could post online. Shows what you can do with a bit of money and inspiration.
Of course, if the guy in this apartment ever moves, Tishman Speyer is going to hit him for a hefty fee to have his luxury apartment remodeled to Standard Edition.
That apartment in the photograph may be a little over-the-top for some people's taste (which matters not one little bit), but it shows that the occupant really considers it "HOME" and not some temporary flop for the term of a lease. I feel very confident in saying that the occupant is, without doubt, a rent stabilized tenant. One of the major differences between the rent stabilized tenants and the market rate tenants (especially the dormies) is that the RS tenants consider the apartment to be their home; their permanent home. And because of this they will invest time, money and effort and love into making it as comfortable and unique as they possibly can, given the strictures that are inherent with rented space. There's no reason why market rate tenants should invest anything in their apartments because they live with the knowledge that their overpriced digs will probably become unaffordable come the next lease renewal. Thus, there is no reason why they should invest anything in the community because the community is disintegrating. The rent stabilized tenants who make their apartments HOME have always been the stabilizing force in the community and are, indeed, what make the community. Novelty and gimmicky enterprises like Oval this-n-that catering to the transients do absolutely nothing for the community; at most they make a few bucks for Tishman Speyer. Rob Speyer has just about destroyed what was once a beautiful, livable community. What a waste of space on this planet that man is.
If by kitsch we mean appropriating a form or image and reusing it in a context so far removed from its original that it becomes meaningless or ridiculous, then it's hard to describe this exercise in 1950's fantasy as anything but a kitsch schloss. Presumably my sense of irony is not refined enough to appreciate dropping a Wendell Lovett fireplace from 1950's L.A. in the middle of a 21st-centuryManhattan apartment with no working chimneys, it looks nothing so much like a stage set for a mid-century TV sitcom. I half expect Mr. Brady or Bill Bixby (as Eddie's father) to drop down with a martini in his hand. While it's hard not to admire the exuberance of this interior, it's really not for everybody (which does matter, particularly if you're a renter and not an owner) and only the angry mob that collects here could see this as further proof of Tishman Speyer's incompetence or the callous disregard of market-rate tenants. I'd rather move into a bright apartment with newly-painted white walls and, in fairness, the renovation jobs TS have done on the apartments are actually pretty good. Furthermore, as a market-rate tenant, I care every bit as much about the place I live as an illegal tenant paying 1/10th what I do, I just can't afford a room full of Googie antiques since I don't have a cadre of tenants above me subsidizing my rent.
I do enjoy my apartment, thanks, except for occasionally listening in to all the bile that bubbles over here and other Stuytown-hating sites, and wondering which of my neighbors participates in the name-calling class and agist warfare which, yes, does make me angry, and even a bit sad at the same time. Yes, I know where the door is, thanks, so I'll leave you alone now to your cabal.
I, too, am a market-rate tenant; however, that only makes me madder, because I'm sick and tired of paying a lot of money - basically, what should be my daughter's college fund goes to support the rent-control parasites, with their second homes - to an utterly incompetent landlord that has been swindling unjustified tax breaks to boot.
The rent-control parasites may make a lot of noise, but most of their complaints are clearly delusional (like the wide-spread fear that T/S would do a forced eviction conversion to condos when they bought the place); but that should not disguise the fact that Tishman is an utterly incompetent landlord, and I for one am simply livid at having to pay a market rate for a level of incompetence that probably only existed in Soviet housing blocks.
To fellow market-rate anon, I empathize, I have two sons to put through college soon, but you and I have decided, for whatever reason, out of desire or necessity (e.g., for work) to raise our children in Manhattan, and apparently came to the same conclusion that Stuyvesant Town is a good (the best?) deal for the price in terms of a decent-sized apartment and a commodious setting for kids. We could do what many of our peers have done, run for the suburbs for cheaper living and schools, but made the choice to come here. Even though I obliquely hinted at it in my post, I really don't see my rent-stabilized neighbors as "parasites," and to call them this is, I fear, to resort to the same kind of name-calling that I find so offense on this site and other StuyTown hate-sites.
I do sometimes wonder if I'm living in a different StuyTown than everybody else; my interactions with "the landlord" have, so far, been very satisfactory, professional, friendly, and responsive. I've lived in other, much fancier and more expensive, places with far worse management and attitude. My experience here is far, far away from a Soviet housing block, an analogy I don't think any of us living in the West can really understand. We are talking about the Stuyvesant Town at the corner of 82nd St. and Central Park West, right?!
The problem with "rent-control parasites" (actually, PCSTV has rent-stabilized apartments) is that these "parasites," if you will, were here before the market-raters started arriving--and in many cases decades before market-raters came into the complex. The entire reason for Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village was to provide affordable housing to New Yorkers. Market rate tenants agreed to pay high rent for living in a complex that was, and still is, overwhelming rent stabilized. So the burden, while perhaps unfortunate for you, is of your own choosing.
My point exactly, for once you and I agree. It's everbody's choice to be here, but this is as true for market-raters as for rent-stabilized tenants. If we, the former, have truly made this a "hell on earth" for you "poor souls," then you're no more obliged to continue living here than those who feel the rents are high for the services/quality of life offered. I objected to my fellow market-rater's use of the word "parasite," and, like him/her, wish the prices were more middle class. It's sad that PCV/ST, even at these rents, still do represent affordable middle-class rents in New York City. The fact that we could live like royalty for the same money if we moved to, say, Ohio, only points out that it's our choice to be here. And as long as we are, and are all neighbors, we might as well make the best of it, if we could even come close to agreeing what that is and how it could be accomplished, which isn't possible with all the name-calling and accusations that fly here and elsewhere. I apologize if I in any way encouraged market-rate anon II to use that epithet.
I don't believe I have ever attacked market rate renters. I've no problem with them. My concern is that Stuy Town and PCV remain affordable for the middle class, whatever anyone pays for rent. As for the term "hell on earth," it refers to what Tishman Speyer put everyone through a year and previous ago, when all the construction and upheaval was taking place in the complex. (That construction is not around now, simply--I think--because TS doesn't have that much money to spare on this complex at this point; that's one of the reasons the metering plan has been put off perhaps.)
Maybe not you personally, but many of the commenters here and on Luxliving use terms like "arrogant assholes," presumed also to be dog owners who don't pick up after their pets (a disgusting inconsideration, I agree), or "yunnies," young urban narcissists (wasn't that you?). God forbid that you're an NYU student, in which case you're a "skantard," "college asshole," or "college puke," or "disheveled drug user." (All direct quotes from your site and Luxliving). Not exactly the Welcome Wagon, you have to admit! My point was only that this kind of infantile name-calling does nothing to make this a better place to live, which I assume is one of the intentions of your site (for the most part by pointing out its shortcomings).
Yes, I used the term "yunnies." I do admit that I don't favor Stuyvesant Town or Peter Cooper Village as dorms, and when I use the "yunnies" term I'm thinking of these college kids who (and I know this is a generality) seem self-involved and not at all concerned with the overall situation in ST/PCV. Why should they be concerned anyway? They are only here for a very limited time. If I were them, I'd be behaving and thinking almost the same way.
As for dog owners, I have nothing against them, as long as they follow the rules. Most do, but a small percentage do not, and the situation with dog crap left unpicked is getting worse. I really don't use the term "asshole," but "arrogant" is something these dog owners appear to be.
If you find harsher terms being used then they are typically in the comment section of either blog, this one less so, I'd think.
16 comments:
That is fantastic! I love to see the inside of other people's apartments to see how they made the best of what are large,but rather "utiliterian" rooms.
I was thinking the same thing and would love to receive photos of deluxe interior-designed Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village apartments, which I could post online. Shows what you can do with a bit of money and inspiration.
Of course, if the guy in this apartment ever moves, Tishman Speyer is going to hit him for a hefty fee to have his luxury apartment remodeled to Standard Edition.
I LOVE that apartment! Are those photos real? Do you know if they are recent? I expect to be invited over for a cocktail! ;)
Those photos are genuine. From a deep search on the net. It must be cocktail time there every evening. Who needs Oval Lounge!
That apartment in the photograph may be a little over-the-top for some people's taste (which matters not one little bit), but it shows that the occupant really considers it "HOME" and not some temporary flop for the term of a lease. I feel very confident in saying that the occupant is, without doubt, a rent stabilized tenant. One of the major differences between the rent stabilized tenants and the market rate tenants (especially the dormies) is that the RS tenants consider the apartment to be their home; their permanent home. And because of this they will invest time, money and effort and love into making it as comfortable and unique as they possibly can, given the strictures that are inherent with rented space. There's no reason why market rate tenants should invest anything in their apartments because they live with the knowledge that their overpriced digs will probably become unaffordable come the next lease renewal. Thus, there is no reason why they should invest anything in the community because the community is disintegrating. The rent stabilized tenants who make their apartments HOME have always been the stabilizing force in the community and are, indeed, what make the community. Novelty and gimmicky enterprises like Oval this-n-that catering to the transients do absolutely nothing for the community; at most they make a few bucks for Tishman Speyer. Rob Speyer has just about destroyed what was once a beautiful, livable community. What a waste of space on this planet that man is.
If by kitsch we mean appropriating a form or image and reusing it in a context so far removed from its original that it becomes meaningless or ridiculous, then it's hard to describe this exercise in 1950's fantasy as anything but a kitsch schloss. Presumably my sense of irony is not refined enough to appreciate dropping a Wendell Lovett fireplace from 1950's L.A. in the middle of a 21st-centuryManhattan apartment with no working chimneys, it looks nothing so much like a stage set for a mid-century TV sitcom. I half expect Mr. Brady or Bill Bixby (as Eddie's father) to drop down with a martini in his hand. While it's hard not to admire the exuberance of this interior, it's really not for everybody (which does matter, particularly if you're a renter and not an owner) and only the angry mob that collects here could see this as further proof of Tishman Speyer's incompetence or the callous disregard of market-rate tenants. I'd rather move into a bright apartment with newly-painted white walls and, in fairness, the renovation jobs TS have done on the apartments are actually pretty good. Furthermore, as a market-rate tenant, I care every bit as much about the place I live as an illegal tenant paying 1/10th what I do, I just can't afford a room full of Googie antiques since I don't have a cadre of tenants above me subsidizing my rent.
Hmm, you seem more angry than anyone in this thread, market-rate anon.
You are most welcome to your white-walled market-rate apartment. Enjoy!
I do enjoy my apartment, thanks, except for occasionally listening in to all the bile that bubbles over here and other Stuytown-hating sites, and wondering which of my neighbors participates in the name-calling class and agist warfare which, yes, does make me angry, and even a bit sad at the same time. Yes, I know where the door is, thanks, so I'll leave you alone now to your cabal.
To market-rate anon:
I, too, am a market-rate tenant; however, that only makes me madder, because I'm sick and tired of paying a lot of money - basically, what should be my daughter's college fund goes to support the rent-control parasites, with their second homes - to an utterly incompetent landlord that has been swindling unjustified tax breaks to boot.
The rent-control parasites may make a lot of noise, but most of their complaints are clearly delusional (like the wide-spread fear that T/S would do a forced eviction conversion to condos when they bought the place); but that should not disguise the fact that Tishman is an utterly incompetent landlord, and I for one am simply livid at having to pay a market rate for a level of incompetence that probably only existed in Soviet housing blocks.
To fellow market-rate anon,
I empathize, I have two sons to put through college soon, but you and I have decided, for whatever reason, out of desire or necessity (e.g., for work) to raise our children in Manhattan, and apparently came to the same conclusion that Stuyvesant Town is a good (the best?) deal for the price in terms of a decent-sized apartment and a commodious setting for kids. We could do what many of our peers have done, run for the suburbs for cheaper living and schools, but made the choice to come here. Even though I obliquely hinted at it in my post, I really don't see my rent-stabilized neighbors as "parasites," and to call them this is, I fear, to resort to the same kind of name-calling that I find so offense on this site and other StuyTown hate-sites.
I do sometimes wonder if I'm living in a different StuyTown than everybody else; my interactions with "the landlord" have, so far, been very satisfactory, professional, friendly, and responsive. I've lived in other, much fancier and more expensive, places with far worse management and attitude. My experience here is far, far away from a Soviet housing block, an analogy I don't think any of us living in the West can really understand. We are talking about the Stuyvesant Town at the corner of 82nd St. and Central Park West, right?!
The problem with "rent-control parasites" (actually, PCSTV has rent-stabilized apartments) is that these "parasites," if you will, were here before the market-raters started arriving--and in many cases decades before market-raters came into the complex. The entire reason for Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village was to provide affordable housing to New Yorkers. Market rate tenants agreed to pay high rent for living in a complex that was, and still is, overwhelming rent stabilized. So the burden, while perhaps unfortunate for you, is of your own choosing.
My point exactly, for once you and I agree. It's everbody's choice to be here, but this is as true for market-raters as for rent-stabilized tenants. If we, the former, have truly made this a "hell on earth" for you "poor souls," then you're no more obliged to continue living here than those who feel the rents are high for the services/quality of life offered. I objected to my fellow market-rater's use of the word "parasite," and, like him/her, wish the prices were more middle class. It's sad that PCV/ST, even at these rents, still do represent affordable middle-class rents in New York City. The fact that we could live like royalty for the same money if we moved to, say, Ohio, only points out that it's our choice to be here. And as long as we are, and are all neighbors, we might as well make the best of it, if we could even come close to agreeing what that is and how it could be accomplished, which isn't possible with all the name-calling and accusations that fly here and elsewhere. I apologize if I in any way encouraged market-rate anon II to use that epithet.
I don't believe I have ever attacked market rate renters. I've no problem with them. My concern is that Stuy Town and PCV remain affordable for the middle class, whatever anyone pays for rent. As for the term "hell on earth," it refers to what Tishman Speyer put everyone through a year and previous ago, when all the construction and upheaval was taking place in the complex. (That construction is not around now, simply--I think--because TS doesn't have that much money to spare on this complex at this point; that's one of the reasons the metering plan has been put off perhaps.)
Maybe not you personally, but many of the commenters here and on Luxliving use terms like "arrogant assholes," presumed also to be dog owners who don't pick up after their pets (a disgusting inconsideration, I agree), or "yunnies," young urban narcissists (wasn't that you?). God forbid that you're an NYU student, in which case you're a "skantard," "college asshole," or "college puke," or "disheveled drug user." (All direct quotes from your site and Luxliving). Not exactly the Welcome Wagon, you have to admit! My point was only that this kind of infantile name-calling does nothing to make this a better place to live, which I assume is one of the intentions of your site (for the most part by pointing out its shortcomings).
Yes, I used the term "yunnies." I do admit that I don't favor Stuyvesant Town or Peter Cooper Village as dorms, and when I use the "yunnies" term I'm thinking of these college kids who (and I know this is a generality) seem self-involved and not at all concerned with the overall situation in ST/PCV. Why should they be concerned anyway? They are only here for a very limited time. If I were them, I'd be behaving and thinking almost the same way.
As for dog owners, I have nothing against them, as long as they follow the rules. Most do, but a small percentage do not, and the situation with dog crap left unpicked is getting worse. I really don't use the term "asshole," but "arrogant" is something these dog owners appear to be.
If you find harsher terms being used then they are typically in the comment section of either blog, this one less so, I'd think.
Wow! That's really great!
We're all curious, so that's a great idea!
I'd like to see how all the Panama City hotel really look like.
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