Saturday, July 21, 2012

More Bad Publicity for Stuy Town


Woke up this morning to this, a major article in the NY Times Region section about the illegal hotels here and the hunt by long-term residents, particularly Janey Donnelly and Margaret Salacan, to track the location of these hotels.  Lux's initial publicizing of the problem on his blog is also brought to attention.  And the article just doesn't get into the illegal hotel business in the complex, expanding out to include mention of other problems in STPCV:

Scratch a tenant angry about one thing, and a dozen more complaints will tumble out: students doubled or tripled up in apartments that previously housed families; noisy concerts on the lawn; food trucks and a farmers’ market bringing outsiders in; overstressed garbage and recycling areas; advertisements beckoning prospective tenants “to live and live it up.”

And this:

On a recent evening, Ms. Salacan led a reporter on a tour of some unwelcome developments in the two complexes. She described a culture clash between some longtime residents and more recent arrivals.

“It’s only eight o’clock,” she said, opening the door to a garbage room with bins already full. “In two hours this’ll all be overflowing. And I can tell you there’s already a rat in this building.”

“Who knows what they’ll be bringing in,” she added, pushing on to the next building, past two joggers with ear buds and in T-shirts reading, “Cornell Class of 2015.” A mattress stacked in a garbage area did not have a cover — another violation, she said: “I don’t want to live in a transient neighborhood.”

The powers that be respond to the illegal hotel problem via Joe DePlasco, spokesman for Rose Associates and CWCapital:

JOE DePLASCO, a spokesman for Rose Associates and CW Capital, which took control of the two complexes in 2010, after Tishman Speyer and BlackRock defaulted on their mortgage, said that management routinely combed the Internet for short-term listings and had sent cease-and-desist letters to 50 tenants since the middle of last year. Of these, 15 had moved out or had removed their listings, he said. The remaining 35 were “at various points in the legal process with general counsel or outside counsel,” he said. “They take this very seriously.”

The article has an appropriate ending, with a quote from Donnelly about Stuy Town:

“It’s not family-oriented anymore,” she said. “The oasis is gone.”

75 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's outrageous that people are pushing their way in aggressively ( as described in the article). Security needs to deal with this kind of behavior. I won't let anyone in if I don't know them and if someone else does, I will note what floor they go to then call security. According to the T fb site, there has been a spate of UPS parcels stolen from outside apartment doors. Probably the transients. This place has gone totally down the sewer. Thanks a lot ,Adam Rose.

Lo Rhent said...

Donnelly work so hard! Like Lo. She work all the time! Make our life better. Many thanks to you from Lo!

Rosie sit and fiddle in cabbage patch in front of illeagle hotel. How he still get paid? I wan't Rosie job! You plant Lo next to cabbage and send check please.

Anonymous said...

Note the soda and candy machines in the basement photo - the sort of things you would find installed in a dormitory, not in an apartment building.

Anonymous said...

Thank you STR for bringing this to our attention. It will be in the Times Metropolitan Section tomorrow. Great work citizen detectives.

Anonymous said...

Kudos to Ms. Donnelly and Ms. Salacan. I suggest they send their findings to the IRS, as well as [useless] Rose and maybe the DHCR. I doubt these sleazeballs pay tax on their illegal "hotels" and they would be in for a rude awakening from the IRS.

Anonymous said...

" the oasis is gone" ain't that the truth. Now it's Lady Maya's Adventureland Themepark.

Lo Rhent said...

You peoples complain too much! Used to be Lo have to walk for blocks to catch rat. Now my traps full every night right outside!

Everything coming up Rosie!

Anonymous said...

This is the first press coverage of this nature I've seen dealing with the situation here. Generally, Bloomberg, Crains, T&V, The Post, Daily News and the NY Times have either ignored the situation here or have just quoted Garodnick or the TA as if they represent the whole community. Unfortunate situation for all of us when the press has become so damn lazy.

Anonymous said...

Stuy Town's new tag line should be - "Hotel Suite Living Right in Your Backyard"

The Bat said...

"...sent cease-and-desist letters to 50 tenants since the middle of last year."

Prove it.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

Re: Proving it. From what I know (and I admittedly don't know much on this issue), it's not easy to get rid of tenants who set up illegal hotels. Those cease and desists are probably the first step, but everything surely takes time, lawyers, etc. How quickly does the city deal with this problem?

Anonymous said...

"How quickly does the city deal with this problem?"

How quickly does management really want to deal with this problem?

If they are in full flip mode, then maybe they push it along. If they have vacancies, then maybe they drag their feet.

Please don't think for a minute that the financial calculations don't factor into their decision making process.

Anonymous said...

The illegal hotel issue has been around for as long as Rose has been here. It was first brought to their attention by Luxie and now the TA Facebook page has taken up the cause. Why is it that Rose did not search for this stuff? Good old Adam used to go on Lux and encouage him and tenants to find this stuff for them and they would take action. But why is it that this is almost always the case with Rose - that tenants have to find the problems before they do anything about it, i.e. fire code violations in all but four of 110 buildings?

Perhaps it is because their spending is prioritized on events that are simply marketing efforts. Or maybe Rose is simply incompetent and incapable of running a large property. Or could it be because Rose and his mercenary staff don't call this community home so it doesn't matter to them? Or maybe it is all of the above.

Anonymous said...

I am going with "all of the above."

Anonymous said...

I frequently see "scruffy" young people in Associated, pulling rolling luggage and stocking from the steam and salad bars.
Frequently, they are speaking in a foreign language. Then they go trundling off into Stuyvesant , clearly not sure of their whereabouts, but holding pieces of paper with an address on it. Could these be the "hotel guests?". I read on the TA fb that a lot of packages from UPS, FedEx & USPS are being stolen from outside our apartment doors.
Given the aggressiveness I believe some of these "tourists" have been known to display and the fact that some of them clearly can be menacing, I would recommend being extra cautious when going into and out of your apartment because you don't know who may be lurking in the stairwells or in the hallways. I plan to keep a can of mace near my door in case anyone tries to push in. I have had several strangers buzz my intercom and even ring my doorbell and they all had a certain "lostness" about them! Don't want to alarm anyone, but these are our precious homes and we are no longer living in a safe and secure environment.

Tommyboy said...

Why wouldn't,t mgt. post signs in buildings instructing airbn users are in violation of illegal housing and are subject to immediate eviction. Shouldn't the hotel lobbyists be involved? This is their loss of income, the city can't impose their tax, unregulated and often un-documented tenants put us all at risk. We all have suspects people in our buildings, no pass cards, no laundry room key, etc.
BTW, I think Lo now has a big head, and needs to be roped in, perhaps a double verification on submissions.

Anonymous said...

The reporter got it wrong about why the TS deal was a disaster. It had nothing to do with the 2008 market downturn and everything to do with a deal that was corrupt and rotten to the core. I wanted to make that comment, but the NYT site isn't allowing comments on the article. Maybe I'll send an email to the reporter instead.

Anonymous said...

I have had several strangers buzz my intercom and even ring my doorbell and they all had a certain "lostness" about them!

I am home during the day and I am now getting these intercom calls just about every other day. "Can you let me in?" "I forgot my card." "You don't know me but I'm on the 8th floor." Etc.

I just hang up the phone but I'm sure someone is letting them in. Perhaps Oval Concierge! After all, it is a hotel...

Anonymous said...

"The reporter got it wrong about why the TS deal was a disaster. It had nothing to do with the 2008 market downturn and everything to do with a deal that was corrupt and rotten to the core."

You are correct. The real estate downturn did NOT do them in. It was just simple math. They way overpaid and had no real prospect of hitting their targets as pitched to the now-busted mezz and equity investors.

Their plan would have only worked in a "trees grow to the sky" scenario and, as we know, that never happens. Certainly not around here!

Anonymous said...

After a year as a Stuytown resident, this 40-year old professional man is happily moving out.

For the record, however, throughout the past 12 months, my young neighbors have been nothing but polite, orderly and, in general, just normal neighbors sharing a community. Some are messy, some are loud, but truly nothing out of the ordinary for city residents.

That said, my older neighbors, particularly the older women in this community, have often been incredibly rude, condescending, arrrogant and nasty. I have witnessed them slam doors in people's faces, yell at nannies, bark at people trying to board empty elevators with them, slip anonymous passive-aggressive notes under doors, leer at and spy on their neighbors (see, e.g., Ms. Salcan; and one ridiculous woman in apt. 5F), and just generally engage in incredibly childish and boorish behavior.

The ridiculous bile and petty, petty complaints spread on this blog are simply a part of that. Good bye all, and good riddance.

Anonymous said...

If Rose had half a brain, they would take legal action against the sites that are hosting the adds for illegal hotels.

Anonymous said...

What is it about STPCV that attracts only the most incompetent, inept property managers? They can't keep track of transients, the place is filthy, garbage overflowing everywhere, bedbug infestations. These people couldn't run a dollar store!

Anonymous said...

"The ridiculous bile and petty, petty complaints spread on this blog are simply a part of that. Good bye all, and good riddance."

Yeah. That's why he's leaving...

Anonymous said...

@anon 7:33 Don't let the food truck hit you on the way out!

Anonymous said...

Ta-ta 7:33pm. I don't know anyone who's the kind of person you describe and I've been here for more than a year. And I'm not leaving.
Good riddance to you.

Lo Rhent said...

Old guy is right. Messy loud kids OK in Lo's book! Sometime they even leave extra slice for Lo in pizza box dropped in hall! Have to move fast to beat rat to the box.

Those old lady with note. We have to do something abouts them. That for sure.

Anonymous said...

"I am home during the day and I am now getting these intercom calls just about every other day. "Can you let me in?" "I forgot my card." "You don't know me but I'm on the 8th floor."

You should immediately call Security. They can observe who is trying to get in. Also, they may see a pattern in the type of person who is trying to get in.

On another note, here's an article about a landlord in the same mold as the Speyers: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/06/business/bad-mortgage-loans-burn-investors-and-tenants-high-and-low-finance.html?pagewanted=all

Anonymous said...

If "Public Safety" can see the lobbies on their cameras, why can't they see who dumps huge bags of festering trash and pizza boxes outside the recycling rooms? They could review the tape and catch the culprits. They have cams in elevators and lobbies, but people openly dump their garbage and get away with it. Do those cameras actually work?

Anonymous said...

The bad publicity keeps coming!

Stuy Town residents combat illegal rental listings

StuyTown Sleuths are Coming for Your Airbnb Listing

HOW ONE NYC NEIGHBORHOOD IS TRYING TO EXPOSE AIRBNB LANDLORDS

Stuy-Town Airbnb Detectives

Anonymous said...

i live in stuytown currently and i think i'm of the type of people this whole bullshit is about. being 28, i have a job, a gf, and don't have parties in the apt ever. granted we have people over, but we're very respectful of our neighbors.

what i dont understand is where all this hostility is coming from? i know that there are neighbors out there that are complete shit heads. but that's a fact of life. you're not going to love everyone you live next to, believe me, i dont. but speaking in generalizations about groups is complete bullshit.

i know you were here first, and it's not what it used to be. BUT WE LIVE IN NYC. things change. stores come and go, and properties change. that's a fact of life.

no one is forcing anyone to live in PCVST. you are free to live wherever you please. if you're going to just come on here and bitch and moan about everything that sucks about the place, then why dont you move? i personally like living in PCVST. having lived in way worse buildings and areas around the city, it's a nice change.

so ease up. and cut the crap. act like adults.

Gracie said...

"what i dont understand is where all this hostility is coming from?"

Stuyvesant Town is being marketed to students and "young professionals" by Rose and CWCapital and they are dividing up apartments to accommodate up to four unrelated people into an apartment with one bathroom, hence the stairwell defecation. This means four different social circles are in the apartment coming and going at all hours of the day and night. Going by the photos of the illegal hotels on AirBNB the 80% carpet coverage rule is a god damn joke!

These transient renters leave their garbage in the halls, in the lobby because they can't keep track of which of their roommates has the one key. They tax the already limited resources Stuy Town is allocating to building maintenance.

See, there's PLENTY of money for Lady Maya's Cafe, pony zoos and log flumes rides through the Oval, but the funds seem to dry up when it comes to investing in the buildings themselves.

The types of people Rose and CWCapital are marketing to don't care if the buildings are a wreck because 1. Their lease and pricing structure - "FREE" months rent - is designed to churn the apartments and they'll be gone shortly and 2. They are the ones contributing to the destruction of the property.

Rose and CWCapital don't solve problems around here, they hide them behind canopies of trees and tropical plants.

Why should WE move out of our neighborhood? We are the only ones keeping it stable! WE ARE NOT TRANSIENTS! WE KNOW OUR NEIGHBORS, WATCH OUT FOR THEM, AND OUR FRIENDS ARE HERE, IN STUY TOWN AND PETER COOPER VILLAGE. WE DON'T STEAL UPS PACKAGES, WE DON'T INFEST THE PLACE WITH BED BUGS AND WE DON'T THROW UP IN THE ELEVATORS. WE ARE NOT THE PROBLEM.

Anonymous said...

12:20
Apartments used as hotels are illegal. You don't get it so go to work, play with your girl friend and drop it.

Anonymous said...

Poster at 12:20 PM: You are totally missing the point. It is not people like you who longtime (and more recent) tenants feel hostile towards. You sound like exactly the type of person who is nice to have as a neighbor. What pisses us off are the transients and immature twits who Rose likes to pack into the chopped-up/pressure walled apartments. I'm surprised you didn't get that. You sound like an intelligent person.

Anonymous said...

"i live in stuytown currently and i think i'm of the type of people this whole bullshit is about. being 28, i have a job, a gf, and don't have parties in the apt ever. granted we have people over, but we're very respectful of our neighbors."

If you're describing yourself accurately and have covered your floors, aren't urinating or defecating in the stairwells, or leaving trash outside your door or on the floor of the recycling area, then you are the type of person we're talking about. Unfortunately for all of us (including you), people like that are an increasingly large part of the tenancy.

Anonymous said...

"If "Public Safety" can see the lobbies on their cameras, why can't they see who dumps huge bags of festering trash and pizza boxes outside the recycling rooms? They could review the tape and catch the culprits. They have cams in elevators and lobbies, but people openly dump their garbage and get away with it. Do those cameras actually work?"

Yup, they could do that. The cameras do work--I know that from telling Security which camera to look on to find what I'm reporting (an intruder, before anyone gets huffy about nosy little old ladies). Alternatively, they could find a way to educate and remind people how to dispose of garbage (and what constitutes garbage) and recycling. But that would take being on top of things.

Anonymous said...

Looks like we've been garodnicked again!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Rose still hasn't commented on the fire hazard issue. I remember when they were "mismanagement" the first time around and they had some idiot named Statdmeyer running the fiasco, they racked up a lot of safety violations. Seems to be their specialty.

Anonymous said...

@Anonymous July 23, 2012 12:20 PM


I guess you have a whole lot more growing up to do when at age 28 you can't comprehend a situation that's been documented in several thousand blog posts. There have been literally hundreds of posts that explain how major quality of live issues have gone unaddressed by this landlord, causing many,many people to undergo large amounts of stress and inconvenience where before, they had lived peacefully among their neighbors. The failure of Rose to enforce the property rules has caused many to move (as you so helpfully suggest), and has caused untold anguish for those that cannot afford to do just that.

If you haven't found the time, I suggest you now read through the history of this blog and try to imagine the ordeal that many of the posters have clearly explained. It will save you from looking like the fool that you've so successfully portrayed.

Lo Rhent said...

"Rose still hasn't commented on the fire hazard issue."

Oh, he speak soon! Rosie say it new Oval Marshmallow roast amenatee! You bring stick and close door behind you. Fire do the rest!

Anonymous said...

Rose is only interested in ferreting out old-timers in cheaper non-renovated units. We know this for a fact in our building.

Anonymous said...

Rose is only interested in ferreting out old-timers in cheaper non-renovated units. We know this for a fact in our building.>>

Would you care to elaborate on that or do we just have to take your word for it? BTW, I don't doubt that you are correct, but if you make a statement like that it warrants a little more detail. Well, that's just my opinion maybe.

Anonymous said...

Do those cameras actually work?

The camera's work; its security that doesn't work.

Anonymous said...

"Note the soda and candy machines in the basement photo - the sort of things you would find installed in a dormitory, not in an apartment building."

Or a Motel 6. CW Capital will leave the light on for you.

Tommyboy said...

If you feel you are being forced out individually, you do have legal recourse. If you feel you are being forced out "en masse" you are probably half right.
Ineptness and incompetency are not against the law, this establishment is not a fast making money machine, but a well established long term investment. Unfortunately the powers that be have an endless bag of gimmick tricks they feel will entice new market raters.
Being Garodnicked is now a regular event, thanks Danny G for your efforts with the Zogster's , keeping the Oval non-commercialized. Oh that's right, you have done nothing except grand standing regarding the conversion choice, was their an actual choice?

Anonymous said...

Imagine the chaos if Garodnick did actually become tha City Comptroller! It is a very scary thought.

Anonymous said...

@Anonymous 9:40 pm

I will not elaborate on this blog because a number of individuals, not just me, were involved in the effort to put a stop to it.

Anonymous said...

Tommyboy

Jim Roth of the TA agrees with you that Dan G dropped the ball with regards to the GreenMarket/commercialization issue. But I'm not sure. Dan G was aggressively questioned about the GreenMarket by a tenant at a TA meeting and his response was that he just hadn't heard anything from his constituents in ST-PCV about it either way. I believe him. His job is not to monitor the *12 or so people* who regularly anonymously comment on this blog, it's to try to represent everybody in his district.

* Basing that estimate on the number of people who regularly commented on LL.

Tommyboy said...

Often sarcasm is subtle and overlooked. Press conferences held for the announcement of partnership for the tenant buy-in was not only self serving and grossly immature.
Career politicians or potential careerists have all seized upon the rotting corpse of John Liu, being garodnicked has taken on a source of pride and a reminder that one must do more for the tenants of this great NYC institution.

Anonymous said...

Got rat? One artist is cooking up a delicious and nourishing solution. http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2012/07/allegra-laviola-hosts-rat-dinner.html

And it looks like we're not the only ones being denied access to what we're paying for: http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2012/07/cb3-takes-up-public-access-issues-following-rivington-court-complaints.html

Anonymous said...

Clarity and sticking to the point are not your strong suits, Tommyboy! I'll try again, anyway.

About your grievances regarding the Greenmarket - perhaps you should focus your annoyance on the 12 or so regular commenters on this site who were so so lit up about it. Apparently they forgot to share their Greenmarket concerns with our city councilman. Meanwhile, the rest of "the tenants of this great NYC institution" don't seem to have a problem with it and 10 to 1 they vote overwhelming in favor of Dan G for Comptroller.

Anonymous said...

A lot of us won't be voting for Garodnick even if he runs for dog catcher. At least Liu isn't a paid-for lackey of Bloomberg, the worst and most corrupt politician since Boss Tweed.

Tommyboy said...

If is amazingly clear your bias here. Nobody requested a green market, food trucks, oval cafe. Simply put this has been a skirting of the law. Attack me fine, but if it's a Lemon, call it a Lemon. Garodnick's disappearing act over items that matter is typical. His new tune banning motorized bikes on sidewalks! Great a issue close to home for us here.......guess what? They are private pathways so is law has no affect here........Thanks again for nothing

Anonymous said...

Anon 5:11

What are you taking about?! Garodnick very publically said that he would work with Management to move the Greenmarket to a LEGAL location somewhere on or near STPCV. Instead, he caved, which helped to open the floodgates for Management to take advantage of the "residents and guests only" excuse/lie that they now use with wild abandon to get away with pretty much anything they want to. Garodnick's NOT doing what he said he would do is the reason why people are so pissed off at him.

Anonymous said...

I'm a tenant and I like Dan. He did far more for us than some stranger who lives on 61st Street. Who knows where our next city councilperson will live. Stuytown will certainly have no priority at all. I am very grateful for the years of service Dan gave. And I like the greenmarket. And the dogs. And some of the students, at least the ones in my building--I like the full life cycle represented here.

Anonymous said...

There is honest disagreement here, Tommyboy.

I am not a lawyer, but do recall a lawyer on this site way back when who was really "attacked" in the comments thread on this site for daring to suggest that we stick to fighting the proposed Oval skating rink on safety and habitability grounds and avoid a zoning fight because it was a sure loser.

He also suggested that lumping the Greenmarket in a zoning fight made it worse because the Greenmarket is pretty popular with ST tenants.

Nobody wanted to hear it but it turned out that he was right.

Nevertheless, you still think our elected rep should have taken a heroic stand on legal quicksand and fought the good fight on behalf of...who, exactly? It looks like to me like most ST tenants are fine with the rink, cafe, and Greenmarket whether you or I like it or not.

Here's a fact of life, Tommyboy. A blog can be a good start as far as raising awareness and it has potential as an organizing tool. But a few anonymous individuals expressing outrage on this blog's comment thread is not enough to focus a politician's attention on whatever the cause du jour is. If you and others were really concerned about what was and is happening on the Oval, you should have broken the cause out of this internet bubble, organized, and had people expressing outrage in numbers and in a way that couldn't have been ignored. Being angry with Dan G for not monitoring and dancing to the music of a few anonymous commenters on a blog is what's "self serving and grossly immature," IMO.

Anonymous said...

"I like the full life cycle represented here. "

That is not the way this community is being marketed. There are no families with children, no retirees, no one outside of the 18-25 demographic of 3-5 unrelated roommates per apartment in any of the current housing strategies. It's the Murray Hill “Windsor Court” template that CW Capital, like TS before, is banking on. Woo!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/nyregion/19about.html

Anonymous said...

Thank you 1:04--that was great.

Anonymous said...

Are there statistics available to confirm new renters are 18-25 and 3-5 unrelated tanants per apartment?

Tommyboy said...

Thank you for the education, my opinions are my opinions, this venue both educates and informs users of the goings on in Stuyvesant Town. Your condescending tone towards those who state their opinions are noted. I wasvborn in the morning but not this morning. This complex survived for 50 years with no golf carts, student housing agreements, mgt run Xmas trees, oval cafe, farmers market, etc.
I'm all for change and improvements, security seems more efficient, those workers who are not outside contractors seem concerned and care.
Not sure what attack you are referring to, this site does have a monitor/owner who is very responsible regarding names etc.
So please ignore my opinions because they represent the "so few" and November will dictate our choices.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry to say that a tenant did organize a protest about the ice skating rink when it was being widely talked about, and very few people showed up.

As to who is moving in, in my PCV building there are more families than before. Of course many of them are forced to move when Rose raises the rent. I think there's a lot of renting at preferential rates and then clobbering the tenants with the "real" rent on renewal.

Re: Dan's successor. Mark Thompson, head of CB6, has announced his candidacy, and he lives in ST.

And on another couple of QOL issues:
ZogSports still lists the ST playgrounds.
Every member of the city council except Charles Barron voted in favor of the NYU expansion.

Anonymous said...

“Are there statistics available to confirm new renters are 18-25 and 3-5 unrelated tanants per apartment? “

Que? My point was the marketing of this community. Take a look at promotion link with such terms as “there is always something going on at Stuyvesant Town!” and “it’s awesome”. Check out the vids on the link as well, in the apartment folder.

http://www.stuytown.com/

Stats? Go over to the leasing office on any given day and see who’s in there. Hang out at playground 7 and see the kiddie tour groups that the leasing office employees brings out the back door to show them the model apartment. Every other kid on these tours has an NYU logo or some other college. Go down to the laundry room (if you dare..the horror, the horror-vermin and rats and roaches, oh my) and check out the flashback to dorm life. I’m sorry, stats? I don’t need no stinking stats.

Anonymous said...

Poster at 9:03 PM: Right on! If Bloomberg's puppet "Health" Department were to view our laundry rooms they would immediately forget about large sodas and condemn the laundry rooms as health hazards. Of course, they won't do that because they are puppets of Boss Bloomie and only do his bidding. When he says "Jump!" they say "How high?"

Anonymous said...

The people who rent out their rooms/closets/sofabeds/ wooden planks a la LES ca. 1886, should let their victims know that this place is a fire deathtrap courtesy of a money-grubbing, uncaring management company. I think that is only fair.

Anonymous said...

I have anew-found respect for Charles Baron. He's not afraid to stand up for what he believes in.

Anonymous said...

I have don't have time to study the Stuy Town website, go to the leasing office, hang out at playground 7 or police the laundry rooms. I am too busy enjoying my life. Be nice to your neighbors!

Anonymous said...

Thank you 1:04; well said. And it was not condescending. On this site, anyone who doesn't agree with the old guard is always attacked so this was par for the course.

Anonymous said...

I don't think it is only "old guard" who want an oasis of peace and quiet; I think the kids packed into those chopped up units need it too. New York has become so overcrowded, overbuilt and claustrophobic that I fear for the mental health of its citizens. Bloomberg's proposal to build tiny units for young people - and at a very rent! - shows how totally out of touch and maybe sadistic he is. I love my one bedroom real apartment (rent stabilized) and I will never give it up without a very, very vigorous fight. I fee very sorry for the people crammed into these 21st century tenements. No wonder they have to relieve themselves in the stairwells. New York is being taken backwards by these greedy, evil real estate monsters. Them and the Wall Street crooks should be driven out of town, or better yet put in jail for their crimes of greed and avarice. They are a cancer that is spreading and eating up this city.

Anonymous said...

"and at a very rent"

Oops! I meant to say "at a very high rent."

Anonymous said...

So it's official - they are giving better deals to the youngsters moving in than to the current tenants. My rent went up 7% yet again, which brings it well above the price of their new offers. The response back from management? Tough luck. I asked for them to at least explain WHY new tenants were getting better deals, and they did not have an answer (other than to say that the better deals offset moving costs??)

They truly do want people to move out as quickly as possible. I guess my husband and I are above the target demographic and are no longer valuable tenants since we've been here for four years. We don't have parties. We don't have a wall in our apartment. And our neighbors like us. Three strikes, and you're out!

Anonymous said...

Oh what a pity! What a shame! And I was so looking forward to it.

Management has cancelled the Olympics Grand Opening Ceremony outdoor screening Fri, July 27, 4PM, on the Oval.

How about focusing your little minds on the important stuff and cut out the rest of the crap, Rose Associates. Keep our buildings clean, get us new washing machines, educate dog owners about the dos and don'ts of having a dog here, provide Security to routinely do vertical patrols of every building, fix the hundreds of broken fire doors, etc.

Anonymous said...

If they are giving one demographic preference over another as far as rent dollars, isn't that a violation of the Fair Housing laws? Maybe the market rate/rent stabilized market rate (?!!) tenants should start a class action lawsuit because it does sound like discrimination to me. If it can be proven that Rose/CW is trying to drive out a certain demographic in favor of another that really is discrimination. At least the rent stabilized tenants (as in the non-Robets RS tenants) have the law on their side no matter how much the sleazy landlords try to push them out.

Anonymous said...

Why are new tenants being given incentives, while current tenants are having their rents jacked up.

Probably because OUR rent pays for all of their ridiculous advertising all over Manhattan.

STR - any ideas??

Anonymous said...

New washing machines, vertical patrols - write to Sullivan and ask him. If he answers, you will likely be disappointed.

Anonymous said...

And then there's piece about this week's purse snatcher on the T&V blog: http://town-village.com/. It seems the purse snatcher was chilling on a bench, just waiting for a likely victim to come along.

I guess we have to scrutinize everyone sitting on our benches and never let our guard down. Some years ago I alerted Security to a man who was slumped over and passed out on a bench next to a playground. A patrol vehicle had already passed by and not stopped because the officer was only looking straight ahead. That's why boots on the ground/eyes on the street are so important.

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