Tuesday, September 30, 2014

New Letter from Gerald Guterman


To the Tenants of STPCV from Gerald Guterman

I have been reading the Stuyvesant Town Report for a few weeks now, without making a single comment about any subject or concern of the residents.

I am sick to my stomach and completely disgusted, by the mis-information "floating" around the community and the latest round of actions taken by CW and Compass Rock. 

There appears to be a deliberate attempt by the No Knowledge or Experience Tenants Association ("NKETA"), to create the false impression that they, the NKETA, have any power or authority, to agree with, make deals with, or represent directly or indirectly, the interests of any tenant of STPCV, except those very few tenants who have joined the NKETA and signed a specific representation agreement. NO POWER, NO AUTHORITY, NO EXCEPTIONS, Period!!       

Unless you actually agreed in writing to be represented by the NKETA, you are NOT represented by the NKETA. No agreement between the NKETA and CW, or Compass Rock, Fortress, Moellis & Company or Paul Weiss, et al, has any force or effect on you as an individual tenant, if you did not sign an agreement with the NKETA  to represent you, or you did not specifically agree (in writing) with CW or their "gang," to a specific matter. NO POWER, NO AUTHORITY, NO EXCEPTIONS, Period!!

I have now explained the power of the NKETA twice in the last two paragraphs and several other times, in several previous statements made on this Blog. 

I am not an attorney and I do not practice law.

I am one of the most experienced New York City Landlords in the history of New York City rent regulated housing, as well as probably the single most experienced condominium and cooperative converter of  rent regulated housing in New York City's history.

That's it. That's what I bring to the table. Just knowledge and forty-four years of pragmatic experience in the Trenches...    

When I speak or write, my message is coming from my experience. after I have given thought and consideration to the subject at hand. Usually, I will have had discussions with my partners and in some cases, my attorney and legal partner, who himself has about forty years of experience in New York City rent regulation law.   

 I don't believe that speech or worse, actions, taken without full, experienced consideration of the possible and (in the hands of professionals) very probable results, has any merit.

The speech and actions of the Tenants Association and the continuing actions of CW or their management subsidiary Compass Rock, are not based on long term, practical, "on the ground" experience, with New York City's Rent Regulated Housing.

CW and its property management subsidiary are "green" service organizations without the New York City Rent Regulation experience "under fire", that would normally govern their actions. 

I  believe that the significant portion of the rent and management decisions taken by CW and their subsidiary, Compass Rock,  will ultimately fail and be reversed, when properly tested through the New York State legal system.

·         I have previously explained to you, that expecting any positive, meaningful results from the Department of Buildings or any political representative, is simply a waste of good ink and paper.

·         I have previously explained to you, that we believe the significant portion of the MCI charges can be successfully challenged and reversed.

·         I have previously explained to you, that we believe the use of STPCV for dormitory housing can be successfully challenged and reversed. 

·         I have previously explained to you, that it will take a sophisticated and extensive legal challenge (as I specifically explained in a previous letter), to obtain the desired results.

·         I have previously explained to you, that while this challenge is going forward in the legal system, there are additional actions that may be taken to protect the Tenants, during this period of stress.

·         I have previously offered to advise you, as Tenants of STPCV.

·         My Offer stated that you may cancel our consulting agreement at any time and for any reason or no reason.

·         My Offer included a charge of $10.00 per quarter and stated that you would be billed separately and later. 

·         I have explained to you in a previous letter, that the substantial portion of the funds ($10.00 per quarter) would be used to pay initial retainer fees for the legal and engineering professionals required to successfully litigate the Tenant positions. 

·         I have previously indicated to you, that I would meet with Tenants in New York, to introduce myself and answer questions about where you stand as Tenants of STPCV.

·         I have previously explained to you, that I expected at least a few hundred Tenants (who read Stuyvesant Town Report) to read, sign and return the Consulting Agreement.

·         I have not made any arrangements for a meeting in New York, because as I previously told you, only one Tenant returned a signed Agreement.

As it currently stands, Guterman Partners, LLC, withdraws from our offer to provide Rent Regulated Housing advice and consultation.

Thank you for your consideration,

Respectfully,

Gerald Guterman                 

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I have not made any arrangements for a meeting in New York, because as I previously told you, only one Tenant returned a signed Agreement."

Sorry, Mr. G., this makes little sense. I am the one who suggested, on this blog, that you have a meeting. I am NOT a TA troll. I am open but will not sign until I can get to see you and your team in a meet and greet. If you need to, get a link formatted (not individual email responses, so 90’s) so that those tenants who are interested in such a meeting can respond to you with their name, address, etc. This link should have a running total that everyone can see; full disclosure is the way to go. If you don’t get a minimum amount of tenants who are interested in a meeting (I would respond and come), then you would have your answer. It would be their funeral, not yours. Yes?

Anonymous said...

I hate to see the opportunity pass. Here are some suggestions. If the money paid is viewed in any way as compensation, I guess I'd pass. But if the money is to be used for retainers, legal fees and the like, then I think it would be 'our' money'. 'Meaning in effect 'we' would be a alternate TA. We should be the ones holding a meeting, perhaps a small meeting at first to air ideas and see if & how relationships could work. Seems to me Baruch or some school could be approached for a room for a small meeting to which we'd want Mr Guterman to come. And we could approach Baruch for a facility for large meetings. A shadow TA I'll admit. But knowing folks here, there will be no large sign-ups without a face to face kickoff meeting. Don't know if this would work for Mr Guterman, but it doesn't seem right that he should be the coordinator here. We should be, And I have absolutely no doubt that his advice would be essential and valuable.

Tommyboyardee said...

Why break your silence now?

Anonymous said...

Residents are not bound to the poorly negotiated MCI deals by the TA or the blind eye deaf ear to the excessive renovation charges and dorms. We can overturn them. The biggest problem facing us is not laundry rooms. It is costs in the forms of MCI charges and loss of affordable apartments exacerbated by dorm churn, Anyone who cares about the charges and costs should email Mr Guterman and just listen to what he has to say.,

stpcv@gutermanpartners.com

Anonymous said...

Residents are not bound to the poorly negotiated MCI deals by the TA or the blind eye deaf ear to the excessive renovation charges and dorms. We can overturn them. The biggest problem facing us is not laundry rooms. It is costs in the forms of MCI charges and loss of affordable apartments exacerbated by dorm churn, Anyone who cares about the charges and costs should email Mr Guterman and just listen to what he has to say.,

stpcv@gutermanpartners.com

Anonymous said...

I wish Mr Guterman would start a TA here.
The current bunch are TOTALLY USELESS!

Anonymous said...

The deplorable state of the laundry rooms is part of the general decay and lack of services we have endured since the Tishman Speyer days. TS started the ball of incompetence a perfidy and CW picked up that ball and ran with it. These are crooks who glad-hand our politicians

Anonymous said...

Let's do it. Let's book the meeting at Baruch invite everyone including Mr Guterman. Yes there will be Brookfield TA trolls there documenting our names and photos of our faces onto a blacklist but we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by doing this and they will report to CW what we say and do then start a storm of pr T&V newsletters with empty words to make it seem like there is nothing wrong here.

EVERYTHING is wrong HERE!

Anonymous said...

Anyone who constantly reiterates "I have previously explained to you", I do not trust. Real professional. The vultures are now circling. Nothing will change here. Yes folks, the 'Circus" is in town. Step right up and be the next sucker in line. Sorry, but I think this a waste of time, AS USUAL!!

Anonymous said...

Any one of us could inquire at Baruch, IS 104 or PS 40 to get a room. If I do this for a meeting during the week in the evening, would anyone come? Indications please. Would Mr Guterman come? I understand Mr Guterman wanting some form of commitment. The hot air that gets blown around this site comes to very little. Either some of us have to drop anonymity or nothing will change and essentially the only voices heard at large will be those of the TA and the politicians.

Anonymous said...

Trying to figure out. Mr Guterman form a TA? Someone outside our community form it for us? Or even as Mr Guterman suggests...how does it make sense that he would control money collected. In the end it's our responsibility to decide if money is spent on lawyers or if we follow exactly what Mr Guterman counsels.

Anonymous said...

10:05...no way if telling if you're from the TA. But if not, one downside to this we need to discuss is...if something good does come of this, how to deal with the naysayers and freeloaders who paid or contributed nothing.

Giovanni said...

Mr. Guterman seems to have learned quickly that getting ST/PCV tenants to agree on anything is like herding cats, the difference being that cats generally know what it is that they need to survive, while tenants here generally do not.

Mr. Guterman's approach looked promising, cost less than Netflix and would have benefited everyone except for CW Capital, their promoters, and people who like overpaying for real estate like the trolls on this blog. We all know who they are.

Anyone have a better idea? No? Then let me know what time the ST/PCV funeral is and I'll be over to watch the bulldozers.

As they used to say on the slave ships coming in from Africa: The flogging will continue until morale improves.

Anonymous said...

If Mr. Guterman was truly determined to get involved in this proposed "conversion", he would need to reach out to the
tenancy in a way that actually reaches most of them. If that means standing on a street corner to meet them one to one, or launching a social media campaign, so be it. But limiting your outreach to this blog and a mention in the Town and Village isn't going to get it done.

Anonymous said...

I was feeling pissed at CW/CR until it suddenly occurred to me: It's only a shitty apartment! It's not even in one of the best cities in the country. New York is basically an overpriced shithole - and I've been here since I was a kid. Nothing and no place is worth fretting over like the way we fret over this place. It was a nice place at one time, but Rob Speyer got his dirty, greedy, low-class hands on it and turned it into a slum. CW/CR continued to degrade the place to their level of tacky standards.

I think that there will come a time when Manhattan will be occupied by the rich, and only the rich. Maybe they will find that the "lower classes" don't want to commute into Manhattan from the boroughs to shovel their shit, cook their meals, mind their babies, tend to them when they are dribbling into their oatmeal and prunes with hot water. They certainly will be able to get illegals with their so-called Municipal ID cards to take care of them, but there is no guarantee that those folks will treat them with any measure of respect or kindness. That is the New York City of the future. A rarified atmosphere of the very rich and the very poor and there is no reason why the latter should give a flying fuck about the human rights of the former.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Guterman, I appreciate the offer but please give it up. I was actually thinking of trying to put together a meeting, but looking at the response, I can see it's hopeless. Your post was almost immediately buried under an Air Conditioning post, you got the usual boring doubters, but more importantly the general response is anemic. Which says that in spite of all the hot air dealt out here constantly, every day, given the choice between put up or shut up, the lambs here have chosen to shut up.

Anonymous said...

Giovanni, you are full of Bs. Many of us would be interested in a number of options. Not via STR's blog alone and you know this. Bogus/ cheap shots and seriously unprofessional. No one of any stature would present an offer this way.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>Mr. Guterman, I appreciate the offer but please give it up. I was actually thinking of trying to put together a meeting, but looking at the response, I can see it's hopeless. Your post was almost immediately buried under an Air Conditioning post, you got the usual boring doubters, but more importantly the general response is anemic. Which says that in spite of all the hot air dealt out here constantly, every day, given the choice between put up or shut up, the lambs here have chosen to shut up.<<

Okay. I'm going to step in here and respond, probably a bit too strongly for some people, but sorry.

I've not made my feelings known about the Guterman offer, though I was going to, in a lengthy post, but other matters intruded.

I've just decided that this will be it with the Guterman letters and the commentary on these letters, pro or con.

Neither I, nor this blog, is at the service of any plan or any individual. If Mr. Guterman wishes to put forth a plan to the tenants of ST/PCV, my recommendation, as someone who has been doing this blog for years and as someone who has lived in Stuy Town for over twenty-five, is for him to not only start a website regarding his offer (over which he will have 100% control), but to spread the news via mailings, handouts, the T&V newspaper, and any media attention he can garner.

I've had it with commentary that insults my readers for not taking up Mr. Guterman's offer (which, guess what?, is a loud vote in itself) or that inadvertently criticizes me for making a post that has nothing to do with Mr. Guterman's letter a day after I posted his letter for him, as a courtesy. And I posted this letter immediately upon reading it, at a time when I was completely exhausted from my day's work and wished to simply go home and sleep. Thanks.

Again, this is my blog, and I'm not in the service of anyone else.

Forthwith, I will not be posting any more letters from Mr. Guterman and will not respond to any messages from him. This stance is NOT an attack on him or his offer to tenants, but an acknowledgement that these letters are not the way to go about capturing the attention of the entire population of ST/PCV (transient tenants excluded) in a serious manner. I do like the fighting spirit in Mr. Guterman's letters and I believe, generally, in the principles stated therein, but I just don't have the time or the patience any more to deal with this issue and the squabbling that's going on.

Anonymous said...

Good for you, STR! I think that if Mr. Guterman was serious and professional he would go about his business in a much different way. He would contact tenants directly, call meetings and start his own blog or website. There is something very unprofessional and maybe even shady about him using your blog to push his ideas and try to solicit money from tenants by using your blog. Who knows what we could be letting ourselves in for by signing his "agreement" and sending him money. It just has a really bad smell to it.

Thank you for your blog, STR. You do a great service for the tenants by bringing things to light and allowing discussions. Squabbling is inevitable, but you have a very good way of reining in the commenters who cross the line or just troll trying to make trouble. Thank you so very much for your blog. You devote a tremendous amount of time to it and it isn't that you get paid (or even appreciated by some) and it must take a lot of your time and energy. You are appreciated very much by many of us. Please don't burn out or get discouraged. God bless you.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

Thanks. I do think Mr. Guterman is serious and not shady, but having letters posted on someone's blog is not the way to go about getting the results Mr. Guterman would want.

Anonymous said...

We saw it before and they are doing it again.

They ignore real issues and tenant concerns. They coordinate efforts with CW to give their communications the appearance of making a difference (eg the letter from Dan on the graphic depiction of the Office building being removed from this blog so Dan and Andrew Macarthur could time Dan's letter with Andrew's graphic) and now they place anonymous comments here and a press release in t&V RE newsletter on laundry rooms being biggest concern of stuy town followed by well timed announcement of laundry room improvements with new machines a few weeks later.
Same game. Different day.
Still not a word on the dorms effecting QOL and cost of living.

Anonymous said...

More gestapo inspections being reported on the TA page. The TA is referring the matter to Garodnick. Maybe he'll draft some new legislation! LOL!

Anonymous said...

I would like to support Mr Guterman. But I am not that "one" person who has already signed up. I would like to see Mr Guterman do things more officially rather than back channel it through someone elses personal internet blog. Lets see him make an effort in the real world rather than releasing letters like a jilted lover through a third party.

Props to STR for shutting it down!
Come on mr. Guterman, if you are serious lets see a serious grown up effort. I will have no problem coming to your townhalls and handing over $40 or whatever it is if the effort is serious.

its really hard to take someone's promises on someone else's blog seriously. Put yourself in our shoes and think about how ridiculous that seems mr. G.

Anonymous said...

Really...I have to laugh. Urging Mr Guterman to do things we really should be doing for ourselves.

Anonymous said...

Well it is not about shutting it down but it is about moving it to a different forum, possibly more appropriate and with greater reach to tenants.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
"Any one of us could inquire at Baruch, IS 104 or PS 40 to get a room. If I do this for a meeting during the week in the evening, would anyone come? Indications please. Would Mr Guterman come? I understand Mr Guterman wanting some form of commitment. The hot air that gets blown around this site comes to very little. Either some of us have to drop anonymity or nothing will change and essentially the only voices heard at large will be those of the TA and the politicians."

I'll show up. I'll even help get the ball rolling. Tell me what you need.

Anonymous said...

4:37 We would show up.

Anonymous said...

I just need to see some response here. I assume there will be trolls & sabotage from TA sympathizers, but if I see enough comments that convince me that at least 10 people will show up, I will try to set up a meeting. One caveat: Mr Guterman would need to attend. So I'd also need to heard from Mr Guterman. I'd pull together an agenda consulting all for input, Maybe we can form a viable relationship, maybe we can't, but given Mr Guterman's interest and expertise, it should be worth a shot.

Anonymous said...

Just going out on a limb here:: why doesn't Mr. Guterman have his own blog: his own website; a phone number; an office;

This is absurd folks, - seriously.

Anonymous said...

T&V newspaper is reporting a new MCI is pending for work done on building facades for 17 stuy oval and 541 e 20th street. THIS HAS TO CREATE A COMMUNITY UPROAR. I thought these owners were thru with this stuff. I AM SOO WORRIED THAT I WON'T BE ABLE TO PAY MY RENT. Do they realize what they are doing to us? I can't keep up with all these increases. PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

My read on Mr Guterman is that basically he is annoyed at the way he was regarded by Garodnick and the TA because he felt that his plan was both good for him and good for tenants. And having gotten that much involved, he is further annoyed as a spectator watching our community getting pushed around by CW and not firmly represented by the TA. And these annoyances motivate him. Fine. I have no problem with that. But from this perspective for people here to think he should take a more central coordinating role, he should operate a blog, he should go on some kind of crusade for us....please, get real. I'm sure he has more fruitful things to do. He's offered his services as an adviser. If we can't figure out how to work with him to do this, then it's just time for both sides to move on.

Anonymous said...

"Just going out on a limb here:: why doesn't Mr. Guterman have his own blog: his own website; a phone number; an office;"

Because Mr. Guterman wants to be a freeloader.

Anonymous said...

Um, if he were offering services as an advisor, then he should act like a professional and not like a 4 year old tantruming when no one bites at his offer.

Anonymous said...

Just heard an interesting story on NPR about Chinese censorship on the internet. Protesters can say anything they want about the government and the comments won't be deleted. But if they say anything at all about organizing or attending a protest, the censors kill them. So it's no different throughout the world. It's action that counts. I see a lot negative here. Could be from the TA. Could be from real estate interests. A lot standing for no action.

Anonymous said...

9:30 pm: I am interested.

Anonymous said...

I'd come to your meeting 9:30.

Anonymous said...

Google Gerald Guterman Rip Off & Gerald Gutterman lawsuit Mississippi 2014

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>Google Gerald Guterman Rip Off & Gerald Gutterman lawsuit Mississippi 2014<<

I did. Not much there.

Anonymous said...

6:08 you are trying too hard to stop tenants from learning the ins and outs from a real estate expert as Mr G. He is an invaluable resource. You know it so you lay in on attacking him as a person and that is a low act and indicates his knowledge he would give to us is a threat to you and that you have no other arguments than to attack him as a person. Nasty Nasty

Keep the tenants in the "dark and dumb" is the motto of the TA.

Anonymous said...

Agreeing with 8:43. 6:08 is the same kind of ad hominem attack Guterman got from Garodnick 2 years ago. If you can't deal with the merits of the plans, then attack the man.