Our landlord, BLACKSTONE, can't handle Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village. There is a lack of enforcement of certain "rules," and no amount of notice to this alleviates the problems. We are continually being told half-truths and fabrications. And we have no viable Tenants organization, despite our TA asking for dues all the time. So far, the politicians have proven to be basically useless. A typical New York story.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Oval Services
Click on link below, not on photo graphic. And get curated.
Blogger Stuy Town Reporter said... It never stops. More partition walls to apartments. Churn, churn, churn.
July 13, 2016 at 9:20 AM
STR: you yourself have posted comments about wanting more evidence before you make up your mind about something, right? Where do you get this information from: more walls?
I have stated before and will do so again: We are not building more walls in any apartments!
I don't know. It's their property, so as long as the noise is within appropriate hours, I think you will have a tough time of it. It's been this way, and even noisier, for a good time now. Someone else may have a more proactive response. I'm sure there's an agency or two to call, though.
we have taken great care to change the music offerings this year, from one or two major and hugely amplified concerts to a weekly series of varying music offerings, such as violinists, single guitar players, classic to contemporary, etc. Judging by those who come from all corners of the property to enjoy this new approach to music we made a good decision. We also limited the hours to 6pm to 8pm, not late by any standard.
I am truly sorry that you feel that this represents an assault on your senses and I invite you to contact us at feedback@stuytown.com if you wish to make a more formal statement.
>>we have taken great care to change the music offerings this year, from one or two major and hugely amplified concerts to a weekly series of varying music offerings, such as violinists, single guitar players, classic to contemporary, etc. Judging by those who come from all corners of the property to enjoy this new approach to music we made a good decision. We also limited the hours to 6pm to 8pm, not late by any standard.<<
I think the music selection and the "noise" has been fine so far. I could do without the movies, but there are folks who seem to enjoy that, mostly families. I don't live at the Oval, btw.
It's a shame New York City offers no entertainment, music, concerts, movies, etc. That's the problem with small towns. I must say, though, it used to be nice to come home and look out the window at a beautiful tree park and enjoy the air and beauty of living in a park Guess you have to provide entertainment for the too timid to go off campus.
RE: >>we have taken great care to change the music offerings this year, from one or two major and hugely amplified concerts to a weekly series of varying music offerings, such as violinists, single guitar players, classic to contemporary, etc. Judging by those who come from all corners of the property to enjoy this new approach to music we made a good decision. We also limited the hours to 6pm to 8pm, not late by any standard.<<
Yes, but may I ask the PCVST respondent this : do you have outdoor movies, live music, soccer camp, hockey camp, an ice rink right in YOUR home? When you get home from work, are you in an entertainment zone? Do your weekend mornings start with shouting sports coaches? As the "9:30" writer said, this is our home.
We, too, live on the Oval and it is a steady barrage of sound vs. a peaceful park---and attendees are way below the number of folks who live in the apartments surrounding the Oval. Quiet is a really luxury and amenity!
About the assurances of no more partitions...from Hayduk or a troll? Easy to make statements with no name attached. Could make a policy statement to the whole community under his name. Wanna take bets if we see that?
But even if from Hayduk, who's to say that policy won't change 6 months from now under Hayduk. Or maybe Blackstone relieves him in 6 months and someone else comes in and starts all over again.
Come on. We're supposed to be New Yorkers, not suckers.
I have stated before and will do so again: We are not building more walls in any apartments!
I call BULL on this statement. Just last week a partition truck was outside my building and 2 guys were bringing in metal studs and sheetrock. So BULL!
>>About the assurances of no more partitions...from Hayduk or a troll? Easy to make statements with no name attached. Could make a policy statement to the whole community under his name. Wanna take bets if we see that?<<
If your apartment is unlivable you can withhold rent payments and fight the landlord in small claims court at first. Remember the young woman who did just that and was vindicated not long ago. Most city agencies are owned by the REBNY so seeking help that way is useless. Speak with an attorney. A case for a class action could be warranted.
Partitioning STPCV has been written about in local papers as a money maker. So why would Blackstone want to stop a money-making activity?
Because it's illegal, they know it, and people are starting to talk about the illegality openly.
Which means they'll have to take down the walls which not only will cost money in itself, but they'll also have the headaches of having to deal with the people who specifically rented flex units for the extra room.
So why keep building and renting extra potential headaches for yourself? Reason number 1 to stop.
Reason number 2: it's not unlike Hayduk to make a concession in order to mollify, in hopes that the bigger problem will go away. It'll be up to the community or the DOB (ha!) to demand all these illegal walls start coming down.
"I have stated before and will do so again: We are not building more walls in any apartments!"
Who is anonymous "We" implying they are Blackstone demanding STR post retractions, apologies and censorinht comments criticizing PCVST management without documented proof.
Other than anonymous "We" claiming "We" are not building more walls in any apartments, I have seen no "proof" current management - Blackstone - is not building more walls.
bring any prospective tenant into the office of rentals. Ask them, would you prefer robin williams film at the oval next tuesday and honky wonky fiddlers next wednesday or $100 a month discount on rent.
It's the flyover state mentality with the flyover state taste in "entertainment." In NY we have all the entertainment we want throughout the five boroughs. Coming home to a quiet and peaceful ambience is really a rare luxury - or at least it used to be - for New Yorkers. We are now being denied that luxury we enjoyed for so long because of the invasion of the flyovers with their Carnival Cruise/State Fair mentality.
STR - you have some credibility here. If you're saying, seemingly with confidence, that there will be no more partitioning, I'm wondering why. Is this your hunch or do you have some solid basis for writing this? I think this is a little too important to let slide.
I think the management troll is a liar. We KNOW that they put up partition walls in apartments. They think we're stupid, but they're the ones who are stupid, not to mention sleazy and devious.
>>STR - you have some credibility here. If you're saying, seemingly with confidence, that there will be no more partitioning, I'm wondering why. Is this your hunch or do you have some solid basis for writing this? I think this is a little too important to let slide.<<
You are correct in that I do not know for a fact that no new partitions are being put up. But I will ask, given time and the willingness of the workers. I can't do more than that.
Would just like to know...is there any basis for saying 'I think it's official'? Have you received an email from an @stuytown.com address...or some other direct communication?
"But even if from Hayduk, who's to say that policy won't change 6 months from now under Hayduk. Or maybe Blackstone relieves him in 6 months and someone else comes in and starts all over again." ----- Even if from Hayduk or anyone officially representing Blackstone, why should we believe anything they are telling us?
We are talking about Blackstone. Our homes are owned by Blackstone. Hayduk works for Blackstone, not PCVST residents.
They claim Garodnick and his puppet TA represent us and stand up for us.
They deploy nearly identical language telling us the same things Speyer told us.
They define "partition" and "wall" as separate, distinct construction items.
They are pissing on our heads telling us it's healthy, clean rain.
Before Blackstone became official with us, or about that time, someone (who shall be nameless) said that Blackstone was not like CW, and he didn't mean that as a farce. Believe what you want, but I do think Blackstone is a better supervisor. This is not to say that Blackstone is pro-poor tenant, but it does have its priorities set a bit differently than CW.
If we are being overseen and "managed" by veterans of the hotel industry, as referred to in Anonymous, July 14 8:31 p.m., maybe there are more reasons than we know for the proliferating illegal transients and hotel conditions, contrary to what management and Security say to us.
CW was not interested in mounting any deceptive campaigns. They were straightforward in their behaviors. There was no Orwellian doublespeak.
Blackstone is excellent at presenting a veneer of caring about this particular income stream. They are quite skilled at mounting campaigns which are carefully worded; they are accomplished at staging events and making statements which seem to reflect genuine good will.
I was skeptical but hopeful initially. It took me most of this time to acknowledge even to myself that I'd been fooled again (from The Who and "Won't Get Fooled Again"). As others have posted in various threads here, personal interests, among others are pursued (at least some management personnel are dog owners and fans).
Cosmetics and diversions are quite brilliantly applied: new laundry room appliances (likely inferior, though, as were the old ones; the vending machines of junk food for the college set and similarly minded humans remain); "softer" and more "varied" music is blasted regularly on Thursday evenings rather than stopping it completely; maintenance requests are more speedily fulfilled while apartments are regularly destroyed, torn apart for months at a time, repeatedly for "renovations."
All of the nonsense "good neighbor" slogans and gimmicks are utterly disingenuous and someone who posted some while back nailed it when they described the "house rules" as being reminiscent of college dormitories.
If Blackstone did not deliberately market to and deliberately rent to college students/their rich mommies and daddies, and other 20 somethings whose myriad (illegal) roommates did not allow them to smoke in their apartments, then this idiocy of receptacles for cigarette butts would not exist. (And who the hell even picks up their cigarette butts anymore? I haven't seen it once in many years now. Because, "the world is my garbage pail" is a prevalent, if submerged, popular urban theme.)
I recently read a response by management about a distressing list of sources of noise, all of most of which is unnecessary. Management's response was patronizing, callous, dismissive, and ultimately, what a lawyer would term, "non-responsive." The tenant, who was courageous enough to use his name, was fobbed off in a truly offensive manner.
Our infracture is left to literally rot; the potholes in the roads go unrepaired. Dogs are multiplying and I often need to restrain myself from asking the selfish, self-absorbed owners if they allow the dogs to urinate against their furniture and defecate on their apartment floors.
And one more thing before I sign off: Then: the Oval has been desecrated for years. Closed, pristine, inhabited by grass and trees and other life forms. Peaceful, whole. For decades, it was a vista of tranquility, whether green or brown or white, in any season. It was itself and magnificent and not expropriated by unfeeling humans.
Now: The utter stupidity of posting "rules" such as no tents when Security allows the tent-like structures, and no alcohol when Security allows these "I am so cool and fabulous and sitting here or lying here hanging out and drinking wine/beer" narcissistic morons to drink and pose is discouraging beyond belief. There are days when I want to chase them all away and there are days when I literally weep.
No, Blackstone is craftily and incrementally destroying the remnants of what was once a home to thousands of people.
Blackstone kept all the same CW Compass Rock employees in the management office and gave them a shiny new name but it is all the same CW Compass Rock people. There is no difference between CW and Blackstone. CW is Ivanhoe Cambridge (even though they sold off to Fortress while they ran PCVST). Ivanhoe Cambridge has been involved in PCVST for years and Blackstone replace Brookfield in Summer 2014. We are not so naive or stupid to not see their game. Anyone know the real reason Brookfield backed out in 2014?
CWC was a agent on the make for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Its job was to work things any way that it could to get back 5.4B and/or at least make Fannie and Freddie whole again...while at the same time filling its own pockets. All the while keeping Freddie and Fannie out of the limelight so that regular folks would not see them as villains. Well, CWC managed to do all of that with a little help from Schumer, deBlasio and Alica Glen.
On the other hand, Blackstone is an owner so a comparison is better drawn between Blackstone and Tishman-Speyer. You almost have to laugh if asking if Blackstone is better than Tishman-Speyer. Lucifer in the flesh would be better than T-S.
Okay, so Blackstone & Rick don't seem to be on the warpath to get long-timers out and it does seem as if maintenance requests are getting addressed more quickly and the place definitely seems cleaner to me (although not as clean as it was before T-S). And I do think the landscaping is good.
But I'm going to stop right there. Rick & Blackstone overly favor dog owners in my view. I don't see the leash law being enforced, there's hardly a day that passes by where I don't see new dog shit not far from my building, I do not see an increased PS presence or PS vigilance with respect to dogs or bikes or just plain patrolling.
I do think Hayduk has been tasked to bring some peace here, but I don't think management quite understands how much the dog situation is out of hand. All the sidewalks are stained with urine blotches or where dog shit has been scraped away and then sprayed. It's just plain disgusting. The number of dogs keeps growing. And the overcrowding due to students and separately due to flex apartments is unacceptable, So there's never going to be any real peace here so long as these conditions continue.
I too saw the noise complaint by Mr Levinson at the T & V site along with the response from Rick Hayduk that Mr Levinson posted. Was actually a bit surprised. Usually Hayduk is very careful to be gentlemanly and controlled. I thought his tone with Levinson was plain tough. Bears watching.
"And one more thing before I sign off: Then: the Oval has been desecrated for years. Closed, pristine, inhabited by grass and trees and other life forms. Peaceful, whole. For decades, it was a vista of tranquility, whether green or brown or white, in any season. It was itself and magnificent and not expropriated by unfeeling humans."
I, too, mourn for the Oval as it used to be. It has been desecrated beyond repair. That used to be the Crown Jewel of the property and the trees that used to whisper in the wind and gave us so much beauty to savor and provided so much for the lives of all of us, human, birds and critters. They oxygenated the air and gave us shade and a sense of tranquility. The bastard morons who destroyed them destroyed life in many, many ways.
I do think Hayduk has been tasked to bring some peace here, but I don't think management quite understands how much the dog situation is out of hand. All the sidewalks are stained with urine blotches or where dog shit has been scraped away and then sprayed. It's just plain disgusting. The number of dogs keeps growing. And the overcrowding due to students and separately due to flex apartments is unacceptable, So there's never going to be any real peace here so long as these conditions continue.>>>>>
Hayduk won't last long unless he starts to realize how much destruction has been done and continues to be done. If he can grasp that and handle it, then good luck to him. I doubt someone from the resort world of Boca, etc., could really deal with a raped and pillaged NYC residential property that was deliberately transitioned from beautiful oasis to dorm/slum and is literally falling apart under the weight of over-stuffed dorms and stinking dogs. The infrastructure here was not built for such abuse.
>>I do think Hayduk has been tasked to bring some peace here, but I don't think management quite understands how much the dog situation is out of hand. All the sidewalks are stained with urine blotches or where dog shit has been scraped away and then sprayed. It's just plain disgusting. The number of dogs keeps growing. And the overcrowding due to students and separately due to flex apartments is unacceptable, So there's never going to be any real peace here so long as these conditions continue.<<
There is one way out of this mess and Blackstone won't do it, and the City won't do it. The dogs are here to stay.
Right now and in the foreseeable future, Blackstone needs students. Unless they get a rental rate of 100% families, that's the way it is. They are not going to turn away money. Besides, this is another instance of the law stepping in to mandate that students be accepted, under current rules.
Regarding the ability to change an unhealthful and destructive status quo imposed by those with lots of money, and likely fueled by the ignorance or indifference of the victims:
Decades ago, Fred Trump, Donald Trump's father, handed his son some rental apartments to manage. Donald ran the buildings badly, with disdain for the renters.
It eventuated that rain did not simply leak into my apartment. It rained heavily into my apartment. No repairs were ever made. I withheld rent. Eviction proceedings were begun against me. With very little help, I researched and wrote my own legal defense.
The judge assumed I was an attorney.
The judge ruled against Donald Trump. (Fred Trump was no lightweight, either at that point in time, and had the resources, presumably to allow his son to do great injury to me.)
I won a legal case against Donald Trump.
. . . just an example. And, in the vernacular, "just sayin!"
P.S: I know, I know: "different time and place, easier to get things done," etc. Still . . .
Right you are St. BS needs the students is a fact. nothing more to say, they don't want to control or react to noise complaints like any other building responsbibly does (fact) so things are kinda obvious as to whom they cater to.
Well, I feel totally like giving up. Maybe it's my mood, in which case I'll be back, but you've won. The "you've" is the City Council, our Mayor, Blackstone and their rep Rick, the "high" price of living here. You've all won. I just want to live in what peace I can have. You are welcome to fuck things up as best you can. (No doubt that is NOT what you are going for, but the result is the same.) Look around. If you are truly happy, I'm sorry. I can't feel that way. I just want to live and be left alone. I see "the rules" broken every time I go out, and not many people give a shit. STPCV is over and done with, and has been for some time, whether you are aware of it or not. Maybe if you are lucky you won't know or you won't give a shit.
I'm done with monitoring this blog. I don't even have the will to shut it down at the main posts. I just won't be passing anything through.
Good luck. You will need it. Maybe you will get it.
Comments have to await approval by the administrator of this blog to be published. Comments that insult another commentator, or that cross a line the administrator is not comfortable with, will not get approved.
I just curated myself. Can I curate you, too?
ReplyDelete'Curated' is incorrect; it supposed to read 'Overrated'......
ReplyDeleteI wonder where they outsource their graphics creators (or curators) from?
ReplyDeleteThat is an ugly main screen.
ReplyDeleteCan't a billion dollar behemoth like Blackstone afford intelligent wen designers?
ReplyDeleteBeing financed by Bank of the Ozarks makes him above the law, at least never held accountable here in PCVST. Well, that explains that.
ReplyDeletehttp://therealdeal.com/2016/07/11/tishman-speyer-to-start-construction-of-lic-office-megadevelopment/?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=popular_widget&utm_campaign=posts_popular
http://therealdeal.com/2016/07/11/tishman-speyer-to-start-construction-of-lic-office-megadevelopment/?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=popular_widget&utm_campaign=posts_popular
However a reporter at the NY Times made sure a family of Queens was properly notified despite efforts to seemingly skirt notification.
http://ny.curbed.com/2014/11/4/10027702/long-island-city-megaproject-will-be-built-on-a-graveyard
Will Oval Services arrange door to door pickup and delivery of marijuana and illicit narcotics directly from my drug dealers to my StuyTown dorm?
ReplyDeleteWhat about escorts, prostitutes and hustlers? Does Oval Services provide for those arrangements too?
Really? An 'Oval After Dark' photo coupled with the copy Oval Services?
ReplyDelete"Steamy concierges are on hand to meet your needs and desires... call now."
More lipstick on the pig.
ReplyDeleteI am confused, I was expecting 5 Stuy service
ReplyDeleteIt never stops. More partition walls to apartments. Churn, churn, churn.
ReplyDeletei guess if we owned the apartments we'd do the same thing! lmfao
ReplyDeleteall this income from churn and rent and rape and wanna know the best part? OUR LANDLORD PAYS NO TAXES !! woohoo J51!
They are only here to collect my rent check.
ReplyDeleteIs it getting curated painful? I wonder if the offer an anesthetic?
ReplyDeleteBlogger Stuy Town Reporter said...
ReplyDeleteIt never stops. More partition walls to apartments. Churn, churn, churn.
July 13, 2016 at 9:20 AM
STR: you yourself have posted comments about wanting more evidence before you make up your mind about something, right? Where do you get this information from: more walls?
I have stated before and will do so again: We are not building more walls in any apartments!
Thank you
And they're not open on Sundays lol. What idiots.
ReplyDeleteI read this blog and all comments religiously.
ReplyDeleteI am asking for practical help.
I live in an Oval building and can no longer bear the hours-long assault of movie tracks and so-called music.
This is not an entertainment venue or any public park. It is a home.
Which laws and which agencies are relevant?
Thank you for all help and advice
>>I have stated before and will do so again: We are not building more walls in any apartments!<<
ReplyDeleteMy mistake then. I see periodically workers moving partitions, or so I think they are partitions, about the complex. I will ask if they will talk.
>>Which laws and which agencies are relevant?
ReplyDeleteThank you for all help and advice<<
I don't know. It's their property, so as long as the noise is within appropriate hours, I think you will have a tough time of it. It's been this way, and even noisier, for a good time now. Someone else may have a more proactive response. I'm sure there's an agency or two to call, though.
Dear 9:30pm,
ReplyDeletewe have taken great care to change the music offerings this year, from one or two major and hugely amplified concerts to a weekly series of varying music offerings, such as violinists, single guitar players, classic to contemporary, etc. Judging by those who come from all corners of the property to enjoy this new approach to music we made a good decision. We also limited the hours to 6pm to 8pm, not late by any standard.
I am truly sorry that you feel that this represents an assault on your senses and I invite you to contact us at feedback@stuytown.com if you wish to make a more formal statement.
Thank you.
STR at 7:00,
ReplyDeletepart of apartment renovations involves the removal of old and re-building of doors and walls, which is likely what you are seeing.
Again, and for all who follow this blog: no new "flex" apartments are being created!
>>part of apartment renovations involves the removal of old and re-building of doors and walls, which is likely what you are seeing.<<
ReplyDeleteSounds fair enough. Thanks! I want this blog, at least what I and a few others say, to be as accurate as possible.
>>we have taken great care to change the music offerings this year, from one or two major and hugely amplified concerts to a weekly series of varying music offerings, such as violinists, single guitar players, classic to contemporary, etc. Judging by those who come from all corners of the property to enjoy this new approach to music we made a good decision. We also limited the hours to 6pm to 8pm, not late by any standard.<<
ReplyDeleteI think the music selection and the "noise" has been fine so far. I could do without the movies, but there are folks who seem to enjoy that, mostly families. I don't live at the Oval, btw.
It's a shame New York City offers no entertainment, music, concerts, movies, etc. That's the problem with small towns. I must say, though, it used to be nice to come home and look out the window at a beautiful tree park and enjoy the air and beauty of living in a park Guess you have to provide entertainment for the too timid to go off campus.
ReplyDeletestop the madness of 4 + people living in these one bedrooms. THEY'RE NOT RELATED at all. stop this.
ReplyDeletei guess they can't rent the places here without the fluff and junk. Eh?
ReplyDeletehow about lowering the prices on the apartments LL? DUH.
sure would rather have $$ than a movie from 1979 at the oval.. really Rick?
RE: >>we have taken great care to change the music offerings this year, from one or two major and hugely amplified concerts to a weekly series of varying music offerings, such as violinists, single guitar players, classic to contemporary, etc. Judging by those who come from all corners of the property to enjoy this new approach to music we made a good decision. We also limited the hours to 6pm to 8pm, not late by any standard.<<
ReplyDeleteYes, but may I ask the PCVST respondent this : do you have outdoor movies, live music, soccer camp, hockey camp, an ice rink right in YOUR home? When you get home from work, are you in an entertainment zone? Do your weekend mornings start with shouting sports coaches? As the "9:30" writer said, this is our home.
We, too, live on the Oval and it is a steady barrage of sound vs. a peaceful park---and attendees are way below the number of folks who live in the apartments surrounding the Oval.
Quiet is a really luxury and amenity!
About the assurances of no more partitions...from Hayduk or a troll? Easy to make statements with no name attached. Could make a policy statement to the whole community under his name. Wanna take bets if we see that?
ReplyDeleteBut even if from Hayduk, who's to say that policy won't change 6 months from now under Hayduk. Or maybe Blackstone relieves him in 6 months and someone else comes in and starts all over again.
Come on. We're supposed to be New Yorkers, not suckers.
I have stated before and will do so again: We are not building more walls in any apartments!
ReplyDeleteI call BULL on this statement. Just last week a partition truck was outside my building and 2 guys were bringing in metal studs and sheetrock. So BULL!
>>About the assurances of no more partitions...from Hayduk or a troll? Easy to make statements with no name attached. Could make a policy statement to the whole community under his name. Wanna take bets if we see that?<<
ReplyDeleteI think it's official.
If your apartment is unlivable you can withhold rent payments and fight the landlord in small claims court at first. Remember the young woman who did just that and was vindicated not long ago. Most city agencies are owned by the REBNY so seeking help that way is useless. Speak with an attorney. A case for a class action could be warranted.
ReplyDeleteYou think it's official? Prove it.
ReplyDeletePartitioning STPCV has been written about in local papers as a money maker. So why would Blackstone want to stop a money-making activity?
ReplyDeleteBecause it's illegal, they know it, and people are starting to talk about the illegality openly.
Which means they'll have to take down the walls which not only will cost money in itself, but they'll also have the headaches of having to deal with the people who specifically rented flex units for the extra room.
So why keep building and renting extra potential headaches for yourself? Reason number 1 to stop.
Reason number 2: it's not unlike Hayduk to make a concession in order to mollify, in hopes that the bigger problem will go away. It'll be up to the community or the DOB (ha!) to demand all these illegal walls start coming down.
Does anyone know the makeup of the new "management" detail?
ReplyDeleteAt least two of the "senior" people are either exclusively, or chiefly, RESORT AND HOTEL (read "luxury") suits.
Of course, "services" are "curated."
Blackstone is sneakier and even more brazen than every other landlord who preceded them.
I miss Manny.
ReplyDelete"I have stated before and will do so again: We are not building more walls in any apartments!"
ReplyDeleteWho is anonymous "We" implying they are Blackstone demanding STR post retractions, apologies and censorinht comments criticizing PCVST management without documented proof.
Other than anonymous "We" claiming "We" are not building more walls in any apartments, I have seen no "proof" current management - Blackstone - is not building more walls.
bring any prospective tenant into the office of rentals. Ask them, would you prefer robin williams film at the oval next tuesday and honky wonky fiddlers next wednesday or $100 a month discount on rent.
ReplyDeleteDUH.
July 14, 2016 at 5:31 PM
ReplyDeleteI think someone reported it and they have to dispel the report to cover it up.
It's the flyover state mentality with the flyover state taste in "entertainment." In NY we have all the entertainment we want throughout the five boroughs. Coming home to a quiet and peaceful ambience is really a rare luxury - or at least it used to be - for New Yorkers. We are now being denied that luxury we enjoyed for so long because of the invasion of the flyovers with their Carnival Cruise/State Fair mentality.
ReplyDeleteSTR - you have some credibility here. If you're saying, seemingly with confidence, that there will be no more partitioning, I'm wondering why. Is this your hunch or do you have some solid basis for writing this? I think this is a little too important to let slide.
ReplyDeleteI think the management troll is a liar. We KNOW that they put up partition walls in apartments. They think we're stupid, but they're the ones who are stupid, not to mention sleazy and devious.
ReplyDelete>>STR - you have some credibility here. If you're saying, seemingly with confidence, that there will be no more partitioning, I'm wondering why. Is this your hunch or do you have some solid basis for writing this? I think this is a little too important to let slide.<<
ReplyDeleteYou are correct in that I do not know for a fact that no new partitions are being put up. But I will ask, given time and the willingness of the workers. I can't do more than that.
Would just like to know...is there any basis for saying 'I think it's official'? Have you received an email from an @stuytown.com address...or some other direct communication?
ReplyDeletestr - sounds like you're going by what the workers tell you?
ReplyDelete"But even if from Hayduk, who's to say that policy won't change 6 months from now under Hayduk. Or maybe Blackstone relieves him in 6 months and someone else comes in and starts all over again."
ReplyDelete-----
Even if from Hayduk or anyone officially representing Blackstone, why should we believe anything they are telling us?
We are talking about Blackstone. Our homes are owned by Blackstone. Hayduk works for Blackstone, not PCVST residents.
They claim Garodnick and his puppet TA represent us and stand up for us.
They deploy nearly identical language telling us the same things Speyer told us.
They define "partition" and "wall" as separate, distinct construction items.
They are pissing on our heads telling us it's healthy, clean rain.
We are talking about Blackstone.
Believe them if you want.
1:51 PM, I think you are absolutely right!
ReplyDelete>>We are talking about Blackstone.<<
ReplyDeleteBefore Blackstone became official with us, or about that time, someone (who shall be nameless) said that Blackstone was not like CW, and he didn't mean that as a farce. Believe what you want, but I do think Blackstone is a better supervisor. This is not to say that Blackstone is pro-poor tenant, but it does have its priorities set a bit differently than CW.
If we are being overseen and "managed" by veterans of the hotel industry, as referred to in Anonymous, July 14 8:31 p.m., maybe there are more reasons than we know for the proliferating illegal transients and hotel conditions, contrary to what management and Security say to us.
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm. . . .
CW was not interested in mounting any deceptive campaigns. They were straightforward in their behaviors. There was no Orwellian doublespeak.
ReplyDeleteBlackstone is excellent at presenting a veneer of caring about this particular income stream. They are quite skilled at mounting campaigns which are carefully worded; they are accomplished at staging events and making statements which seem to reflect genuine good will.
I was skeptical but hopeful initially. It took me most of this time to acknowledge even to myself that I'd been fooled again (from The Who and "Won't Get Fooled Again"). As others have posted in various threads here, personal interests, among others are pursued (at least some management personnel are dog owners and fans).
Cosmetics and diversions are quite brilliantly applied: new laundry room appliances (likely inferior, though, as were the old ones; the vending machines of junk food for the college set and similarly minded humans remain); "softer" and more "varied" music is blasted regularly on Thursday evenings rather than stopping it completely; maintenance requests are more speedily fulfilled while apartments are regularly destroyed, torn apart for months at a time, repeatedly for "renovations."
All of the nonsense "good neighbor" slogans and gimmicks are utterly disingenuous and someone who posted some while back nailed it when they described the "house rules" as being reminiscent of college dormitories.
If Blackstone did not deliberately market to and deliberately rent to college students/their rich mommies and daddies, and other 20 somethings whose myriad (illegal) roommates did not allow them to smoke in their apartments, then this idiocy of receptacles for cigarette butts would not exist. (And who the hell even picks up their cigarette butts anymore? I haven't seen it once in many years now. Because, "the world is my garbage pail" is a prevalent, if submerged, popular urban theme.)
I recently read a response by management about a distressing list of sources of noise, all of most of which is unnecessary. Management's response was patronizing, callous, dismissive, and ultimately, what a lawyer would term, "non-responsive." The tenant, who was courageous enough to use his name, was fobbed off in a truly offensive manner.
Our infracture is left to literally rot; the potholes in the roads go unrepaired. Dogs are multiplying and I often need to restrain myself from asking the selfish, self-absorbed owners if they allow the dogs to urinate against their furniture and defecate on their apartment floors.
And one more thing before I sign off: Then: the Oval has been desecrated for years. Closed, pristine, inhabited by grass and trees and other life forms. Peaceful, whole. For decades, it was a vista of tranquility, whether green or brown or white, in any season. It was itself and magnificent and not expropriated by unfeeling humans.
Now: The utter stupidity of posting "rules" such as no tents when Security allows the tent-like structures, and no alcohol when Security allows these "I am so cool and fabulous and sitting here or lying here hanging out and drinking wine/beer" narcissistic morons to drink and pose is discouraging beyond belief. There are days when I want to chase them all away and there are days when I literally weep.
No, Blackstone is craftily and incrementally destroying the remnants of what was once a home to thousands of people.
um, no, what about the overcharges???? how about it Rick?
ReplyDeleteSTR, I agree that Blackstone isn't as bad as CW, but then acne isn't as bad as shingles.
ReplyDeleteBlackstone kept all the same CW Compass Rock employees in the management office and gave them a shiny new name but it is all the same CW Compass Rock people. There is no difference between CW and Blackstone. CW is Ivanhoe Cambridge (even though they sold off to Fortress while they ran PCVST). Ivanhoe Cambridge has been involved in PCVST for years and Blackstone replace Brookfield in Summer 2014. We are not so naive or stupid to not see their game. Anyone know the real reason Brookfield backed out in 2014?
ReplyDeletehttp://therealdeal.com/2015/10/21/for-ivanhoe-cambridge-stuy-town-deal-was-years-in-the-making/
June 2014 Blackstone replaces Brookfield
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/nyregion/stuyvesant-town-lenders-move-to-prevent-investor-from-seizing-the-property.html
Well, there's no comparing CWC and Blackstone.
ReplyDeleteCWC was a agent on the make for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Its job was to work things any way that it could to get back 5.4B and/or at least make Fannie and Freddie whole again...while at the same time filling its own pockets. All the while keeping Freddie and Fannie out of the limelight so that regular folks would not see them as villains. Well, CWC managed to do all of that with a little help from Schumer, deBlasio and Alica Glen.
On the other hand, Blackstone is an owner so a comparison is better drawn between Blackstone and Tishman-Speyer. You almost have to laugh if asking if Blackstone is better than Tishman-Speyer. Lucifer in the flesh would be better than T-S.
Okay, so Blackstone & Rick don't seem to be on the warpath to get long-timers out and it does seem as if maintenance requests are getting addressed more quickly and the place definitely seems cleaner to me (although not as clean as it was before T-S). And I do think the landscaping is good.
But I'm going to stop right there. Rick & Blackstone overly favor dog owners in my view. I don't see the leash law being enforced, there's hardly a day that passes by where I don't see new dog shit not far from my building, I do not see an increased PS presence or PS vigilance with respect to dogs or bikes or just plain patrolling.
I do think Hayduk has been tasked to bring some peace here, but I don't think management quite understands how much the dog situation is out of hand. All the sidewalks are stained with urine blotches or where dog shit has been scraped away and then sprayed. It's just plain disgusting. The number of dogs keeps growing. And the overcrowding due to students and separately due to flex apartments is unacceptable, So there's never going to be any real peace here so long as these conditions continue.
I too saw the noise complaint by Mr Levinson at the T & V site along with the response from Rick Hayduk that Mr Levinson posted. Was actually a bit surprised. Usually Hayduk is very careful to be gentlemanly and controlled. I thought his tone with Levinson was plain tough. Bears watching.
ReplyDelete"And one more thing before I sign off: Then: the Oval has been desecrated for years. Closed, pristine, inhabited by grass and trees and other life forms. Peaceful, whole. For decades, it was a vista of tranquility, whether green or brown or white, in any season. It was itself and magnificent and not expropriated by unfeeling humans."
ReplyDeleteI, too, mourn for the Oval as it used to be. It has been desecrated beyond repair. That used to be the Crown Jewel of the property and the trees that used to whisper in the wind and gave us so much beauty to savor and provided so much for the lives of all of us, human, birds and critters. They oxygenated the air and gave us shade and a sense of tranquility. The bastard morons who destroyed them destroyed life in many, many ways.
I do think Hayduk has been tasked to bring some peace here, but I don't think management quite understands how much the dog situation is out of hand. All the sidewalks are stained with urine blotches or where dog shit has been scraped away and then sprayed. It's just plain disgusting. The number of dogs keeps growing. And the overcrowding due to students and separately due to flex apartments is unacceptable, So there's never going to be any real peace here so long as these conditions continue.>>>>>
ReplyDeleteHayduk won't last long unless he starts to realize how much destruction has been done and continues to be done. If he can grasp that and handle it, then good luck to him. I doubt someone from the resort world of Boca, etc., could really deal with a raped and pillaged NYC residential property that was deliberately transitioned from beautiful oasis to dorm/slum and is literally falling apart under the weight of over-stuffed dorms and stinking dogs. The infrastructure here was not built for such abuse.
>>I do think Hayduk has been tasked to bring some peace here, but I don't think management quite understands how much the dog situation is out of hand. All the sidewalks are stained with urine blotches or where dog shit has been scraped away and then sprayed. It's just plain disgusting. The number of dogs keeps growing. And the overcrowding due to students and separately due to flex apartments is unacceptable, So there's never going to be any real peace here so long as these conditions continue.<<
ReplyDeleteThere is one way out of this mess and Blackstone won't do it, and the City won't do it. The dogs are here to stay.
Right now and in the foreseeable future, Blackstone needs students. Unless they get a rental rate of 100% families, that's the way it is. They are not going to turn away money. Besides, this is another instance of the law stepping in to mandate that students be accepted, under current rules.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the ability to change an unhealthful and destructive status quo imposed by those with lots of money, and likely fueled by the ignorance or indifference of the victims:
ReplyDeleteDecades ago, Fred Trump, Donald Trump's father, handed his son some rental apartments to manage. Donald ran the buildings badly, with disdain for the renters.
It eventuated that rain did not simply leak into my apartment. It rained heavily into my apartment. No repairs were ever made. I withheld rent. Eviction proceedings were begun against me. With very little help, I researched and wrote my own legal defense.
The judge assumed I was an attorney.
The judge ruled against Donald Trump. (Fred Trump was no lightweight, either at that point in time, and had the resources, presumably to allow his son to do great injury to me.)
I won a legal case against Donald Trump.
. . . just an example. And, in the vernacular, "just sayin!"
P.S: I know, I know: "different time and place, easier to get things done," etc. Still . . .
Right you are St. BS needs the students is a fact. nothing more to say, they don't want to control or react to noise complaints like any other building responsbibly does (fact) so things are kinda obvious as to whom they cater to.
ReplyDeleteStudent HOUSING STUDENT HOUSING
ReplyDelete24TH AND FIRST AVENUE. COMING SOON. GO. ALL OF YOU, GO.
Well, I feel totally like giving up. Maybe it's my mood, in which case I'll be back, but you've won. The "you've" is the City Council, our Mayor, Blackstone and their rep Rick, the "high" price of living here. You've all won. I just want to live in what peace I can have. You are welcome to fuck things up as best you can. (No doubt that is NOT what you are going for, but the result is the same.) Look around. If you are truly happy, I'm sorry. I can't feel that way. I just want to live and be left alone. I see "the rules" broken every time I go out, and not many people give a shit. STPCV is over and done with, and has been for some time, whether you are aware of it or not. Maybe if you are lucky you won't know or you won't give a shit.
ReplyDeleteI'm done with monitoring this blog. I don't even have the will to shut it down at the main posts. I just won't be passing anything through.
Good luck. You will need it. Maybe you will get it.