This was brought to my attention by a blog reader....
Kingsley Associates is an intelligence gathering company for real estate. Its chief duties are in conducting surveys of residents to find out how they can be better served and what causes tenants to leave. But they also identify "best practices" (remember that gag-inducing term?), provide investor perception studies and strategic consulting (I guess the latter is the opposite of non-strategic consulting).... Also noted on their front page slider: "Kingsley's clients include 8 of the 10 largest investment managers."
Anyway, according to the Kingsley Associates website, the company has been used by PCVST in the past 24 months. (You'll also find some familiar companies on the list.)
I know of no tenant who has as yet received a survey from Kingsley (does anyone really need to do a survey here to find out what's wrong with this place--check this blog, the TA Facebook page and even comments on PCVST's own official Facebook), so my guess is that the use of Kingsley is one prelude to a sale of this complex.
I took their survey. They asked questions like "how many times a day do you regret your move to Stuy Town." I answered 642.
ReplyDeleteI wish they'd come and do a survey of the tenants. Boy! Would they ever get an earful!
ReplyDeleteLooks like Rose Associates retained Kingsley when they replaced Speyer.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thefreelibrary.com/State+of+Stuy+Town%3A+residents+optimistic+but+cite+room+for...-a0270041993
"State of Stuy Town: residents optimistic but cite room for improvement: recent surveys inform Rose Associates what works and what doesn't."
Also, Kingsley calling ST/PCV a "campus" is a disturbing indication of future planning.
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CWC ignored Rose survey findings.
"As for the laundry rooms, which have washing machines and dryers from Mac-Gray that are a few years old, they received low scores on the Kingsley survey as well as Garodnick's.On that particular issue Garodnick gave management a pass, conceding that, "You couldn't find many fans of the laundry machines under the old management."
CWC is replacing hurricane destroyed Mac-Gray equipment in PCV basements with Mac-Gray equipment.
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- MetLife kept ST/PCV in pristine condition (60+ yrs)
- Rose handed ST/PCV to Speyer in pristine condition.
- Speyer destroyed community and physical complex (4 yrs)
- Rose temporarily improved physical condition.
- Impossible, but CWC is worse than Speyer.
11:34 Garodnick gave them a ton of passes - so many there is no mistaking, he is complicit in all the past 5 years.
ReplyDeleteSomeone should tell Kingsley the essential character of the property is destroyed.
ReplyDeleteAlso now the main entrance at First Avenue and 18th is a gross view of a shoddy fitting metal roof alongside two enormous industrial ventilation like eyesores called 17A the Oval Concierge.
Whoever designed this has no aesthetic for curb appeal. It used to be a block long tree lined drive way look. Now its UGLY!
Nice going CW!
REBNY is and has been pushing the NYU agenda in NYC for years taking over the West and East Village. Google REBNY NYU and get an earful!
ReplyDeleteHere is an earful Kingsley.
ReplyDeleteCW is not maximizing the value of the property.
They are maximizing the deal.
The property, the community, the character, have lost all value. The numbers in the deal is wrought with lies so even the deal is a big contaminated mess brought to you by Spinola/Speyer Cuomo Garodnick.
Connect the dots
ReplyDeleteCuomo best friend NYU Kenneth G. Langone, NYU Chair President Board of Trustees;
Laurence D. Fink, NYU Board of Trustees Co-Chair Chairman & CEO BlackRock;
Robin Abrams 2014 award REBNY recipient and NYU Board;
NYU Board Michael E. Novogratz President and Director Fortress Investment Group LLC who owns CW Compass Rock and oversees PCVST.
http://www.med.nyu.edu/about-us/who-we-are/medical-center-leadership/trustees
http://nypost.com/2014/01/15/the-winners-at-this-years-rebny-banquet/
http://www.rebny.com/content/rebny/en/newsroom/columns/2012/NYU-plan-gets-top-marks.html
Yes theya re all pushing the NYU agenda secretly - shhhhhh.
I was chatting with a young lady in the laundry room yesterday. She is a new (since November) market rate tenant and, along with bemoaning the horrible washers, we got to talking about the property. She was absolutely astounded when I described how it used to be before Tishman Speyer took over and how drastically it has gone downhill since CW took over. She had no idea that the Oval once had several large, beautiful trees. She thought it always been "just a lawn - and not a well-kept one at that." Her words, not mine.
ReplyDeleteIs Cuomo best buddy Ken Langone imploding? Please will he take the Cuomo administration with him! Have there been any names for Democrats running against Cuomo for Governor in 2014? Any other Democrat would be better than Cuomo who just wants to use NYC to enrich his buddies. To Cuomo NYC is a corporation for profit not a community of people.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/will-bunch/then-they-fight-you-why-t_b_4996635.html
Ken Langone imploding article - forgot to add link to my comment of the day.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/will-bunch/then-they-fight-you-why-t_b_4996635.html
12:37 Stuytown tenants are in good company pushing back on the NYU agenda. Even the Pope's POV on their greed is aligned with our pushing back to save our middle class homes!
ReplyDeleteCuomo besttie NYU Home Depot CEO Ken Langone thinks he owns the Pope!
Home Depot CEO Ken Langone (what's his estimated net worth?), a devout Catholic, took offense to statements made by Pope Francis in December 2013. In an interview on CNBC, Langone said an anonymous, "potential seven-figure donor" for the church's restoration of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York was concerned about the pope's comments regarding the "culture of prosperity."
He really believes he has more money and more power than God. Nuts!
http://news.msn.com/pop-culture/executives-in-hot-water#image=4
Anony 1.58 PM. I am so amazed about a generation that prides itself about being so connected yet so clueless about the past and current history of our community.
ReplyDeleteKingsley might have something to do with the suggestion boxes posted on the property.
ReplyDeleteI too am wondering how the upgrades are checked and whatnot.
ReplyDeleteCW claims they put in $125,000 worth of upgrades and now the rents are thousands higher, BUT! who checks to see if there really are $125k being spent.
More likely, imho, about 30k.
► Five teens were arrested for trespassing at a Stuyvesant Town building at 9:20 a.m. on March 11.
ReplyDeletein todays DNAinfo New York
A Stuy Town security officer discovered the teens hanging out in a stairwell leading to the building’s basement, which is only used for building workers, police said.
The teens admitted that they did not live in the building, 523 E. 14th St., and did not know anyone living in the building, police said.
Their names are being withheld due to their age.
I have a neighbor whose son lives in ST. She told me several months ago that her son had been invited to a session with...she said...CW. And one of the questions asked was..'how much would you be willing to pay for your apt.'
ReplyDelete"the Oval once had several large, beautiful trees"
ReplyDeleteThe Oval once had several clusters of large, beautiful trees.
Kingsley Associates should just go and look on Yelp and see what tenants really think of this place! No wonder CW is trying to hustle people out of their leases so they can accommodate the summer influx. They want to suck in the ignorant and get rid of the knowing. Then the ignorant become the knowing and they get hustled out. Churn, hustle, churn, hustle. Sounds like a bad line dance, but it is the CW/CR Official Mantra.
ReplyDeleteThis has to be one of the worst, if not THE worst, property management company in the entire nation.
Anony 5.05 PM. The story was also posted in the T&V 3/20/2014 Police Watch section. I personally witnessed the arrest (I only saw one male being arrested from my viewpoint, the others must have been down the stairs). They were arrested in the stairway on the Main level next to 523 East 14th Street that leads to Garage Number 6. In that article T&V), 2 of the 5 were identified as 18 years old and the names are listed as a Tyrone Mckines and a Miguel Quionones. There was a heavy PS officer contingent, with at least 3 PS vehicles on the scene. This is a positive PCVST PS story.
ReplyDelete“Yoon told me that when he first saw Stuyvesant Town, in Manhattan, he was “struck by the sense of oasis within the chaos of the city. The fountains, the manicured lawns, the well-maintained flower beds. It reminded me of the artificial, hidden world of ‘The Truman Show.”
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/photobooth/2014/03/emerging-photographer-sanghyuk-yoon.html#slide_ss_0=1
Well we could start on his use of the “the Truman Show” as an analogy. But wait, why bother? Of course, the official PCVST FB page picked this up and, of course, there are, at last count, 15 likes, some from people who should know better. Of course, he's a student, the most wanted demo to churn apartments. And an “oasis”? Maybe he's thinking of the band (for loud “bread and circus” summer concerts-Woo!)? With nonstop 7 days per week (destroying residential zoned spaces) construction projects, no QOL enforcement, landscaping projects from hell that have destroyed old growth trees, mid-year lease renewal scams, still no finished basements in PCV buildings, bed-bug infestations, broken Mac-Horror laundry machine, dog shit everywhere, screaming, drunken BRO/OMG herds that run at will every weekend….well, the STR and those whose post here may certainly have a different opinion.
1:04 am is certainly correct. The noise sucks and as i just checked yelp for the first time, every post complains about noise. I wonder if Comp Rock likes that the tenants are miserable. It might be a PLUS for them as they just want everyone to move. old tenants and new tenants. Anyone with 1/2 a brain knows this if they live here.
ReplyDeleteAnd hey, since they claim that they spent 145,000 to renovate the flats, why didn't they just put in floorboards or better floors for noise issues? Then they can add another $55,000 to the 145K.
KINGSLEY
ReplyDeleteALL POTENTIAL TENANTS: read yelp read yelp.
Good luck.
More proof the politicians and developers are Corrupt. We saw it in PCVST, NJ with Christie pushing his buddies development in Hoboken and now OF COURSE ROB FORD is financed by real estate developers!
ReplyDeletehttp://pagesix.com/2014/03/21/rob-ford-has-friends-in-high-places/
12:40 Spot on! True. True. Truth.
ReplyDeleteBizarre how noone is trying to keep the purchase price down as a normal would do in this type of transaction. The buyers and the sellers all are pushing for the highest purchase price and (falsely) inflated rent rolls and revenue streams.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that PCVST is listed as a Kingsley client at this time. I know TS retained them and they used to send survey cards to tenants after a maintenance call was completed. That hasn't happened in a while (at least to my knowledge) and I rather doubt that CW/CR would have the gall to survey tenants, given what atrocious managers they are and given that we hate their guts and can't wait to be rid of them.
ReplyDeleteHow about the management team here post something useful and helpful in the buildings: permanent AND nailed on the walls:::
ReplyDeleteCARPET FLOORS, OR REMOVE SHOES.
all day long, click click click,
Someone tell me why the lousy landlord won't post this rule.
And all the new yorkers talk down the florida politicians. LMAO. NYC and NYS so very corrupt.
ReplyDelete4.52 PM Anony. The 80% lease required carpet rule is posted at the official PCVST website. It also that states that there will be carpet inspection after the move in. Pretty funny stuff since NONE of it is enforced by senior management. Also with the roommate type of demo that they love, that could change on monthly basis (see Craig’s list ads for Stuy Town), even if they did a carpet inspection after the move in (which the don't), the dorm apartment could be minus the rugs that were originally installed. It’s all major BS. Brian Moriarty takes carpet inspections “very seriously” Such a PR hack.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pcvstliving.com/nyc-apartments-info/move-in
<•To help maintain a pleasant living environment, 80% of all floors at all times must be covered with carpeting or area rugs. It is recommended that you add this item to your pre-move-in “to-do” list. Failure to comply with this requirement is a violation of your lease agreement. Please note that after your move-in, the Carpet Inspection Group will contact you to schedule a carpet inspection.>
ROLO!
4:52 ditto that. 79% of the Yelp complaints are of noise and floors and rude noisy tenants + Kids.
ReplyDeleteYou know they can fix this if they want to.
The tides are turning.....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2014/03/bill-samuels-blasts-gov-cuomo-says-he-should-run-as-a-republican
8:07 HA!
ReplyDelete"The Carpet Inspection Group."
An official group dedicated solely to carpet inspections they get their own group name? That is their only job? That is serious!
HA HA HA HA
Anyone having any symptoms from the dust released into the air from the excavation on First Avenue Loop especially this week as they demolish the old bricks from the old gas buildings foundation can anonymously report it to the link below and ask for the status of the toxic soil tests.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/67751.html
Anony 6.03 PM, 8.07 PM here. There actually was a rug inspection group when Rose Associates was re-hired post the TS debacle. The group was headed by a Cole Matteson. He and that group have long since been gone.
ReplyDeleteHi 807 PM - 603 here
ReplyDeleteNo doubt the truth in what you say.
Was poking fun at a formal dedicated group of several people and yet possibly the most underperforming department.
I'm not even asking for inspections They cost money and we don't want to pay any more damn personnel here.
ReplyDeleteI just also agree on signage. Serious plaques on all floors telling tenants to carpet and remove shoes. WTF.
Some people forget, some don't give a shit. LET'S REMIND THEm.