Sunday, July 15, 2012

Tales of the Oval Cafe



Because there are almost no problems in this complex (ha!), we are allowed to focus on... the Oval Cafe, the gift that keeps on giving....

Well, that was quick. The Oval Cafe just barely opened and it already has a Sanitary Inspection Grade, passing with a flying "A"!  But let's get to specifics (critical violations are in red):

Sanitary Violations
1) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.
2) Plumbing not properly installed or maintained; anti-siphonage or backflow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly.

Wait till they start frying chicken fingers and heating up that pizza!

BTW, those of you who are believe in omens should note that the inspection was carried out on Friday the 13th.

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Meanwhile, you will be pleased to learn that the cafe is selling La Colombe Torrefaction. This brew, despite the snotty hipster name, is apparently not good enough for the Director of Resident Programing in Stuy Town and the genius behind the cafe, who chooses to go to Starbucks for her morning coffee. So that's not much of recommendation, is it?

* * * 

Here are some new rules for you at the cafe.  The one I found of interest is that you can't seat your ass down in one of the patio chairs unless you have made a purchase from Oval Cafe.  (Some tenants were wondering if this was an all-resident, non-purchasing tenant area. You gotta be kidding me!)  Also, keep your damn pets (dogs, cats and monkeys) outside the cafe!



The TA Facebook page (which is really jumping these days!) notes that there's a Help Wanted on Craig's List for Oval Cafe staff.  Here's the text:

Come join the American Leisure team at the NEW Oval Café in Stuy Town! We are seeking experienced café employees! Please send us your resume AS AN ATTACHMENT. We are seeking experienced, energetic and professional team members with a background in café service, to join the Oval Cafe team for ALL positions including the following: Baristas, Counter Service, Kitchen Prep Team. American Leisure offers a professional work environment with paid vacation and benefits program. Oval Café offers great coffee, grab and go, mercantile, ice cream and many more counter focused service items.


Okay, but where's the experienced staff who will know how to make a peanut butter & jelly sandwich?!

Curious that we learned from Town & Village that another company was going to be running the Oval Cafe. But now it's our familiar friends, American Leisure. Donations of salt shakers, toothpicks and toilet paper gratefully accepted.  See Radu.

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

You kidding? The monkey wouldn't be caught dead in that dump!

Anonymous said...

I wonder what Health Dept rating our laundry rooms and washing machines would get if they were inspected? Dare say Rosie would think he was on Wheel of Fortune and buy an "A" which I suspect is what he just did with Oval Tref.

Anonymous said...

How did they get an A with those violations outstanding?

Stuy Town Reporter said...

The Oval Cafe received 10 points. The higher the points, the more violations. 0 to 13 points is Grade A, 14-27 Grade B, 28 plus Grade C.

I have no idea when the next inspection will take place. With much on the menu still "coming soon," we can expect different violation results in a future inspection.

Anonymous said...

Considering the extremely limited menu, it's embarrassing to get 10 points, even if that buys you an "A."

N.B. - the Starbucks on 1st Avenue where princess Maya, Mayo or whatever her name is, buys her food is also rated an "A"--except their score is zero. No points. No violations whatsoever.

Check it out: http://a816-restaurantinspection.nyc.gov/RestaurantInspection/SearchBrowse.do

Just type in "Starbucks" and the zip code 10009.

I guess we now know why she eats there!

Stuy Town Reporter said...

I'm receiving info from an "Anonymous" that's of considerable interest, but provocative, and at the moment unverifiable. But I'll be watching!

Anonymous said...

Lady Maya won't be caught dead in her own community cafe? Hahaha! She's a walking PR nightmare.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

BTW, it's been mentioned to me that the Oval Cafe placard out in front is missing any text about "for residents and their guests" on either side.

Tommyboy said...

They have yet to serve a lick of food, steamed a cafe, and yet were 3pts shy of failing? Is this part of the No Cafe left Behind program. I really wish them well, can I bring my own chair and sit with he trend setters? Just a thought?

Anonymous said...

Again, who the heck else is going to go there??? Really, if I live on say, 12th street, I'm not schlepping into Stuytown to go to some crappy cafe that has chicken fingers. That is so not a potential problem.

Anonymous said...

No shirts, no shoes, no service? Is this such a problem it needs to dominate the sign? How about "for residents and their guests."

Anonymous said...

Why did American Leisure get the account over ABC Kitchen? Their food is a much better quality than the junk food in Oval Cafe. I might have even eaten there.

Anonymous said...

Even the toilets are "coming soon". Nasty!!!

Anonymous said...

Anon 4:50 - Look at the music events advertised all over the Internet even though the events are for " residents and their guests." These people tax the already limited resources we have with the garbage they bring in and leave behind. The oval isn't their "80 acre backyard" do they have no vested interest in keeping it nice.

The other thing is the "residents and their guests" rule is what gets management off the hook for running commercial enterprises smack dap in the middle if a residential community. If any of these things - farmers market, rock concerts, cafes - are open to the public they become a zoning violation.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

It's possible that since the music events are free, and therefore not a commercial enterprise, that the tag of "for residents and their guests" is not necessary. Just a thought.

Anonymous said...

STR is right--they aren't commercial events, they are free. And as far as the cafe, again, my DH wouldn't even cross 14th street today to get paper for the computer because it wasn't on his way to/from his other destinations on the perimeter of Stuytown. NO ONE is going to cross 14th Street or First Avenue to go to a cheesy cafe for pizza fingers. This is not a problem. Even pople in PCV aren't going to cross 20th Street to go there, unless they happened to be in the Oval with their kids. Please, this is hardly something to get frothed up over. Other than I wish the food was better.

Anonymous said...

Who knows STR but it's not an accident everything exists in a gray area.

Anonymous said...

Must we "agree" to be photographed if we attend the concerts? It's the main reason I don't go near the oval when this crap is going on. I don't want to find my photo on one of their websites.

Gracie said...

The cafe will be a failure just as oval film was a failure. There's no demand for these spaces. But they'll keep reinventing the wheel, sinking more and more money into them, despite the fact the building interiors are a mess.

It's a damn joke that inexperienced people like Lady Maya Autret collect a paycheck. I've seen her resume and until she landed in Stuy Town her previous experience is basically setting up play dates for children. How she's in a position to schedule "hundreds" of events, and be in charge of marketing them to the public is beyond me. It's beyond belief.

Anonymous said...

We have students who lived on our floor for about a year. They said that they will move out in a little while. If CW-Rose keeps renting out units like this, can they legally keep raising the rent with each turn-over? If that's the case, it may indeed be possible to legally bring all these units up to market rate & beyond. What impact would that have on selling this place?

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>Must we "agree" to be photographed if we attend the concerts?<<

If the signage is there, that photography is happening, yes.

Anonymous said...

ABC Kitchen must have done their research on Stuyvesant Town, caught wind of the controversy and said no thanks! Think about it, the food trucks were run out, growNYC was almost run out, and anytime a concert is mentioned on a website or blog it quickly gets pummeled with negative comments. Stuy Town is a lightening rod for negative attention.

Anonymous said...

I've got two birds I'd like to donate.

Anonymous said...

>>Must we "agree" to be photographed if we attend the concerts?<<

If the signage is there, that photography is happening, yes.

STR, your answer is not entirely correct.

In NY, it is a crime to photograph someone and use their image for advertising without obtaining the written permission of the person whose picture is being used. The law is section 50 of the NY civil rights law.

"A person, firm or corporation that uses for advertising purposes, or for the purposes of trade, the name, portrait or picture of any living person without having first obtained the written consent of such person, or if a minor of his or her parent or guardian, is guilty of a misdemeanor."

The NY courts have held that written consent is required to use the pictures "for advertising purposes, or for the purposes of trade" and using signs, such as the signs used by Rose, to imply consent to use thepictures for advertising or marketing purposes is insufficient.

Individuals whose photos are used in violation of the law may sue for damages, although it may be difficult to obtain a significant recovery, or seek to enjoin use of their pictures.

Anonymous said...

"If that's the case, it may indeed be possible to legally bring all these units up to market rate & beyond. What impact would that have on selling this place?"

Possible? They all ARE market rate!!!!

Anonymous said...

We have students who lived on our floor for about a year. They said that they will move out in a little while. If CW-Rose keeps renting out units like this, can they legally keep raising the rent with each turn-over?

YES, THEY CAN.

It's called "churning" and they're entitled to a VACANCY INCREASE - which is usually larger than the regular rent increase that normally comes with a lease renewal - every time an apartment changes tenants. Which is another reason they are happy to have students here who will only stay for a short time.

However, in order to legally turn an apartment market rate, the combined income of the tenants in the apartment would have to be over $250,000.

Doesn't change the fact that they have found a mechanism to continually jack up the rents though.

Very clever. Very despictable.

Anonymous said...

Must we "agree" to be photographed if we attend the concerts?

STR said: If the signage is there that photography is happening, yes.

Sorry STR, but the correct answer to that is "NO".

It is actually NOT legal without WRITTEN consent. Hasn't stopped Rose Management from doing it though. What a surprise.

Go to their website, Flickr or YouTube page. If you find yourself - or your children - in any of their self-serving, marketing photos or videos and don't want to be in them, demand that those photos or videos be removed immediately and threaten to sue them if they aren't. That'll get their attention.

Anonymous said...

Forget about ABC Kitchen, I heard that a company called Sweetery was the one who first built the cafe, and after many major disagreements with that empty know nothing marketing person Maya they were booted out before the joint open, getting a hefty buy out nether the less, has anyone spoken to that first operator, but they have a few stories to tell. These individuals who run the property are beyond dumb, and couldn't care less how they spend money as long as it is someone else's.

Anonymous said...

">>Must we "agree" to be photographed if we attend the concerts?<<

If the signage is there, that photography is happening, yes. "

I would question if they could legally get your implied waiver in an area that you pay rent to occupy. Stuyvesant Town is private property, despite all the "public access usage" that goes on. Tenants have a right to travel from their apartments, through the Oval without being subjected to filming without their consent.

The only reason they get away with this is because nobody is willing to put up the time and money to kick their asses about it.

Anonymous said...

>Must we "agree" to be photographed if we attend the concerts?<<

"If the signage is there, that photography is happening, yes."

The question though STR is do we not have the legal right to be able to sit at the oval in peace without the threat of being photographed? I'm just posing the question. We obviously can't assume CW is acting within the law.

Anonymous said...

No law is for CW or Rose. The devastation of the Oval is proof. Invented rents are proof. They are above the law.

Anonymous said...

Sweetery sounds right up Lady Maya's alley, they're big on food trucks. <a href="http://www.sweeterynyc.com>Sweetery</a>

Anonymous said...

Re: "must we be photographed." Perfect opportunity for guerrilla or Gandhi tactics. Wear or hold a sign expressing your opinion of being photographed or your opinion of CW and Rose. Be peaceable about it. I'd say there's a good chance you won't be seeing yourself in any promotional photos or videos. We need to use more stealth tactics to undermine Lady Maya etal. and their minions.

Anonymous said...

"STR is right--they aren't commercial events, they are free. And as far as the cafe, again, my DH wouldn't even cross 14th street today to get paper for the computer because it wasn't on his way to/from his other destinations on the perimeter of Stuytown. NO ONE is going to cross 14th Street or First Avenue to go to a cheesy cafe for pizza fingers. This is not a problem. Even pople in PCV aren't going to cross 20th Street to go there, unless they happened to be in the Oval with their kids. Please, this is hardly something to get frothed up over. Other than I wish the food was better."

What about all the outside folks coming in for the all the free stuff or the Green Market? Couldn't they be the non residents using the cafe that people are talking about or do you know that hey wont eat there?

Anonymous said...

So, taking photos/video without express WRITTEN consent of the person(s) being photographed or videoed is ILLEGAL?

Just how many more dirty tricks do CW Capital and Rose Associates have up their collective sleeves?!

Thank you to the smart, vigilant tenants who have outed CW Capital and Rose Associates on this very egregious and despictable maneuver of theirs.

Anonymous said...

If I see anyone pointing a camera at me, my middle finger goes up.

Anonymous said...

Anonymus - July 16 3:28

Taking phots of people and using them for advertising, such as on pcvst.com etc., without written consent is illegal.

Anonymous said...

Pardon my ignorance, but what is a "DH?"

Lo Rhent said...

Mister Reporter. I was plan to take my monkey to the caffey but now I see it may not be OK with some of my naybor.

It is a nice monkey and soon will be in soup. I will sell soup to the caffey.

You tell me it not OK for the monekey to eat in same caffey he be served in? If you say so, I explain to him but it will be diffikult evening.

Lo

Anonymous said...

On the topic of Cafe Kubrick, howuch longer is the patio going to be under construction. 2 weeks came and went 2 weeks ago. Why did they rip out the garden for an extension anyway. I haven't seen more than two parties using the patio at any given time and the only one inside seems to be the flamboyant young man they hired. I think they updated the menu board and may have items for sale! I was going to take a photo for STR but I was almost knocked over by an Oval Cafe ice cream vendor.