Monday, February 9, 2015

The Tenants Association Finally Acts!



Finally!  Some action from our TA! The TA will hold a free raffle for free tickets to see Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Xtreeme at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn.

More info at the TA Facebook's pinned post

Let's fiddle while Rome burns.

52 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since when does this residential community endorse commercial brands? Since when does this community endorse animal abuse? This TA is out of line.
Peter Cooper Village Stuyvesant Town should not be doing commercial endorsements. Were any tenants asked about this? Was there a vote? Animal cruelty is UNACCEPTABLE
SHAME on the Marsh Steinberg "Tenant" association that represents no one I know here.
Everyone I know here agrees -
PETER COOPER VILLAGE AND STUYVESANT TOWN NEW YORK CITY ARE AGAINST CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. SAY NO TO THE RINGLING BROS CIRCUS

"Archele Hundley, a former Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus employee, recently teamed up with PETA to make a moving plea to potential circusgoers. Hundley, who witnessed elephant beatings during her time with Ringling, urges people to stay away from the circus.

“I saw handlers deliver a beating … for 30 minutes. She was covered with bloody wounds. I’ll never forget her agonizing screams,” says Hundley. “Please, never take your children to a Ringling Bros. circus.”

Anonymous said...

RINGLING BROS CIRCUS IS DESPICABLE

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/ringling-brothers-barnam-bailey-cruelest-show-on-earth/
EXPOSED! Ringling Brothers and Barnam and Bailey Circus: The Cruelest Show on Earth!

Stolen from his mother
While it may appear that the animals that perform in Ringling Brothers and Barnam and Bailey shows are special breeds that were simply born to thrive in the spotlight and eat up applause, in reality they are not. It is estimated that about 50 percent of the Asian elephants owned by Ringling Brothers and Barnam and Bailey were captured from the wild.

Anonymous said...

Barclay's center is desperate to get people to go there. They are selling basketball tickets in midtown off food cart like vendors for $20. No one is going to the Barclay's Center. De Blasio is desperate to get people to go there so no one sees it is a monstrous failure and never belonged in the center of Brooklyn replacing the small businesses and residential homes. That construction development should never have happened. Even the russian owner is selling, trying to unload it faster then the developer is trying to unload his share.

Anonymous said...

30 Elephants have died - Ringling Bros Circus animals are the saddest creatures on Earth. Their broken spirits show in their eyes. Stuyvesant Town Peter Cooper Village cannot and does not condone violence and abuse to animals. SHAME ON THE TA BOARD!

Anonymous said...

Yup, the circus is definitely in town for sure.

Anonymous said...

Circus Under Attack Ringling Bros. popularity plummets amid growing protests over animal cruelty
By Teresa Gubbins

8.31.14 | 10:52 am


In search of new customers, the circus has cannily sought out partnerships where it can prey on children.

During the '90s, they partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas to guarantee a steady infusion. These days, the circus has gone to more desperate measures by hiring clowns to visit libraries in poor neighborhoods and hand out free tickets for kids, drumming up business two months before the big show arrives. The mainstream media is mostly complicit, with unreflective writers who dutifully add it to their entertainment picks list year in, year out.

Nonetheless, nearly 40 towns and cities in the United States and more than 30 countries have banned or restricted the use of animals in circuses.

In April, Los Angeles banned the use of bullhooks, the sharp-edged tool used by Ringling trainers; in June, Mexico banned the use of animals entirely. A year-long investigation by Mother Jones found that Ringling elephants lead miserable lives, are afflicted by illnesses that the circus ignores, and that a number of elephants have died "under disturbing circumstances."

Anonymous said...

The seats are empty at the Barclay's Center (photos) and have been all along. The city made a very bad and wasteful decision to build this in the hopes of the DNC. The DNC will, in addition to being surrounded by corruption in the NY air it will have blood on its hands from the abused animals who were forced to submissively entertain people.

http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2013/11/at-barclays-center-many-empty-seats-for.html

Anonymous said...

De Blasio and his administration are desperate to fill the Barclay's Center. Marsh / Steinberg will say, think and do whatever the politicians tell them to do. They are their own circus of puppets. Seriously why would anyone join this association that is not a "Tenant" association but is the politicians association - a political Tool to get the residents here to complete REBNY's vision. Is it legal for the TA do endorse this? Or to make a commercial endorsement? Is this legal because it feels unethical.

Anonymous said...

I think we all ought to start attending TA meetings, to see what goes on and start asking questions. I don't think membership is required to attend. It used to be that any member could run for the board. Now they have a vetting committee...which presumably would filter out candidates who don't support the current agenda. This TA board needs to be publicly challenged.

Anonymous said...

Peter cooper porters are increasingly rude and unfriendly. Buildings 4 and 5 and rarely every salted in back entrance and the employees there are unhelpful. NOT OK .

Anonymous said...

Bikinis, washing machines and a circus are the priorities of these guys. unbelievable.

how about action on financial fraud, illegal construction, toxic excavation, illegal evictions, unsafe hazardous chopped apartments, plumbing strain from overpopulation, noise pollution, and on and on

Or that Rob Speyer awarded Brookfield Rudin at the Gala no doubt for covering his ass on PCVST and duping tenants into a rebny partnership

Anonymous said...

They spend time on this bullshit when there are much more important things to be done around here. What a joke!

Anonymous said...

10 13 - Call and report to Management. They want tips --- they're friendly only to those who tip them and regularly. I would except my rent is too damn high and I'm broke.

Anonymous said...

Ringling Bros is about as low and loathsome an organization as it is possible to get. It is well documented that the animals, especially the elephants, are abused routinely. Anybody who would take their kid to such an abhorrent spectacle should consider their priorities. Would you take your kid to a dog fight or a cock fight? A bear-bating event?

As for the TA, they are not only irrelevant and of no consequence as an actual TA, they are just plain despicable. I wish I could cancel my membership and get my money refunded. I will block their emails from now on.

Anonymous said...

Barclays Center is very badly constructed and is a major catastrophe waiting to happen.

A friend of mine attended a Pearl Jam concern there and had a drunk fall on her from several levels above. She was seriously injured and has had to undergo several operations to repair her shattered bones. She has had absolutely no cooperation whatsoever from BC and has had to retain a lawyer to fight them.

The seats are tiered very steeply and the tiers are very close together. It is like a huge staircase you are sitting on.

If it's true that the place was constructed with shoddy bolts that were at first rejected by the DOB until that agency had a sudden change of mind (and no doubt money changed hands), then I don't think people should take their kids there anyway.

If there ever is a catastrophic event at Barclays Center, I sincerely hope that none of the innocent children or animals is hurt.

Anonymous said...

Well, the TA board is a bunch of clowns, so....

Anonymous said...

Can't believe it. Who is paying the Tenant Association to run this animal abuse promotion? How are they getting paid? How much are they getting paid? Who are they partnering with in this promotion?

Anonymous said...

Clearly the TA supports Animal Abuse. I am done and will never give another penny to them.
This is absolutely disgusting.

Anonymous said...

They are just volunteers and cry they have limited time then they go and spend their time on this disgusting crap?! Who in their right mind would promote cruelty to animals but the same people who would hire a REBNY lawyer to kick us out.

Anonymous said...

"It used to be that any member could run for the board. Now they have a vetting committee...which presumably would filter out candidates who don't support the current agenda. This TA board needs to be publicly challenged."

Not a big current TA fan but get your facts straight. 2 ways to run, one way is the get the Board endorsement, the other way is get 45 TA member signatures, Board approval not needed.

http://www.stpcvta.org/post/nominations-for-election-to-the-board-of-the-stuyvesant-town-peter-cooper

Anonymous said...

I am so disgusted at the TA for endorsing and encouraging this despicable "entertainment" that am in shock! I will never again have anything to do with that organization. What kind of people are they? And what kind of people take their children to such a "spectacle?" In most civilized countries animal circuses are banned. We are so behind the times here, it really is sad.

Anonymous said...

Did the TA at Riverton offer circus tickets for raffle to its membership? Probably not, because their pretty little heads were focused on silly things, such as suing the filthy bastard criminal landlord. Aren't we lucky that we have a Virgini Mary landlord and a Tenants Association that has nothing better to do than tout circus tickets.

Anonymous said...

NY is behind the times on Animal Issues. Cuomo is so greedy for money he is expanding cruel practices like dog racing and horse racing. Most other states have ban dog racing.

A heartbreaking scene at a racetrack shows how sensitive greyhounds really are.

Horrific footage from a U.K. greyhound racetrack shows some of the dogs crashing into a gate that was not properly removed. The scene became even more wrenching when the other competing dogs stopped racing and turned around to check on their fallen comrades.

Taken on Monday at Coral Romford Greyhound Stadium in east London, the video shows at least three dogs crashing into the gate, and one, reportedly named Borwick Magic, being carried off the track while the dogs who had returned to help him watch.

Dog racing is no stranger to accidents, broken bones, paralysis and fatalities. But happily, the sport is now becoming a thing of the past. In the U.S., a total of 39 states have dog racing bans, while operators say it's no longer profitable.

"Greyhound racing is out of sync with our modern values, the way we look at dogs today, and it's failing economically," an anti-dog racing campaigner, Carey Theil, told The Dodo earlier this week. "There's no doubt in my mind that it will be phased out in the United States. The only question is how long that takes."

By Melissa Cronin
February 06, 2015
Greyhounds Crash At Racetrack, Other Dogs Stop Racing To See If They're OK

https://www.thedodo.com/dog-crash-greyhound-racing-975766470.html

Anonymous said...

Off topic, but just read on TA fb that some people pay $5k pm to live in this shit hole! Are they nuts? You would have to be brain-damaged to pay that much to live here! PT Barnum (bastard as he was) was absolutely right about some folks.

Anonymous said...

"Peter cooper porters are increasingly rude and unfriendly. Buildings 4 and 5 and rarely every salted in back entrance and the employees there are unhelpful. NOT OK ."

I understand your frustration, but I understand theirs, too. If you had to work for this vile, penny-pinching enterprise that demands what used to be the job of 5 or 6 men to be the job of one, then maybe you would understand why these guys are not the friendliest people on the planet. Plus, they have to clean up after these slob students who puke and shit and piss in the hallways, stairwells and halls, as well as having their dogs do the same.
Long/short: a porter's life isn't what it used to be. We are now a dorm/B&B/transient doss house, with people who have no class, manners, hygiene or intelligence. The porters have to spend most of their time cleaning up after this group of "people." The porters are not working in a normal apartment complex, they are working in something akin to a cross between a zoo and an old-time Bowery flop house. And I bet their wages didn't go up much since they were de-unionized.

Anonymous said...

De Blasio is a useless, spineless tool of the REBNY, as are Marsh, Steinberg and Goradnick.
They don't deserve our votes and will never get mine again.
With their latest Circus/Barclays Center attempt, they have just about written themselves off. How pathetic. How totally pathetic. As a long term tenant, I can say that this place is not worth THAT much! Would never sell my soul for it.

Anonymous said...

Hopefully it's their FINAL ACT. What a useless "organization"!
You get what you pay for!

Anonymous said...

8:42 You are so right.
We need Keith Wright and the Riverton TA here in PCV ST.

Anonymous said...

The owners of this place have made everyone miserable. Starting from lower management right down to the tenants. It's a ripple down effect. This is what greed does to everyone. It makes EVERYONE MISERABLE. I too am moving. I have had it! HAD IT!!

Anonymous said...

9 17 pm. My wages haven't gone up either. They have set hours, they go when it's time to go. No reason to be snotty and meant to tenants ESPECIALLY TENANTS WHO ARE RESPECTFL and nice to you and the staff. I know the one that was mentioned - not nice @ all. Makes a lot of people want to throw garbage on the floors when you're nasty and not tipping this porter either. No flipping way.

Anonymous said...

11:44 actually the owners, servicers, politicians, and tenant's association board have made everyone miserable.

Anonymous said...

For the record, my job sucks too. I work my ass off with long hours, no heat and awful conditions. No raise in 6 years. I don't treat the customers like crap. Hell what would be the point.

Anonymous said...

Our porters are absolutely great. Did you know they sometimes have to stay overnight in a dorm-type room so that they can shovel snow early in the morning?

Maybe we are just lucky in my building, but we love our porters - the weekday one and the weekend one. Our building is immaculate, thanks to them and it's not because we don't have filthy slobs living here; unfortunately, we do, though not that many.

Anonymous said...

I think the TA are now part of the problem instead of part of the remedy for the problem. The Marsh-Steinberg Circus is a disgrace and I am shocked that they are promoting the barbaric, animal-abusing Ringling Bros Circus of Horrors.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous @ February 9, 2015 at 10:01 AM said...

This TA will do anything for the almighty dollar.

Yep, let's see. The TA saved me $900 in retroactive charges on the last MCI.

I got an extra 15% off one month's rent for loss of services during Sandy.

I got free trunk storage service where I didn't have it before so now I don't have to pay $100 a month for a paid storage locker.

And all for just $35 in dues last year.

Anonymous said...

The TA should have been on the side of the tenants fighting against the corrupt REBNY scheme to destroy PCVST instead of on the side of the pols pushing the scheme on us. At least it would have been a good fight whether or not we won.
Add to that animal cruelty and this TA has to go.

"U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, appearing in a rare television interview that will air today and tomorrow on MSNBC, said an “unfortunate percentage” of pols in the state legislature are corrupt.

Ari Melber, an MSNBC host, quoted one former assemblyman Mr. Bharara successfully prosecuted, Eric Stevenson, telling federal investigators, “Bottom line, if half the people up here in Albany were ever caught for what they’re doing” they’d be in jail."

Read more at http://observer.com/2015/02/preet-bharara-says-unfortunate-percentage-of-albany-politicians-are-corrupt/#ixzz3RNijT4vC
Follow us: @newyorkobserver on Twitter | newyorkobserver on Facebook

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>This TA will do anything for the almighty dollar.

Yep, let's see. The TA saved me $900 in retroactive charges on the last MCI.

I got an extra 15% off one month's rent for loss of services during Sandy.

I got free trunk storage service where I didn't have it before so now I don't have to pay $100 a month for a paid storage locker.

And all for just $35 in dues last year.<<

A good deal. But you may have gotten a far better one. How long were you without a particular service in your building because of Sandy? Just a month? If more months than just one, you should have received more. You were gypped. As for the MCI retroactive win, that was controversial if I remember correctly, because we gave up a lot on the new MCIs without a fight. Free trunk storage? Is there such an animal anymore? Didn't tenants with rotting trucks (because of Sandy) have to head up to the Bronx to look at their items to see if they were still salvageable?

Anonymous said...

Sure do wish our porter would put out some salt so an ole lady such as moi doesn't slip and fall and have to sue the management.

Anonymous said...

You can have some of our sidewalk salt: it's an inch deep and not needed.

Anonymous said...

Stuy Town Reporter said...
>>This TA will do anything for the almighty dollar.

Yep, let's see. The TA saved me $900 in retroactive charges on the last MCI.

I got an extra 15% off one month's rent for loss of services during Sandy.

I got free trunk storage service where I didn't have it before so now I don't have to pay $100 a month for a paid storage locker.

And all for just $35 in dues last year.<<

A good deal. But you may have gotten a far better one. How long were you without a particular service in your building because of Sandy? Just a month? If more months than just one, you should have received more. You were gypped. As for the MCI retroactive win, that was controversial if I remember correctly, because we gave up a lot on the new MCIs without a fight. Free trunk storage? Is there such an animal anymore? Didn't tenants with rotting trucks (because of Sandy) have to head up to the Bronx to look at their items to see if they were still salvageable?

I live in a Sandy building, and I thought we should have gotten at least $135 a month off for every month the building wasn't restored with a percentage tacked on for management's lies and obfuscations. My bike room opened this past Thanksgiving, more than 2 years after the storm. Paid storage lockers were recently installed but haven't been made available yet--there are holes in the basement walls where electronic sensors have yet to be installed.

Bottom line: On my own I wouldn't have gotten even the $135 and the percentage off a month's rent.

I don't know that anything was given up on the MCI waiver. I was saved between $800 and $1,000 and got a small discount on my rent for as long as I live in my apartment.

Bottom line: On my own I wouldn't have gotten any of that. I wish the permanent MCIs could have been reduced, but if I were the landlord, I wouldn't do that either. The way I look at it, the MCI waiver paid for the TA dues in perpetuity.

I wasn't using the free storage, but now I can. That's a service that was preserved. Management wanted to do away with free bike storage, but they backed down.

Anyone who thinks they can negotiate a better deal--what's stopping you from trying? I'll be happy to take any $$$ you can get me.

Anonymous said...

The MCI's are illegal and were filed improperly. They could have been completely dissolved but Brookfield and Fortress want to increase the rent roll. There should have been no negotiating in the first place.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>Anyone who thinks they can negotiate a better deal--what's stopping you from trying?<<

I'm not in the affected buildings, but from your explanation, it seems that the TA just won minimally, but could have won much more if they had balls and better lawyers.

For you to get only 15% off for ONE month's rent, after you describe what's below is outrageous.

>>I live in a Sandy building, and I thought we should have gotten at least $135 a month off for every month the building wasn't restored with a percentage tacked on for management's lies and obfuscations. My bike room opened this past Thanksgiving, more than 2 years after the storm. Paid storage lockers were recently installed but haven't been made available yet--there are holes in the basement walls where electronic sensors have yet to be installed.<<

Anonymous said...

With the cash this landlord is taking from tenants, especially MR, they should salt it several times a day so no one gets hurt. Duh.

Anonymous said...

The MCI's are illegal and were filed improperly. They could have been completely dissolved but Brookfield and Fortress want to increase the rent roll. There should have been no negotiating in the first place.

Amen Brother/Sister!

Anonymous said...


"Yep, let's see. The TA saved me $900 in retroactive charges on the last MCI.

I got an extra 15% off one month's rent for loss of services during Sandy.

I got free trunk storage service where I didn't have it before so now I don't have to pay $100 a month for a paid storage locker.

And all for just $35 in dues last year."

It's hard to tell if this is serious or sarcasm. Saying the TA saved you one thin dime is just ridiculous. It's like the person who buys a pair of shoes they don't need because they were on sale and they "saved $100". Yet, if they didn't buy the shoes at all they would have saved $200.

You do realize that the MCI charge is in your monthly rent bill forever now right? So if you stay here for any period of time those charges add up and are compounded every time you sign a new lease. Therefore, the TA's agreement is costing you the MCI amount each and every month plus this amount will increase exponentially for as long as you live here thanks to the compounding. So you will end up paying thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of dollars that you wouldn't have had to pay if the TA fought the increases as they should have from the beginning.

As for the 15% for one month, well CWC is laughing their way to the bank on that one since they saved way more than that 15% by not having to shell out money for those services that they didn't have to provide to you and thousands of others for much longer than a month in many cases. Not to mention they were reimbursed for their losses by their insurance carrier. Which had the side effect of raising everyone else's premiums for insurance as the risk is pooled so that everyone absorbs the cost.

Finally, the trunk room. Unless you have the largest trunk in the history of trunks you are comparing apples to a very small orange. You can fit several standard size trunks (not your record breaking trunk of course) into the storage lockers and you have access to your belongings when you want it not to mention you don't have to leave your building to schlep your stuff back to your apartment when you need it if and when someone from management gives you access. But hey I'll even be generous and give you the trunk thing, just like CWC gave it to Dan and the TA as thanks for helping them pull the wool over low information tenants eyes and enabling them to jack up the rent rolls. And all this for an additional loss of only $35 per year. Seems to me you fell for Garodnick and the TA's bull hook, line and sinker just as they hoped for. I have a bridge that connects Brooklyn and Manhattan that I can let you have real cheap.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

Very well put.

Anonymous said...

"I have a bridge that connects Brooklyn and Manhattan that I can let you have real cheap."

Brooklyn and Queens are too expensive since Pataki-Bloomberg helped REBNY boot the middle class out of Manhattan.

Do you have anything connected to the Bronx that's still affordable? It doesn't have to be cheap. We all know REBNY sailed that ship away long ago.

Anonymous said...

I doubt very much that anybody on the TA is in favor of animal abuse. I suspect that the tickets were donated and they just decided to raffle them off. I think it was poor judgment because the Circus is so horrible and barbaric, but I doubt that there was any malice involved on the part of the TA.

A lot of us eat meat and chicken, and know how cruelly the critters were raised and slaughtered, but we do it anyway and wouldn't want someone from PETA monitoring our meals. Cultural inculcation is hard to shake off, so I don't think we should throw stones at the TA even if we abhor the Circus.

Anonymous said...

The animal cruelty circus tickets were not innocently donated to the TA.
The TAboard is tightly tangled up with RE. Forest City Ratner / Barclays Center and the so-called Tenant Association use the same PR firm, Berlin Rosen. This is a cross promotion, Berlin Rosen RE client Forest City Ratner crossed with Berlin Rosen TA client, both are exploiting the families who live in PCVST. It is vulgar exploitation by Berlin Rosen and the TAboard - a cheap way of give away access to this community. We are being exploited by their PR firm to benefit their RE client at the expense of abused animals. It is all around disgusting.

Anonymous said...

The TA Board needs to keep their commercial promotions for Berlin Rosen clients out of our community. This community and our kids are not the TA board's to exploit. Brooklyn was not Ratner's to steal. So damn glad the DNC did NOT select the corrupt Barclays Ratner Berlin Rosen!!

Anonymous said...



Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus is heading back to Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY and PETA, Animal Defenders International, CompassionWorks International, Friends Of Animals United NJ (FAUN), NYCLASS, Long Island Orchestrating for Nature - LION, GooseWatch NYC, Cynthia King Dance Studio and so many others will be there.

Last year, hundreds spoke out to send a strong message that animals do not belong in circuses. Let's make this year's event even bigger!

Please join us for the circus's opening night: Feb. 19, 2015, in front of Barclays at 5:30 pm.

Protests will also be planned for the rest of the Barclays performances; details to follow.

https://www.facebook.com/events/658097517636496/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

PLEASE SAY NO TO ANIMAL CRUELTY!

Anonymous said...

Great turnout at the protest against animal cruelty at Barclay's center!

"The circus teaches domination of animals rather than compassion for them and we should be teaching our children that we should be compassionate to all species, rather than just cats and dogs," says Cappiello. "We should extend that compassion to elephants and tigers."

NEW YORK - The big top opens tonight in Brooklyn and animal-rights activists plan to be out in force to protest. Julie Cappiello, co-founder and vice president with Long Island Orchestrating for Nature, says her group will be among those sending a message to those attending the event at the Barclays Center that the circus is sending the wrong message to kids when it comes to treatment of animals. -

Cappiello comes from a family with close ties to the circus and says protests are planned for opening night tonight, and for the remainder of the performances at the Barclays Center.

http://www.publicnewsservice.org/2015-02-19/animal-welfare/ny-advocates-say-animals-don/a44647-1

https://twitter.com/PNS_News/status/568519182884552704