Saturday, September 1, 2012

Cafe Kubrick Plants Eaten

Rodents? A dog? A human rat?  Someone must have been hungry last night, because the morning found a few of the new green plants at the patio extension of Cafe Kubrick (Oval Cafe) chewed on and broken apart.  Or is American Leisure serving salad now?



And a look at the tables at this BRAND NEW amenity shows their sorry condition--chipped, gouged, peeling--and two flies munching away on one. These flies were so engrossed in their activity, they didn't move away when I approached!



Only the best for Residents and Their Guests!

Meanwhile, back in Stuy Turd Town, unpicked dog crap shows up in front of the Oval Essentials Office and the placard advertising the annoying and money-wasting events for the Labor Day Weekend.

73 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Andrew MacArthur! Bang up job!

Anonymous said...

It was Woody! Further evidence of his avarice to devour our community. Seriously.

Anonymous said...

That looks like the aftermath of a rat attack. When is the next health inspection scheduled?

Anonymous said...

Dog mess, ill-kept amenities, irritating concerts. You keep making STPCV sound like an undesirable place to live. Which detracts from the impression CW is trying to create. Please keep it up. Let's see how or if CW responds. And how or if CW will make know to uptown buyers that at some point they will stop renting to students.

Anonymous said...

What is that stupid plant area supposed to be anyway?

Anonymous said...

How is this new guy going to handle noise complaints? I live at 445 and since we had an influx of students last week there has been a nightly disturbance of someone playing music so loud that it literally vibrates the floors! I haven't called security/ps/whatever they call themselves these days because it is not close enough to me to annoy, BUT the people living near that apartment must either be deaf or the units are vacant. It's several floors away, but literally vibrates through the walls and floors! Usually starts at 11 pm and goes on to about 2 am. Lovely place to live, this!

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>What is that stupid plant area supposed to be anyway?<<

Just what it is, I guess. Perhaps it's also meant to hinder water flow during a rainstorm, but I suspect when the heavy rains come the plantings will be partially washed away.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

The process for noise complaints is, yes, calling Public Safety. They will come to YOUR apartment to see if they can hear the noise. If your walls are vibrating, however, I'd say that's cause to call them.

Anonymous said...

It would be great if everyone could start making public all the complaints that they've called in and also tell us what was the CW follow-up to your complaint. If you don't call in the complaint, there's nothing to publicize about the CW response.

Anonymous said...

"The process for noise complaints is, yes, calling Public Safety. They will come to YOUR apartment to see if they can hear the noise. If your walls are vibrating, however, I'd say that's cause to call them."

Adam Rose had a policy of going after people who caused a disturbance such as this; he would keep track of the number of complaints about an apartment and then hand it over to the legal department. Is CompassRock going to do the same thing? If not, then there is no point in calling PS.

Anonymous said...

Unpicked Dog Crap? Oh Yeah? Really? Well what about all the cigarette butts in front of my door? Or, uhhh, well.....the children make a lot of noise in the playgrounds!!!!! and well, what about those bikes? Yeah, the bikes.And oh yeah...those damn students!!!I'd rather have dog crap than all that!!!!!

Have I gotten it down dog owners?

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful gutter!

Clarabelle said...

One of Robbie's goats? It wasn't me!

Anonymous said...

Passed by the ova cafe today for the first time since they did that planting. Really, what a bunch of half ass twits. It really does look horrible. WHat was even more disgusting was the stains of dog urine on the wall surrounding the cafe. You would think people walking their dog would think to themselves that maybe here isn't the right place to let my dog piss?

Anonymous said...

Please! The cafe is so ugly I'D pee on the wall!

Anonymous said...

I live at 445. All three recycling bins have been pulled out to the middle of the "recycling room" and all three are filled with miscellaneous crap. Is this recycling? Thought I'd do a little laundry. 3 machines broken. Always the same. At least 3 machines out of order. Will things ever improve here? Sadly, it just gets worse and worse. Not quite NYCHA yet, but heading that way.

Anonymous said...

"Please! The cafe is so ugly I'D pee on the wall!"

I'd pee and poo on it! Work on the buildings, please, new management! Leave the Oval alone. We don't need more angels on the head of the proverbial pin, we just need more cleaning and maintenance in the buildings. Oh, by the way, how about all those fire safety violations? Bedbugs? Focus a lot more on those issues and a lot less on uglifying the Oval! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

I don't think these rubes from Rocky Mountain High are going to be able to cope with running PCVST. Tishman Speyer couldn't do it and they are New Yorkers. They knew how to run commercial real estate, but not residential real estate. Running a place like this is like running a small country! These guys don't stand a chance! LOL! They think it's all about the Oval and forget about the buildings and people living in them! What a fiasco!

Tommyboy said...

Just another fun filled weekend in Stuy Town, I am upset by the dog poop picture, it's deplorable, but do you go out with camera in hand looking for this stuff.
Top priority is getting a straight answer about anything from CompassRock

Anonymous said...

What's the point of filling the gully with plants, they're going to die. The bottom of that thing has been cemented over so the plants are resting in two inches of dirt. They are so idiotic around here.

Anonymous said...

I'd laugh if it all wasn't so pathetic.

I know! MuZak in the Oval. 24x7 smooth jazz.

Anonymous said...

"Not quite NYCHA yet, but heading that way."

That's one of the silliest statements I have seen so far on this blog. Have you ever really seen NYCHA housing and the kind of people who live in it? It is a million light years away from STPCV, notwithstanding the definite decline in quality of life over the last few years. The people who live in NYCHA housing are, for the most part, hopeless, taxpayer dependent people who contribute nothing but more of the same hopelessness to the future of our country. They are locked into their hopelessness. Lots of strung-out, angry single moms trying and failing to cope with a half dozen or more kids who will be lucky to survive becoming gangbangers or being killed by gangbangers. The old people in NYCHA housing live in fear and terror. They are scared to come out of their apartments. The old people here (and I'm one of them!) live in a state of constant annoyance!

The students moving in here may be brash and noisy and don't know how to dispose of garbage correctly, but they are full of life and hope and are the future of our country. They are also, for the most part, well-meaning and good. At least that's my opinion of them. I would rather live among them than live among the sad, wretched NYCHA tenants. We are a long, long, long way from being like NYCHA housing, thank God.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>I am upset by the dog poop picture, it's deplorable, but do you go out with camera in hand looking for this stuff..<<

No, and I wish I didn't come across it!

Tommyboy said...

I personally have no problem calling out a dog owner on this, in fact I know it's not your job to enforce pickups, but shame is a powerful tool.

dcf said...

11:46, I grew up in Fulton Projects on the West Side so I do have an experienced view of NYCHA and while there is a great deal of despair, there is also life and joy and good food and smart kids and loving families, many of which are headed by stressed out single Moms who work minimum wage jobs, because that's all there is for them, and frankly, many of the privileged kids who have taken up residence here will help to perpetuate that unlovely road of despair on which so many New Yorkers are stuck when these kids join the professional ranks and demand that their income need not be taxed because they are the "job creators." THEY are the ones who contribute "nothing but hopelessness to the future of our country" and YOU are their enablers. By the way, come on over to 285 Avenue C this morning and check out the filth of the hallways, recycling area, and laundry room. NYCHA has nothing on us!!

Anonymous said...

@ September 1, 2012 1:33 PM
Security doesn't respond to noise complaints made on blogs.

@ dcf
Well said. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Regarding Security and noise complaints, I called them at 4:30 this morning because my neighbors came home the worse for wear and started a karioke session! It took three visits from a Security office to make them shut up! I spoke to an Office Lorenzo each time I called and he was very nice and sent someone right away each time I called. They didn't have to come into my apartment because they could hear the noise coming from the offenders' apartment. Thank you Security!

Anonymous said...

Regarding single moms: I am sick of these women pronouncing themselves to be "single mom" as though it were some kind of badge of honor or something to be proud of. It's not. Keep your legs together or buy birth control (condoms are cheap) if you are not in a stable relationship or married. I do NOT want any of my taxpayer dollars to go towards your carelessness or mistakes. The mentality of the projects women is that they can f**ck and breed indiscriminately and the result is the taxpayers' responsibility. Tell the truth, I don't give a ff for your progeny. Take care of it yourself if your choose not to marry or hold your baby daddy responsible. Certainly is NOT my responsibility. Live in the Projects till you die. Your prob, not mine.

Anonymous said...

2:14...am curious. Are your neighbors students? You now have a documented complaint. If they keep it up (at least in the old days) you'd be able to press your building manager to get them kicked out. Suggest you find out who your building manager is, start building a case & let us all know what kind of response you're getting from management.

Anonymous said...

"2:14...am curious. Are your neighbors students? You now have a documented complaint. If they keep it up (at least in the old days) you'd be able to press your building manager to get them kicked out. Suggest you find out who your building manager is, start building a case & let us all know what kind of response you're getting from management."

They are not students. I would say they are late twenties to early thirties. Old enough to know better. I have several documented complaints against them, although they had been better for several months. The commotion is always in the early morning hours, like around 4 and goes on to about 7. Adam Rose was very helpful about this, but alas he's gone now. Security were great though.

Anonymous said...

9:22 AM Who is your building manager? What is being done for you? Are these people on their way to having their lease revoked?

Anonymous said...

About illegal partitioning...please see this story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/realestate/18cov.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2
If you know of a unit that's been partitioned, call 311.

Anonymous said...

"9:22 AM Who is your building manager? What is being done for you? Are these people on their way to having their lease revoked?"

Didn't know we even had building managers!

Anonymous said...

"Regarding single moms: I am sick of these women pronouncing themselves to be "single mom" as though it were some kind of badge of honor or something to be proud of. It's not. Keep your legs together or buy birth control (condoms are cheap) if you are not in a stable relationship or married. I do NOT want any of my taxpayer dollars to go towards your carelessness or mistakes. The mentality of the projects women is that they can f**ck and breed indiscriminately and the result is the taxpayers' responsibility. Tell the truth, I don't give a ff for your progeny. Take care of it yourself if your choose not to marry or hold your baby daddy responsible. Certainly is NOT my responsibility. Live in the Projects till you die. Your prob, not mine."

WHY is this rant on a site devoted to the truth about StuyTown?

Anonymous said...

I'm flagging September 3, 2012 7:14 PM as inappropriate, if there's any such thing on this blog. Can't imagine how thinly veiled racist rants like that are allowed on a moderated blog.

Anonymous said...

I should have added the word "misogynist" either before or after "sexist" in my earlier request to have the post at September 3, 2012 7:14 PM deleted for offensive content.



Anonymous said...

The 7:14 comment borderlines on hate speach. STR you may want to considering deleting it as I don't feel it's the type of thing you support.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

Well, I let it through with reservations. And I still have them. But people can see the divergent views here.

Anonymous said...

7:14 has some valid viewpoints, but the subject is really totally off topic for this blog. (and I don't agree that it's anything close to hate speech, who are you people, the Stroller Mafia ?)

Anonymous said...

There are building managers assigned. I didn't know either until I had a problem last year.
BTW, it's the squirrels that are destroying the plants. Not eating them. Using the leaves to build their winter nests.

Anonymous said...

I still want to know who these building managers are! I was under the impression that we had just one Manager, Sean whatsisname. Correct me if I'm wrong. Always someone on here ready to do that! ;-)

Anonymous said...

Squirrels sleep through the night. And in the day you never see them at that patch. No, those are big RATS that come out when everyone is sleeping and they munch away on those plants and carry some off to build rat nests underground.

Anonymous said...

I think the baby mama rant may have been "inspired" in some way by the NYCHA comments. Takes all sorts. My personal non-Stuytown peeve is all this presidential campaigning. They spend the second half of the first fighting for a second term; then, if they get back in, they're a lame duck. We need something like a parliamentary system IMHO. Let's put STR in the Oval Office. Hell get things done! Right, STR? I'll be the Veep. ;-)

Stuy Town Reporter said...

I'd rather be Mayor of NYC and shake things up in Stuy Town and the rest of the city, and truly bring back the middle class. You can be Deputy Mayor.

Anonymous said...

"I still want to know who these building managers are! I was under the impression that we had just one Manager, Sean whatsisname. Correct me if I'm wrong."

There are property managers. I have the name of mine (if she's still here), as well as her email address and phone number (although I always get voice mail). As with many organizations, there are levels forming a bureaucracy. When I have a complaint, I send it to my property manager, her boss, and a couple of others, including Adam Rose in the past (with pictures to make my point). Just call the main office and ask to speak with the property manager for your building. The email address in the past has been the first initial of the first name + the surname (as one word) @pcvst.com.
To avoid going through the telephone tree when you call the main office, just keep hitting zero until the receptionist answers. That way you can ask him or her to direct you to the right person.

Anonymous said...

Ok. I'll accept the job of deputy mayor, we will sort out this messed up city. Well celebrate by abolishing bike lanes, making Big Gulps free for a week and send the bill to Bloomie, free all the carriage horses from their misery and then banish Rob Speyer to Devils Isand. Just for starters in our first week! Sound good?

Anonymous said...

The squirrels get blamed for everything round here! Verizon says they eat the copper wires so we need to upgrade to FIOS! Bull! Too many hall monitors lurking round here asking for posts they don't like to be deleted. Can we have a recap now?

Chris said...

Yes, it's the squirrels destroying the plants. Anyone who's ever had a garden recognizes their handiwork. They can be really destructive.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

Can we banish both Robbie and Bloomie?

Anonymous said...

Can we banish both Robbie and Bloomie?>>>

YES, PLEASE!!!!

Anonymous said...

Not that it matters...I neglected to mention...I was standing by 'the patch' when I saw a squirrel dart in, pull out a leaf and head out. BTW, shouldn't we be at least somewhat focused on whether or not we're going to hear from Brookfield as promised?

Anonymous said...

I'm voting for 6:25 am. My FEELINGS same as his/her.


But where is Lo? :( miss that person

Anonymous said...

Just saying...I recently became aware that a unit on my floor was partitioned to accommodate students. I have no idea if this was a legal partition or not. But I called it in to 311. It will be inspected & I can follow the status by its tracking number. Yes, you have to give your name & address. I hope everyone starts calling these in. If you already have, please share with us what has happened in response.

Lo Rhent said...

Who call for Lo? Have to put down big gulp to type!

Don't you bother mister Bloomie. He very busy in Bermuda. You send bill to Woody! He still sitting on big $2 million payday--until boys from Chicago catching up with him. They no mess around.

I hear he stash all the cash in freezer. Don't tell no one you hear it from me...

Anonymous said...

FYI - There are partitions and configurations of partitions that have been OK'd by the Buildings department for use here in STPCV.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

But those "okays" are for no change in occupancy, remarkably, which is what the powers that be state. What's going on with that? How can you add a partition or a wall and not have a change in occupancy?

Anonymous said...

Yes...some partitions are legal. But we don't know which ones. I believe for a partition to be legal the city has to issue a work permit for it to be built. I imagine the city keeps track of the work permits in a database. Should be no hassle to check. One concern. If it turns out the proper procedures and permissions were not obtained, is the city going to bend the rules to make CW happy or will the walls come down? Very important to watch & communicate the follow-up.
Will be curious to know if anyone else relates phoning in.

Anonymous said...

STR said: How can you add a partition or a wall and not have a change in occupancy?

One way (which is generally not what posters are talking about) is by dividing a bedroom for two children. This is not unusual in PCV 2BRs for families with children of different genders. Or a bedroom could be divided for children of the same gender.

Anonymous said...

Check the address on the permits posted on the doors. They often use permits for other buildings, which is illegal.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone else noticed the new late night/early morning trash action in ST the past few days?!?

Last weekend, I noticed a maintenance man around midnight, rolling his bin around the grounds, emptying trash cans and putting in fresh plastic bags. And then two nights later, the same thing.

And then at around 4:00 am...the ST garbage truck pulls up to pick up a whole bunch of recycling bags that had been dragged out to the walkway near the basketball courts, from all the buildings in the line.

Is this a new practice by the new management team?

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>One way (which is generally not what posters are talking about) is by dividing a bedroom for two children. This is not unusual in PCV 2BRs for families with children of different genders. Or a bedroom could be divided for children of the same gender.<<

Yes, that would be okay, but these are partitions/walls put up when a rent-stabilized apartment (a real one) gets turned over.

Anonymous said...

My party animal neighbors started up at 4am again this morning. I didn't call security immediately because I was too tired. I did evenjtually call and they went over and shut them up. This is like living over an after hours bar. It really is horrible. Adam Rose, please come back!

Anonymous said...

Having read the regulations, I still can't tell what constitutes a legal partition. This is a matter for the Buildings Dept. All partitioned units that you know of should be reported.

Anonymous said...

Update on property managers: I learned today that the property managers have had their assignments reshuffled in the wake of Rose's departure. If you knew who your property manager was, you should check to see who the new one is.

Anonymous said...

The complex has been going downhill for the last 6 years, all these QOL issues that everybody seems so up in arms about can easily be resolved once the property is sold and it goes either Condo or Co Op, and we form a Condo or Co Op board, then as owners we will have a lot more power than we do now to deal with these issues.
The property will be sold, there is no question about that and if the TA miss the boat, as they did 6 years ago when Tishman outbid them, we will be in even deeper trouble than we are now.
That is why we need to be focusing on the sale of STPCV, first thing that needs to happen is Robert’s needs to be settled, so we should be putting our efforts into finding out when the next court hearing is and we need to send a clear message to the TA/Brookfield or who ever ends up being the high bidder, that we will not be interested in buying into STPCV unless the insiders price is affordable, as in $300.00 PSF.
If you think it’s bad now, just wait and see how bad it is going to get if someone like Lefrak, Trump, or the Chinese Government are the high bidder.

Anonymous said...

In response to Anon 2:43 PM - Our building porter told us there is now evening/night staff assigned to empty the recycle bins. Also, the bagged garbage/recycles is being picked up from the building daily.

Anonymous said...

Just a little over a month away from the THREE YEAR anniversary of ST/PCV tenants "WINNING" the Roberts decision. (LOL).

Anonymous said...

The Chinese government deserves to own this place. They've got all of our money, anyway.

They took all of the signs down in my recycling room. Now all we've got is four plastic garbage bins and an "eeny-meany-miney-moe" approach to figuring out which bin to use.

Hey, they put signs on the fire doors telling us to close them, how come they can't put signs on the bins to tell us where to throw our crap? Oh...wait...on the floor! That's where it all ends up anyway.

Anonymous said...

I have a question concerning the "working at home" brigade. I understand that some people are employed by companies who allow them to telecommute. Fair enough. Then we have the "free-lancers" who work at home as artists, illustrators, writers, web designers, whatever. Where is the line drawn between using your apartment (especially if it is rent stabilized) as a business address and violating the laws that separate residential property from business property? For instance, I had a hairdresser who lived in a rent stabilized apartment (not here), but used his living room as a little salon. His landlord found out and booted him out. How is he different from the dressmaker who works from home; the artist who works from home; the webdesigner; baker, etc., etc.? The person who lives downstairs from me calls herself a fashion designer and has people coming and going all hours of the day and night. How is this different from a shop? Anyone got an answer to my question?

Anonymous said...

I believe that home business operations are governed by the terms of your lease.

Anonymous said...

"They took all of the signs down in my recycling room. Now all we've got is four plastic garbage bins and an "eeny-meany-miney-moe" approach to figuring out which bin to use.

Hey, they put signs on the fire doors telling us to close them, how come they can't put signs on the bins to tell us where to throw our crap? Oh...wait...on the floor! That's where it all ends up anyway."

The Compactor Chute works perfectly well for me. For ALL my garbage!

Ben said...

Did you guys see yesterday, it was raining in the oval? People couldn't even hang out comfortably outside! What is CW going to do next????

Anonymous said...

Your building sounds fancier than mine... we only have three bins, not four. Somehow, ALL still manage to completely block the entrance/egress and are a violation of fire code.