I was going to post about this vehicle the other day, but other matters intruded. Since a post on the mobile camera vehicle has already appeared on the TA Facebook, I may as well add what I know about it. On Saturday, I saw this golf cart-type vehicle, with a camera attached to its front, going about the Oval and even on, and around, the Oval lawn. Being a "reporter," I went up to the people inside when they parked nearby the Public Safety office. (There were also two guys not part of the vehicle taking photos, separately, of a portion of the Oval walkway and the human traffic there.) I asked what was up, and the reply was that they were taking shots of "the beauty of the complex for Stuyvesant Town." At which point, I mockingly repeated: "The beauty of the complex???" We shared a nice quick laugh. (Actually, parts of the complex, with everything abloom, are looking very nice when the weather is nice, but this was a cloudy, chilly day, and ST looked like the project housing it really is.)
From what I saw, I took away a few impressions:
1) This footage and the photos are being shot for prospective owners of STPCV to show them, without their needing to actually set foot on the property at this point, how the complex looks.
2) This footage and the photos are being shot for NYU to show prospective student renters how the complex looks.
3) The footage and the photos are being shot for brokers to use in their sales pitch for STPCV.
Important point: The "crew" was made up solely of young people, college age. Would CWCapital hire young folks like these for something as important as buttressing a prospectus for the sale of the complex? Or would they hire seasoned professionals?
As was mentioned on the TA Facebook, footage and photos of residents cannot be used for advertizing purposes.
I'm sure it's for advertising. Advertising to kids in college/ NYU and/or future applicants to NYU. AS is all their advertising...
ReplyDelete? Not really a mystery here STR.
Isn't it illegal to photograph someone without their permission? Not just to use them in ads but to photograph them in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIt's not illegal to take photos of someone, even if they don't give permission. That's why there's a new Stuy Town Photography Club heading to the Oval Lawn this weekend.
ReplyDeleteIt's illegal for ST to use the photos/video in their ads which is why all of there ads were pulled a couple of years ago.
ReplyDeleteIt's perfectly legal to photograph people in general.
According to a post on Facebook by John Marsh and this article on the TA's website, it appears to be illegal for Management to photograph or videotape people in STPCV without their explicit permission in order to use those images in its advertising and promotional material.
ReplyDeleteCW Capital and Rose End Unauthorized Use of Residents’ Photos in Marketing of Stuy-Town Apartments
http://www.stpcvta.org/ta/post/CW-Capital-ends-practice-of-using-residents-in-advertising
I think it's only illegal to photograph somebody without their permission if you are going to use the photograph for commercial purposes.
ReplyDeleteActually this is private property so people have an expectation of privacy. As of today, the Oval is not public property.
ReplyDeleteYou can't publish a photo online that gives out private information on someone, eg where they live.
Tenants have the right to have a sign put up saying something like no photography without permission.
Again, it is legal to take a photo of someone, but you can't take a photo or a video and use it for advertising purposes without the written consent of the subject.
ReplyDeleteSo if someone wants to take photos of the bikini beauties at the Oval, or the old timers sitting at the benches, or the people at Oval Cafe, they can do that. But if they want to use those images for an ad, they are prohibited unless they get a signed release form from the subject.
>>Actually this is private property so people have an expectation of privacy. As of today, the Oval is not public property.<<
ReplyDeleteAccording to the ACLU, if the private property has rules against the taking of photographs, then you can be ordered to leave the property. But this would not apply to a resident of the property. And STPCV is a "public access" property, which further mars any prohibition against the taking of photos by outsiders.
https://www.aclu.org/free-speech/know-your-rights-photographers
Those who were here during Tishman-Speyer's reign will remember the time TS tried to prohibit the taking of photos in the complex because of the blogs that were posting uncomplimentary pictures. These were the days when Lux was around. This prohibition didn't last long, however, as it didn't have any legal pull, and would have prevented residents from taking photos of even flowers or their kids at play.
ReplyDeleteYou all know that the discussion and the PHOTO TAKING is just a distraction for us to and the real issues, right? right?
ReplyDeleteKind of obvious.
I will never again leave my building without sunglasses.
ReplyDelete...and a baseball cap.
The more I think back on the Tishman Speyer regime, the more I realize what a bunch of nazis they were!
ReplyDelete>>You all know that the discussion and the PHOTO TAKING is just a distraction for us to and the real issues, right? right?<<
ReplyDeleteNo. We are being hit right and left, and should respond to every hit, even if one hit is less important than the other. Everything matters.
Ts sadly way way better than this regime. Worse is yet to come people.
ReplyDeleteBumbling & Clueless, much like the 2 hour bike parking outside the new management bunker...er office.
ReplyDeleteNot to late to early enroll your children into the much heralded mold entrenched child care center, just inches from the FDR & the garbage collection depot.
I can say exactly where I was when the camera drove by me. I do not give management permission to use my image.
ReplyDeleteGlad that your obsession with NYU continues without any letting up. Yes, many tenants happen to attend NYU. No, the school does not rent many apartments.
ReplyDeleteMost people filmed & photographed in the complex sat. & Sun. are non-residents.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure it wasn't a Google street view cam car (they are often unmanned, but sometimes, particularly in residential areas with kids, they will have manned cars. Also, I don't know if you saw them on sideway paths, but if so, that would explain the golf cart rather than the Prius or whatever Google uses for the Google cam. They must use them for parks and other paths/areas that don't allow vehicles.
ReplyDeleteAnd no, you can't really just go around taking photos of people in their bikinis and posting them so people can identify them or hold them up to potential viral jeering. That's not the type of blog you want to become or the unintentional legal morass you want to waste your valuable time and money dealing with. It's not the same as standing up to management and photographing your home environs and reporting on it--there's no reason you can't block out faces so you don't muddy the blog's reputation.
SINCE WE LIVE IN A DAMN DORM and we're over the age of 35? YES OBSESSION. You're a troll.
ReplyDeleteI think the public access rule to private property would be limited to when someone steps out on the perimeter sidewalks and not the interior walkways that are out of public view. Yes?
ReplyDelete10:53 You have seen the NYU contract and are aware of the terms from the beginning when NYU overtly subsidized to present when NYU covertly covers up its rental arrangement, you must be TA.
ReplyDelete5:53 Have you seen the NYU contract? You seem to know more about it, can you spill more details?
A truck with the name of "CORT" just passed me and my family and it offers rental furniture to STUDENTS. YES, STUDENTS. Look at their website. Go to "rent for home", "home furniture rental", and scroll down to right side of web page and see student section.
ReplyDeleteI JUST CAN'T BELIEVE IT!
Every tenant should be on top of the NYU problem. It is at the center of the ridiculous purchase price and almost every quality of life issue. In the East and West Village and most egregiously in PCVST.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, TA, "obsession" used in a derogatory sense is noted.
If I see them photographing me I will flip the bird.
ReplyDeleteI also think this BS is a distraction. True, it' not ok, but they're trying to distract us. FACT.
ReplyDelete>>Are you sure it wasn't a Google street view cam car (they are often unmanned, but sometimes, particularly in residential areas with kids, they will have manned cars. Also, I don't know if you saw them on sideway paths, but if so, that would explain the golf cart rather than the Prius or whatever Google uses for the Google cam. They must use them for parks and other paths/areas that don't allow vehicles. <<
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't Google street view cam.
>>And no, you can't really just go around taking photos of people in their bikinis and posting them so people can identify them or hold them up to potential viral jeering. That's not the type of blog you want to become or the unintentional legal morass you want to waste your valuable time and money dealing with. It's not the same as standing up to management and photographing your home environs and reporting on it--there's no reason you can't block out faces so you don't muddy the blog's reputation.<<
ReplyDeleteI don't understand your implication here. Are you suggesting that I'm going to take photos of the bikini beauties at the Oval and post them on the blog??? LOL.
>>I also think this BS is a distraction. True, it' not ok, but they're trying to distract us. FACT.<<
ReplyDeleteThere's a purpose to it, but it's not to distract.
I saw the crew, but not the golf cart cam. (Who'd notice, there must be, what, 30 carts buzzing around the property at any given time?)
ReplyDeleteI'd guess it's a promo to show PCVST to incoming NYC-bound renters who have no idea what this place is. Sad, there used to be a 10 year wait list of New Yorkers hoping to to get apartments, now they're hawking them to parents of college students from flyover states.
That said, if the crews come back again, nothing to stop you from walking around the oval with a big sign that says " THIS PLACE SUCKS!" Or something...
Actually, given all the many, many horror stories posted on Yelp, and the absolutely laughable responses from mgmt, all you'd need do is tell potential suckers, er, tenants, to check Yelp, and they'll run screaming. The TA should print up a sheet with some of the "highlights" and hand them out outside the leasing office.
Students and dorms are the only option that make sense. Who else would pay top dollar to live in substandard apartments with round the clock noise pollution and harassment? Certainly not people with money.
ReplyDeleteWHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING TO MY NEIGHBORHOOD? I GOT OF THE BUS AT AVENUE B BECAUSE I MISSED THE STOP AT AVENUE A. ALL THE BUSINESS ARE CLOSED EXCEPT FOR A FEW THAT ARE HANGING ON. WHY ARE WE BEING SUBJECTED TO THIS? USEFUL AND PROSPEROUS LITTLE STORES THAT SUPPLIED US WITH ESSENTIALS ARE BEING DRIVEN OUT. WHAT ARE THEY PUTTING IN THEIR PLACES? SHITTY NYU DORMS? LUXURY HIGH RISES THAT ANY TENANTS/BUYERS THEY CAN CON INTO LIVING IN ARE GOING TO FIND THEY HAVE TO FIGHT TO GET ON AND OFF BUSES AND TRAINS? NO DECENT GROCERY STORES. NO DECENT ANYTHING. WHEN WILL THESE "DEVELOPERS" AND OUR DUMB-TO-THE-BONE AND CITY COUNCIL AND THOSE JOKERS THEY CALL CITY PLANNERS EVER FACE THE FACT THAT THEY ARE SELLING A COMMODITY THAT JUST WON'T FLY?
ReplyDeleteWHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A CITY PLANNER? SOME KIND OF DEGREE? A POCKET FULL OF BRIBE MONEY? CERTAINLY NOT INTELLIGENCE OR VISIONARY SKILLS. CAN'T WAIT TO GET OUT OF THIS SICK JOKE THAT NEW YORK CITY HAS BECOME. NEW YORK CITY RIP. YOU DIED WHEN GIULIANI BECAME MAYOR AND YOUR SOUL WAS SOLD BY BLOOMBERG. DI BLASIO IS A PATHETIC JOHNNY COME LATELY WHO CAN DO NOTHING. HE'S TOO STUPID TO REALIZE THAT HIS "BUILD AS HIGH AS YOU CAN" IS A DEATH KNELL TO NEW YORK CITY. WAIT TILL THE NEXT TERRORIST ATTACK OR EARTHQUAKE AND SEE HOW WELL BLOOMIES BOXES AND DI BLASIOS "BUILD 'EM HIGH" POLICIES GO DOWN.
GIULIANI WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR SO MANY DEATHS ON 9/11 BECAUSE OF HIS INEPTITUDE AND SHORTSIGHTEDNESS. THIS BIG DOLT WE HAVE IN OFFICE AT THE MOMENT IS PROBABLY EVEN MORE STUPID.
"Students and dorms are the only option that make sense. Who else would pay top dollar to live in substandard apartments with round the clock noise pollution and harassment? Certainly not people with money."
ReplyDeleteLet's face it. STPCV is good for nothing more than a student dorm at this point. Nobody with any money and any sense would rent here. The QOL is shit and this has been deliberately brought about by CW and the evil bastards at NYU. Students don't care how noisy, dirty and nasty a dorm is. They know no better because they are immature and stoned most of the time. NYU doesn't take in students on account of how good their grades are; NYU takes in students whose parents can afford the tuition. It is no longer (and hasn't been for a long time) a respectable seat of learning. Most of the really smart kids go to other Universities; the dummies with rich parents go to NYU. And we have to put up with them until they "graduate" and go back to their parents' basements.
I complained to my RA, I have heard nothing back, but I was able to snag a couple of Yuenglings!
ReplyDeleteThe comment about affordability is so right. If CW is allowed to continue, over time this place will be 50% students if not more. I don't think people other than students understand that once a unit's rent is well over then market rate, at renewal time the landlord can and will raise to the legal limit according to its wishes. Unless highly transient, you'd have to be nuts to rent any unit with a high legal rate.
ReplyDeleteWhat's an RA?
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between the long time employees and a supervisor at the Stuyvesant Post Office and the long time "management" names we have seen for years is a nefarious one.
ReplyDeleteAsk anyone who has been harassed by Stuyvesant Town and they will tell you "lost, stolen" mail is a part of their game.
This latest scheme to get some tenants to show ID to pick up a certified letter that has information already provided to tenants, and a letter that is no longer there when tenants go to pick it up is a way to get id's on who is living in the apartment.
An earlier commenter told of his bank statements stolen from his mailbox. If he is still reading this blog, maybe he could give more details on his experience.
An RA is sort of a hall monitor for students in dorms. There are several living in PCV and I assume ST as well.
ReplyDelete10: 34 - THAT'S JUST IT. When they rent you an apartment here, they do not disclose the 'REAL RENT', the 'legal rent'.
ReplyDeleteUnderstand ?
THEY SHOULD BE DEMANDED TO disclose this. The only time a would be tenant sees it is at the final signing. And that is usually too late for us poor humans to back out. kwim? They give you the lease at the last minute. PLOY PLOY DECEIT
We get our mail late in the afternoon or early evening and a lot of it is put in the wrong mailboxes and then left on the shelves under the mailboxes. Everybody's private business is at risk. I do all my banking and bill-paying online so there is very little that goes into my mailbox that is important, but the situation is really very unacceptable. I know it's hard for the letter carriers to keep up with all the moves in and out, but very often it's just plain lack of caring by the PO employees.
ReplyDeleteRA = Resident Advisor. Most often found in a college dormitory.
ReplyDeleteTook a look at the construction site today. The size of the office building and the amount of lost open space and landscape is disgusting.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that many of the residents are students, and a high percentage of those attend NYU. Many others go to Pace, BMCC, SVA and a dozen other schools. Some even go to Columbia. But the nonsense that there is some large contract with NYU is pure fantasy. I know this for a fact. Take it or leave it....
ReplyDeleteSimply ignorant to think CW is not purposely renting to students is not a fact. Apartment turnover is the fastest way to "legal rent" status, students even on the 4+ plan will leave. Upsetting to long time residents via noise, unclean conditions, self entitlement, etc.
ReplyDeleteThese forms of harassment, accompanied by rude workers, all lead to one goal,
$ $ $ $
What is Stuy Town Interest in photography groups? Is it leading to more commercialization of the Oval with a Verizon Camera Phone promotions event - maybe another concert? STR is right - everything has significance.
ReplyDeleteVerizon Wireless
Overview
Verizon Wireless teamed up with We Work It Street Teams to do on-site concert promotions that would show off the latest camera phone technology by Verizon Wireless. We Work It's Street Teams were on the ground promoting Verizon Wireless at Green Day, Simple Plan, Jett, Maroon 5, Puddle of Mud, Black Eyed Peas, Pussycat Dolls, John Legend, Yellow Card, Incubus, Shakira, Wyclef, The Fray, Justin Timberlake 06 and 07 Tours, Prince, Kanya West, RBD, Incubus, Ashley Tisdale, and Chris Brown & Ne Yo concerts across the country.
http://www.weworkitent.com/case-studies-verizon-wireless.php
Are we paying a hidden fee in new leases for "access to" Verizon FIOS even if we have RCN or Time Warner as our provider?
ReplyDeleteOMfh. New leases get what now with Verizon? I"m confused, so who has this and please detail charge and how they charged you.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteNYU CNS Center for Neural Science Students First year students are
GUARANTEED
subsidized, furnished housing, through the MacCracken program, located in Stuyvesant Town, which is approximately 1 mile from the Center and served by a free campus shuttle bus. More information on the MacCracken Housing Program can be found at http://gsas.nyu.edu/page/grad.financialaid.mhp
NYU guarantees housing in Stuyvesant Town to some of their departments like NYU Center for Neural Science while others like Biology have to compete for housing here.
All contents © New York University. All rights reserved.
Revised: 12-Aug-2014 4:55PM
"Biology
Housing
First year doctoral students are eligible to receive housing benefits while they are enrolled full time and in good standing. Subsidized, furnished housing, through the MacCracken program, located in Stuyvesant Town, which is approximately 1 mile from the Department and served by a free campus shuttle bus, is available for first year students. More information on the MacCracken Housing Program can be found at" http://gsas.nyu.edu/page/grad.financialaid.mhp
http://biology.as.nyu.edu/object/graduate.financial
NYU and CW etc established a PCVST subsidized Housing Program along with a Lease Guarantee Program.
ReplyDeleteThey are using fellowship money to subsidize the newly deregulated RS rents to market rates.
FAR 4 - Graduate School of Arts and Science - New York ...
gsas.nyu.edu/object/gsas.pdfs.far4guidelines
New York University
Jan 21, 2010 - Mitchell MacCracken, the NYU Chancellor who founded the Graduate ... awards; established a subsidized housing program for first-year ...
gsas.nyu.edu/object/gsas.pdfs.far4guidelines
Here is what we pay for 2014 2015 school year
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu/resLifeHousServ/documents/20142015Rates.pdf
Anyone know....What does the column mean when it says approximate number of spaces in the hall and had Stuyvesant Town at 100%? Can I live in a building that is entirely student dorms without the permanent families and old folks?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu/resLifeHousServ/documents/20142015Rates.pdf
Last night around 2am i saw Rav 9 of public safety parked on 2nd ave and 22nd street. Didn't know that was part of our complex. Of course guy was sleeping. I had 2% battery on my phone so i couldn't get a pic. We need new security or something. Overnight guys are always sleeping or hiding or on cell phones.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the Keystone Cops put their "award winning" security system on wheels to catch more crime footage after the fact. Lord knows they're not preventing crime.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Anon for those NYU links!
ReplyDeleteThe rentals are to both Grads and Undergrads. There are also other arrangements going on. 2 units on my floor have groups of young men & women in them who come in between 11:30pm to 12:30am. Faces change from month to month although one face in each seems to remain the same. These also keep a very low profile...like maybe doing something against the rules but not wanting to attract notice.
ReplyDeleteIf DiBlasio is sincere about preserving affordable housing, then it would behoove him to put a stop to the prostituting of PCVST to NYU.
ReplyDeleteThey should fire all the supervisors from overnight tour since they're the ones constantly doing nothing. Most of the crimes during those hours and they never catch anyone. Useless if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteOh I'm so glad the tenants pay for this:
ReplyDeletePlayground 2 - PCV - woman at table who is to check ID is on phone , texting and typing for past 3 hours. I"m watching her. She has checked NOT one person here or even looked at them.
I kid you not. Same goes for the tennis portion of Pcv - all the players there are not stuytown residents. Gee, I hope we get an mci for this and I know we're paying the staff here to do nothing.
Stuytown dorm for NYU in full force now. Curious as to why the T.A. doesn't give a fuck about this.
ReplyDeleteTell us TA, what do you do there for us?
If DeBlasio is serious about preserving affordable housing, why is he turning a blind eye to the fact that CW is prostituting STPCV to NYU and other colleges and ripping as many units out of rent stabilization as possible. I heard that all units in STPCV are "rent stabilized." I also heard that the moon is made of cheese. Both hear-says have equal credibility. There is some very, very dirty business going on with our "landlord," our so-called political representatives and NYU. The sooner the scum rises to the top of the pond and can be skimmed off and identified, the better.
ReplyDeleteYou listening DeB, DG, et al.? If you are not, then you will never get my vote again, even if I have to vote for Satan instead of you.
DONOT VOTE FOR DIBLASIO second term. He's throwing stuytown and pcv and affordable housing under the boss. Just like the rest of the gang.
ReplyDeleteDiBlasio and Goradnick are a couple of shysters.who should never hold public office again. Just like our SLIMEY gov, they are OWNED by the RE cabal. Steve Spinola is their Lord and Master and wields more power over the politicians than all of the voters put together. I'll never vote for those three stooges ever again.
ReplyDeleteNOT BOSS, throwing under the bus. Do not vote these men in again.
ReplyDeleteI didn't vote for Dib and Bloomberg either. but the stupid 20k tenants here did. Stuytown will never learn - just giving the oval and their homes away. tsk tsk
ReplyDelete