Our landlord, BLACKSTONE, can't handle Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village. There is a lack of enforcement of certain "rules," and no amount of notice to this alleviates the problems. We are continually being told half-truths and fabrications. And we have no viable Tenants organization, despite our TA asking for dues all the time. So far, the politicians have proven to be basically useless. A typical New York story.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Do you know what a ST/PCV apartment looks like?
Not sure if this is one.... the bottom photo....
Doesn't resemble my apartment exactly. Beams are there, but the hallway is way too small.
Is anyone investigating this? Should be easy enough. DOB has record of apartments with wall partitions (until that disappears); furniture suppliers have records of beds, desks, etc provided and delivered; CW has records of NYU subsidized payments and well everything else; NYU has records of payments on the apartments and a list of those available past and present.
3000 Rent stabilized apartments do not turn into market rate dorms without a long paper trail and a lot of involvement from City, DOB, DHCR, Politicians, TA, NYU executives and administrators.
The way I see it, inaction speaks volumes. Anyone in a position to call out and act upon this who is not doing so - is in on it.
There are 4 unrelated people depicted. Probably 5 as one girl is smiling at someone off-camera. Why would they brazenly depict breaking the law in an NYU ad?
I have a one bedroom in Stuytown with the same layout. It's the style where there is only one window in the bedroom and the living room wall has the doorway in the middle.
I used to live in a Stuy Town one-bedroom a long time ago, and I'm beginning to make out how this could very well be a one-bedroom in Stuy Town. Two-beds in the living room, and then the possibility of two in the bedroom. Note the wall-to-wall carpeting, which indicates to me that it is one of those special NYU Stuy Town dorms, as those dorms are covered with carpeting from what I know. NYU states that their two-bedroom ST apartments are only for two grad students, btw.
This still could be a photoshopped composition. The girl and bed on the left could be from another photo. Otherwise, I don't think the rest would be photoshopped. A possibility remains that the interior was specifically designed for the photo, but that's a lot to spend on set design just for one photo.
That's what they do. If it's not your first day in Manhattan, that's what NYU DOES. Whatever it wants. No regard for the community or neighborhood, rules or laws.
Haaa @2:34. Signs for no kids running or take shoes off? Delusional. It's APARTMENT LIVING, get use too it. Can't handle it? Buy a house, it's that simple. This isn't a dictatorship. You can't demand signs for common everyday things. People pay rent just like you. Stop whining. Can't sleep? Pop a pill and take a shot of Jack Daniels.
O/t and I apologize. We live in a renovated Pcv apartment and need a bit of paint to paint some spots on walls. Does anyone know what color the 'white' original paint is and where we can buy? THANK you all and thanks STR.
Sorry, I don't know what white is used. Best thing is to call ST's paint department.
BTW, if one can, it's a good idea to ask the painters who do one's apartment to pour some leftover white paint into a jar for you in case touch-ups will be needed.
"Haaa @2:34. Signs for no kids running or take shoes off? Delusional. It's APARTMENT LIVING, get use too it. Can't handle it? Buy a house, it's that simple. This isn't a dictatorship. You can't demand signs for common everyday things. People pay rent just like you. Stop whining. Can't sleep? Pop a pill and take a shot of Jack Daniels."
NASTY. Nasty and disrespectful. Sure glad I don't live anywhere near you.
This is one of only two standard layouts for a 1 be apt in ST. It's the F or G line. It's the one with the bigger br with only one window. It has a tiny little hallway leading to br and bath. This shot is taken from dining area in rhe living area.
Why aren't the lawsuits against CW/NYU as both conspired to inflate the rent roll by deregulating rent stabilized apartments and jack up the price of PCVST?
seems we are all-over-the place, maybe we should ALL concentrate on ONE thing (have it addressed by management and then move to another) my vote CLEAN AND FUNCTIONAL LANDRY ROOMS :)
Understand that this is war. CW Cap wants to cleanse StuyTown of all the old RS tenants. At that point they can throw everybody out and have 80-acres of virgin property to build and develop. Think Battery Park on the East Side! The self-important fools who run the TA are chasing the wind if they think this place EVER will go condo or coop. All CW has to do is wait 10-15 years and inexorably they will gain all the apartments and StuyTown will cease to exist. Mark my words!
While we all want a clean laundry room, I want affordable housing more. I want a peaceful environment for my mother who is here, without leaf blowers and continuous destruction. I can wash my clothes anywhere, in the sink if need be. seriously people.
Seriously? Jessica Lappin was campaigning here last summer and now she is building malls in Manhattan? One of the best things and biggest difference between NYC and everywhere else is we had no Malls with crappy chain stores (except for the one in Times Square which no New Yorker goes to!) I can't wait for these guys to come around here campaigning.
MR flat in Pc. I think they're overcharging me. I can see the numbers since prior tenant left and was deregulated (2013) and the legal rent, which is now higher upon renewal. Adding a/c and more. ? Who can I call and ask at the TA or ? thank you.
WE DON'T WORRY "MORE IMPORTANTLY ABOUT LAUNDRY ROOMS." THE RANCID LAUNDRY ROOMS WITH THE OVERPRICED MALFUNCTIONING EQUIPMENT IS PART AND PARCEL OF THE DECLINE OF THE PROPERTY. WE USED TO HAVE CLEAN LAUNDRY ROOMS WITH WELL-FUNCTIONING EQUIPMENT UNTIL TISHMAN SPEYER GOT THEIR FILTHY HANDS ON THE PROPERTY. I DON'T WANT TO GO OFF THE PROPERTY TO WASH MY CLOTHES AND NEITHER DO I WANT TO WASH THEM IN THE SINK. WE HAVE HAD ONSITE LAUNDRY FACILITIES FOR YEARS AND THE WAY THEY HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO DETERIORATE TO THE LEVEL OF WASHING CLOTHES IN THE GANGES IS NOT MORE THAN A DIMINUTION OF SERVICES.
Neighbor (moved into recent renovated stuytown) was told she cannot challenge the RENT that she believes she's being overcharged since it's been over 12 months since they moved in. DHCR told her that she had to have challenged it when moved in/ or no later than 3 mnths.
FILTH TOWN! FILTHY BUILDINGS! FILTHY STIFENTS! FILTHY FECES! FIKTHY VOMIT! THEY WONT BE SMILING FLR LONG AS OFFICER SUPER SIZE ME WILL PAYING THRM A VIDIT AT 3AM FOR THRIWING THEUR BONG OUT THE WINDOW!
CW doesn't pretend to be fighting for tenants. You must be joking. They blatantly show us day in and day out that they don't want us here. Your post makes no sense.
I have to disagree with you 5:33 I've been following this blog for years. CW pretends to care about the community eg having brainstorming sessions on how to "entertain the community" when really they are scheming money making ways to commercialize the Oval or pretending to give us beautiful furnishes in renovated apartments when mine are cheap and broken. TA pretends to fight for residents when they are fighting for opportunity to purchase. The Pols pretend to be fighting for affordable housing at PCV ST when they are fighting to help their buddies get back their Brookfield deal that CW demolished. They all pretend to be doing it for residents but they are all doing it for themselves. Residents need to standup for themselves because everyone around us is pretending to be one way when they are acting another way.
The photo shows 4 people. If they all live in that apartment, they are breaking the NYC law that prohibits more than 3 unrelated people from living together. Time to go after apartments housing more people than is legally allowed. Time for the TA to step up to the plate on this issue and take on CWCap and the illegal situation they are fostering/permitting in ST/PCV.
Who would pay market rate rents to live here? I don't get it. Is it the shit stains all over the property? Project ambiance? Disgusting laundry facilities? Look at what you're paying and look at how you're living!
You know the Market R tenants are trying to raise families here, just like we did. It's disgusting how CR is treating them. They're all going to leave - dear friends of ours - and we'll just be living with all of NYU soon.
I'm confused. De Blasio talks of preserving only 6000 of the 12,000 apartments for affordable housing. And you guys are saying that CW is using abusive leasing on the MR who are being forced to move out. Does that mean the city has already decided 6000 rent stabilized apartments will co-exist alongside 6000 NYU dorms? What is De Blasio doing and why isn't anyone fighting to keep all affordable by correcting the illegal leases and practices? Why aren't the Market Rate tenants fighting to correct their rents instead of fighting to buy their overpriced apartments? Shouldn't we all be on the same side to correct the Rent Roll?
"Who would pay market rate rents to live here? I don't get it. Is it the shit stains all over the property? Project ambiance? Disgusting laundry facilities? Look at what you're paying and look at how you're living!"
Totally agree. Market rate prices for projects living.
Here is more information for the person asking who is being sued along with CW. It would be interesting to know who the dozens of defendants are - anyone know how to get that?
"Six limited liability companies sued Bethesda, Md.-based firm CW Capital and dozens of other known and unknown defendants, in New York County Supreme Court."
Not sure this is well known around ST, but the MR tenants now pay amount on lease PLUS A/C amount every month. It's apparently a minimum of $60 per month - all year. 60 x 12 added to the rent listed on their leases.
Way beyond what AC costs since no one uses AC but 2 or 3 months at the most. So are they now paying the electric bills and what will be next? Shame shame on CR and CWC.
10:47 There are a lot of good suggestions for all different types of tenants throughout the threads of this blog over the past few months. Start there. Find the ones that best suit your needs and try and pursuit those. We have to do it for ourselves because no one is doing it for us.
4:24 No offense, but no one is going to 'start' there. Myself, I've tried the overage forms, asked for an audit route... Nothing came of it. DHCR does nothing.
"Not sure this is well known around ST, but the MR tenants now pay amount on lease PLUS A/C amount every month. It's apparently a minimum of $60 per month - all year. 60 x 12 added to the rent listed on their leases."
I was not aware of that. I thought market rate tenants had the A/C included in their rent. Talk about gouging.
Isn't price gouging illegal? Why isn't someone writing regulations or laws on these things like the MR air conditioning charges? Someone needs to write this other than any who haven't done so already and are partying with the gougers. Didn't the AG just call out a car service for price gouging? The leases have a lot of price gouging. Can we get our MR leases investigated for price gouging on the AC charges and the renovation charges?
"Not sure this is well known around ST, but the MR tenants now pay amount on lease PLUS A/C amount every month. It's apparently a minimum of $60 per month - all year. 60 x 12 added to the rent listed on their leases."
This is news to me as well, and I'm an MR tenant. We just signed a new lease, and we are not being charged for the A/C.
Time to clean up Bloomberg's mess. To build and preserve homes for New Yorkers and not the world's richest criminals.
The article is a great read. Excerpt The movement of dirty money from fruit boxes in Taipei into America’s real estate capital illustrates, in vivid detail, one of New York’s dirty secrets: High-end New York real estate is an alluring destination for corrupt politicians, tax dodgers and money launderers around the globe.
New York is among an elite group of destinations — along with Miami, London, Dubai and a few other cities around the world — that attract large numbers of international property buyers. Manhattan condos are popular with wealthy Chinese, Russians and South Americans. Since 2008, roughly 30 percent of condo sales in pricey Manhattan developments have been to buyers who listed an international address or bought in the name of a limited liability company or some other corporate entity, a maneuver often employed by foreign purchasers.
Because many buyers go to great lengths to hide their interests in New York properties, it’s impossible to put a number on what proportion of buyers from overseas are laundering ill-gotten gains. Many act in an above-board manner and use tax loopholes that are legal in their home countries. But it’s clear that New York’s public officials and its real estate industry embrace the wealthy and powerful without much thought to where their money comes from.
Michael BloombergFormer New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Photo: lev radin / Shutterstock.comDuring his time in office, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg was a cheerleader for encouraging the mega-wealthy to relocate to the city. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could get all the Russian billionaires to move here?” he told New York magazine in September.
Combine that give-us-your-rich ethos with state and local policies that lavish tax breaks on Manhattan’s wealthiest homeowners and federal policies that allow real estate agents to close their eyes to whether their clients are trafficking in illicit money, and the results are predictable: New York is a magnet for the super-rich homebuyers from other lands bearing money of sometimes dubious provenance.
The massive flow of foreign money — licit and illicit — into New York real estate helps deprive the buyers’ home countries of wealth and tax revenues. Housing advocates say it also helps inflate property values, pricing average New Yorkers out of buying or renting and helping increase the city’s huge homeless population.
Critics say tax and development policies have been skewed to favor the rich because New York’s real estate interests are skilled at wielding clout. “It’s like the oil industry in Texas,” Jaron Benjamin, executive director of New York's Metropolitan Council on Housing, says. “They have so much power and so much money. They’re going to make sure they have the best lobbyists at the state Capitol and City Hall, pulling our elected officials one way or the other.”
Last August the New York Daily News reported that a state anti-corruption commission had subpoenaed New York developers to determine how they won tax breaks for luxury projects through language “mysteriously placed” in state legislation. Four developers benefiting from the bill contributed $1.5 million to state politicians in recent years, the paper said.
RE is a dirty business and real estate in NYC is the world's destination for laundering dirty money
“Nobody has been holding the real estate industry accountable to the extent that other sectors of the economy are being held accountable,” she said. “I think we need congressional hearings on this issue, and greater resources for law enforcement to deal with this problem.”
NYC councilwoman Chin supports developers building affordable housing for New Yorkers. That is worthy RE development.
It’s no secret that prices for both luxury condos and development sites are surging in Manhattan. Land prices in Manhattan’s most popular neighborhoods have doubled compared to two-to-three years ago.
The condo developers winning the bids for these sites and pushing prices higher than what their competitors were willing to stomach are each gambling that sell-out prices will hold steady or rise.
“Manhattan land prices nearly doubled in the last 24 months,” said Alan Miller, managing principal with Soho-based brokerage and advisory firm 5Points Group. “That type of exponential growth can’t continue, [but] developers and investors will continue to push land prices upward. Everything is benchmark pricing. That is the new normal.”
Miller said he expected the run up of record-setting deals to slow. “Prices cannot continue apace. It has to be stopped at some point.
Fannie and Freddie said they would be working with and speaking with "tenants" but we all know the Tenant's Association does not have "active levels of engagement" with tenants so I hope Fannie and Freddie are not considering getting the TA nod means they have tenant approval.
Why is PCVST marketed as an NYU "your study space"?
The Working Group finds that NYU needs more student study space. Bobst Library, with approximately 3,000 study seats, is incapable of meeting current demand. 19
The Working Group believes that the University should address this shortfall by ensuring that student study space is an integral component of new construction on the South Block and that, wherever possible, study space for students should be integrated into the renovation of existing NYU buildings.
NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan http://nyufasp.com/
(you could substitute PCVST for "The village"
NYU FACULTY SAY NO TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE VILLAGE
NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan is a group of over 400 of NYU’s own faculty members who are working together to fight NYU’s outrageous multi-billion-dollar expansion in Greenwich Village. The Sexton Plan, we believe, is financially reckless (and will certainly result in rising tuition at a school where the students are the most heavily indebted in nation), disregards faculty input and governance, will further erode the rich cultural history of the Village, and will bring more than 10,000 more people in foot traffic per day to an already over-developed area with little green space, amongst other harmful effects. We urge NYU’s administration to focus on education, not real estate.
StandUp4NYC Mission Statement
http://standup4nyc.com/
We, the people of New York City, are tired of having our neighborhoods destroyed by big development schemes. No matter how much we object, it makes no difference. Our elected officials are too busy pleasing the big real estate interests to work for us, their real constituents. This NYU expansion plan is only the latest example. It’s not about education—it’s a land grab pure and simple. Mayor “Mogul Mike” Bloomberg & City Council Speaker Christine Quinn both know it and support it. The vast majority of NYU’s own faculty oppose the plan—39 departments and divisions have actually voted against it . The people of Greenwich Village overwhelmingly oppose it. Community Board #2 voted against it unanimously. It’s time to say that the buck stops here. No more. Not in the Village. Not anywhere.
Stand up for NYC video opposing the NYU expansion plan that the City Council caved on. To them PCVST is a foregone conclusion as part of the NYU campus. NYU needs to be kicked off campus!
God, more venting about NYU. Big deal. Sticks & stones. Again, I support a rally against NYU housing expansion here. All this blah, blah, blah adds up to nothing.
"Not sure this is well known around ST, but the MR tenants now pay amount on lease PLUS A/C amount every month. It's apparently a minimum of $60 per month - all year. 60 x 12 added to the rent listed on their leases.
Way beyond what AC costs since no one uses AC but 2 or 3 months at the most. So are they now paying the electric bills and what will be next? Shame shame on CR and CWC."
As I understand it, new tenants don't get a choice of how many A/Cs are installed in their apartments. That said, charging them is just another way for CW to put more money in its pockets. However, when I talk to friends who pay their own electricity, I learn that their cost is much higher, and it's concentrated in a few months. We get to spread the cost out over the year, and because it's fixed, many of us feel free to run our A/Cs as much as we want.
Spreading the cost out over the year is a good thing, especially since it doesn't go up with use, although it does get adjusted on a regular schedule.
As for submetering, no one would be happy with that (this issue came up some years ago). If meters were installed for individual apartments, we'd be paying by how much electricity we use. There would be a minimal reduction in rent, but we would get an MCI for the installation of the meters.
The city gives tax breaks for installing air conditioners which is why landlords cram/install as many air conditioners into each unit. It should be regulated by a ratio of air conditioners per square feet of dwelling. If they have to give tax breaks to these greedy landlords to get them to do decent things for tenants, they should give tax breaks for eco friendly energy saving ceiling fans which cool rooms by 15% instead of air conditioners in every room. Who is writing these tax break regulations?
I don't believe it is true that MR tenants are paying an extra charge for A/S. I am a MR tenant, and I am not paying any such charge.
@July 9, 2014 at 2:06 PM (the poster who made the statement about separate A/C charges) -- where did you get this information? Are you a MR tenant paying this extra charge?
"No charge for air conditiong here. Wife & I are living here since 1979. Ours is on most days and sometimes in winter. There's no bill for it."
No, no, no.....we're not talking about those units you have to snake through the widow with a hose that Sty management doesn't allow you to use. Yeah.....we know those are free.
No, if we were paying for our own a/c usage or electric, it would not be 650$ per year!!!!! wtf I've had other apartments and never spent that much. IT'S NOT a house.
All the A/C is free for all older RS tenants. New tenants are paying extra monthly for A/C. And soon (see your lease folks) all MR tenants will be charged extra, monthly for it. It will not be less than $50 per month per apartment.
Agree it is a post for NYU as STR says so all the comments are relevant to the post. I think its great all the links and information is here for us to look at if we want and not look at if we don't. I find it interesting the NYU CFO talks about leasing Stuyvesant Town Apartments that we all know were removed from RS by NYU and would like some answers from the City on why this is not being shut down.
1:46 you don't have to read them but don't try to stop the information from getting to the rest who do want to read them. Its valuable information.
Have to correct what I said about submetering. Per the latest DHCR fact sheet about MCIs, the Rent Code Amendments of 2014 no longer authorize DHCR i to grant MCI rent increases for the equipment installed in conversions from master to individual metering (direct or submetering).
If the prior post is true regarding the DHCR being understaffed, there's no way they'll have audits done on the over inflated rents. Just spinning wheels here, everyone has been bought, no one cares.
I'm sure it is NOT free. When A/C came into the community, and you wanted it, you had to pay extra per month for the privilege. It may not be reflected on a current rent bill, but it's there, no doubt.
I'm a longtime RS tenant and the amount for A/C is specified in the lease and always has been (and it appears on a separate line on the rent bill). It has to be--whatever is provided for in your original RS lease stays in your RS lease (with certain exceptions). That's the law and that's why you should hang on to your original lease. Those of us in unrenovated apartments have to buy our own machines. PCV was always wired for A/C, but ST wasn't (one reason people moved to PCV when they could afford to). When A/C was made available in ST, tenants opting in had to pay to have their apartments rewired.
11:40 pm. There is no one who has ever received a reduction a la the DHCR granting it due to overcharging. Stop telling people to waste time trying this.
11:40 perhaps but that boat can be turned around if a large number of frauds were reported. It might take desire and willingness on the part of an elected official or DHCR to do the right thing though. These DHCR regulations are designed to help landlords get away bad acts and disallow tenants from protecting themselves. The regulations need to and can be rewritten to be more fair and exceptions can be made if there is an elected who actually assures their constituents are protected from harmful situations. Unfortunately I think Schumer may have been protecting the Brookfield bid and not the residents with his call to Fannie and Freddie. Who in NY State can we call on for protections for their constituents because the City seems to have a big void in that?
Someone here on this board keeps confusing the push for coop/condo and tenant rights. THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO with eachtoehr and both are valid goals for one vs another.
You are just making our problem worse. If this place were to be condo, there would still be a large # of tenants who are tenants and not owners. Which is fine and normal and happens often. Those tenants still would be protected under RS and would still be upheld.
If the place goes condo we will have hedge funds and foreign investors hiding money buying up the condos for investments and not middle class families buying the condos. don't kid yourself or anyone here. Going condo will destroy the middle class community in PCVST.
7:39 pm. totally disagree. you'd have families able to stay here. professionals who want to invest and live here and not pay rent for the next 10 years.
and what makes you think you won't have foreign landlord in the very near future?????
Mayor met with Dan in Dan's apartment. I hope they spoke about ALL of us here and rent protection - NOT JUST THOSE HERE WHO ALREADY have it and are paying 1/2 of what most of us pay to live here.
ITA I hope they spoke about ALL OF US here. Again, all of us here. You people act as if the only people who live here are those who've been here since 1995 and before. Not nice and not smart.
94 comments:
The photo here also has a small hallway... I assume it's from a PCV apartment.
http://www.nyunews.com/2014/02/20/stuytown/
This photo is highly retouched, misleading and a lie.
Very possible, of course. I still would like to know if the artistic inspiration is a Stuy Town or, more likely, a PCV apartment.
Is anyone investigating this? Should be easy enough. DOB has record of apartments with wall partitions (until that disappears); furniture suppliers have records of beds, desks, etc provided and delivered; CW has records of NYU subsidized payments and well everything else; NYU has records of payments on the apartments and a list of those available past and present.
3000 Rent stabilized apartments do not turn into market rate dorms without a long paper trail and a lot of involvement from City, DOB, DHCR, Politicians, TA, NYU executives and administrators.
The way I see it, inaction speaks volumes. Anyone in a position to call out and act upon this who is not doing so - is in on it.
There are 4 unrelated people depicted. Probably 5 as one girl is smiling at someone off-camera. Why would they brazenly depict breaking the law in an NYU ad?
I have a one bedroom in Stuytown with the same layout. It's the style where there is only one window in the bedroom and the living room wall has the doorway in the middle.
>>Why would they brazenly depict breaking the law in an NYU ad?<<
That's not even an ad. It's an online pamphlet-like PDF for NYU students!
Here you go:
http://www.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu/resLifeHousServ/documents/20122013HousingGuide.pdf
I used to live in a Stuy Town one-bedroom a long time ago, and I'm beginning to make out how this could very well be a one-bedroom in Stuy Town. Two-beds in the living room, and then the possibility of two in the bedroom. Note the wall-to-wall carpeting, which indicates to me that it is one of those special NYU Stuy Town dorms, as those dorms are covered with carpeting from what I know. NYU states that their two-bedroom ST apartments are only for two grad students, btw.
This still could be a photoshopped composition. The girl and bed on the left could be from another photo. Otherwise, I don't think the rest would be photoshopped. A possibility remains that the interior was specifically designed for the photo, but that's a lot to spend on set design just for one photo.
I've lived in ST 2BR and PCV 2BR. This photo doesn't look like either.
Why would they brazenly what? roffllllll
That's what they do. If it's not your first day in Manhattan, that's what NYU DOES. Whatever it wants. No regard for the community or neighborhood, rules or laws.
Surely you jest.
No, it's stuytown alright. But Pcv full of students and families living 4 and 5 to a one br.
disgusting.
>>I've lived in ST 2BR and PCV 2BR. This photo doesn't look like either.<<
We've zeroed in on a Stuy Town one bedroom.
Just flip this, so the windows are at the top, not the bottom:
http://www.rentcafe.com/dmslivecafe/3/55898/3_55898_204589.jpg
Still waiting for signs to be put up in buildings reminding us al to
stop kids from running
take shoes off
inside apartments. Really fucking annoying rude tenants.
Haaa @2:34. Signs for no kids running or take shoes off? Delusional. It's APARTMENT LIVING, get use too it. Can't handle it? Buy a house, it's that simple. This isn't a dictatorship. You can't demand signs for common everyday things. People pay rent just like you. Stop whining. Can't sleep? Pop a pill and take a shot of Jack Daniels.
O/t and I apologize. We live in a renovated Pcv apartment and need a bit of paint to paint some spots on walls. Does anyone know what color the 'white' original paint is and where we can buy? THANK you all and thanks STR.
Sorry, I don't know what white is used. Best thing is to call ST's paint department.
BTW, if one can, it's a good idea to ask the painters who do one's apartment to pour some leftover white paint into a jar for you in case touch-ups will be needed.
"Haaa @2:34. Signs for no kids running or take shoes off? Delusional. It's APARTMENT LIVING, get use too it. Can't handle it? Buy a house, it's that simple. This isn't a dictatorship. You can't demand signs for common everyday things. People pay rent just like you. Stop whining. Can't sleep? Pop a pill and take a shot of Jack Daniels."
NASTY. Nasty and disrespectful. Sure glad I don't live anywhere near you.
This is one of only two standard layouts for a 1 be apt in ST. It's the F or G line. It's the one with the bigger br with only one window. It has a tiny little hallway leading to br and bath. This shot is taken from dining area in rhe living area.
And... that's why people are beginning to sue neighbors for noise problems.
Why aren't the lawsuits against CW/NYU as both conspired to inflate the rent roll by deregulating rent stabilized apartments and jack up the price of PCVST?
More venting, venting, venting. Much of the same over and over. We need posts about tactics. Not posts for more of the same venting.
seems we are all-over-the place, maybe we should ALL concentrate on ONE thing (have it addressed by management and then move to another)
my vote CLEAN AND FUNCTIONAL LANDRY ROOMS :)
Understand that this is war. CW Cap wants to cleanse StuyTown of all the old RS tenants. At that point they can throw everybody out and have 80-acres of virgin property to build and develop. Think Battery Park on the East Side! The self-important fools who run the TA are chasing the wind if they think this place EVER will go condo or coop.
All CW has to do is wait 10-15 years and inexorably they will gain all the apartments and StuyTown will cease to exist. Mark my words!
While we all want a clean laundry room, I want affordable housing more. I want a peaceful environment for my mother who is here, without leaf blowers and continuous destruction. I can wash my clothes anywhere, in the sink if need be. seriously people.
Precisely ! WE need tactics and now. While DeBlasio in office, strike while iron is hot.
"my vote CLEAN AND FUNCTIONAL LANDRY ROOMS :)"
My vote, too!
12 08 and I agree. Yet we worry about laundry more importantly... hmmmmmm
Seriously? Jessica Lappin was campaigning here last summer and now she is building malls in Manhattan? One of the best things and biggest difference between NYC and everywhere else is we had no Malls with crappy chain stores (except for the one in Times Square which no New Yorker goes to!)
I can't wait for these guys to come around here campaigning.
MR flat in Pc. I think they're overcharging me. I can see the numbers since prior tenant left and was deregulated (2013) and the legal rent, which is now higher upon renewal. Adding a/c and more. ? Who can I call and ask at the TA or ? thank you.
WE DON'T WORRY "MORE IMPORTANTLY ABOUT LAUNDRY ROOMS."
THE RANCID LAUNDRY ROOMS WITH THE OVERPRICED MALFUNCTIONING EQUIPMENT IS PART AND PARCEL OF THE DECLINE OF THE PROPERTY. WE USED TO HAVE CLEAN LAUNDRY ROOMS WITH WELL-FUNCTIONING EQUIPMENT UNTIL TISHMAN SPEYER GOT THEIR FILTHY HANDS ON THE PROPERTY.
I DON'T WANT TO GO OFF THE PROPERTY TO WASH MY CLOTHES AND NEITHER DO I WANT TO WASH THEM IN THE SINK. WE HAVE HAD ONSITE LAUNDRY FACILITIES FOR YEARS AND THE WAY THEY HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO DETERIORATE TO THE LEVEL OF WASHING CLOTHES IN THE GANGES IS NOT MORE THAN A DIMINUTION OF SERVICES.
Neighbor (moved into recent renovated stuytown) was told she cannot challenge the RENT that she believes she's being overcharged since it's been over 12 months since they moved in. DHCR told her that she had to have challenged it when moved in/ or no later than 3 mnths.
??????
FILTH TOWN! FILTHY BUILDINGS! FILTHY STIFENTS! FILTHY FECES! FIKTHY VOMIT! THEY WONT BE SMILING FLR LONG AS OFFICER SUPER SIZE ME WILL PAYING THRM A VIDIT AT 3AM FOR THRIWING THEUR BONG OUT THE WINDOW!
CW doesn't pretend to be fighting for tenants. You must be joking. They blatantly show us day in and day out that they don't want us here. Your post makes no sense.
I have to disagree with you 5:33
I've been following this blog for years.
CW pretends to care about the community eg having brainstorming sessions on how to "entertain the community" when really they are scheming money making ways to commercialize the Oval or pretending to give us beautiful furnishes in renovated apartments when mine are cheap and broken.
TA pretends to fight for residents when they are fighting for opportunity to purchase.
The Pols pretend to be fighting for affordable housing at PCV ST when they are fighting to help their buddies get back their Brookfield deal that CW demolished.
They all pretend to be doing it for residents but they are all doing it for themselves.
Residents need to standup for themselves because everyone around us is pretending to be one way when they are acting another way.
The photo shows 4 people. If they all live in that apartment, they are breaking the NYC law that prohibits more than 3 unrelated people from living together. Time to go after apartments housing more people than is legally allowed. Time for the TA to step up to the plate on this issue and take on CWCap and the illegal situation they are fostering/permitting in ST/PCV.
Who would pay market rate rents to live here? I don't get it. Is it the shit stains all over the property? Project ambiance? Disgusting laundry facilities? Look at what you're paying and look at how you're living!
By pretend, you may be fooled but we are not. The fix the grass and flowers, but their leases and practices are illegal.
You know the Market R tenants are trying to raise families here, just like we did. It's disgusting how CR is treating them. They're all going to leave - dear friends of ours - and we'll just be living with all of NYU soon.
I'm confused. De Blasio talks of preserving only 6000 of the 12,000 apartments for affordable housing. And you guys are saying that CW is using abusive leasing on the MR who are being forced to move out. Does that mean the city has already decided 6000 rent stabilized apartments will co-exist alongside 6000 NYU dorms? What is De Blasio doing and why isn't anyone fighting to keep all affordable by correcting the illegal leases and practices? Why aren't the Market Rate tenants fighting to correct their rents instead of fighting to buy their overpriced apartments? Shouldn't we all be on the same side to correct the Rent Roll?
I support a rally against NYU.
"Who would pay market rate rents to live here? I don't get it. Is it the shit stains all over the property? Project ambiance? Disgusting laundry facilities? Look at what you're paying and look at how you're living!"
Totally agree. Market rate prices for projects living.
6:04 file a form with DHCR called
RA89
Tell all who are paying $$$$ here to do same. Tell all.
Here is more information for the person asking who is being sued along with CW. It would be interesting to know who the dozens of defendants are - anyone know how to get that?
"Six limited liability companies sued Bethesda, Md.-based firm CW Capital and dozens of other known and unknown defendants, in New York County Supreme Court."
http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/07/08/69317.htm
6:04 - Time to get on this and fight the over charges. Where do we start?
I'm here since 1986. Id like my son to be able to stay and raise his daughter here. How can they do this with current prices? CAN'T .
HIS RENt is now close to 4,000 and going up @ 200 or more annually.
Not sure this is well known around ST, but the MR tenants now pay amount on lease PLUS A/C amount every month. It's apparently a minimum of $60 per month - all year. 60 x 12 added to the rent listed on their leases.
Way beyond what AC costs since no one uses AC but 2 or 3 months at the most. So are they now paying the electric bills and what will be next? Shame shame on CR and CWC.
10:47 There are a lot of good suggestions for all different types of tenants throughout the threads of this blog over the past few months. Start there. Find the ones that best suit your needs and try and pursuit those. We have to do it for ourselves because no one is doing it for us.
4:24 No offense, but no one is going to 'start' there. Myself, I've tried the overage forms, asked for an audit route...
Nothing came of it. DHCR does nothing.
"Not sure this is well known around ST, but the MR tenants now pay amount on lease PLUS A/C amount every month. It's apparently a minimum of $60 per month - all year. 60 x 12 added to the rent listed on their leases."
I was not aware of that. I thought market rate tenants had the A/C included in their rent. Talk about gouging.
Isn't price gouging illegal? Why isn't someone writing regulations or laws on these things like the MR air conditioning charges? Someone needs to write this other than any who haven't done so already and are partying with the gougers.
Didn't the AG just call out a car service for price gouging? The leases have a lot of price gouging. Can we get our MR leases investigated for price gouging on the AC charges and the renovation charges?
"Not sure this is well known around ST, but the MR tenants now pay amount on lease PLUS A/C amount every month. It's apparently a minimum of $60 per month - all year. 60 x 12 added to the rent listed on their leases."
This is news to me as well, and I'm an MR tenant. We just signed a new lease, and we are not being charged for the A/C.
NY Real Estate Shady Dealings
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/07/03/15026/manhattan-just-another-island-haven-dirty-money
NYC Real Estate A Dirty Business
Time to clean up Bloomberg's mess. To build and preserve homes for New Yorkers and not the world's richest criminals.
The article is a great read.
Excerpt
The movement of dirty money from fruit boxes in Taipei into America’s real estate capital illustrates, in vivid detail, one of New York’s dirty secrets: High-end New York real estate is an alluring destination for corrupt politicians, tax dodgers and money launderers around the globe.
New York is among an elite group of destinations — along with Miami, London, Dubai and a few other cities around the world — that attract large numbers of international property buyers. Manhattan condos are popular with wealthy Chinese, Russians and South Americans. Since 2008, roughly 30 percent of condo sales in pricey Manhattan developments have been to buyers who listed an international address or bought in the name of a limited liability company or some other corporate entity, a maneuver often employed by foreign purchasers.
Because many buyers go to great lengths to hide their interests in New York properties, it’s impossible to put a number on what proportion of buyers from overseas are laundering ill-gotten gains. Many act in an above-board manner and use tax loopholes that are legal in their home countries. But it’s clear that New York’s public officials and its real estate industry embrace the wealthy and powerful without much thought to where their money comes from.
Michael BloombergFormer New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Photo: lev radin / Shutterstock.comDuring his time in office, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg was a cheerleader for encouraging the mega-wealthy to relocate to the city. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could get all the Russian billionaires to move here?” he told New York magazine in September.
Combine that give-us-your-rich ethos with state and local policies that lavish tax breaks on Manhattan’s wealthiest homeowners and federal policies that allow real estate agents to close their eyes to whether their clients are trafficking in illicit money, and the results are predictable: New York is a magnet for the super-rich homebuyers from other lands bearing money of sometimes dubious provenance.
http://www.icij.org/offshore/hidden-plain-sight-new-york-just-another-island-haven
More...really its a good read.
Why we must restore and remain 100% RS
The massive flow of foreign money — licit and illicit — into New York real estate helps deprive the buyers’ home countries of wealth and tax revenues. Housing advocates say it also helps inflate property values, pricing average New Yorkers out of buying or renting and helping increase the city’s huge homeless population.
Critics say tax and development policies have been skewed to favor the rich because New York’s real estate interests are skilled at wielding clout. “It’s like the oil industry in Texas,” Jaron Benjamin, executive director of New York's Metropolitan Council on Housing, says. “They have so much power and so much money. They’re going to make sure they have the best lobbyists at the state Capitol and City Hall, pulling our elected officials one way or the other.”
Last August the New York Daily News reported that a state anti-corruption commission had subpoenaed New York developers to determine how they won tax breaks for luxury projects through language “mysteriously placed” in state legislation. Four developers benefiting from the bill contributed $1.5 million to state politicians in recent years, the paper said.
http://www.icij.org/offshore/hidden-plain-sight-new-york-just-another-island-haven
RE is a dirty business and real estate in NYC is the world's destination for laundering dirty money
“Nobody has been holding the real estate industry accountable to the extent that other sectors of the economy are being held accountable,” she said. “I think we need congressional hearings on this issue, and greater resources for law enforcement to deal with this problem.”
NYC councilwoman Chin supports developers building affordable housing for New Yorkers. That is worthy RE development.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/new-york-councilwoman-wants-garage-turned-into-affordable-housing-1404785870
http://online.wsj.com/articles/new-york-councilwoman-wants-garage-turned-into-affordable-housing-1404785870
Too Risky to Buy in the Market Now
Another reason to keep this revered largest middle class housing property as rental and return it to RS
Anyone buying at this heightened market will be a big loser in a few years.
http://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/manhattans-riskiest-development-deals/
It’s no secret that prices for both luxury condos and development sites are surging in Manhattan. Land prices in Manhattan’s most popular neighborhoods have doubled compared to two-to-three years ago.
The condo developers winning the bids for these sites and pushing prices higher than what their competitors were willing to stomach are each gambling that sell-out prices will hold steady or rise.
“Manhattan land prices nearly doubled in the last 24 months,” said Alan Miller, managing principal with Soho-based brokerage and advisory firm 5Points Group. “That type of exponential growth can’t continue, [but] developers and investors will continue to push land prices upward. Everything is benchmark pricing. That is the new normal.”
Miller said he expected the run up of record-setting deals to slow. “Prices cannot continue apace. It has to be stopped at some point.
Fannie and Freddie said they would be working with and speaking with "tenants" but we all know the Tenant's Association does not have "active levels of engagement" with tenants so I hope Fannie and Freddie are not considering getting the TA nod means they have tenant approval.
AC now? that is such BS! what' s next water bills, electric bills.
F__ing assholes. New tenants beware. Not only are they overcharging people, but add ons galore.
NYU Chief Financial Officer Martin Dorph confirmed NYU is leasing apartments in Stuyvesant Town.
http://www.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu/spacePriorities/documents/USPWG_10.8.13_SUMMARY.pdf
"Dorph also affirmed that the University leases apartments in Stuyvesant Town, which house graduate students."
"Dorph then explained the savings that NYU has generated from the
conversion of dormitories from leased to owned space."
Why is PCVST marketed as an NYU "your study space"?
The Working Group finds that NYU needs more student study space. Bobst Library, with approximately 3,000 study seats, is incapable of meeting current demand.
19
The Working Group believes that the University should
address this shortfall by ensuring that student study space
is an integral component of new construction on the South
Block and that, wherever possible, study space for students
should be integrated into the renovation of existing NYU
buildings.
No charge for air conditiong here. Wife & I are living here since 1979. Ours is on most days and sometimes in winter. There's no bill for it.
Is NYU financing student housing at PCVST using tax exempt debt issued through dormitory authority of the state of new york (DASNY)?
2 good sites and groups
NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan
http://nyufasp.com/
(you could substitute PCVST for "The village"
NYU FACULTY SAY NO TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE VILLAGE
NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan is a group of over 400 of NYU’s own faculty members who are working together to fight NYU’s outrageous multi-billion-dollar expansion in Greenwich Village. The Sexton Plan, we believe, is financially reckless (and will certainly result in rising tuition at a school where the students are the most heavily indebted in nation), disregards faculty input and governance, will further erode the rich cultural history of the Village, and will bring more than 10,000 more people in foot traffic per day to an already over-developed area with little green space, amongst other harmful effects. We urge NYU’s administration to focus on education, not real estate.
StandUp4NYC Mission Statement
http://standup4nyc.com/
We, the people of New York City, are tired of having our neighborhoods destroyed by big development schemes. No matter how much we object, it makes no difference. Our elected officials are too busy pleasing the big real estate interests to work for us, their real constituents. This NYU expansion plan is only the latest example. It’s not about education—it’s a land grab pure and simple. Mayor “Mogul Mike” Bloomberg & City Council Speaker Christine Quinn both know it and support it. The vast majority of NYU’s own faculty oppose the plan—39 departments and divisions have actually voted against it . The people of Greenwich Village overwhelmingly oppose it. Community Board #2 voted against it unanimously. It’s time to say that the buck stops here. No more. Not in the Village. Not anywhere.
Stand up for NYC video opposing the NYU expansion plan that the City Council caved on. To them PCVST is a foregone conclusion as part of the NYU campus. NYU needs to be kicked off campus!
http://standup4nyc.com/mogul-mike-bloomberg-speaker-christine-quinn-and-the-exploding-nyu-expansion/
God, more venting about NYU. Big deal. Sticks & stones. Again, I support a rally against NYU housing expansion here. All this blah, blah, blah adds up to nothing.
Who all is involved in this NYU leasing Stuyvesant Campus deal? City Council? Bloomberg? de Blasio? DHCR? DOB? Albany?
Is that how CW made the big leap in property income that out priced everyone else out the purchase?
"Not sure this is well known around ST, but the MR tenants now pay amount on lease PLUS A/C amount every month. It's apparently a minimum of $60 per month - all year. 60 x 12 added to the rent listed on their leases.
Way beyond what AC costs since no one uses AC but 2 or 3 months at the most. So are they now paying the electric bills and what will be next? Shame shame on CR and CWC."
As I understand it, new tenants don't get a choice of how many A/Cs are installed in their apartments. That said, charging them is just another way for CW to put more money in its pockets. However, when I talk to friends who pay their own electricity, I learn that their cost is much higher, and it's concentrated in a few months. We get to spread the cost out over the year, and because it's fixed, many of us feel free to run our A/Cs as much as we want.
Spreading the cost out over the year is a good thing, especially since it doesn't go up with use, although it does get adjusted on a regular schedule.
As for submetering, no one would be happy with that (this issue came up some years ago). If meters were installed for individual apartments, we'd be paying by how much electricity we use. There would be a minimal reduction in rent, but we would get an MCI for the installation of the meters.
The city gives tax breaks for installing air conditioners which is why landlords cram/install as many air conditioners into each unit. It should be regulated by a ratio of air conditioners per square feet of dwelling. If they have to give tax breaks to these greedy landlords to get them to do decent things for tenants, they should give tax breaks for eco friendly energy saving ceiling fans which cool rooms by 15% instead of air conditioners in every room. Who is writing these tax break regulations?
You sure about that 7:45? I would have never known about all of this had it not been for it being all here on STR.
The more you know
The more who know
The better we all are
I don't believe it is true that MR tenants are paying an extra charge for A/S. I am a MR tenant, and I am not paying any such charge.
@July 9, 2014 at 2:06 PM (the poster who made the statement about separate A/C charges) -- where did you get this information? Are you a MR tenant paying this extra charge?
"No charge for air conditiong here. Wife & I are living here since 1979. Ours is on most days and sometimes in winter. There's no bill for it."
No, no, no.....we're not talking about those units you have to snake through the widow with a hose that Sty management doesn't allow you to use. Yeah.....we know those are free.
No, if we were paying for our own a/c usage or electric, it would not be 650$ per year!!!!! wtf I've had other apartments and never spent that much. IT'S NOT a house.
Would the person with the NYU fixation go start a blog and not hijack these comment sections?
STR, why do you let (so much of) it through?
The post that these comments are under is about NYU, so commenting on NYU is not off-topic or tangential.
All the A/C is free for all older RS tenants. New tenants are paying extra monthly for A/C. And soon (see your lease folks) all MR tenants will be charged extra, monthly for it. It will not be less than $50 per month per apartment.
Agree it is a post for NYU as STR says so all the comments are relevant to the post. I think its great all the links and information is here for us to look at if we want and not look at if we don't. I find it interesting the NYU CFO talks about leasing Stuyvesant Town Apartments that we all know were removed from RS by NYU and would like some answers from the City on why this is not being shut down.
1:46 you don't have to read them but don't try to stop the information from getting to the rest who do want to read them. Its valuable information.
Have to correct what I said about submetering. Per the latest DHCR fact sheet about MCIs, the Rent Code Amendments of 2014 no longer authorize DHCR i to grant MCI rent increases for the equipment installed in conversions from master to individual metering (direct or submetering).
If the prior post is true regarding the DHCR being understaffed, there's no way they'll have audits done on the over inflated rents. Just spinning wheels here, everyone has been bought, no one cares.
>>All the A/C is free for all older RS tenants.<<
I'm sure it is NOT free. When A/C came into the community, and you wanted it, you had to pay extra per month for the privilege. It may not be reflected on a current rent bill, but it's there, no doubt.
Highly doubt any older tenants are paying $60+ a month for ac.
"Highly doubt any older tenants are paying $60+ a month for ac."
If they have ac, they are paying it. Even if they are on SCRIE.
I'm a longtime RS tenant and the amount for A/C is specified in the lease and always has been (and it appears on a separate line on the rent bill). It has to be--whatever is provided for in your original RS lease stays in your RS lease (with certain exceptions). That's the law and that's why you should hang on to your original lease. Those of us in unrenovated apartments have to buy our own machines. PCV was always wired for A/C, but ST wasn't (one reason people moved to PCV when they could afford to). When A/C was made available in ST, tenants opting in had to pay to have their apartments rewired.
? What ship has sailed? Any tenant can file for an audit of their apartment. There is no way these rents are legal.
11:40 pm. There is no one who has ever received a reduction a la the DHCR granting it due to overcharging. Stop telling people to waste time trying this.
11:40 perhaps but that boat can be turned around if a large number of frauds were reported. It might take desire and willingness on the part of an elected official or DHCR to do the right thing though. These DHCR regulations are designed to help landlords get away bad acts and disallow tenants from protecting themselves. The regulations need to and can be rewritten to be more fair and exceptions can be made if there is an elected who actually assures their constituents are protected from harmful situations. Unfortunately I think Schumer may have been protecting the Brookfield bid and not the residents with his call to Fannie and Freddie. Who in NY State can we call on for protections for their constituents because the City seems to have a big void in that?
Someone here on this board keeps confusing the push for coop/condo and tenant rights. THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO with eachtoehr and both are valid goals for one vs another.
You are just making our problem worse.
If this place were to be condo, there would still be a large # of tenants who are tenants and not owners. Which is fine and normal and happens often. Those tenants still would be protected under RS and would still be upheld.
8:34 am - do you honestly know anyone who has had the rent reduced? No.
do you know anyone who has filed the form 89 with DHCR aside from myself and roommate? No.
If the place goes condo we will have hedge funds and foreign investors hiding money buying up the condos for investments and not middle class families buying the condos. don't kid yourself or anyone here. Going condo will destroy the middle class community in PCVST.
7:39 pm. totally disagree. you'd have families able to stay here. professionals who want to invest and live here and not pay rent for the next 10 years.
and what makes you think you won't have foreign landlord in the very near future?????
Mayor met with Dan in Dan's apartment. I hope they spoke about ALL of us here and rent protection - NOT JUST THOSE HERE WHO ALREADY have it and are paying 1/2 of what most of us pay to live here.
Boy, I can really go for another Bud-Light right now.
ITA I hope they spoke about ALL OF US here. Again, all of us here. You people act as if the only people who live here are those who've been here since 1995 and before. Not nice and not smart.
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