Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Come One, Come All

From the TA Facebook: Screen shot of an internet conversation at http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2012/05/free_shows_at_s.html concerning publicity about Stuy Town concerts.



I think we need to admit that there is nothing that we, as residents, can do about the summer events that happen at the Oval. We are not the current custodians of ST/PCV.  Because these events are free, they don't even need to be advertized for zoning purposes as "for residents and their guests."  Indeed, there is ample evidence that the powers that be are publicizing these events to people outside this community, without using the disclaimer, in the hopes of attracting larger crowds than usually come to these gatherings meant, or so their representatives claim, for "our community."

There is probably a purpose to this madness of summer events advertized to all of NYC, and that is to make Stuyvesant Town seem like a happening place--in the words of the publicity, a place where "there is something always going on."  These summer Stuy Town events, btw, were first set in motion by our previous lords and masters, Tishman Speyer.

Of course, producing and managing these events costs money, and the bigger the crowds the more cost involved and the less such events become places where Stuy Town neighbors can meet other neighbors, a congenial get-together that has also been stressed in Stuy Town publicity, this time to residents, as if neighbors can't meet other neighbors aside from the events planned here at Stuy Town.

It would probably be beneficial to stress that our current custodian, CWCapital, is most interested in selling this property for the highest price in a year or two, while showing that it's financially booming and an exciting, lucrative property to own.  The company is investing in its holding, which is why you are seeing the new plantings (at a cost of $2 million!), the Oval Cafe, the summer events, and Lord knows what else coming down the line. So this is CWCapital's primary concern, and everything else is reduced to less of a concern.

Which gets us to the residents of this community.  How "concerned" is CWCapital about us, the residents?  Surely, chiefly as dollar signs, which is why long-time rent-stabilized tenants must be the bane of a company like CWCapital, or any enterprise that will own this place.  Brutally speaking, a landlord of this complex just waits out the day when long-term RS tenants will die out, and no apartment succession happens, placing apartments quickly into market-rate category where the rent can be doubled, at the very least.

Yet, surprisingly, I've heard from people who are paying market-rate prices that even they, as the renters whose rent matters most in the eyes of the landlord, are being squeezed for even more come lease renewal time. Some, already stretched thin with high rents, can't afford the extra that's being asked of them, and they move out, to be replaced by an eager renter who wishes to make New York his or her home and finds it hard to find something suitable with the current tight rental market in Manhattan.

There is something uncomfortably merciless about all this, but I think it underlines a truth we may find unpleasant.  Absent a "beneficent" dictator approach, landlords are not our friends.  That's why we need laws and the upkeep of laws, that's why we need a tenant organization, and local politicians who will truly fight for (and I mean fight, not pay lip service to) tenant rights.

Meanwhile, it seems that CWCapital can do anything it wants with the Oval events, and who it lets into the complex to make use of these events.  For residents and their guests.  Or not.

47 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's nice to see Lady Maya's "people" can't wait to spill their bodily fluids in Stuy Town. She should be proud of the fine work she does.

Anonymous said...

CW, Rose, and the future owners of Stuy Town should take notice the tenants are not going to go down without a fight. A lot of the websites promoting their concerts and events to the public have been hit with a blitzkrieg of negative comments from tenants. Good luck trying to find vendors who want to walk into this firestorm where food trucks are run out by negative publicity and Lady Maya's track record is visible online for the whole world to see. Don't expect it to stop any time soon! Leave us and the Oval alone!

Anonymous said...

This kind of approach only works with a complacent tenancy. Not everyone is inflamed about this but, literally, thousands are. That's enough to make a strategy like this fail.

It will lower the value of the property and, perhaps more importantly, could stall a sale to anyone--not just tenants--for some time.

Time is money to these folks. They want to make a quick sale at top dollar. Every year they are delayed literally costs them hundreds of millions of dollars.

I don't know about you folks, but I am patient....

Anonymous said...

Any tenant who is disturbed by these concerts/free events and hasn't the guts to sue the landlord deserves what they get! Looks like you got garodnicked! Maybe you should write some more nasty notes on blogs that won't do shite, or you could get the TA to do something about it...LMAO

Anonymous said...

The TA and Garodnick are useless and irrelevant.

Anonymous said...

What a disgrace.

Anonymous said...

To think they are spending all of this money to lure people into the parks. I bet more people would be IN the parks if there wasn't 'always something going on".

Anonymous said...

People don't rent apartments because there's an Organ Grinder walking around. An Organ Grinder is not a business model. It's a man with a monkey.

Anonymous said...

Ah but the property doesn't really belong to us. We're just renting. The owner can do what they want.

Anonymous said...

"Ah but the property doesn't really belong to us. We're just renting. The owner can do what they want."

"Ah but the property doesn't really belong to us. We're just renting. The owner can do what they want."

Hey, didn’t you get the memo, this entire complex, PCVST, is governed by the NYS RS law? Time to text Daddy to recharge your debit card. Will you please just dry up and go away?

Anonymous said...

"The owner can do what they want."

It's going to be a loooooong summer for them!

Anonymous said...

@July 17, 2012 5:38 PM So it's obvious to me that you're simply a shill for Rose, trying to stifle people from rightfully acting in their own behalf. I will tell you one more (and only one more) time that quality of life issues related to noise, zoning and other issues that violate the warrantee of habitability can be brought before both city agencies and the courts. This blind subservience to the local authority that you seem to have just doesn't have a basis in reality. If people here are pissed off enough to fight for their RIGHTS, then they certainly are free to do so.

Enough of this BS that we can't do anything about it.

Anonymous said...

Any tenant who is disturbed by these concerts/free events and hasn't the guts to sue the landlord deserves what they get! Looks like you got garodnicked! Maybe you should write some more nasty notes on blogs that won't do shite, or you could get the TA to do something about it...LMAO.>>>

So, what do you suggest? How do we go about suing the bastards?

Anonymous said...

LOL except the landlord continues and we do nothing. Why is that? I'm 63 years old with no daddy and no credit card, you stupid twit. I pay next to nothing to live here and there is no nys helping us.

again, not our property.


lmao

Anonymous said...

HMMM, if the entire property is governed by nys RS, then why is my increase over $400? DUMBASS REPLY DUDE

Anonymous said...

For us...this is where we live. For the so-called current owners, STPVC is just a place to cash in. All of this is about what's going to happen after Roberts settles. CW, Rose, Brookfield, they're all working together and have their ideas about what the yuppies want. That's what this is about. They've just gone off the rails with these open concerts. Even the yuppies won't want the disgusting drunks pouring in. And the TA...it should just rename itself the Yuppy Association. Either that or the ACM (Association for the Confused and Misled.)

Stuy Town Reporter said...

Okay, please let's tone it down. I'm letting some of it pass, but not for long. Thanks.

Lo Rhent said...

Dumbass is person who pay $400 increase on dormy apartment!

New York Sity is best in all the world! Slums everywhere! No need for to pay so much in increase. This is democrasy. We can be miserable all over!

Much cheaper to have sucky apartment without ice rink out front window.

Anonymous said...

STR--are you starting to see why Lux Living hung up his blog? I think if you really didn't allow people to get this mean and nasty from the get-go, you'd actually have a more effective and enjoyable blog--one that raises issues and comes up with action plans, not just mean, snarky insults. I think you'd be happier too.

Anonymous said...

A lot of City Council members got their pockets lined today when they voted to give NYU (that rapidly spreading cancer in our midst) got mostly its own way with its expansion plans. Goodbye Greenwich Village. I suspect NYU is planning to metastasise more and more over here.

Tommyboy said...

One hopes there is some sort of master plan with all these actions/events. I fail to see it, but so be it, I rarely use the Oval, the concerts don,t appeal to me. I brew my own coffee, pizza shops in every direction, finding another monkey may take some travel. Let the cafe run its course, hang tough and don't let them win.

Anonymous said...

You know something you make a good point about it being unstoppable. I've been leaving the apt when the concerts occur just so I don't have to deal with the noise. I'm changing my whole opinion. I really hope that Stuy Town gets filled with crowds so large that the 2 million dollars worth of plants are damaged, the lawn gets wrecked, and the complex gets extra dirty. Let CW deal with the madness, and if we don't like it we should just go somewhere else for a while.

Anonymous said...

The guy in the original post is right: we live in Manhattan. This isn't the suburbs. And it never will be what it was during the "golden years". So, we either need to find a way to buy this thing so we can control the future... or admit we don't have control here, and get ready for whatever the owner does. Threatening to sue at every single change isn't going to stop things for long--look how much change already happened!

Anonymous said...

"Time is money to these folks. They want to make a quick sale at top dollar. Every year they are delayed literally costs them hundreds of millions of dollars.

I don't know about you folks, but I am patient...."

Yes, delay is probably hurting CW and the debt holders they represent, but CW can't be here forever. They have only about another three years to deal with the property (there is a time limit to their arrangement). They're going to have to make a move soon.

In the meantime, they keep churning the apartments (a couple paying market rent in my building just moved elsewhere to a more expensive apartment because they thought this place was a dump), putting money into things like the ice skating rink, and new landscaping. That plan has at least a year to go. I was told by the contractor that one of the lawns will be redone possibly not for another year.

And I disagree that nothing can be done about all the intrusions being visited on us. If the TA fulfilled its organizational and leadership role, they could organize those of us who are willing to deal with these situations.

Richie Beretta said...

I am a music producer that lives here in Sunny Stuy Town and I really really feel bad for people who live in the oval young or old...these acts they chose are all horrible. Sorry guys. You should complain and try to get some free months rent or something. I've never been happier to live far away from that Oval.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

I think the acts this year have been a considerable step up. I was passing by the recent Garland Jeffreys event and thought it good enough to actually go on the Oval Lawn and listen to the rest of the numbers he performed. I'm glad I had a chance to be awakened to his music. Last week's performer was also fine.

As I've stated on this blog in the past, I am not automatically against music events on the Oval; I just think there should be only a couple of them, perhaps one for each of the summer months, and that's it. And only for Stuy Town/PCV residents and their guests.

Plus consideration MUST be given to those who live around the Oval and who can't escape the sounds coming from it during a musical event. When I attend an Oval music event, I make the choice to be there, Oval residents do not.

Anonymous said...

You keep talking about how the TA could organize and stop some of these things that you are complaining about, but what you may not grasp is that most people here don't dislike at least some of the things you find offensive. Obviously, everything on a case-by-case basis, but seriously, have you given thought to the idea that the TA really is representing the interests of the majority of the residents here and your feelings may be the minority opinion?

Anonymous said...

STR:

We live on the Oval and were not "glad to be awakened to his music" as you were. In fact, we fled the neighborhood because it was so loud and disturbing.

I can't imagine being "glad" to be "awakened" by such awful sounds as you were, but to each their own.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like the Oval concerts are attracting a really classy bunch of people. Just the type Bloomberg is trying to attract to the City. I guess we're lucky they're coming here and not going to the free concerts in Central Park where such high class behavior as pooing till blood comes out of your butt is not exactly welcomed. We definitely lucked-out in attracting this classy bunch. Thank you Adam and Lady Maya. So good to see you raising the tone of the old homestead.

Anonymous said...

There's a new Brooklyn Vegan listing on the TAs Facebook page. We all need to leave comments at Brooklyn Vegan and tell them to remove the listing!!!

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>We live on the Oval and were not "glad to be awakened to his music" as you were. In fact, we fled the neighborhood because it was so loud and disturbing.<<

As I stated, consideration must be given to Oval residents.

Anonymous said...

If I was ever going to check out any activity on the Oval (which I never have, but often meant to when time allowed), I am now totally put off by the posts on the Brooklyn Vegan blog. If we are going to be invaded by these nasty lowlifes, then my children and I will never go near the Oval. We live in PCV (which has its own issues of QOL reductions) and don't go near ST as we don't need to. Now we know what goes on there, we'll stay away! My wife has gone over and checked out the farmers market there once or twice and reported that it is not worth the schlep because the produce seemed inferior and overpriced. Why is Rose doing this? The joint complexes were really nice before all this nonsense started. We moved in in 2000 (before we had kids) and loved it. Now it has changed so much and become so ridiculously expensive that I doubt we will renew our lease again even though we love the spaciousness of our apartment. Stable families like us are being driven out by the landlord's insatiable greed and the desire to pack as many people into each unit as is humanly possible. I'd rather rent a nice, roomy apartment in one of the boroughs than a Black Hole of Calcutta in Manhattan. Rose, Bloomberg, Tishman Speyer, CW Cap are all the living embodiments of unrestrained greed and avarice and not a morally decent bone in their collective bodies.

Anonymous said...

"The Tenants Association is also outraged that, in addition to the safety findings, the volunteers found substantial evidence of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use in the stairwells as well as indications that people have been using stair landings to relieve themselves and their dogs."

The TA is outraged? Where have they been? This has been common knowledge for years and they never spoke out about it. Would have been funnier if they said they were "shocked!"

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
"The Tenants Association is also outraged that, in addition to the safety findings, the volunteers found substantial evidence of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use in the stairwells as well as indications that people have been using stair landings to relieve themselves and their dogs."

The TA is outraged? Where have they been? This has been common knowledge for years and they never spoke out about it. Would have been funnier if they said they were "shocked!"

July 19, 2012 10:17 AM

Where have you been? Photos have been posted online for years, calls to Management have been made, BUT ROSE HAS REFUSED TO DEAL WITH THE ISSUE. How about reserving some of your outrage for them? A previous management group installed bar codes inside compactor chute doors and electronic checkpoints at entrances. Security guards regularly used to check these places to make sure they were OK. Lotta money spent and they haven't been used for years. No security checks, no maintenance.

How about some appreciation for the TA, which initiated the investigation, organized all the volunteers who took the time to go to every floor, open and shut both doors, and then collated the information so the TA could make a comprehensive complaint that would cover every building, including yours.

And yeah, I'm one of those volunteers, and I encourage you to walk both your stairwells to see what's doing. Then call the management office and make your complaint. Maybe if Rose heard directly from all of us, we'd get more action.

Anonymous said...

To Jul 18 1048p

You left out Councilman Dan Garodnick.

Anonymous said...

"How about some appreciation for the TA, which initiated the investigation, organized all the volunteers who took the time to go to every floor, open and shut both doors, and then collated the information so the TA could make a comprehensive complaint that would cover every building, including yours."

Should have been done years ago. Who was asleep at the TA? These are not new issues. They have been detailed here and on LL for so long it is a joke by now.

Only the action is new. They have squandered the last year or more working on their Quixotic secret bid to buy the place.

Care to talk about outrage? I find that outrageous.

Anonymous said...

"You keep talking about how the TA could organize and stop some of these things that you are complaining about, but what you may not grasp is that most people here don't dislike at least some of the things you find offensive. Obviously, everything on a case-by-case basis, but seriously, have you given thought to the idea that the TA really is representing the interests of the majority of the residents here and your feelings may be the minority opinion?"

Then explain why less than 5% of the population are dues paying members of the TA. The reason the TA doesn't fight any of these QOL issues is that they don't want to get on CWC's bad side. They are in the tank with them so they wont hurt Brookfield's chances of getting chosen as buyers. No person, group or company is MORE RESPONSIBLE for the decrease in QOL in PCVST than the TA. As a result if CWC chooses Brookfield there will be years of litigation before any deal is done. Can you say collusion??

Stuy Town Reporter said...

"The reason the TA doesn't fight any of these QOL issues is that they don't want to get on CWC's bad side."

Well, if that's their aim, they certainly are going about it the wrong way!

Anonymous said...

"No person, group or company is MORE RESPONSIBLE for the decrease in QOL in PCVST than the TA. As a result if CWC chooses Brookfield there will be years of litigation before any deal is done. Can you say collusion??"

That is the stupidest remark I have seen on this blog so far.

Anonymous said...

"No person, group or company is MORE RESPONSIBLE for the decrease in QOL in PCVST than the TA."

The people responsible are MetLife and Jerry and Robbie Speyer. Once TS paid way more than the property was worth, it became impossible to maintain it properly. That, plus MetLife's telling them how many RS tenants could be expected to die in the near future and starting the harassment/eviction process. Even if tenants weren't too timid to demand that the property be kept up, it's clear that the rent roll isn't enough to maintain the property and service the debt.

Anonymous said...

I don't think anyone can hold the TA responsible for the demise of our community. That honor belongs to the slumlords.

That said, the TA has really done precious little about it. They have fallen short in the "activist" column. They didn't cause the problem but they really haven't done anything material to solve it, either. And don't forget to send in your check...

Anonymous said...

2:27 AM. You are absolutely right. MetLife is very culpable in this matter. They sold the Speyers a bridge and a yarn. They told them that half the RS tenants were here illegally and the other half had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana skin. The stupid Speyers did not do their homework, but jumped in, with dollar signs glittering in their cunning eyes and avarice drooling from their hound-from-hell jaws. Then reality dropped a shit bomb on them and they skulked away while MetLife gloated and counted the shekels. Meantime, we tenants (most of us not here illegally or ready to croak any time soon) are left with the aftermath. Combine that with the bandaid on the severed jugular "remedy" of cramming in as many students, transients and hotel guests as possible; seeing genuinely interested young professional well-intentioned market raters as cash cows to us and abuse so they can churn baby churn the apartments, and we are in the situation we are in. May the bondholders never get their money because they were complicit in this scheme of Madoff proportions that MetLife and Speyers tried and failed to pull off.

Anonymous said...

from 11:27 AM: Of course, I meant "use" and abuse re the market rate tenants.

Making room for partiers said...

Has anyone had any luck negotiating their rent increase? My husband and I are about to be forced out by another 10% rent increase, when it's clear they are cutting deals for the 20-something's moving in. It's very upsetting and yet we feel like there is nothing we can do, other than move and and let some 22 year olds build walls and move in.

Anonymous said...

Another brilliant idea from Lady Maya - draw your favorite fruit? She gets PAID to think this dumb shit up???

Kids day July 22 to color in Greenmarket at Stuyvesant Town Oval

Anonymous said...

My granddaughter enjoyed the coloring:). Be happy!

Anonymous said...

I have encountered parents that don't know what cauliflower is. GrowNYC has a big educational component, so teaching and connecting kids to the source of their food is a good thing. I think it's great!