Well, here are some suggestions, particularly as Woodward is quoted as saying, "We pride ourselves on being open to suggestions and following up on solutions."
Dog policy: A moratorium on new dogs. New tenants have to sign a statement that they will not be acquiring a dog under penalty of eviction. Public Safety extends its watchful dog-rule eye from the Oval Fountain to other parts of the property.
Illegal hotels: Just follow the listings (and the TA Facebook page).
Ever-growing population of students: Don't rent to hordes of students! Also make sure you follow the law and do not allow three unrelated people to live in one apartment.
A red flag was raised in another part of the article, however....
"Woodward also said that while on a recent stroll through the complex with management staffers, the conversation turned to recreation 'and what activities tenants might like to see.'"
Stop it with the "activities"!!! Everything is fine without imposed-on activities. Tenants have playgrounds, the Oval where they can relax, etc. Don't push things to the ridiculous level. Don't ruin the park (Oval)!
UPDATE (very interesting link posted on the TA Facebook page):
http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/article/20120328/CRED03/120329779/laramar-sues-ex-ceo-over-loan
* * *
UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS, STUY TOWN REMOVES CABBAGE PATCH KIDS AND REPLACES THEM WITH ARUGULA PLANTS.
Sad to say, the Cabbage Patch Kids at Cafe Kubrick's Grand Canyon have been removed by swarthy Italians in the dead of night and were replaced, early morning, with arugula plants. A spokesman for CWCaptial did try to mitigate the disappointment by promising a full line of cabbages (minus the Patch Kids) in the Fall, when the weather gets colder.
* * *
And speaking of Cafe Kubrick.... If you passed by the cafe this morning, you may have spotted three splotches of dog turd right in front of the cafe.
The turds were removed later. I wouldn't order anything chocolatey in Cafe Kubrick for a few days.
Relatively speaking, CW will be here short-term and its main concern is the money. It's not that they have no solution. It's that they don't want to have a solution. Renting to students, allowing partitioning, allowing illegal hotels...all of this makes money for CW. Money to pay off the extensive landscaping.
ReplyDeleteMy comment from the prior post:
Dog policies, student rentals, illegal hotels...I don't expect CW to comment. They're transient agents. I do expect to know what bidding sponsors' positions are...especially Brookfield's.
These are areas in which the TA might negotiate. I know how the TA members feel. I think there is unity for the most part. The questions are what are Brookfield's official policies and why haven't heard about them so far?
"Don't rent to students!"
ReplyDeleteThat's borderline illegal. Someone could file an age discrimination suit and that'll put an end to that.
But why not come up with a statement of values, a benchmark upon which you would want future tenants (of any age or background) to adhere to, at least so that management knows what kind of neighbors you want to have? It is, after all, a seller's market. Then the management would at least have a guideline. I have no idea if they would even be interested in that, but it's a first step in creating change.
The other thing is, don't be jerks. I totally understand if particular tenants have been disruptive over the years. But don't judge all incoming people (the ones who are younger than 65, anyway) of being willfully disruptive before you even give them a chance to settle in. And try to understand the fact that in NYC everyone lives in confined space and ought to have a little reasonable tolerance for other people's nearby behavior. PCVST is indeed a diverse community and doesn't just exist to serve every desire of long-time residents on a fixed income who seem suddenly disturbed that a housing complex in the middle of Manhattan has NOISE or SMALL DOGS or VISITORS or YOUNG PEOPLE. Screaming about all of it and asking for unreasonable environmental demands is not going to get anything done.
If David Woodward needs ideas--and he clearly does--he can start by talking to tenants who lived here under MetLife, when things actually worked. I'll just throw out one thing we had in ST: an attendant in the laundry room. She made sure it was clean and she did service washes. Need I say that the machines worked?
ReplyDeleteNo. 2: recycling areas. Tenant reeducation is a must. I reported a swarm of gnats in one of the bins with dirty containers.
No. 3: dogs. Yup--no new dogs. Clear rules and tenant reeducation on policy regarding indoor and outdoor behavior. Enforcement by Security.
No. 4: noise (regardless of age of tenant). Take complaints seriously and enforce rule about covering floors.
No. 5: illegal hotels. What STR said.
In general, use maintenance staff and Security to keep an eye out for problems and institute an easy way of having them report them. Last night I had to report at least 4 street lamps out in PCV, even though I had reported them out last week.
Get some of those Security guards back on foot patrol so they can see what's going on.
Use the surveillance cameras to make sure all doors are locked and quickly repair those that aren't closing properly--without waiting for a tenant to report it.
Make sure new tenants know the move-in rules about time and which entrance to use. No carrying of furniture across the lawns. No clogging the main entrance with furniture. Make sure pads are put up in the elevators when someone is moving in or out.
After an apartment renovation, inspect the hallway and clean any mess and repaint walls and elevator frames, if necessary.
Clean elevator walls and metalwork on a regular basis.
Let's all help Woodward and co. reinvent the wheel.
>>"Don't rent to students!"
ReplyDeleteThat's borderline illegal. Someone could file an age discrimination suit and that'll put an end to that.<<
If the powers that be went by the rule book, and did not allow three or more unrelated people to occupy an apartment, the student population here would naturally diminish.
Then there's the contract with NYU....
I'm with STR. There are limits & restrictions on these units that aren't being enforced, that are violations of fire codes. Partitioning is strictly against building regulations. When there are fires, the firemen are supposed to be able to anticipate the layout of a unit. Partitions violate this code. CW ought to be held accountable for this. Where's the councilman on this one? Noise, drunk & disorderly complaints need to be enforced with some teeth. The policies need to be enforced in a way that says quite clearly these buildings at NOT dormitories. Nor is this the upper eastside. You're living in s area that is & has been devoted to families for decades. If you can't abide with that, you really aren't welcome here and you should get out. General community feel about this is not going to change.
ReplyDeleteWhat's really funny about all this is that slowly but surely CW is doing things that will unify this community. In order for CW's plans to work, they have to be able to change the demographics down here. They need time to do that. But the community has already caught on to what's happening. What CW doesn't realize, what it has no prior experience with, is what can happen within this community once it does become truly unified around a cause.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that in the recent Town & Village the CW spokesman said there have been no active discussions to sell the property. So what exactly is Brookfield/TA waiting for?
ReplyDelete"PCVST is indeed a diverse community and doesn't just exist to serve every desire of long-time residents on a fixed income who seem suddenly disturbed that a housing complex in the middle of Manhattan has NOISE or SMALL DOGS or VISITORS or YOUNG PEOPLE".
ReplyDeleteNo the issue is that EVERY new tenant is of the roommate transient demo. This is not a diverse community anymore. Neither is the EV, the LES, etc. Manhattan is being turned into one big dorm. I have 3 families in my building with kids. Total. As an example, with this type of tenant, there is ZERO compliance or enforcement of the 80% carpet rule requirement which dramatically increases the noise QOL issues.
Hey, Woody! Activities we'd all like to see:
ReplyDelete1. Carpet cleaning
2. Floor mopping
3. Grass planting (and no more cabbages, please!)
4. General maintenance
5. And take out the damn garbage!
When you get done with this list, go back to number 1 because the carpets will be dirty again by then.
Why is this man smiling?
ReplyDeleteBecause he doesn't live here and he doesn't have to...
They should also not allow parents to guarantor apartments if the kids can't afford them on their own. Enforcing the no more than three unrelated people living in an apartment needs to be enforced.
ReplyDeleteThese bozos create these problems and then they don't have solutions for them! Brilliant. What a way to run a company. They sound about as bright as Congress and if they put all their intelligence together it wouldn't amount to more than half a brain cell.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, "I don't have a solution for CW Capital's business plan."
ReplyDeleteMetLife used to check into the backgrounds of people it rented to. They even used to go see the apartment they were leaving to come over here! I don't expect current management to do that, but please exercise a little discernment and discretion about who you give a lease to. New York is a city that pretty much mangles people who work and live here. If we are fortunate enough to have steady jobs (though probably carrying 3xtimes the load because of layoffs and downsizing) we have to deal with noise, filthy and overcrowding on the streets and subways. It used to be so nice to come home to a quiet peaceful apartment and the lovely parklike grounds of PCVSTV. We could sit on a bench and become revitalized. Now, however, there is the Tour de France, Animal House and all those irritating tone-deaf "musicians" we though we had left behind on the subway! There is something so "parochial" about the way the property has been turned into a nonstop carnival of inferior "entertainment." It's like "Hootersville-meet-Animal House." Very, very NOT New York City! Very, very "Flyover State." But then, look at who is doing the managing. It's like Bloomberg, carpetbagger from Boston, is inflicting bike lanes and thousands of bicycles, sugar rationing and all kinds of silliness (while the bullets are flying all over the place!). Typical flyover state mentality. We New Yorkers deserve better and maybe those of us who haven't fled to get away from these rubes need to speak up and fight back. How? Well, I am just as clueless as our new Property Manager from Rocky Mountain High!
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:48 PM. You brought back a memory. We had to wait one year before getting into ST and yes, someone from management came to interview us at our old apt. I'm not looking for CW to do anything other than what it feels it needs to do to maximize bids. CW has no regard whatsoever for folks who have lived here for decades. STPCV is just an instrument by which to make money. The key is to change the demographics, get in higher income people. CW thinks that concerts, ice rinks, latte cafes, loose dog rule enforcement & plastering shrubs, trees & flowers in everywhere is the way to do this. They'll keep renting to students for the good $$$$ until a plan has been accepted. Then they'll start phasing the students out as part of their deal with the sponsor because no upscale family wants to move into a building that's really a college dorm. The student shelf life here is actually limited to about 2-4 years.
ReplyDeleteIt seems National Best Practices mean do nothing.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:39...there is a solution to CW's business plan. Protests against CW changing the demographics. Protests that get press.
ReplyDelete"Best Practices" is a catch-all multi-industry phrase which generally means: "if we all do the same thing, no matter how stupid it is, we are protected--because we are all doing it."
ReplyDeleteThat's what we can expect here, people--at best. CYA cookie-cutter incompetence. Followed shortly thereafter by the offer to buy your compromised interest in this residential failure.
Woody sounds like a real winner!
ReplyDeleteAs things continue to deteriorate around here at least we know who to blame - CWCapital! They no longer have the luxury of letting Rose take the blame for all that is wrong around here. It's hot head Andy Mac to blame!
ReplyDeleteEducation MUST begin at the Leasing Office. It is the perfect opportunity to inform potential renters of the policies that keep the community healthy.
ReplyDeleteSpicoli's Theme : I don't know
ReplyDeleteRef. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
"Education MUST begin at the Leasing Office. It is the perfect opportunity to inform potential renters of the policies that keep the community healthy."
ReplyDeleteWhen I've spoken to the property manager for my area, she has claimed that new tenants get a packet of info to inform them of how to recycle, etc. I don't think anyone reads the information, if it is indeed provided (BIG if). Not since MetLife has anyone enforced anything--when and how to move in (info is on website), how to dispose of garbage and recycling, etc. When I asked my property manager to flyer my building about recycling, she hemmed and hawed and finally said she'd think about doing something. That was months ago, and I'm still waiting.
On bed bugs: when I called the office to report that a young woman in my building said she had bed bugs, I was told that according to the legal department, they could do nothing unless the affected tenant complained. Perhaps the young woman was mistaken because I haven't heard of a problem in my building, but for all I know, the hear-no-evil, see-no-evil policy is still in place.
Note the dog piss n the wall in the middle pic.
ReplyDeleteProperty manager for your building? I haven't heard about us having property managers for individual buildings or groups of buildings. Who are these people and where do they hide?
ReplyDelete"in New York, home to some of the nation’s highest rents and more than eight million people, many of them single, it is illegal for more than three unrelated people to live in an apartment or a house."
ReplyDeleteemphasis on more than...