The End?

I am considering, once again, leaving this blog for a good while. I think that this property has gone downhill, and the new manager isn't helping, either. Frankly, seeing the results, the results suck. Perhaps it will get better, but I've been saying that for years. We all have been saying it if we are here for any length of time.

Right now I've escaped my apartment because it is filled with the smell of mulch. For the first time that I can remember, I need to go outside because of this mulch smell, which is coming from outside, in the back area. (I left the window open unfortunately.)

And how is outside, the outside that is the Oval Fountain? There are kids, Stuy Town kids, who are running on too much sugar load and throwing a football around outside and inside the Oval lawn. They get there by climbing the fence at the Oval Fountain area. No one is stopping them. Over they go, again and again, ruining the fence even more. (There is a PS guard inside but he is helpless.) There is a father playing with a spray gun with his daughter, who also has a gun. Both "weapons" make a mess of the Oval Fountain area, but who cares? Well, maybe the people who have left the area so they don't get wet? But no one really cares enough to say to the father can you take it elsewhere?

That's it. People don't care. It's become an epidemic. Everyone is doing their thing. And you can't stop them or you must be the one with the problem. What's it to you?

Calling Rick Hayduk

Seriously. I've been here for 30 years, give or take one or two. I've never seen this place so noisy and unresponsive. Perhaps it's just the odd moment in time. We'll see. But I'm getting fed up, and sorry, I won't be moving, and neither will others like me who have been here a long time. We will endure. Somehow we will endure. You can go to the old ladies at the TA and influence them, but it ain't working with us. We know. And as I said, somehow we will endure. We will die away, but some of us will make it.

5/21/16: I should temper my previous comments. This isn't the worse place in its history, for sure. It's just that the previous Saturday morning was foul no matter which way one looked at it. I still don't know why noisy grounds-keeping was in full blast on Saturday, a day one would assume when quiet time is at a premium. What I notice is that this place is used more and more, and that the previous years of relative peace and quiet are not that secure anymore. As I said, it's good that the general manager (Rick Hayduk) and his family are residents of this community, something that hasn't happened with a general manager in years. I still don't know how this will translate into a well-ordered community, however. If we look at the "dog situation," it still hasn't calmed down and looks to be just about as bad as ever. I think some things will improve, while others will stay the same, and possibly, in certain areas, get worse. I think that "affordable housing" is clearly a thing of the past for those who have claimed "new tenant" status. So I'm both pessimistic and, slightly, optimistic. Optimistic that we can still retain a measure of calm stability in the changing times that are New York City.

I Assume It's Saturday Morning

The pruners are out in the Oval area again making dreadful noise trying to prune some more around the Oval. The noise, which I think everyone can hear in the Oval vicinity and which is coming from one of their carts, is aggressive still past 9:30am. The dogs are out barking at each other. The dad is out flying his paper airplane all over the Oval circle, to include the inside of Oval Study.

Thanks, management, you are doing a wonderful job as usual! I don't think there's been so much noise in the morning since...well, since never!

10:00am - Noise still active!

For Asians Only

Stuy Town's "River Room"....

http://www.stuytown.com/nyc-apartments-amenities/event-space

How Many Times Do I Give Up?

Let's see. This morning the "pruners" are out in the Oval area, cutting down perfectly fine and healthy tree limbs that descend lower than what is mandated by who knows who. When it is all done everything will be visible to the naked eye. There won't be a branch left that will try to cover a spot.

Nice going, management.

Meanwhile, management has finally replaced the very old placards about the complex that warned outsiders about the complex and that, for example, dogs were not allowed. Obviously, these placards are old and had to go. But the new replacement placards don't say that the registration tags are just ST/PCV tags, that the property is private but public access (unless something has seriously changed), while it does say the property is patrolled by public safety officers (when? where?). I don't see one public safety officer at this time, 9:30am at the Oval.

I see dogs that are over the weight limit and surely I will see dogs that are banned because of their breed. I will also see dogs sitting on the chess tables as if they had taken a bath just a moment ago.

This place does suck if it weren't that most people obey the "rules."

And forget about the New and Improved Cafe that will open up sometime in June. Wonder what they will be "dishing out" to make them more successful than what went before? And forget about the speeding bicyclists paying attention to the warnings about racing around the Oval.

Meanwhile we are promised a 5 cent a bag surcharge, a compost center or two, a Trader's Joe, more CVSs, Duane Reades, less mom & pops, more high-rises, etc. I can hardly wait.

It's Been Nice Knowing You, Associated

Boy, talk about fickle! There's talk of a Trader's Joe coming in at Ave A and 14th St as soon as that mega-condo is built there and already people are thrilled that we'll have something in the neighborhood to, quite frankly, get rid of Associated and those pesky, low-class workers from the Lower East Side, whatever remains of the true LES, of course.

I dunno. I think that the "other side" has won and that affordability is definitely on the way out as long as we can claim cleaner hands and a nicer "experience." Ultimately we'll pay more for the pleasure, but what the hell, that's what life is now all about: paying more.

I Think We're Fucked

That's what this says. Basically.

I could be reading it wrong. First I have to trudge to the compost place and return my plastic bags.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-05-11/the-new-american-home-multi-generational-living-on-the-rise

Link changed as they were asking, ultimately, for money. Boo-hiss.

It's Mulch Time Again!

Not to worry, sleepyheads. Mulch-time is well upon us, which means that the beep-beep noise of Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village vehicles will surely wake you up past 7am if you are still in bed by that time. Thanks a bunch to Stuy Town management for this hoped-for wakeup call!

The smell? Come on, folks, the smell is invigorating! I love the smell of fresh mulch in the morning!

And It Will Continue

5 Cents Extra

Little did I suspect that a City Council vote the other day will mandate a 5 cent extra charge for every plastic bag gotten at the check-out counter. Sorry, I don't frivolously use these bags, but use them for getting rid of refuse and garbage in my apartment, as I'm sure many New Yorkers do. Now I will have to think of different strategies. 5 cents here, 5 cents there, adds up to dollars a week. Thanks, City Council. Now just to give myself a 32% pay raise as did recently the City Council.

The Guilty who voted yes:

Brad S. Lander, Margaret S. Chin, The Public Advocate (Ms. James), Donovan J. Richards, Peter A. Koo, Stephen T. Levin, Elizabeth S. Crowley, Daniel Dromm , Mark Levine, Corey D. Johnson, James G. Van Bramer, Andrew Cohen, Costa G. Constantinides, Helen K. Rosenthal, Carlos Menchaca, Ben Kallos, Ydanis A. Rodriguez, Laurie A. Cumbo, I. Daneek Miller, Ritchie J. Torres, Antonio Reynoso, Rosie Mendez, Fernando Cabrera , Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, Andy L. King, Jumaane D. Williams, Daniel R. Garodnick

They should never hold public office again. But you know that. And most people will vote for the way they have always voted, so nothing changes and the screwing will continue. 

The Truth

First off, let me state that I don't know if I'll be coming back on a regular basis to this blog. Right now events have dictated that I hunker down on matters that are of personal importance to me, which does include work that should get done and that will take some time to accomplish.

As to the purpose of this blog--well, I'm repeating and repeating myself I find. While we have seen some improvement with the new management (having the head honcho actually live here with his family is a significant improvement), there is much that, almost half a year on, is predictable and the same old/same old...with a nicer face. The wall partitions are continually being given to new refurbished apartments, the dog situation may have gotten worse (by now we may as well give up on management clamping down on dog infractions despite their desires), garbage is still a problem, etc. Just last Sunday I saw two dogs inside the Oval grass area being "hidden" from the Public Safety officer who showed up once in three hours during peak time, spending the rest of the time indoors at the Public Safety office. This, again, is just last Sunday. The new management has been around for months.

And now we learn there are going to be authorized smoking areas for residents.

Basically, make sure your rent-stabilization is secure and live the best life you can in the city. I hate to see the new high-rises go up (thank you City Council and Dan Garodnick), but such is our fate at this moment in time and probably until the shit hits the fan. I have a feeling that for most of us it won't get better and that the squeeze will continue, slowly but surely.

It's not bad living here, however. Let's at least try to find the good, even when we find the bad.

... And thank you City Council and specifically Dan Garodnick, who campaigns the REBNY way, for giving us more CVSs, Duane Reades, etc, at the closure of more and more Mom & Pop stores.... https://town-village.com/2016/05/03/no-help-in-sight-for-mom-and-pop/