Monday, September 24, 2012

"A nice location for those who live east of 1st Ave."

So, Cafe Kubrick, otherwise known as Oval Cafe, has a review on Yelp. In the midst of some quirky grammar, the reviewer writes that the cafe is "a nice location for those who live east of 1st Ave." Well, yeah, but it should only be for those who live east of 1st Ave and above 14th Street and below 23rd Street. Like, eh, residents of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. And their guests.

So, what does CompassRock or CWCapital have to say about this? Surely they are keeping to the zoning regulations here and not allowing non-residents the use of this wonderful cafe?

Sending a shout-out to our councilman Dan Garodnick!

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

All these complaints about the same things over and over...and no suggestion what to do about them. Must amuse CW to see so much complaining about the same things but no actions that would have any effect on them.

Hippo said...

Councilman Garodnick is a fraud. He totally caved in to the "for residents and their guests only" nonsense which essentially allows for the complete commercialization of the Oval and Stuy Town. Danny Boy wants desperately to run for Comptroller as he is term limited and needs, wants and has accepted oodles of "contibutions" from the greedy real estate interests to finance his campaign. Just another slimy polician...

Chris said...

Nicole, the reviewer, clearly lives here. Are you worried that this will bring a deluge of outsiders to the cafe? I doubt it. But I imagine some of our 25,000+ neighbors may find it helpful.

Chris said...

I also saw some nuns shopping at our Greenmarket this week. Should security have escorted them out?

Anonymous said...

STR, sorry to say that you may as well send a shout out to a brick wall.

Gracie said...

This young lady should be ashamed of her communication skills. My 5 year-old niece writes better than she does.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>I also saw some nuns shopping at our Greenmarket this week. Should security have escorted them out?<<

Absolutely. Under armed escort.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>Nicole, the reviewer, clearly lives here. Are you worried that this will bring a deluge of outsiders to the cafe? I doubt it. But I imagine some of our 25,000+ neighbors may find it helpful.<<

Despite her text, she didn't give it a higher rating.

Anonymous said...

I am noticing more & more non-resident parking
themselves at the cafe with their computers. (Free
electric & internet)

Anonymous said...

I think anyone can write one of these reviews. Let's get going, people!

Spread the word about the stale bread, dilapidated furniture, questionable menu and sky-high prices!

Yelp it out...

Tommyboy said...

Unless one is referring to the homeless sleeping on a bench on the East River, everyone who lives east of 1st Avenue is a resident, for the small % of non residents that slip thru the cracks to overpay for coffee & croissants, so be it.
That Rose Associates & CDW were able to disregard & manipulate the rules under the very residential noses of the TA & Dan Garodnick is the real issue here.
Keep it up and the Amusement Park like atmosphere will continue.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>Unless one is referring to the homeless sleeping on a bench on the East River, everyone who lives east of 1st Avenue is a resident,<<

Anyone in the East Village must also be a resident then.

Anonymous said...

"Must amuse CW to see so much complaining about the same things but no actions that would have any effect on them."

Negative online publicity never amuses CW. Rant away!

Anonymous said...

Hey! Skating season is just around the corner!

Gag me...

Tommyboy said...

People get over yourselves, no one, I repeat no one would walk thru Stuyvesant Town for the fare served at the oval cafe. The cafe is not the problem here, constant whiners are!
For me it is simple, Starbucks, David's, & Ess-a-bagel are all closer and much preferred. For the seniors, the travel challenged, nannies & their charges, this cafe is most useful. I disagree with the ommercialization of this area, bu apparently they are within the scope of the law.

Anonymous said...

I really think the complaints about the cafe are overblown. It is just another mediocre coffee place and somewhat convenient for STPCV residents...but really are many outsiders coming to this place? I doubt it.

I did notice today that there were FOUR security cars parked in a row on 20th street, the guards in various states of torpor, for hours doing absolutely nothing. Oh, take that back, one had a enormous DD coffee in his car.

Enforcement of the rules would be easy...replace these bloated security guys with a new force of guys that have some fear for their jobs. The problem isn't cafe's and dogs, it is the way the rules are (not) enforced.

All that said, I found Kubrik's coffee drinkable and did not see any so called "bums" trying to get in. lol

Chris said...

This past Sunday was beautiful and I was happy to get a coffee at the Cafe after I shopped at the Greenmarket. The coffee was good but service was painfully slow--seems like brand new staff.

The place was quite busy with a lot of families getting coffee and snacks.

And the fear that the cafe will become a destination for outsiders seems ridiculous. And frankly, I really don't care if some nonresidents slip in as long as they are respectful--bad behavior should be stopped under any circumstance.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

I would use Cafe Kubrick if it had been more inviting. It's despicably ugly.

Anonymous said...

It's perfectly lovely on the patio there. And inside, it's no uglier than any other of the spaces, generic, a bit cold/institutional but relatively comfortable. Like all of the buildings here at Stuytown.

Yelp Girl 4 Evar WOOO said...

OHMYGOD! I LOVE THE OVIL CAFE! Like, me and my 10 roommates, Becky, Meghan, Jessica, Meghan, Allison, Meghan, Stacii, Meghan, Meghan and Jenn sooo don't like walking to Starbucks like it's too far and full of old people slowly dying or like, women with babies which personally I think is another slow and painful death but WHATEVS. OVAL CAFE!

They have the besst wifi and the cofee is sooo strong its like they take the cofee grounds and burn them before they make the cofee which is awesome beccause I get so much stuff done after visiting the cafe.

The food is all a bit stale but thats ok because most of us dont eat we just rip the scones to pieces and throw a napkin over it. the chairs are sooo big its like sitting in a black hole i think theyre desinged to keep people in the cafe and ordering more coffee and making them more money but thats ok becuase we have nothing else to do and the apartment is sooo crowded now that Meghan, Meghan, Jenn and Meghan all have boyfriends who sleep over its like crazy full in there. There's mattressassesesas all over the floors in the bedroomss and the living room and the tub.

The other think I like the about the Ovval Cafe is they allow us to bring our dogs their which is awesome beccause all ten of us have promeranians and like if we leave them in the apartment Meghan, Meghan, Jenn and Meghan's boyfriends smoke a bowl and shave them and then theyre not cute anymore cause they look like rats whicch reminds me the one thing i DONT like about the Cafe Oval is there's TONS of rats. Rats on the pario, rats in the bushes, rates in the bathroom, rats pushing carts and selling ice cream. they are EVERYWHERE. DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE RATS!!!!!

Also, they need to add space heaters outside now bwcxuase its freezing fall now and i don't know how people are suppossed to enjoy the outdoor patio in the fall and winter if it has no walls, roof or heat. Whats that all about???

In closure the Cafe Ovil is an awesome addition to the comunity and they have the best wifi and the strongest coffee and when we WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! the staff doesnt yell at us or throw cups of urine out their windows at us like the cranky old people who live upstares from the Oval Cafe.

Anonymous said...

"Like yah, I'll use my iPhone to "check-in" at Oval Café on Facebook..."

I guess this is the typical resident now. Sigh.

Anonymous said...

Who cares about the cafe! Lets focus on a way to have some "quality of life" issues dealt with. I can't sleep at night because of the hoards of students.

Anonymous said...

It's a Snack bar, not a cafe!

I hear they're gonna run commercials with dancing pizza fingers during intermission on Oval Movies nights.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>It's perfectly lovely on the patio there.<<

You have a different definition of "lovely" than I do. The cafe patio has the worst view of all the other amenity spaces. The one from Oval Study is much nicer, as is the one from the former Oval Film. Plus those tables are chipped and peeling, and there's always a dog being walked that wants to piss up against the patio wall. Lovely, indeed!

Anonymous said...

NYPD and the toy cops were at Oval Study tonight around 11. Think someone broke in.

Anonymous said...

Someone was raped in the Oval tonight. The police were searching the gardens for him.

Anonymous said...

To add to 2:42am commenter: Security vehicles are parking on the Oval Fountain "plaza" day and night. What's up with that? Go on foot patrols.

Anonymous said...

There is no free wi-fi at Cafe. If you want wi-fi you need to join Oval Study and pay a monthly membership fee to American Leisure.

Anonymous said...

"You have a different definition of "lovely" than I do. The cafe patio has the worst view of all the other amenity spaces. The one from Oval Study is much nicer, as is the one from the former Oval Film. Plus those tables are chipped and peeling, and there's always a dog being walked that wants to piss up against the patio wall. Lovely, indeed!"

I think I'm going to agree with STR.

Anonymous said...

<>


Yes, exactly. Why are we (our rent) paying 10-12 people to sit in a car all day with the occasional words for college students or dog owners.

That's fine to enforce those rules (barely) but please actually patrol the grounds. That means getting out of your car and not only to write parking tickets.

More objectionable still is the fact that for them to socialize they always clump together on one street leaving 13.5 acres of un patrolled grounds.

Anonymous said...

What exactly happened in the Oval last night????

Anonymous said...

Someone was raped in the Oval???!!!
Where the hell was security???

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 2:13 p.m. said: "Why are we (our rent) paying 10-12 people to sit in a car all day with the occasional words for college students or dog owners. . . . More objectionable still is the fact that for them to socialize they always clump together on one street leaving 13.5 acres of un patrolled grounds."

If everyone who noticed this called the Security number to say, "I notice a bunch of guards [doing whatever it is they're doing]. Shouldn't they be patrolling the grounds and responding to complaints?" maybe we could shame them into doing their job. Or just go up to them and ask any old question to break up their conversation. Or why not write or email the head of Security, Bill McClellan (wmcclellan@pcvst.com) to document what you've seen. Or take a picture if you can and email it to him or T&V. Let's get creative, people--we are indeed paying for this.

Anonymous said...

I recently moved in to Stuy Town and I hate it. My husband and I are constantly woken up by the kids in the apartment upstairs. Last night I went up there at 2am because the noise was too much to take and they had a keg in the middle of the room and beer and solo cups all over the floor. There must have been 15 kids up there most of which were underage. Living here is hell!

Tommyboy said...

I'm proud to be an east of 1aver!
Seems like some posters have a bone to pick with security, notably receiving a parking ticket. I for one can attest that Parkin here is more reasonable & available in Stuy town than anywhere else in the city, follow the rules and quit your griping.

Anonymous said...

My downstairs neighbor is running a business out of her apartment and works overnight and makes a hell of a noise (fashion designing or something like that). Her business is listed as at her address here. I personally don't care if she's running a brothel or opium den, though I don't think it is anything like that; I just want to get a good night's sleep. Any suggestions? I am sick of being woken up at all hours of the night by her banging (not sex here) away at whatever equipment she has.

Anonymous said...

thiking of checking out of here soon and want to contact the lawyer for the tenants to give address / email for updates. have been overcharged for so long here. thanks

Anonymous said...

sorry, does anyone have the email for lawyer? robert i think or ?

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>Someone was raped in the Oval???!!!
Where the hell was security???<<

I've heard nothing to confirm this. Anyone know?

Anonymous said...

If someone was, indeed, raped in the Oval we certainly won't read about it in that LL shill, Town & Village.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

Actually, that's where most crime here is first reported (to us).

Anonymous said...

A woman was beaten badly early morning on 9/29 in front of 447. Around 1AM, maybe earlier.

Look for it in the T&V in a week or so. I heard it on my police scanner. The cops initially deferred to PS but eventually called for a bus (ambulance).

I think some people refer to that building as 447 Hell but what do I know.

Anonymous said...

They refer to it as "447 Hell" because the junkies and drunkards outside Beth Israel follow seniors and women back to the building and attack them. One man was attacked on either Labor Day or Memorial Day last year. Was at the stand getting a paper and was followed home and beaten in the lobby. I bet they don't tell that story when the leasing office charges new tenants $3,600 for a one bedroom in 447 Hell!

Anonymous said...

Do they still have a methodone clinic at or near Beth Israel? There really are a lot of unsavory characters hanging around that block and there has got to be a reason for it.