No, the above is not a building in the making. It is the finished design for a new building being raised in Tribeca.
And here's an article that every Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village and NYC resident should read:
http://tribecatrust.org/the-destruction-of-tribeca-and-new-york-what-can-we-do/
A few money quotes:
"Everywhere you turn, you can see that our historic, distinctive city is being eaten alive by those Lords of Misrule who represent Big Real Estate. To them, New York is just a lot of unrealized Floor-Area-Ratio waiting to be built up. They do not care about history, urbanism, quality of life, sunlight, beauty, or about anything that makes our city livable. While it is true that our government is supposed to care about those things, it cannot do so if it is 'captured' by a special interest like that of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY)."
On the Mayor:
"He too has been silent on the issue. Apparently he doesn’t want any more historic districts if they interfere with the ambitions of Big Real Estate. Is it because he is listening to the self-serving advice of REBNY, the real estate lobby? Most likely. Don’t forget that REBNY is the same lobby who thinks that neighborhoods like ours should be torn down and replaced with towers (as argued by REBNY’s favorite right-wing, anti-regulation economist, Edward Glaeser in his destructive book, 'The Triumph of the City'). And If you didn’t know, REBNY has been on an anti-historic district rampage for years, issuing ideologically-slanted policy statements against historic districts on their website and in editorials everwhere. REBNY even finances lobbying campaigns to take down the Landmarks Preservation Commission."
The REBNY is the enemy. The politicians who bow down to the REBNY and attend REBNY galas are our enemies.
We are losing this city. And it will never come back.
31 comments:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=108183872604885&id=150197075023750
REBNY whined and cried about unfair treatment in SoHo. Poor REBNY life is so unfair to them.
Power attorney with REBNY support Margaret Baisley's witch hunt against tenants in SoHo.
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2012/04/17/soho-noho-group-seeks-to-verify-artists-residents/
A SoHo co-op owner calling out the bogus REBNY witch hunt against renters
http://www.sohojournal.com/content/meeting-change-soho-zoning-warning-renters
REBNY bragged of DOB, REBNY, and Dept of City Planning working together to evict artists. DOB refused to renew certificates of occupancy to tenants unless they proved their artist certification. REBNY bragged of this on page 7 in their 2011 annual report.
http://www.rebny.com/content/dam/rebny/Documents/PDF/News/AnnualReports/2011_annual_report_web.pdf
side note:
Disturbingly but not surprisingly REBNY declared "DOB leadership has done a laud-able job articulating a reasonable
balance in the agency’s two functions: (construction) safety and facilitating development."
The reason many NYC buildings are unsafe, deteriorating and landlords rack up thousands of violations is because building safety is not a priority of the DOB.
The real kicker, page 14 photo Spinola and Tighe grinning control over Cuomo. Per REBNY, REBNY balanced the state budget, and they extended a gratuitous thank you to Sheldon Silver, Skelos, and Cuomo.
REBNY controls the NY STATE budget.
GREAT ARTICLE! Thanks STR.
Another good paragraph
7. So really, we need to blame our Landmarks Preservation Commissions under Guiliani and then under Bloomberg. Everyone knows the Landmarks Preservation Commissions do what a Mayor wants. Those Commissions could have acted. They chose not to.
The city agencies are not doing the job they are created to do and the Mayor is not instructing them to do so. They are corrupted to the core by REBNY. DHCR, City Planning and DOB are largely to blame for everything in PCVST. The TA thought tenants were so stupid not to see through the sham management office building meetings with DOB or Dan's declaration of overseeing a DOB audit, which we still haven't gotten the DOB audit results. Where is that Dan?
I agree with the tweets on the side of the article and the entire article.
21Jan
@jmassengale I voted for Di blast onto do something different from bloomberg. Thus far disappointed
21Jan
@jmassengale down with this stupid east midtown plan
"Iconic towers" are first of all about investments for the global 1% & only secondarily about architecture"
John Massengale
@jmassengale
Architect, Urbanist, Educator, Author
Roughly 1/4 of all NYC apartments are pieds-à-terre or other nonprimary residences—and yes, this does raise prices making NYC unaffordable for the middle class. De Blasio's residential towers make NYC unaffordable and his so called affordable housing plan / tax break for developers homes for the poor does not address the problem. De Blasio is missing the boat on the middle class - or really De Blasio is sinking the middle class boat.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/realestate/new-york-citys-emptiest-co-ops-and-condos.html?referrer=&_r=0
That is a really good article, well written, clear, concise, and completely correct.
Thank you STR.
Guiliani, Bloomberg, Lhota and De Blasio all the same. At least the first three are honest about it.
The dilemma for any administration is that real estate development provides a lot of jobs and a lot of tax revenue for the city and state. These days developers aren't just local. They're international. If they can't get what they want in NYC, they can say fine, we'll develop more in Chicago, LA, Atlanta, Australia or Shanghai. What they tell the city is that they have to have more vertical expansion in order to make their projects profitable. So we get these sore thumb monstrosities sticking up in the middle of lower-lying buildings. For Bloomberg it wasn't a matter of calling their bluff. He was one of them. His motto could have been: Je suis Real Estate. I'm willing to say that the jury is still out on deBlasio but right now it's not looking good.
Why are we at odds with city gov't: because we stand for quality of life and the city seems ever concerned with getting more and more money.
Sad article.
De Blasio and his City Planning and DOB are lining up our communities like a row of sitting ducks and giving REBNY the ammunition to kill us off and "build higher".
No more middle class ducks,
no sunshine,
no trees, no communities.
That is the De Blasio promise to build higher to REBNY richlings.
De Blasio is building a Tale of Two cities with his affordable housing plan of 20% Paupers and 80% Richlings.
This "affordable housing" program and "building higher" tall luxury towers REBNY program is the definition of inequality.
De Blasio and his administration are creating inequality with Soho, Stuy Town, every lost community.
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n13/benjamin-kunkel/paupers-and-richlings
Is that really what you want your housing legacy to be Mr De Blasio?
We should make a point of refusing to vote for politicians who attend the obscene REBNY gala or show any indication of being in REBNY's pockets. Write in a name on the voting paper in order to show your disgust. Write in "Bozo the Clown" if necessary.
12:34...there's no way I'd vote GOP. But where are the Democrats who are really going to stand up for us? I don't see them. I just see the wannabes.
The Mayor? ........nothing more than a walking "Big Bird".
OT but this is the noisiest apartment I have ever rented. I can hear the people above us and next to us day and night. Words, screams and more.
"It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead."
Where's our John Connor?
That monstrosity looks like clumsily stacked plates that will fall over at any time. It isn't as if the new buildings going up are even attractive. They are so UGLY. I think those "architects" must be on drugs. They really are an assault on the landscape.
Other media
Hisotrical article from Village Voice
ST PCV tenants on top 100 powerless in New Yorkers - ranked #43
Too bad we never had a good TA on tenant's side to harness our power of 11,000 voices but instead quieted us and kept us in the dark on their deal. Quality of life is nonexistent and the overcharges are many.
www.villagevoice.com/2012-01-11/news/100-most-powerless-new-yorkers/full/
Latest Review on Yelp (hidden by Yelp in the Date tab)
Adam Cory O.
ASTORIA, NY
DONT DO IT!!! Stuy-Town, where everything goes to die. Hopes and dreams, seniors, friendships and relationships. Ive lived in 21 places in my life... This is the worst place I have ever lived, and pay well over $4k/mo. The only things we had going for us (quietness and unlimited a/c) are now null as it is winter and all I hear is hours of trucks in 'reverse' for hours while im trying to sleep. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!! Also in the middle of winter, as we are now, I must have my windows wide open with the fan blaring at me or else I will pop like Bodega kettle corn in my bed. They will post a general notice in the hallway and a week later barge in like SWAT... Oh but with that they tear up your walls and ceilings and have YOU make an appointment to fix it! Been here since June and the shower has had to be snaked 6 times (hardly any females shower here). Want to do laundry?? Good luck. 6 machines per building.. 111 buildings approximately and they are still outsourced to the parent company. Long story short; takes weeks to have fixed. Go elsewhere for laundry. I can just imagine how long and hard the process is to get securities back :(
Morgan L.
Darien, CT
Follow Morgan L.
1.0 star rating
1/21/2015
If I could give them 0 stars I would. Stuy town has absolutely the WORST management team in the world!!! DO NOT LIVE HERE!!!!!!!!!! They never return your calls, they never are available to meet in person and they never resolve issues in a timely matter.
After living there for 2 years my roommates and I had yet to receive a rent invoice with the correct amount of money stated on it. On top of that, they lost not 1 but 2 certified checks on separate occasions and then claimed we owed THEM money for it.
We moved out in June and they just came to us in November saying we owe them money for damages etc. They rob you of your money and it is not worth the headache!!!!
Was this review …?
That design looks inside - out and chewed at the top. Not at all Soho-ish. Sad.
We have had NO HEAT all day today. It's as cold as a REBNY member's heart - which is even colder than a polar bear's ass.
Stuyvesant Town is a SLUM. Our landlord is a greedy, loathsome SLUMLORD. I will broadcast far and wide hat nobody should rent here unless they like to be abused and pay big bucks for being abused.
Not as much as a puff of heat in the last 24 hours, except luke-warm pipes in bathroom and kitchen. Why do people pay $4k per month to live in this shit hole? Are they hoping that we all get space heaters and burn the shit hole down? Can't help but wonder.
DeBlasio actually said he has "no hang-ups" about the height of new buildings, which pretty much was what his RE pals wanted to hear. He is either stupid or corrupt or, possibly, both.
Wow - so much hallway work (not needed at all) going on. mci mci mci.
and duh.
Totally agree STR - REBNY is the enemy of Tenants. They say it themselves loud and clear.
3 39. All the property will be getting hit with more Major Cap I increases. Thanks guys, thanks Dan. The hallways and new lights now look like a dental office and how much will you charge us for this shit?
Robbie can stash a lot of goats in there!
Does anyone know or can comment as to why the Dept of Housing & Comm Renewal does not respond or process paperwork for rent charges which are exceedingly high, overcharged with Mci charges as well?
Why do you morons keep paying the m c I bills? stop! don't pay them. Pay your rent and leave it off. They're ILLEGAL.
"Why do you morons keep paying the m c I bills? stop! don't pay them. Pay your rent and leave it off. They're ILLEGAL."
I notice you say "you" morons. Does that mean that you don't pay the MCIs on your rent bill or does it mean you don't live here? If you do live here and are not paying your MCI charges, how is it working out for you with Management? If you don't live here, then STFU.
Many people are not paying the additional rent which is said to be Mci charges. Some of us don't lay down so easily. Try throwing them out.LANDLORD.
GOOD NEWS: Preet Bharara probing Albany tax breaks for monumentally stupid "build higher" One57 (which immediately followed Extell giving lots to Cuomo coffer).
http://nypost.com/2015/01/26/bharara-probing-tax-deals-given-to-luxury-condo-building/
History:
Mike McKee said it best
http://metcouncilonhousing.org/news_and_issues/tenant_newspaper/2013/june/tax_breaks_for_billionaires_how_the_campaign_finance_system_faile_0
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/cuomo-100k-developer-signing-tax-break-law-article-1.1422003
Albany bought and paid for
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/cuomo-donor-generous-stood-save-35m-article-1.1423003
"The governor has called for closing a gap in the state’s campaign finance laws, but he’s taken far more through the loophole than his predecessors, much of it from real estate developers."
http://www.propublica.org/article/cuomo-has-raised-millions-through-loophole-he-pledged-to-close
This once-great City has totally gone to hell thanks to the money-hungry/insatiable developers and politicians who are private club of mutual greed.
Just look at how overcrowded the subways and buses are. Look at how filthy the streets are. They (REBNY and politicians) are building hideous buildings that nobody but the mega-rich can possibly afford to live in. And, ya know what: they don't live in them. They collect them (e.g., Bill Ackman purchasing "the Mona Lisa" of apartments in that thing on 57th Street). They collect them, don't pay taxes on them and don't live in them. Meanwhile, hard-working real New Yorkers are being priced out and bled dry.
We need to get rid of the filth who are running and controlling this City and we need to start at the top and work the way down. I hope to God that Preet Bharara is up to the job.
Ditto January 26, 2015 at 8:57 PM. Ditto.
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