Saturday, March 8, 2014

Disturbing Photo

The Oval looks a little too pristine. Makes me nervous. Let's mess it up.

 

58 comments:

Anonymous said...

Trees! Quick Andrew MacArthur, better cut them down before someone enjoys them!

Anonymous said...

That cannot be a recent photo.

Anonymous said...

I think it's from the early fifties, when I lived there as a child. ST was beautiful then.

Anonymous said...

Not one trash can in sight.
Not one scrap of paper on the ground.

ST/PCV looked like this 2005-2006. If not, the trees were taller and thicker 2005-2006.

There were times and places you could sit at one end of The Oval and barely see buildings on the opposite side. The right side of this photo provides a hint of what once was.

Suddenly without warning, MetLife butchered and hacked down half The Oval's tallest trees.

SHAME!

Anonymous said...

You're cheating STR, no A/C's in that photo ! That's when we lived with Hunter and Hassock fans to keep cool in the summer. We paid our dues in sweat for over 40 years before we were rewired. Think about THAT, FMR'ers !

Anonymous said...

Note that in those days people were forbidden to walk on the grass and dogs were forbidden throughout the complex

Anonymous said...

Makes me sad to remember how beautiful this place was. I didn't notice any piles of shit in the picture, could that be because dogs weren't allowed?

Anonymous said...

It is disturbing and disgraceful the number of trees they all killed and with that ruined the park that once was Stuyvesant Town.

Anonymous said...

What made them take such fiendish delight in cutting down all those beautiful trees and turning the Oval into a dirt patch? There had to be some sick minds involved.

MetLife (under the Benmoishe Fascist Regime), followed by Tishman Speyer, under the Avaricious Autocracy of the sick and soulless Rob Speyer and then the dregs of humanity, CW Cap, totally destroyed what was one of the few and far between pleasant and peaceful places in New York City. May they all rot in Hell and may they go there soon. I feel nothing but visceral hatred for these idiots.

Anonymous said...

If only it still looked that way. At some point those bushes were much higher.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

I don't know the year that photo was taken, but it goes way back. For me, the Oval looked the best when Met-Life spruced it up for the sale, adding more greenery and flowers. Basically, transforming the islands into gardens. I also think the current fountain looks better than the former one from years back. Tishman-Speyer maintained, and even added, more garden elements, but they tragically chopped off a good portion of the southern end of the lawn with the introduction of the greenmarket. I think the most devastating "steward" has been, without doubt, CWCapital. They have destroyed the Oval. The final death blow was the building of the overseeing Public Safety office. We'll never get the Oval back now.

Anonymous said...

Andrew MacArthur's attempts at "urban planning" make Robert Moses' failures pale in comparison. Does anyone at CWCapital, or the bond holders, have any say in how far AM will take his reign of destruction?

Anonymous said...

Once again I saw a woman in front of my building lift up one of the ropes of a roped-off area and let her dog in to make his mess there. I've filled out 2 complaints with the Dep of Sanitation, now I'll fill out another. I know one or two people at this site have done the same. The rest seem to me like idle complainers. CW will do nothing, security will do nothing. Neither have any teeth. But the DoS can issue fines. If people here don't have enough energy to just fill out a complaint at the DoS site, this problem is never going to go away.

Anonymous said...

You can't mention the destruction of the Oval without mentioning the part Dan Garodnick and the TA have played.

Anonymous said...

What happened to the "Poopie Scooper" law? Did that go away?

Anonymous said...

"You can't mention the destruction of the Oval without mentioning the part Dan Garodnick and the TA have played."

I remember when the TA got its panties in a tangle because they put a soda machine in the Oval!

Anonymous said...

I hope Garodnick isn't planning to run for any other office after his current term (which he should never have had because the people wanted term limits) because I will devote my time to campaigning AGAINST him.

Anonymous said...

What agony!

Anonymous said...

Don't worry! Dan Garodnick is planning anything! ROFL

Anonymous said...

Ah, the soda machines. The TA ran around all Henny Penny because their belief was the soda machines would attract gangs. Then again, if Susan Steinberg had her way, women would be stoned for wearing bikinis on the property. The TA is so antiquated it hurts.

Anonymous said...

"Ah, the soda machines. The TA ran around all Henny Penny because their belief was the soda machines would attract gangs. Then again, if Susan Steinberg had her way, women would be stoned for wearing bikinis on the property. The TA is so antiquated it hurts."

You have no idea what you are talking about. Get a life.

Anonymous said...

2:40 your reply to 11:12 lacks substance, validity, credibility and only contains a weak insult telling 11:12 to "get a life".

11:12 used analogies to make a solid point.

So make a counterpoint if you even have one. But to resort to junior high school phrases to insult them supports their point that the thinking by you all is antiquated for those who have graduated beyond junior high.

Anonymous said...

"You can't mention the destruction of the Oval without mentioning the part Dan Garodnick and the TA have played."

They don't own the property.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

"You can't mention the destruction of the Oval without mentioning the part Dan Garodnick and the TA have played."

March 9, 2014 at 3:31 PM

And the upstanding pillar-of-the-community business they partnered with and paid to decimate the Oval is in the news for additional offenses.

http://nypost.com/2014/03/09/landscape-contractor-defrauds-city-for-tree-planting-workers/

Anonymous said...

“This used to be a very strait-laced community,” said Susan Steinberg, head of the tenants association, who believes all "two-pieces" should be banned. “The sunbathing is tasteless, it’s not very classy, and it doesn’t belong in a mixed residential development.”

http://jezebel.com/nyc-playground-battle-bikinis-vs-babies-505624908

That's right. No idea.

Anonymous said...

"Antiquated"

Look at the photo again. - Pristine landscaping. No trash cans and no trash on the ground. - Residential Property.

Now we have dogs and soda machines. Trash cans stand 50 feet apart, never more than a few steps away. Yet there is dog shit and garbage strewn about the ground everywhere, including inside elevators and stairwells.

Antiquated is preferable to dog shit and garbage.

Anonymous said...

No replies to a ?

Is it Beaver street? So sorry to repost. Which the address downtown to inquire on legal rent allowed? Thank you and thank you for the blog.

Anonymous said...

"http://nypost.com/2014/03/09/landscape-contractor-defrauds-city-for-tree-planting-workers/"

I've always said that this place was handed over to the Mafia when the Speyers took over. Maybe not by design, but because they were too stupid to know any better. I think the mob still has a hold on the place. Just look at the construction/destruction that is going on!

Anonymous said...

Anony 6.26 PM. This your source?

"Jezebel-Celebrity, Sex, Fashion for Women. Without Airbrushing."

The Susan Steinberg quote there is a lie and is taken out of context. You keep bringing up this lie, again and again. Again, for the 1000th time, the issue was playground 10, a children’s sport playground with an artificial turf that was taken over by sunbathers who could not wait for the Oval to reopen, where they can sunbathe to their heart's contact in bikinis. Also, sunbathers were also lying on the benches surrounding playground 10. Lying on the benches by ANYONE is forbidden here since PCVST is private property with public access. Every time you post this lie, I will respond. One can have very legitimate, serious disagreements with the TA and Susan Steinberg, this BS is not one of them.

Anonymous said...

Anony 8.54 PM

Go to this link.

http://www.nyshcr.org/AboutUs/Contact.htm

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>One can have very legitimate, serious disagreements with the TA and Susan Steinberg, this BS is not one of them.<<

I agree.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Playground 10 when the weather gets warmer (and the remnants of the ice rink are gone). No playground should be used for sunbathing, and neither should the area around the Oval fountain. Place looks like crap when management allows that, and since it already looks like crap, that's just extra crap we don't need to see.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>I've always said that this place was handed over to the Mafia when the Speyers took over.<<

Oh, "the boys" are probably still very much involved in construction, as they've been historically, so when big real estate wins, the boys win. That's why when NYC politicians promote huge construction projects in the city as "bringing jobs to the city," I'm wondering just who is benefiting. Certainly not you or me.

Tommyboyardee said...

When can I use the new security drive way to change my oil and perhaps othe car repairs.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know why, on facebook, some tenants are receiving credits for these MCI'S?

Anonymous said...

@11:33 PM is it a lie or a quote taken out of context? You can't have it both ways.

She was in the position to make a strong statement about the Playground being taken over by the sunbathers instead she chose to share her cavewoman views on bikinis.

Jezebel was only one of the 100+ news sources that carried the story. I referenced the first one I found, not the most prestigious I agree, but the quote is everywhere.

So when you say I don't know what I am talking about, I most certainly do.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the Steinberg quote for Playground 10 AND for the Oval. This is still a private, primarily family-oriented, residential community...not a large public park. I doubt that young mothers (or older) are the ones out there sunbathing. So what we have is the paradigm foisted on us by CW. Namely renting to college students and recent grads who emulate the old Upper East side tradition of sharing (2-5 in a unit) and looking for action. It's not that Steinberg is behind the times. What gives the current trend force is that CW is in control and CW will do anything for a buck. They won't even enforce their own rules about the dogs for fear of hassle & losing money.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>Does anyone know why, on facebook, some tenants are receiving credits for these MCI'S?<<

It would be nice if someone from the TA would respond and illuminate us on this.

Anonymous said...

Since when are bikinis considered un-family orientated?!?!?! Private property or not, this isn't Saudi Arabia. It's a bikini. Get OVER yourselves!

Anonymous said...

Taking a quote out of context and attaching that quote to one’s agenda and repeating it ad nauseam makes it a lie. They are not mutually exclusive. See Roger Ailes.

“I referenced the first one I found, not the most prestigious I agree, but the quote is everywhere.”

Yes, the quote was on trash sites everywhere since it had the prude sex angle. Since it was everywhere, then it must be true. So called journalism today is to copy and paste and be done. Speaking of journalists, we just lost a real one, Joe McGinniss, yesterday.

Anonymous said...

"Does anyone know why, on facebook, some tenants are receiving credits for these MCI'S?"

My hunch is that the credits are only for Roberts tenants since they never (?) received the DHCR MCI notifications (no docket numbers). It would be nice to have the TA to do some type of response. The infuriating thing about CWC/CR is that they are all over the place the way they do ANYTHING around here, lease renewals, MCI credits, maintenance, QOL enforcement, landscaping, etc. the list goes on and on. There is no constancy anywhere, the sign of a not ready for prime time player.

Anonymous said...

>>I've always said that this place was handed over to the Mafia when the Speyers took over.<<

Oh, "the boys" are probably still very much involved in construction, as they've been historically, so when big real estate wins, the boys win. That's why when NYC politicians promote huge construction projects in the city as "bringing jobs to the city," I'm wondering just who is benefiting. Certainly not you or me. >>>>

STR, it wouldn't surprise me one little bit if the Mob is involved with the construction and the "landscaping." I believe they are very much alive and well in the construction business. It unnerves me to see those very tall, very thin buildings. Don't trust them at all. In fact, after watching the Twin Towers come down like they were made of paper, I have serious misgivings about the construction of my high-rises built in New York in the last 3 or 4 decades. I think we know that the developers have totally no consciences about anything that would lose them money, so it stands to reason they would hire the lowest bidders. Look at how many cranes have come down in recent years. I think the mob was involved in those horrors.

Anonymous said...

It was a different time - People had pride in where they lived. They respected others. This isn't the world we live in today. Which is very unfortunate.

Anonymous said...

10 15. No credits for us. Some have? Why some????

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>Since when are bikinis considered un-family orientated?!?!?! Private property or not, this isn't Saudi Arabia. It's a bikini.<<

Bikinis have their place, certainly. And I do enjoy seeing them on the Oval Lawn when it's opened. (As does Public Safety!) But lying down, in a bikini or not, and sunbathing in Playground 10 or around the fountain just looks crass and very self-involved. People should have free access to that space for its traditional uses.

Anonymous said...

STR, nobody is saying otherwise. Susan Steinberg should know to stay on topic and not her agenda

Anonymous said...

CWCAPITAL threw together this joke called CompassRock over night to "save" money on paying a real management company to run this place. At the time they took over Stuy a Town the properties on their website were mostly small condo developments scattered across the south, nothing in a major city. Managing an aging property collapsing under the weight of transients and college kids is quite different than a new 60 unit development in Florida. If it looks like they are inexperienced its because they are.

Anonymous said...

7:56 AM: You said it!

I wonder who they are paying to avoid being exposed in the press as the rubes they are? They obviously have some powerful "allies."

Anonymous said...

Does anyone reading have any media connections? We need a reporter to do an expose on CompassRock and CWCapital. There are so, so, so many bad stories on the TA Facebook page. A gold mine for any journalist.

Anonymous said...

"Since when are bikinis considered un-family orientated?!?!?!"

This is exactly the division CW has created. Would be more than amazed if this commenter has a family with young kids. BTW, "orientated adjective, chiefly British". Going back to America High School English, "oriented" would more than suffice.

Anonymous said...

"oriented" is offensive, the term is Asian.

Anonymous said...

I would love for someone to define the word "transients" which is often used here. There is no magic to why people used to stay longer: THE RENT WAS CHEAP. All market rate communities have turnover. This is a really dumb thing to complain about. Check any halfway decent apartment building. People move in and out. GET OVER IT!

Anonymous said...

11:06
11:06
11:06

Truer words have NEVER BEEN SPOKEN. No one ? NO one wants to spill a story on this? It's UNREAL. I don't understand why it's not exposed.

Anonymous said...

CompassRock might be WAY out of their depth, and totally unqualified to manage Stuy Town, but that is not exactly a news story.

Anonymous said...

"I would love for someone to define the word "transients" which is often used here. There is no magic to why people used to stay longer: THE RENT WAS CHEAP. All market rate communities have turnover. This is a really dumb thing to complain about. Check any halfway decent apartment building. People move in and out. GET OVER IT!"

If you look around, you'll see that this place was designed to be family friendly--lots of playgrounds and safe open space. The apartments are a good size and the closets are generous. It's in Manhattan (not necessarily a draw for everybody). Transportation is reasonably convenient (used to be better). AND the price was right--that's why people stayed.

The problem with people moving out after a year or two is that it necessarily gets the rents up, which means that young people starting out have to pile in with multiple roommates. It means that if you have kids, their circle of friends is constantly changing (and we're starting to get a sense that management is making it hard for families to renew their leases--see the TA Facebook page). It means that you never know whom you're getting into the elevator with. It means that you may not get to know anyone well enough to trust them with a spare set of your keys (very useful when management charges $75 plus tax to open your apartment door for you). I understand that these things don't seem important to a lot of people, but many of us enjoy a sense of community here.

Anonymous said...

1:47 AM: I believe you are absolutely correct. This complex was built for families and was one of the (if not the) most family-friendly places to live in Manhattan. MetLife (post IPO), TS and CW have worked savagely to destroy that aspect of the property and turn it into a transient/dorm residence. They want a constant turnover of tenants because they want to churn the apartments and raise rents all the time. They have destroyed something that was very good and necessary in this tough old town and they have no reason whatsoever to be proud of what they have done.

Money is the only thing that matters to these corporate landlords and they would build on their parents' graves to turn a buck.

Anonymous said...

I understand your sadness at the loss of community. But all market rate rental buildings experience high turnover. You are just not aware of it. So Stuy Town and Peter Cooper have joined the rest of the market... but it is not illegal and it is not a news story.

Anonymous said...

The adolescent 'schooling' comments of GET OVER IT are truly obnoxious. To those relatively new, you won't find many long timers here ready to roll over. Your comments invite a fight. That's exactly what you'll get. If this place gets sold, whether co-op or condo, there will be governance rules and that's where the fights will begin to have teeth. GET OVER THAT.

Anonymous said...

There is a photo of the Oval outside the leasing office that has trees in the Oval which were killed and no longer there. False advertising.