Let's go back into history, 2010:
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/sen-schumer-calls-collapse-stuyvesant-town-peter-cooper-village-deal-opportunity-article-1.459266
Calling the huge collapse of the Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village deal "an opportunity," Sen. Chuck Schumer Sunday rallied hundreds of tenants pushing to keep the complex an affordable oasis. "This would seem like chaos, but there's a silver lining on this cloud," said Schumer (D-NY).
He and others are pressuring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,
the publicly chartered organizations that hold much of the $3 billion
mortgage on the complex, to ensure it is sold to an owner who will
promise to keep the apartments affordable.
Fannie and Freddie got huge taxpayer bailouts in 2008, and lawmakers aren't letting them forget it. State Senator Thomas Duane said they have an "obligation" to protect the tenants.
"Preserving
affordability is Fannie and Freddie's core mission. There are 25,000
tenants who are watching to make sure they don't cut and run on us now,"
said Councilman Daniel Garodnick, a Stuy Town resident.
As tenants waved signs saying "save our homes" in the sunny cold at 18th Street and 1st Ave, Schumer said, "a fight for Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village goes far beyond these brick buildings. You can't have a thriving New York City without a middle class."
Developers Tishman Speyer bought the 80-acre complex in 2006 for $5.4 billion - the largest real estate deal in US history - and planned to turn the rent-regulated flats into pricey luxury apartments.
They
ran into legal trouble and were smacked hard by the 2008 real estate
crash. Unable to pay the mortgage, they announced last week they were
giving up the keys and walking away.
Now, Garodnick said,
"Fannie and Freddie are in the driver's seat. They need to live up to
their charter mission. This isn't a property that can be flipped to the
highest bidder."
------------------
------------------
Maloney did try back in 2010:
GSEs like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are mandated by the federal government to help increase affordable housing. However, Fannie and Freddie provided crucial liquidity for the purchase of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, even though the buyers’ business plan relied heavily on the use of aggressive tactics to convert rent-regulated apartments to market rate housing. What’s more, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earned "affordable housing goals credits" by investing in the Stuyvesant Town deal – despite the fact that the transaction did the opposite of creating or preserving affordable housing.
Congresswoman Maloney’s bill, the “Responsible GSE Affordable Housing Investment Act of 2010"(H.R. 5361), which has been cosponsored by New York Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Nydia Velazquez, Gregory Meeks, and Yvette Clarke, would require the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to deny affordable housing goals credits when a project's debt is disproportionate to its income – as was the case in the Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village sale. The bill will also require the GSEs to use the same standards for assessing their investments in the secondary securities market as they would for direct investments for the purposes of affordable housing goals credits, thus syncing the standards for securities investments with those of direct investments. In addition, Rep. Maloney and Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank this week sent a letter to the Acting Director of the FHFA urging the Agency to use its power to deny affordable housing goals credits for multifamily loans that facilitate the conversion of units from affordable to a higher market rate. A full copy of that letter is attached.
“It’s outrageous that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aided and abetted efforts to slash New York’s stock of affordable housing. In the Stuy Town deal, Fannie and Freddie got affordable housing goals credit where no such credit was due – and for the good of our communities, that’s got to stop,” said Congresswoman Maloney. “My bill will sharply curtail the ability of Fannie, Freddie, and other GSEs to take part in transactions that depend on converting housing to market rate. Today, we’re sending the message to Fannie and Freddie that they should be investing in deals that increase affordable housing. That's their stated mission -- and they need to start living up to that mandate.”
Joining Representative Maloney at today’s news conference were several elected officials, community activists, and advocates for affordable housing. Among them were New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who said, “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created to increase access to housing. When they funded an investment predicated on eliminating affordable housing at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, they failed that goal. The government should stop Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from investing in any development deals that will threaten affordable housing. I applaud Congresswoman Maloney for spearheading legislative efforts which will help protect tenants at Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village and throughout our city.”
More at the above link, but I did check to see what happened to this bill and found this:
H.R.5361
Latest Title: Responsible GSE Affordable Housing Investment Act of 2010
Sponsor: Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] (introduced 5/20/2010) Cosponsors (4)
Latest Major Action: 5/20/2010 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Latest Title: Responsible GSE Affordable Housing Investment Act of 2010
Sponsor: Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] (introduced 5/20/2010) Cosponsors (4)
Latest Major Action: 5/20/2010 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
And this:
This bill was introduced on May 20, 2010, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.
STR: Your government at work!
--------------------------
https://maloney.house.gov/press-release/rep-maloney-reacts-sale-stuyvesant-townpeter-cooper-village
NEW YORK, NY – Today, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens) reacted to the $5.4 billion sale of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village to a joint venture of Tishman Speyer and BlackRock Realty. Residents of Stuy Town and Peter Cooper, which are located in Maloney’s district, have urged potential purchasers to preserve the complexes’ stock of affordable housing.
“While I am disappointed that the Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Tenants Association’s offer did not prevail, I’m glad that the complexes have been sold to a New York firm. I congratulate Tishman Speyer and BlackRock on their successful bid,” said Rep. Maloney.
“Representatives of Tishman Speyer assured me today that they don’t intend to tear down the buildings or kick rent stabilized tenants out of their homes.”
“I’m encouraged by Tishman Speyer’s promise not to make ‘a sudden or dramatic shift in this neighborhood's make-up, character or charm.’ Stuy Town and Peter Cooper have a long and noble history of providing affordable housing to New Yorkers. I urge Tishman Speyer to meet with residents as quickly as possible to reassure them that it will keep their rents affordable.”
I listened very closely when Schumer called in to the TA meeting held about 1 1/2 years ago. He was at a restaurant in Astoria with his parents. He said: I'll support anything you decide on. He didn't say he supported the TA plan. He didn't even say who he supported. I assume he meant the tenants, not the TA. I assumed he saw the dangers in supporting Brookfield...so although his language seems casual, it was actually quite crafty. Like it or not, the ball is in our court.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot support Fortress and Brookfield if we are to survive.
ReplyDeleteWe need to weed out those involved in backroom deals that have enabled Compass Rock / Fortress to destroy this community with destruction for its new construction, mass evictions of RS and Roberts and the pushing of market rate beyond possible limits to have long term roots in this community; including those as we now know allowed for 3000 rent stabilized apartments to increase to $8000+ per Semester in a shady NYU John Sexton real estate sham.
Those in leadership positions forgot that leadership is action, not words. Their words unmatched with actions sank New Yorkers.
We need a new action oriented leadership that has residents of New York in its heart as a driving force rather than dollar signs in their pupils guiding their blinded ways.
In the political history of New York this ranks as one of the biggest failures.
What a telling photo. We know where Quinn and Garodnick stood with their real estate bias, but this puts Schumer smack in the middle of a Quinn Garodnick sandwich. Doesn't seem he would be a good source for tenants on which to lean.
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 3:50 pm: You are so damn right. This whole thing stinks of corruption and graft. I wish the AG would crack down on these bastards.
ReplyDeleteSchumer is a blowhard who loves to hold weekly Sunday press conferences (when he knows the news is usually slow ) and then does little or nothing about the issues he raises in those press conferences.
ReplyDeleteMaloney should have retired years ago. She is an East Coast version of Nancy Pelosi- she and Pelosi have always, and still, blame George Bush for all of our problems
No Maloney blames republicans who, in DC and Albany, are the source of all the problems we have as tenants. You think Speyers it any hedge fund parasite votes democrat?
ReplyDeleteOh yes, forget about Schumer - what a waste of photos and sidewalk. Agree also on Maloney...
ReplyDeleteWe're screwed if this is what we have in our 'corner'.....
PCVST people paying market rate rents could have and should have had rent stabilized apartments if the apartments weren't given to NYU - who has billions in a real estate portfolio.
ReplyDeleteFamilies paying market rate should have had those rent stabilized apartments BEFORE they went to NYU!
The Tenant Association should have been angry and horrified that the PCVST community lost 3000 rent stabilized apartments instead they called it "floor plans" in an attempt to make it insignificant.
ReplyDeleteWrong side of the argument again.
Mail
ReplyDeleteMailing Address format (do not include the residence hall name):
Student Name Building number, Street name, Apt. number New York, NY Zip Code 10009
http://nyugradhalls.tumblr.com/stuytown
NYU instructs students not to put "Stuytown Graduate Residence Hall" on their mail even though that is what they call us on their websites.
Stuytown owned by NYU?
ReplyDeleteNYU Stuytown Graduate Residence Halls has its own facebook, twitter, instagram, etc touting allover the internet Stuytown is owned by NYU.
https://www.facebook.com/GRADHALLSNYU
http://nyugradhalls.tumblr.com/stuytown
http://www.nyu.edu/life/living-at-nyu/on-campus-living/explore-the-residencehalls/grad-halls.html
http://www.oninstagram.com/profile/nyugradhalls
Official Instagram account of the NYU Graduate Residence Halls, located at Washington Square Village and Stuyvesant Town
https://foursquare.com/nyugradhalls
stuytown graduate residence halls is having events and fundraisers
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLCY14EA?team_id=1498984&pg=team&fr_id=56532
Chuckie Cheese and Candy Carolyn: MIA as usual (except when election time rolls around).
ReplyDeleteIn 2010 NYU students paid pcvst rent directly to NYU
ReplyDelete“As far as when I was living there, NYU basically told us to disregard all info about the situation,” said Andrew Cardenas, a student. “All our rent was paid directly to NYU and even super-related work requests were always made through NYU, never using the Stuy Town services.” [NYU News]
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2010/09/16/nyu-not-planning-to-buy-student-occupied-apartments-in-stuy-town-university/
We are at the most crucial crossroads of our existence now that PCVST is about to go on the block and probably be gobbled up by greedy, avaricious opportunists who would throw us under the bus and destroy our homes. This is an even bigger crisis than when the vile Tishman Speyer took over, and it may very well be an illegal transaction that is about to take place between CWCap and it's owner, Fortress. Where are our elected "representatives" who paid us so much lip service to get our votes?
ReplyDeleteThey had better come out from hiding because we WILL remember them come election time. Remember what happened to whatsername Quinn? The voters kicked her to the curb and we can do it to any of those who think they can fuck with us.
Here s a scary scenario: NYU steps in as an investor in the new consortium that buys StuyTown. They start moving students in en masse, drving more residents out. They take over entire buildings and rename their portion NYU Town. Once they drive enough people out, they move their students to facilities elsewhere, and start to demolish entire buildings to build new 60 story NYU Condos for wealthy parents to use for their own kids then to rent to future students at sky high rates. Meanwhile the remainiing buildings are gradually turned all market rate,,or demolished for new condos, parceled out to other developers.
ReplyDeleteBeen saying this for years.
ReplyDeleteNyu will get hold, soon enough, soon enough.
12:45 am exactly! Quinn is so void of integrity she is trying to blame animal rights groups even calling on an FBI inquiry on them. Quinn believed her REBNY real estate purchase of the mayor's office should have gotten her the result she bought, the mayor's office. She thinks voters don't count only money does. I am proud of NY for showing politicians voters count more than their musical chair game of buying political offices! We didn't vote for Quinn because we didn't want anymore back room deals, third term mayors, and Bloomberg agenda. She is so delusional if she doesn't see the true reason she lost. Herself.
ReplyDeleteWho made the NYU deal allowing NYU to profit off thousands of residential PCV ST apartments turning our residential community into a commodity, running a for profit business in a residential zone - and which politicians, board members, attorneys, orchestrated the deal? We know Compass Rock Tom Feeney oversaw the construction of thousands of the dorm rooms per DOB records. Who cut the deal and who received and who is still receiving money from the deal?
ReplyDeleteHow many regulations and laws were violated in this deal?
I don't know what is that Chuckie and Maloney can do. For that matter, I don't know what de Blasio can do. I read that the TA wants us to go to City Hall on the day of the auction but I don't know why we would go there. The mayor probably gets the message of our frustration if we have a demonstration which maximizes our participation (meaning closer to Stuy Town). Could it be that de Blasio was asked to attend a demonstration at Stuy Town and already declined?
ReplyDeleteBut I still don't know what we are demonstrating for/wanting the mayor to do. Is it just a "we're the tenants and we're upset" or is there some type of reaction we are attempting to create? TA? Hello TA?
I'm not a lawyer but here are some of my concerns about the auction.
The legal paperwork of the CMBS includes language that allows the special servicer (CW) the ability to acquire the asset for its "fair value", its called the Fair Value Purchase Option. This clause was in CMBS deals of that era but is no longer included in new issuance. The question is whether the mezz auction constitutes an acceptable clearing event for determining 'fair value'. I'd think if we wanted to stop the sale next month, we'd get that question answered (and other related to an insider sale)prior to the auction.
Demonstrating on the day of the auction? I'm at a loss for what that does. The auction will occur and title is expected to change hands. Everything after that becomes a game of trying to undo a real estate transaction. That should be simple to undo, right? (sarcasm)
If the TA and Dan wanted to halt Fortress they would commence inquiry on the NYU deal. Why is the TA response a too little too late badly-advised photo op rally rather than an investigation? Same MO as the mid-lease increases.
ReplyDeleteAn old joke but still pertinent today. Chucky Schumer would come to the opening of an envelope.
ReplyDeleteOn a personal note as someone who has been active in PCVST regarding afffordable housing issues for at least two decades, I have never felt so helpless before the power of the Real Estate/ Financial Services Industry which promotes the rapid increase (the last 5 years) in the percentage here of the amount of students and transient tenants. Only they can afford the dormfication of housing stock (old and new) and the chain store businesses, banks, “Bro” bars and expensive “foodie” restaurants that they love so well. The majority of longer term tenants here have been lethargic, clueless and ignorant but this empathy free demographic is especially depressing as they seem to be taking over not just here but everywhere in NYC.
I don't know if it's clear but June 13 is the date scheduled for the foreclosure sale for the mezzanine debt, after which CWCapital will own the property. After THAT comes the outright sale of the property, which may take months.
ReplyDeleteIf you go to the TA facebook page you'll see that John Marsh is beginning the kind of dialogue that needs to happen. I'm going to respond here as if I were on that page. First, John, I notice you completely left out any reference to the deal with Brookfield. Why? If you drop the deal with Brookfield I'll join you again. Second, I can't abide the division between your new stabilizers and the older residents. Thinking in these kinds of terms is something a politician would do. A tenant association needs to think in terms of of principles that serve the needs of all the long term tenants. I subscribe to affordability. I subscribe to maintaining the open spaces. Keep building these principles, drop the alliance with Brookfield, serve the needs of all the long term tenants, call for rallies and I'll be there.
ReplyDeleteSTR 7:48 I have to tell you that that may be 100% WRONG. The 6/13 is a mezz auction BUT it may allow CW to collapse the senior loan without going to market for a sale. That's what all of the chatter has been about in real estate worlds. CW may be using the foreclosure to, essentially, buy the asset for its parent WITHOUT SALE but rather via mezz auction.
ReplyDeleteIt's important, very important to really understand what may happen next month. Fortress is lining up its money right now in hopes of getting through the auction with an outcome of ownership. Please re-read the news threads again with this in mind.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-19/fortress-circling-nyc-s-stuyvesant-town-draws-sale-closer.html
read that story , understand that in the language of the CMBS deal, there is a clause called 'fair value purchase option'. The clause has been tested already (law favorable to CW) but not in an attempt to acquire such a large asset (esp. via mezz foreclosure auction). Expect litigation if CW does enact the clause BUT... it's then a reactionary game of lawyers (bondholders vs bondholder-CW).
It's that important.
"If the TA and Dan wanted to halt Fortress they would commence inquiry on the NYU deal. Why is the TA response a too little too late badly-advised photo op rally rather than an investigation? Same MO as the mid-lease increases."
ReplyDeleteDamned right! I hate to admit it, but I do not trust the TA and I absolutely loathe Garodnick. I wouldn't trust him any further than I could throw him and he seems to have the TA leadership wrapped around his little finger.
Non-profit NYU operates a for- profit illegal business in a residential zone
ReplyDelete...with price gouging rents on previously stabilized apartments.
Not a good landlord.
ReplyDeleteNot a good $ manager.
Latest from Financial Times has Fortress with losses on Bitcoin.
According to the FT, Fortress "is sitting on losses of $8m on an experimental investment in Bitcoin. The company’s annual report revealed that it bought $20m of the virtual currency in the final months of last year, making it the first mainstream investment company to list Bitcoin among the assets on its balance sheet."
The value of its position was already underwater by the end of December, however, and the price of Bitcoin has continued to slip this year amid scares over the underlying technology and the bankruptcy of what was once the largest virtual currency exchange.
By buying the currency for its own account, Fortress not only places a small bet on its future value but also learns more about the practicality of using Bitcoin as a financial instrument in the future and about the potential for business built around virtual currency.
The company deemed Bitcoin too speculative, however, to put in any of the funds it manages on behalf of other investors.
Good. Because as of year end, Fortress valued its stash of Bitcoin at $16.3 million at the end of December. Since then Bitcoin has fallen by a further one-quarter so far this year, cutting the value of the stake to $12.1m at mid-Friday prices. The bankruptcy of the formerly biggest Bitcoin exchange will do that.
As for Fortress, don't cry for the asset manager: "The experimental stake in Bitcoin represents a fraction of Fortress’s $2.6bn balance sheet. The company manages $61.8bn in assets and posted a 121 per cent rise in net income to $484m for 2013."
Oh well: on to the next gigamomentum (to borrow a popular prefix) investment which sophisticated investors buy into and just because the dumber money always chases on their coattails,
makes them believe what incredible investors they are. So for anyone following in Fortress' footsteps: go for it, just don't come back to check on your money "in a few years." It will have long since been "disappeared." Come to think of it, just like those millions of Mt. Gox bitcoins...
A long history of Belly up and Bankrupt .... oh well onto the next.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-28/fortress-loses-millions-bitcoin-investment
The rules of anti-dorm rules are in place, just enforce them. Call NYU out on knowingly breaking housing rules. There are no more cheeks to turn!
ReplyDeleteMore on NYU putting greed of profit over education in today's NYTimes.
ReplyDeleteA group of university faculty members wrote a public letter calling Mr. Lipton’s support of Mr. Sexton “an intransigence that is as threatening to N.Y.U.’s survival as the scandals whose clear impact you deny.” The letter went on to say that Mr. Lipton’s approval of the university’s global ambitions were motivated more by the bottom line for N.Y.U. — which has raised nearly $6 billion during his tenure — than education.
“Any school that profiteers so avidly is sure to be renowned, not as ‘a world-class residential research university,’ ” they wrote, “but as a global clip joint with an academic logo; and yet, like the Gilded Age inequity at N.Y.U., that sprawling operation has your full support.”
Whatever the outcome of this crisis for N.Y.U., it is a case study that should be examined for years to come by its students — both in New York City and Abu Dhabi.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/n-y-u-crisis-in-abu-dhabi-stretches-to-wall-street/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
ReplyDeleteNo word at all from the TA on the latest information regarding us being sold YET AGAIN?
Not entirely unrelated, but I managed to stumble on this gem:
ReplyDeleteDan Garodnick is on the Council on Foreign Relations:
http://www.cfr.org/about/membership/roster.html?letter=G
And for those who love a good conspiracy theory, just google the Council on Foreign Relations and you'll find a wealth of good old Bilderburg/Tri-Lateral Commission, New World Order, Stanley Kubrick style conspiracy theories.
I don't necessarily go in on that sort of thing, but it does lead one to wonder where Dan Garodnick's loyalties are. He's not just a "regular guy." These are the most powerful people in the US. Even our congresswoman and Senator aren't currently on the CFR. Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney, Charles Krauthammer, Mort Zuckerman, Elie Wiesel, Michael Bloomberg, James Baker, Howard Baker, various Kennedys, Jerry Speyer, you'll recognize quite a few names.
STR... wish you had a section for the scummy practices alone..
ReplyDeleteie.
MCI charges
yes, thy are on my bill and it's a MR apartment and I am livid.
ReplyDeleteBut in all honestly, why would Dan bother being on the wrong side of the issue?
I don't get the conspiracy theory based on, what's in it for him? We all know we're not going condo or coop. ?
ReplyDeleteYelp sucks then. Where to post? I posted a review on mid lease increase, the sneaky practices at signing... they throw in the charges of a few things 3 days before signing and of course one is homeless if it's not signed...
Really shifty .
The mci's should and could have been fought and eliminated for a myriad of reasons, anyone reason in itself for all tenants market rate and rs.
ReplyDeleteWhat is
ReplyDeletePRI additional recurring concession?
anyone? is this permanent, temp or expiring.
thank you.
STR you are right - all the DOB forms for the wall partitions in the dorms are falsely stating no change in use or occupancy.
ReplyDeleteIs it really that easy to dupe the DOB?
Just an FYI to the poster who posted about DHcR and challenging the rent on our bills.
ReplyDeleteSent emails, no reply to that email.
Called - got the run around.
Asked for a form to file an AUDIT - was told there is no such form.
Was that a troll planting the information here because now I'm very ticked off about all this.
Someone please correct mer here if I am wrong and I really hope I am..
ReplyDeleteAm I to believe that probably 50% of the units here are not well over 3500 a month and many into the $5,000 a month range = $60K in income on just ONE apartment?
And there are NO TAXES PAID on this due to J51 status??? w.t.f.
What a sweet deal for a developer - CWC - landlord. Who approves the continual increases? Our lawmakers ? Everyone is blaming the TA and why?
What's going on with the news we hear about separate meters in all apartments now?
ReplyDeleteIs that an additional charge to come now in our rents plus the mci ?
I've not heard about separate meters recently. There was some talk, over a year ago or two, about metering for electric usage in apartments, however. If that would become fact, then tenants would be paying for their electricity.
ReplyDeleteoh the insanity 10:51 - no one ever said there was an "audit form"! the poster cleared that up long ago saying there is no "audit form".
ReplyDeletei went to the dhcr office and i got my rent history just like the person said i could. and yes, according to my rent history i am being overcharged in two different ways. i will be filing an overcharge complaint when i can go down to the dhcr offices next.
it does work. you just need to use it properly.
another person posting said the
TPU unit does audits and renovation work audits. maybe that is what you want.
figure out which you need, dhcr, or tpu, and then use that tool properly and it will work.
you are using a screwdriver to hammer a nail. you need to use the correct tools and use them properly.
i have no renovation work. but i have a lot of unexplained mci charges. dhcr said that is what i need audited. all our needs are unique.
dhcr said the first thing everyone should get is a "rent history" on your apartment. so start with that and stop asking for things that do not exist then getting mad at tenants who are trying to help us. they helped me.
as i was typing my previous comment it occurred to me. i have learned a lot from str and the comments - so thank you str and those commenting. why isn't the tenant association teaching every tenant how to get a rent history? it was actually easy and very informative. why doesn't the tenant association here tell tenants about doing it?
ReplyDelete10:07 CW pays property taxes. In fact the tax bill here is one of the most expensive in the city. The J-51 allowed a partial abatement of taxes. Relative to what is paid in taxes, the abatement is small. That said, Metlife took the credit and the owners must abide by the conditions (Roberts case).
ReplyDeleteFollow this link to see the property tax for the ownership. Property bills are typically paid semi-annually.
http://webapps.nyc.gov:8084/CICS/fin1/find001I
Place one of addresses in ST or PCV and you should come to parcel 1-972-1 ; PCV St Owner LP. You'll see a long list of searchable items; click on Feb Quarterly Tax Bill. I hope this answers your question. (Note: the quarterly bill is actually a semi-annual bill so multiply x2 the amount you see).
Don't elected officials swear an oath "to serve and protect our constituents".
ReplyDeleteMaybe they need a reminder of their Oath and removal for not upholding the Oath otherwise why take it at all?
I can't say I am impressed with many of NYC and NY elected officials. What a bunch.
ReplyDeleteWould be great if I could upload the sounds coming from upstairs apartment - and post for future tenants. It's as if an elephant lives above us, and it scrapes itself across the uncarpeted floors all day and night.
And yes, reported this, and yes, LL says they have carpets.. THEY have no carpets and if they had they removed after fake inspection.
Not suggesting this, more of a question and what happens..
ReplyDeleteseveral dfs living here are not paying the Mci bill. they're paying the rent minus it. What happens at renewal?
Does anyone know how to see the financials? We are interested in buying our apartment but no one seems to be able to show us the financials on the complex so we don't know what we would be buying into. Can anyone tell me where we can see that before we go support a rally for tenants to buy? What are we buying into?
ReplyDeleteGet your POSTCARDS! It's time to organize!
ReplyDelete5:26 : Financials? If you mean CW's books there's no chance you'll see it.
ReplyDeleteIf you mean to ask about the operating expenses and taxes for the buildings, that a different story. The link to the tax bill is above. Divide the tax bill by units for simple math. If you want to add all the room in the complex and divide by that, have at it.
As for operating expenses, you'll need to do some work. Each commercial entity (stuy Town is considered commercial for this matter) must file an annual operating and expense report to the City. The easiest way to see what the expenses are for STPCV is to go to propertyshark.com. They give you one free search. The info you're looking for will be in the report (it may be a year late but there is something there for you to use). Please visit the site and report results here (my free search has been exhausted).
5:17 Very interesting. Good idea. Refuse to pay them on basis that they discriminate and they are unjust. What a screw-y idiotic deal.
ReplyDeleteI think it's more like they're not paying them because they're bogus. No one I know thinks they're discriminating.
ReplyDeleteYOu KNOW WE all pay them now, right? or are supposed to pay them. Neighbors moved in a few months ago, renovated apartment and they're being charged and they showed me the paperwork and lease stating such. Let's all stop saying half of us are not paying.
yelp review I just read:
ReplyDeleteBring your potential lease to a lawyer to review. You will not regret it. The leases are bogus with charges you will incur after having moved in. How nice of them. Then, in the middle of a one year lease, a huge increase in your rent.
Is this allowable from the NYC department of Housing since this property pays no tax and receives J51 exemption for the past 75 years? Anyone?
10:51 AM
ReplyDeleteI posted the original suggestion. I checked with Brian kavanagh's office about auditing renovations. The TPU doesn't accept individual suggestions for audits. Audit decisions are based on data collected. Meaning that if a particular building or landlord received numerous complaints, then the TPU would perform an audit.
Hope that clears things up.
3:37 it brings clarity to another way the TA has failed Stuyvesant Town Peter Cooper. They should have either done so, having audits on PCVST on behalf of their members or they should have educated all residents on how to do it for themselves so the many many residents could have then collectively been the necessary "numerous complaints" received by the TPU to have the rent roll audited and have overcharged tenants get their money back.
ReplyDeleteThe Tenants Association had us sign a pledge in December that they would perform these things with all the NYC agencies on behalf of tenants.
Now the Tenants Association is complaining about an overpriced bid by Fortress that has pushed the Tenant Association away from the bidding when the Tenant Association themselves created the overpriced Fortress bid with among other things, the inflated rent roll that has gone UNCHECKED.
ReplyDeleteWell that's a good explanation for NOT DOING an audit. Since we also called to the Dhcr and they acted as if we were nuts and were told there's no audit.
So, I'm sure I'm being overcharged as prior tenant , in January 2014 was paying approximately $1587 and I am paying $3575.
So, no audit or inquire on another form - office , or just continue to be overcharged.
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm, we now agree then there is no such thing as an 'AUDIT'. If I'm a landlord and I now charge 5 x rent due to new floors, walls and a crappy kitchen with a new cheesy faucet, I'm good right? as long as 30% of the building doesn't complain?
And this is ok with all of us?
ReplyDeleteThen we need to stop telling people to bombard DHCR and that it works to complain about the overcharged rent. There is no such complaint center for the RS overpriced apartments. Take it or leave it. Let's stop telling people to complain for no reason but to complain. DHCR does shit and you know it. There is no oversight of these practices and we all know it.
The TA would fight the rent increases and demand an audit on repairs, renovations if they could and it would matter.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting that's a fight no one can win and they know it. DHCR is in bed with RE investors, Landlords and developers. They're not easily giving up any information and there is no way they are lowering your rent or fighting off the MCIs. If the TA could do this, they would now and then. And no, I'm not a member.
4:52 get a "rent history" from dhcr.
ReplyDeleteThen file an "overcharge complaint" form.
Then they will audit your apartment.
There is no "audit form' as several posters have already said a million times! Stop calling it an "audit form"! It is called an overcharge complaint form and we just picked ours up because we are sure we are being overcharged too.
Stop calling it an audit form! Geez!
It isn't called an "audit form" its called an "overcharge complaint"
ReplyDeleteAnd dhcr was very helpful.
4:52 PM
ReplyDeleteThere won't be an audit of apt renovations in your building until people start filing complaints. You can download an overcharge complaint form here:
If you have questions about the form or what you need to do, contact Brian Kavanagh's office. That's what they're there for. They'll walk you through it.
4:52 --- No link for form on your post.
ReplyDelete7:18 AM
ReplyDeleteOoops. Get the overcharge complaint form here: http://www.nyshcr.org/Forms/Rent/#tenant
7 : 18 -- There's no form there for overcharge complaint. Did you look?
ReplyDeletethere is INFO on overcharging - no form. Sigh.