Pity the tenants who live above Oval Cafe. Sun-baked Mexican workers (documents, please) have been buzzing away all day on both Saturday and Sunday trying to finish the outside patio extension of Oval Cafe, an extension that's sorely needed considering the empty chairs already present. No word yet if these tenants will be getting a rent reduction because of this disturbance to their weekend peace and quiet. Perhaps, at the very least, they'll get a free stale muffin from the cafe's day remainders.
The cafe (nicknamed "Cafe Kubrick"--although nothing in a Kubrick film is as ugly) now has an expanded menu. "Housemade Ice Cream Sandwiches" will cost you $5, while smoothies $4 for 12oz size and $6 for 16 oz. Poppi Al' Pizza is $5 for a 7-inch "personal cheese pie."
I went inside to check the servings and was shocked to find tiny (I mean tiny) muffins selling for $2.50. Doughnuts, btw, are $3. I had to laugh, however, at spotting those one-serving cereal boxes on display. I mean, who in the hell in Stuy Town is so lazy and wealthy not to have cereal at home, but a need to buy and eat it in Cafe Kubrick? You really have to wonder at the intelligence of the customers here and/or the cafe planners.
Oh, I forgot to mention a few weeks back, but when Cafe Kubrick opened, the wall pictures where photos of old Stuy Town. I guess that was too traumatic and revelatory for the powers that be, because they were quickly replaced.
Of course, Cafe Kubrick does not check to see if its customers are residents or their guests. Which should be standard operating procedure, as this policy is what makes this cafe properly zoned.
Which reminds me that today I saw three people walk out of Stuy Town with their purchases from the Greenmarket. Clearly not residents and their guests. The "for residents and their guests" game continues. Thanks, Dan!
Well, at least there was this amusement today. An online article on Stuy Town had this photo of a Stuy Town Tenant Association meeting:
The author of the article copped the photo from an old blog post here, unaware that the photo (of a 1943 protest in Seattle) was a joke. But, yes, we are thousands and thousands strong. You better believe it.
The cafe is really not for current residents. It's really a part of the advertising for future residents. As pointed out in other posts, this too is all a part of the big sale.
ReplyDeletePhoto used as our TA is ridiculous. What a maroon.
ReplyDeleteRose and CW endanger residents by failing to comply with the NYC Fire Code and think nothing of using photos of residents and their children, without their written consent, in their advertising to pimp the property which is a violates a New York State criminal statute, so why would anyone think that they would anything to comply with the zoning laws.
ReplyDeleteI do not mind having a cafe, since it is far for me to walk to Starbucks and this is simply convenient.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I find doing construction on the weekend really annoying. I do not understand why does everybody needs to be exposed to it on a Saturday.
I noticed a letter last week in T&V from a lady who I know is over 90, praising the Oval Cafe and suggesting more chairs, etc. I wonder if her identity was stolen to make it look like a resident was writing? Just a thought.
ReplyDelete9:00pm: can't you make a cup of coffee in your apartment? Cheaper,easier and tastier than going to the Oval for a Java.
ReplyDeleteIs it legal for this construction to be going on? Do they have unionized, legal residents working on thr site? We do have a right to know.
ReplyDeleteSome very interesting news...earlier today (Sunday), I was visiting 447 East 14th Street (the building with the tropical rain forest plantings adjoining the Community Center and behind the Rental Office), when suddenly 8-10 janitors and maintenance men swept in and started cleaning and polishing and buffing and painting the carriage room, and the laundry room and the lobbies.
ReplyDeleteNo exageration...they were actually cleaninig the washing machines and buffing the floors and CLEANING THE GROUT LINES IN THE LOBBY TILES!
Meanwhile, outside, they actually pulled the automated sweeper broom out of storage and were buzzing around the loop in the vicinity of 447...and did I mention this was on a Sunday afternoon?!?
And when I asked what was happening, I was told that a VIP (from Rose? From CW?...) was going to be visiting tomorrow...so "This building has to look good."
At that about sums it up around here...management knows the rest of the place has become a dump...but they STILL KNOW WHAT THINGS SHOULD LOOK LIKE when the overpaid, useless bosses come sniffing around to check on their "investment."
Coming Soon - The Patio!
ReplyDeleteIt' so ridiculous. I've walked by Cafe Kubrick many times and never has there been anymore than 2-3 tables occupied. It was unnecessary for them to destroy another 15x30 feet or gardens to expand it. I'll tell you one thing, if they keep chipping away at the gardens for Greenmarkets and patios there won't be much left to the "80 acre backyard."
Why is it taking them so long to finish the patio? Which one of the talking heads said it would be finished a mere "2 weeks" after the July 3rd opening? It's been a month and three days. Baby Steps Rose strikes again!
At least someone has stood up to Lady Maya and has had the "Pizza Fingers" (what ever the F' those are) and other diabetic delights taken off the menu.
These people couldn't plan a walk across the street. I hope the bond holders are paying close attention to Andrew MacArthur's follies.
>>At that about sums it up around here...management knows the rest of the place has become a dump...but they STILL KNOW WHAT THINGS SHOULD LOOK LIKE when the overpaid, useless bosses come sniffing around to check on their "investment."<<
ReplyDeleteToo bad the Big Shot is not visiting all the buildings. Actually, what kind of review is it if the Big Shot goes to a location already prepared for him? Mr. Big Shot should dictate where he wants to go and what he wants to see, without telling anyone in advance.
Coffee? You're telling people where they should and shouldn't get their coffee?
ReplyDeleteI know you will all find this hard to believe, but not everyone in PCVST hates the cafe. Some people like to go outside of their apartments and walk to get a cup of coffee.
ReplyDelete>>Coffee? You're telling people where they should and shouldn't get their coffee?<<
ReplyDeleteWell, we know where the brains behind Cafe Kubrick goes for her coffee... Starbucks!
Awful food service is intentional.
ReplyDeleteCW & Rose are showcasing potential revenue streams that either don't yet exist or were poorly implemented and administered.
This issue topic has been successfully re-framed from, "Is this an appropriate location for a food service?" to "The food service is awful."
They are counting on sucker investors like Speyer's idiot son assuming food service income can be maximized charging more for better food and expanding diner seating to cover the Oval.
They were also scrubbing the walls on each and every floor of 447. In all my years as a resident of this building I have NEVER seen this happen.
ReplyDeleteLooks like tenants are continuing to get Garodnicked!
ReplyDeletePeople love Cafe Kubrick so much that's why it's barely used by anyone. lol
ReplyDeleteThey relaxed the "No Dogs" on the patio policy too as there are usually dogs in the area.
I've seen dogs on the patio as well. Maybe the dog owners for their wish and the expanded patio will serve as a dog run!
ReplyDeleteThe Andrew MacArthur Follies! The gift that keeps on giving!
The leasing tours in 447 make it impossible to get in and out of the building sometimes. They load two elevators to the gills with tour takers and go to both the 6th and 11th floors. If I lived on a low floor id walk down but the stench of bodily fluids and beer in the stairwells is too much for me to take.
ReplyDelete>>They relaxed the "No Dogs" on the patio policy too as there are usually dogs in the area.<<
ReplyDeleteJust to set the record straight, dogs belonging to paying members were always allowed on the patio of the library and lounge (but not inside). In fact, the staff had water bowls for dogs to cool off.
I just walked by there and the noise from the men
ReplyDeleteworking on the patio was something awful. Just like the food. I feel so badly for all the nearby tenants who have to listen it. And, BTW, why is it taking so damn long to finish this thing? What a travesty and waste of resources that should be used for better building maintenance and new washing machines, etc.
“do not mind having a cafe, since it is far for me to walk to Starbucks and this is simply convenient.” OK, for the 1000th time, let’s go over the real issue here which is the zoning law for the interior of Stuyvesant Town which is classified R7-2, residential only, non commercial. In order to skirt this law, the Oval Café, the Greenmarket, the ice skating rink and the Oval Concerts and all of the other bread and circus events were all specified as being available only to the infamous “residents and their guests” BS. By using this nomenclature, these so called resident “accessories" are deemed noncommercial and are allowed under R7-2 zoning designation. Of course, Stuyvesant Town being a community where public access is allowed, for the Greenmarket and the Oval Concerts, ID checks are impossible to enforce and the enforcement was and is never done. There are no ID checks done at the Oval Café. Supposedly ID checks were done at the skating rink. So this is a corporate lie, done blatantly because CW Capital, like Tishman Speyer before, knows that in the Mike Bloomberg /Amanda Burden world, any time a resident zoning interest conflicts with a real estate commercial interest, the law is either ignored, changed unilaterally by his highness or rubber stamped approved by the spineless City Council . As I have posted before, to those “heroes of the stupid” who in their mindless selfishness think that the ends justify the means, what if you owned a house and woke up the next day to find that the house next door to your right had been turned into a Starbucks while the other house to your left had been turned into a 7-11? I bet you would be thrilled. Not.
ReplyDeleteIf the bond holders were smart they'd organize their own unannounced visit and look at a variety of buildings, lobbies, stairwells, recycling rooms, etc. Or maybe sit with Public Safety in the Sliver room on a Fruday night and watch the calls come pouring in about loud parties. I hope they take a long, hard look at the REAL Stuy Town and see what little Andrew MacArthur has achieved here. Other than making sure they continue to get negative publicity week after week.
ReplyDeleteThis place is surreal, how many more of these distractions are coming. Are they hiding their non-union workers from their other non-union workers?
ReplyDelete@Tommyboy
ReplyDeleteThe real reason for the dark green barriers! lol
People don't understand 25,000 ST-PCV residents are by nature trusting, sharing and friendly to strangers.
ReplyDeleteIt goes without saying, all persons and all dogs entering ST-PCV are automatically welcome, invited guests of each and every resident.
Furthermore, each and every ST-PCV resident publicly extends a 24/7/365 open invitation welcoming all the millions of persons and dogs not yet able to relieve themselves on the property.
I spoke with the legal dept at the Dept. of Buildings who claims to have no knowledge of these accessory use agreements that Dan Garodnick and Amanda Burden from the Dept of Planning have. So right there you can see this is still illegal as the DOB hasn't changed the zoning nor do they have any approvals for this accessory use. Thus an illegal arrangement was made between the Dept of Planning (Amanda Burden) and Dan Garodnick to allow these as accessory use. Then I called Dept of Planning (Amanda Burden's office)to find out who is supposed to enforce the "residents and their guests" rule. The clerk I spoke with told me Dan Garodnick's office was supposed to arrange with management to see that this rule was followed but she would have Ms. Burden return my call...LOL...as if that would happen.. Next, I called Dan Garodnicks office to find out what arrangement they made to enforce this rule and was told they would get back to me. I guess you can figure out if that ever happened... LOL...Looks like we were Garodnicked but good!
ReplyDeleteCafe Kubrick??? ROFLMAO!!!!
ReplyDelete@Anonymous said... August 6, 2012 2:38 PM
ReplyDeletePerfect explanation !
Take a look inside The Oval Cafe's kitchen:
ReplyDeleteA real fire trap!
How many non resident customers are visiting the cafe? My guess I less than .5%
ReplyDelete"How many non resident customers are visiting the cafe? My guess I less than .5%"
ReplyDeleteAnd here is Andrew MacArthur's Master Plan in action. Fill ST with people who don't give a f' about what takes place on the property. Makes illegal activity all the easier when nobody cares!
I hope Wachovia is watching.
I hope they put a retail establishment in every building - conveniences are needed here!
ReplyDelete“I hope they put a retail establishment in every building - conveniences are needed here!”
ReplyDeleteYes. “Conveniences” such as fire code compliant stairwell doors ,laundry machines that not filthy and are not out of order, re-cycle rooms free of flies, roaches and rats and apartments that are bed bug free. As I posted before, “heroes of the stupid”. Fah -fah flunkies.
Someone has outed Brookfield on the TA's Facebook page for possible illegal activity. Is this really who we want to be our next lord and master here? I don't think so. Haven't we had enough of this kind of egregious "the rules and laws don't apply to me" behavior from Rose Associates and CW Capital?
ReplyDeleteFrom the New York Times article:
"It has also raised questions about the relationship between Brookfield and the police, with protesters saying that officers should not enforce rules that were adopted secretly by a private company and that may violate provisions governing access to the park.
...Jethro Eisenstein, a lawyer who has represented protesters, said that Brookfield could not adopt rules limiting access there without permission from the City Planning Commission.
'They surely don’t have the right to secretly make rules and then get the N.Y.P.D. to enforce them,' he said."
Link to full article: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/police-enforcing-unposted-rules-at-zuccotti-park-memo-indicates/
"I hope Wachovia is watching."
ReplyDeleteCan you please explain what you mean by this? What does Wachovia have to do with Andrew MacArthur and CW Capital?
I send my laundry out, don't go in the stairwells and put all my garbage in the chute. I'm happy and have no complaints. Smile, God loves you.
ReplyDeleteMore on the mysterious presidential visit by the Grand Poo-Bah to 447...it seems that the visit didn't happen on Monday...and will probably happen today. Therefore, there was time for some additional cleaning, including SHINING the mailboxes, POLISHING the carriage room floors, and checking all the upper floors to make sure they were also clean.
ReplyDeleteAnd then today, we had the Zamboni-like thing running along the sidewalks and cleaning them with soap and water...because those sidewalks just have to be immaculate!
If only the VIP decided to go into ANY other building...maybe a rat would run across his shoes!
Hard to see the Oval cafe attracting many customers in the non-summer months. Seasonal stuff like the Greenmarket and the Skating Rink make more economic sense.
ReplyDelete"I send my laundry out, don't go in the stairwells and put all my garbage in the chute. I'm happy and have no complaints. Smile, God loves you."
ReplyDeleteWait til the cast of River Dance moves in upstairs from you and starts rehearsing.
Students, yunnies, dog owners: Please do us all a favor today and go over to 447 and poo, pee, vomit and throw garbage the way you do in all the other buildings so that the Grand Poo-Bah will get a representative look at Sty Town. Go put your dog blankets in the "washers" and leave your Cony Island White Fish all over the floor for the Pooh Bah to slip on. We can't have him getting a false impression of the place because of Rose's desperate attempt to put a lying face on. The management people are such slimy, shitty worms. SMFH.
ReplyDeleteDoes STPCV still participate in the Night Out Against Crime? Oops! I forgot; we don't have any crime in STPCV - it all takes place in Gramercy and the East River!
ReplyDeleteI saw someone cleaning the laundry room at 445 today. Maybe the Grand Pooh Bah is paying us a visit. They haven't vacuumed the halls in months! What a total mess this place is!
ReplyDeleteGuess what? When I got home this evening the halls at 445 had been vacuumed. Maybe Rose does actually read this blog. Maybe they are tarting the place up and doing what they should be doing all the time in order to impress a prospective buyer? Whatever the reason, the fact remains that Rose is the suckingest management company we ever had (even worse than TS who took some beating to the bottom) and whatever the next bunch of greedy, bottom-feeding bloodsuckers are, they are not going to be any better than what we are stuck with now.
ReplyDeleteI think it just goes to show that it takes a good amount of money to maintain this place. Obviously willpower and smarts are needed, too, but the current effort to beautify STPCV is being achieved by putting more money (a lot more, it seems) into maintenance. And I'm including the grounds keeping. So this is another caution to people interested in getting in on a condo or co-op deal. You're going to be paying a lot more for maintenance than you thought, or will be told. Else this place will look like a pigsty.
ReplyDeleteHow come Met life could keep it immaculate on the rent roll they had?
ReplyDeleteHow come Met life could keep it immaculate on the rent roll they had?
ReplyDeleteSimple. They didn't have to cover a HUGE mortgage like the one that is on the property now, thanks to Tishman Speyer et al.
"How come Met life could keep it immaculate on the rent roll they had?"
ReplyDeleteMetLife employed illegal sun baked mexicans.
Dors anybody else have black mold falling out of their showered? As well as the stuff that gathers on the walls and shower curtain? This place scares me!
ReplyDeleteBecause MetLife cared.
ReplyDelete"How come Met life could keep it immaculate on the rent roll they had?"
ReplyDeleteMetLife didn't pay $5.4 billion to build it. In fact, they paid hardly anything at all. They took their costs out of this place decades ago. It was all free cash flow. That's how they could afford it.
As for the cleaning effort, my porter was scrambling last night to clean up the recycling room because "we got a big inspection coming."
Clean for a day...
rose did it without a 5 billion dollar loan payment! rofl. can't go back now. wtf pays 5 billion for a place worth less than 3?
ReplyDeleteSimple. They didn't have to cover a HUGE mortgage like the one that is on the property now, thanks to Tishman Speyer et al.>>
ReplyDeleteI have ZERO sympathy for them. Let these blood-sucking sharks feed off each other. MetLife was a good landlord before they went "corporate" and became just part of the oligarchy that is ruling and ruining this country. If there was any real justice in this country, Rob Speyer, et al., would be thrown in the slammer for fraud, theft and helping to bring down the economy. It was their filthy ilk that caused all the troubles we are going through now.
"As for the cleaning effort, my porter was scrambling last night to clean up the recycling room because "we got a big inspection coming.""
ReplyDeleteWhat inspection would that be? Not the FDNY or DOB, I'm sure. Just some jackal who might buy the property and do more of the same that we've been enduring for the past six or seven years.
Our long-time porter worked tirelessly to keep our building immaculate. He was the best porter anyone could have had: friendly and eager to help because he genuinely cared about 'his' buildings and 'his' tenants, he had an old-fashioned work ethic and took pride in his work. Past tense because he's MIA, and the rumor is he's very sick. Probably worked to death.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody else have black mold falling out of their shower? As well as the stuff that gathers on the walls and shower curtain? This place scares me!
ReplyDeleteIf you really do have black mold (it actually may be rust) falling out of your shower, you should be calling Management and demanding that they do something about it IMMEDIATELY. Black mold is very toxic. As far as the "stuff" on the walls and shower curtain, get out your CLEANING SUPPLIES (some bleach will help a lot) and START SCRUBBING. That one's on YOU!
"wtf pays 5 billion for a place worth less than 3?"
ReplyDeleteAugust 10, 2012 6:19 PM
Answer: The Tenants Association!
"MetLife employed illegal sun baked mexicans."
ReplyDeleteThey certainly did not! MetLife employed unionized, background-checked, honest, hardworking people who were proud to work for the company and did excellent work. The groundsmen were professionals who knew their job (as opposed to cabbage recyclers) and the handymen and plumbers, electricians, etc., were excellent. The downhill trend when MetLife went publicly traded and started making cuts to the quality of maintenance and employee at Stuyvesant Town. Anybody remember the non-unionized, parolee-program clowns who "installed" the windows? They screwed up the job ingloriously and robbed peoples apartments at the same time. It kept going downhill after that. The current indoor maintenance staff are good, but the non-union guys they have running around the place installing pressure walls, painting, renovating, doing grounds work are not the best.
What inspection would that be? Not the FDNY or DOB, I'm sure. Just some jackal who might buy the property and do more of the same that we've been enduring for the past six or seven years."
ReplyDeleteIf CW really is bringing around potential buyers, it's up to us to make sure they get the real picture. We should greet them with begging bowls, photo montages of the recycling areas as they really are, maybe the odd feces sample (collected from public areas and plastic bagged, of course)--whatever it takes to undermine the lipstick CW is trying put on this pig.
'Simple. They didn't have to cover a HUGE mortgage like the one that is on the property now, thanks to Tishman Speyer et al.'>>
ReplyDelete"I have ZERO sympathy for them. Let these blood-sucking sharks feed off each other. MetLife was a good landlord before they went "corporate" and became just part of the oligarchy that is ruling and ruining this country. If there was any real justice in this country, Rob Speyer, et al., would be thrown in the slammer for fraud, theft and helping to bring down the economy. It was their filthy ilk that caused all the troubles we are going through now."
Your comment seems to indicate that I was showing some kind of sympathy for those creeps Tishman Speyer et al who bought this place and have left nothing but chaos in their wake here in STPCV ever since.
Just so there are NO misunderstandings about it let me state emphatically that I don't have one iota of sympathy for bloodsuckers like Tishman Speyer or their ilk. Not one.
"If CW really is bringing around potential buyers, it's up to us to make sure they get the real picture. We should greet them with begging bowls, photo montages of the recycling areas as they really are, maybe the odd feces sample (collected from public areas and plastic bagged, of course)--whatever it takes to undermine the lipstick CW is trying put on this pig."
ReplyDeleteExcellent idea! STR, please run those Flkr photos of the REAL Sty Town. I wish we could put them out there on the photoshopped advertisements for ST!