Management Spins Bad Survey Reports: Yes, Stuy Town is Happy with Rose Associates!

If you listen to the spin from Adam Rose, co-president of Rose Associates (our management firm), you'd think most people are happy with the way things look and are being run here.

This weeks Town & Village's front page article, "Residents Rate Changes in ST/PCV," contains the following mind-blowing statement in its introductory paragraph:

"... the firm has said tenants have responded most positively when asked about the conditions of the grounds and buildings as well as their quality of life." [Emphasis mine.]

The justification for such a statement?

First off, there were two surveys conducted a while back, around May. One was done by Dan Garodnick's office and the other by the Kingsley company for Rose Associates. Over 400 tenants responded to the Garodnick survey, while 2,400 responded to the Kingsley one. There are over 25,000 tenants in ST/PCV, with some knowledgeable people stating the number is over 30,000 if every single tenant, legally here or not, is included. Already, in these two surveys, we have a very small pool of tenants upon which to base a generality on, but, whatever.... Let's try to glean from the article the numbers. Unfortunately, a detailed listing of the results and the questions asked were NOT presented in T&V article, so we have to do a little detective work here and guessing at the precise questions, as we extrapolate the info found in the T&V article.

Garodnick Survey:

Condition of grounds: 44% Improved greatly or somewhat. 20% Gotten worse. 36% No difference. Summary: Less than half of the respondents thought the grounds had improved.

Response to service calls: 32% Improved since Tishman Speyer. 12% Gotten worse since Tishman Speyer. 56% No change. Summary: Only a third of respondents felt there was an improvement in service calls responses since Tishman Speyer days. (Remarkably, the T&V article spins this as Rose getting "a passing grade.")

Cleanliness: 19% Improved. 38% Worsened. 43% No change. Summary: Only 19% of respondents thought that Rose Associates had cleaned up Stuy Town/PCV better than Tishman Speyer.

Noise: 13% Improved. 38% Worsened. 49% No change. Summary: Only 13% of respondents thought that Rose Associates had dealt with the noise issue better than Tishman Speyer.

Dog Policies: 16% Better. 51% Worse. 33% No change. Summary: Only 16% of respondents thought that Rose was dealing with the dog issue better than Tishman Speyer. (Adam Rose's response to this is completely dumbfounding! "It seems very clear that the dog policy is fair and rational, and that most residents do not object to the way that it is being run." WTF!!!)

Laundry facilities: 8% Better. 55% Worse. 37% No change. Summary: Only 8% of respondents thought that the laundry facilities had improved since Tishman Speyer days.

Now let's head over the Kingsley survey, which was only mentioned by Rose AFTER the Garodnick survey was released.

Cleanliness: 2/3 of respondents stating that the state of cleanliness is either "good" or "excellent." (I'd love to see the breakdown here. Fat chance, I know. My hunch is that the majority of this 2/3 stated "good." From this, Adam Rose opines: "We are pleased to noted that two thirds of the PCV/ST tenants express happiness about the state of cleanliness...." [Emphasis mine.] Of course, it should be remembered we are talking about "respondents," as his survey is missing over 23,000 tenants voices, the vast majority of tenants living in ST/PCV.)

Security: More than 50% stating it was a major factor in their likelihood of renewing their lease. (It's not clear if this comes from the Kingsley survey, but I assume so.) On this survey, dogs were not an important issue as regards whether a tenant would renew a lease or not.

Bottom line is that both surveys, when combined, do no paint a favorable picture of the current management of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. I'll be doing a "grade report" on management soon, and I will be fair and balanced. Believe it or not.

Oval Football Showing: Another FAIL

About 30 people when I was there. Mostly kids, who were already fidgeting and will get quickly bored. Terrible quality, btw. You may as well stay home or go to a bar.

Another dumb idea from Rose Associates and Lady Maya (who was around for the set-up).

And another waste of resources, including the overuse of security, about five of whom were stationed inside the playground.

With all that security inside the playground and watching the game, they couldn't see the woman with the pitbulls who took a tour of the Oval with her dogs around the same time:



Yup, she's back!....

Non-Stuy Town Resident Terrorizes....

Also seen: A couple with one pitbull and a dog-walker with a German shepherd, another illegal dog in Stuyvesant Town, and all on a tour of the Oval also.

BTW, a note to Security: I've received reports and have seen it for myself that someone in 510 East 20 St (near Lenz's) is housing a pit or a pit-mix. The owner feeds his dog chunks of meat on a bone right in front of the building!

NYU Sugar Babies and Stuyvesant Town

So what are NYU students like? If you go to the NYU blog, NYULOCAL, you'll see an interview with Brandon Wade, head of company for sugar daddies and sugar babies. (NYU has more "sugar babies" than any other college in the United States.):

NYU and Sugar Babies

Other points of interest:

The hopes of getting an island for NYU's expansion. (Doesn't NYU already have most of Manhattan?) NYU and Governors Island

And the joys of mixed drinks, of course: NYU and Drinking

What would an NYU blog be without a mention of Stuyvesant Town:

NYU and Stuy Town .... And here's the important paragraph with some surprising money figures:

"In my search, I’ve found that the more bedrooms (and therefore, roommates) you have, the better deal you’ll get. For example, 1-bedroom flex units (meaning the units either have or are equipped for pressurized walls that cut into the living space with additional bedrooms) in the apartment community Stuyvesant Town will very comfortably house two people for around $7,000 per semester. However, a 2-bedroom flex unit in Stuyvesant Town, which will house three people comfortably, rents for around $6,000 a semester each. Stuyvesant Town also includes all utilities in the price of rent, so the only additional fees you need to worry about are cable and internet."

You Just Know That Oval Strippers Are Coming Next

It keeps getting better. Lady Maya is really inspired these days.



That Oval Lounge is fairly small. If the frat boys crowd in, this could really get interesting. Admit it, this is not your grandma's Stuy Town anymore.

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

I can't think of a better time to be had than kicking the kids out of Playground 10 and watching televised football outside from 12-8pm. I guess it's a better use of Stuy Town personnel than dealing with furniture dumping and the poor interior maintenance of buildings! And there just have to be a couple of artisanal food trucks around. Way to go! And pump up the volume, boys! Make the ground shake. We need to feel every grunt and tackle!

Update. The question of broadcast copyright laws has been brought up, and here are some links of interest, so that people can make there own determination.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/01/will-your-big-screen-super-bowl-party-violate-copyright-law.ars

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-145672.html

http://www.nfl.com/contact-us

The Carnival Comes to Town!

Today saw Family Carnival arrive to the Oval! We had a circus before, so why not a carnival? Actually, it seemed a nice affair for kids and parents. I expected more crowds, but since families are in the decrease here, with single Urban Young Professionals and students becoming more the norm, it's understandable that one wouldn't see as many families as probably would have been present even ten years ago. Music was playing, but not blasting throughout the Oval. The food offered was something First Lady Michelle Obama would not approve off, however--sugary and fatty.

Of course this is one more event to be used to sell the place to prospective tenants. (Warning signs about filming were placed about the Oval.) The positive element: At least such a promo will be directed at people with families, something Stuy Town needs to see an increase in.

Korilla BBQ Truck Gets Kicked Out!

Unfortunately, not out of Stuyvesant Town.... Amusing story, nevertheless:

From the Gothamist:

In last night's "very strange and heartbreaking" episode of the Food Network's reality TV show The Great Food Truck Race, beloved NYC food truck Korilla BBQ was kicked off the show for allegedly cooking the books, as it were.

At the end of the Memphis-set episode, host Tyler Florence announced that Korilla, who already made it to the top four contestants, would be asked to leave because they added over $2,000 of their own money into their cash drawer. Producers apparently noticed when the sales receipts didn't match up to the final count.

While Midtown Lunch writes that the Korilla guys looked "defeated" but offered no explanation on the show (hmn...could it be...the magic of editing?), Korilla's recent tweets imply that there's more to the story: "1st Amendment Rights went on a hiatus and won't be back till Spring. We <3 you guys and will never forget all the memories! #itaintoveryet" says one, and another reads "WE WOULD NEVER CHEAT ON YOU NEW YORK." A rep from the truck told us "The only thing I can tell you is that I can't talk to you." While we wait six months for their non-disclosure agreement with the Food Network to expire, here's where to go grab a delicious bulgogi taco.

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Will Lady Maya still be inviting these losers to make money, no rent paid, in Stuy Town? Think of the children and the bad influence!