It wasn't even 10 minutes, probably about 5. A morning walking tour of the Oval. Counted: 6 dog stains still fresh and not to be walked on, and 2 resident bicycles riding freely about the Oval. No surprise, of course, just a thanks to Blackstone and Ivanhoe for maintaining the property so well. Oh, yes, workers are still at it at the Oval Fountain.
I will continue this kind of reportage periodically so we do not ever forget.
The unfortunate reality is that Blackstone is okay with the current state of things, despite their hope that things will get better. They will hope, sure, but that's about it. Dogs and speeding bicycles? Yeah, so what?
ReplyDeleteThis place is a mess when you really examine it. So what? It still functions is all you need to know. Some diesel-spewing zambonis and garbage personnel will eventually clean the place up, temporarily of course. A periodic moped with a PS officer should keep it in some kind of check, but nobody is perfect.
BTW, what's it to you? Just keep those checks coming.
A couple of nights ago a delivery guy on a bike passed by me. Now this was a night time delivery. I could hardly see the guy and he was going a little too fast for conditions. It's just a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt.
ReplyDeleteI just moved into this place 2 months ago and do not like what I see. Surely a mess. My carriage room, (14th street building location) has bikes piled onto each other 3 deep, some are hanging from the pipes, some scattered throughout, locked up in the open walking spaces. I repeatedly called your Resident Service. Management does NOT care and knows this place is out of control. GLAD I ONLY SIGNED A 1 YEAR LEASE. When there is a fire and tenants are falling all over each other because there is not enough walk space to evacuate, then, and only then, after all the lawsuits are settled, will this problem will be resolved. Adhere this warning. AND, us market rate people are being taken for a ride. And what a ride it has been. I'll just keep bending over. They like it when I do that. Good luck All! Can't wait for the next fool to rent my hell hole.
ReplyDeleteMore young people who don't have a key card. "I forgot mine." Yeah, sure.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I saw a small dog almost eat another small dog at the Oval.
ReplyDeleteOn my morning trip to the grocery store I saw a girl with an NYU student sweatshirt on being given a tour by another student resident. I'll be the dorm population is up to 50% by now.
ReplyDeleteThis is the future and the future is now! Students and young families struggling to make their monthly payments, unless mommy and daddy can hand out credit cards.
ReplyDeleteBTW, a new string of Citi Bikes taking over near Gracefully at 1st Ave. I think the idea is to get rid of cars in the future.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work Rick! We're really proud of you.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI moved in also about 6 months ago and i am sorry i didn't look further. the hike to the train is awful, both morning an evenings and even at 28 years old i am annoyed with the dorm living rucous through the property. The non broker fee was a lure but I will attempt to sublet out or break lease early. Very unhappy here.
October 5, 2016 at 12:15 PM
ReplyDeleteWELCOME TO THE CLUB.
I think Blackstone is deliberately turning this place into a hellhole because they want to churn, churn, churn. When something catastrophic happens .. a fire or terrible injury by a speeding bicycle and a lawsuit is filed, then they will (maybe) clean up their act a big. I'm sure there are a lot of ambulance-chasing lawyers keeping a close eye on this place because there is bound to be some juicy personal lawsuits in the offing.
ReplyDeletePeople should be warned before they move in here that it is not a safe and well-run property. Far from it.
This place in which we call "home", is one big stain.
ReplyDeleteREJOICE! REJOICE!
ReplyDeleteDHCR has published the new A/C charges that went into effect on October 1. Because electrical costs went down this year (as did other costs, hence the rent freeze), the A/C charge has gone down. It will now be $26.65 per month per air conditioner. The decision came too late to be included in the October rent bills, so we should see a credit on our November bills.
ISN'T EVERYONE HAPPY NOW?
STR, the Citi bikes were already located in front of Gracefully (both of them) before the paving. Just an FYI!
ReplyDeleteIncluding sealing off the island? If so, I didn't know that.
ReplyDeleteYes, no supervision here. Everyday the middle school kids come in to PCV to use the basketball courts. Sometimes there are 20+ students playing ball. They are loud & unruly. I have complained to Recreation & PS a number of times. Sometimes they follow up & sometimes they don't. If Recreation is stationed there , no problem. ( Recreation only works there in the summer months.) So, it's a free for all for our non residential neighbors from the local schools. I am so very happy to be able to accommodate them. Gives them a place to go after school. Question- WHY DOESN'T MANAGEMENT ENFORCE RULES??? NOT DIFFICULT TO DO- PS IS THERE & THEY COULD JUST DRIVE BY AT 3 O' CLOCK EVERYDAY & CHECK ID. I SERIOUSLY DON'T GET IT!!!! IT 'S AN EASY FIX. ARE THEY WAITING FOR A REAL PROBLEM TO OCCUR??? A FIGHT TO START??? THEN , MAYBE, THEY WILL ACT.
ReplyDeleteYou're blaming Rick Hayduk and Blackstone for not enforcing rules. And that's right. That's okay. But bigger picture...just like in any large corporation...the problems start with attitudes, methods and priorities at the top. And in NYC that means the mayor. So what I mean is...with respect to these quality of life issues and laws, they aren't being enforced because de Blasio isn't interested in enforcing them. And if you've ever been to these so-called high level dinners and gatherings where real estate developers are present, there really is no problem for these guys to get very close to the mayor, schmooze around and find out exactly which way the wind is blowing and all this filters down. It filters down through the administration and into the city council, from large corporation CEOs to their senior mgt and so on.
ReplyDeleteSo there is nothing illegal about marketing and renting to students. Partitioning, dog rules and bike rules will not be enforced here so long as de Blasio has made it clear that he doesn't really care about enforcing any quality of life rules in the entire city. He seems determined that his legacy and what will put him office again is the amount of luxury building that has been going on in the city.
I, for one, will not vote for de Blasio. I only hope that substantial candidates step forward to run against him in the primary. He needs to lose right there.
Hm... I dunno. Seems to me the higher ups (not the politicians) rule. The politicians can change, the higher ups stay the same. Maybe they juggle around, but they remain the same.
ReplyDeleteNo offense but Rick is walking his dog and hanging around like he's at the beach. He doesn't give a flying hoot about rules, basketball kids, dog problems, noise pollution, and rent roll. Not exactly sure what his actual J>O>B is but hell, wait until someone gets hurt here. IBut t's good that we spend resources and manpower checking for scooters in the hallways here.
ReplyDeleteCEO behavior does change. But it depends on the strength of the politician. And the social/economic level at which changes would apply. A change of president has a big effect on corporate CEOs. They all advocate to their advantage but how and what they advocate will change based what the administration favors so long as administration policies don't directly hurt their business.
ReplyDeleteQuality of life issues here don't rise to any level higher than the mayor. And enforcing dog shit and biking laws will hardly hurt business. But de Blasio just doesn't care about these things. Quality of life isn't his thing.
Example: The monstrosity building on 23rd st where Madison starts. That set a precedent. Now another one is going up just like it. There is luxury housing going in at 23rd and Lex. Another new building going up at 20th & 3rd.
This is what de Blasio is interested in. Giving real estate developers everything they want. He's turned into an extension of Bloomberg. His reasons are different than Bloomberg's but the effect is just the same. Actually Bloomberg was somewhat more interested in quality of life issues than de Blasio.
DeBlasio could care less. Big Bird #!@^*er!
ReplyDelete"Hm... I dunno. Seems to me the higher ups (not the politicians) rule. The politicians can change, the higher ups stay the same. Maybe they juggle around, but they remain the same."
ReplyDeleteThat is because our politicians are all corrupt. DeBlasio - corrupt, James - corrupt,
Kavanaugh - corrupt, Stringer - corrupt, Hoylman - corrupt, Mark-Viverto(and every member of the City council) - corrupt, Cuomo - corrupt, Schneiderman - corrupt, Obama - corrupt, Clinton - corrupt and of course the king (at least in a Micro sense) Garodnick(and his minions at the TA) - CORRUPT!!!!
There is no hope of this changing. I will wait until I can retire and then I will leave this corrupt city.
12:10 PM: where will you move to? Do you know of a city in this country that isn't corrupt? I know that New York is the absolute Mega-Center of Corruption, but I think politicians are the same all over.
ReplyDeleteEmail from Management that they are discontinuing their "Good Neighbor" meet-n-greet thing because of the expected colder weather. So typical of people from Florida!
ReplyDeleteBtw, all these "green" initiatives Management keeps patting itself on the back for, surely there is nothing "green" (except in mold) in packing so many [unrelated] people in "flex" apartments. The toll on the infrastructure, massive amounts of water and electric and garbage surely negates any pathetic attempts to "greenify" the dump?
Can't stand Blackstone's phony e-mails. Just a bunch of PR to hide the real picture of life here. I guess that they fool some people, I do know people who think that Rick is the greatest thing going. Deceptive attempts to cover up this dorm/hotel dump.
ReplyDeleteWell... Some people are fooled; some people don't care; some people are dissatisfied, but what can they do? I'd say Rick is winning, despite the urine stains and periodic doggie-do around the Oval or the flying bicycles and/or skateboards. As long as a moped with a PS officer turns up once in a while. Don't forget to keep those checks coming, particularly if you are market-rate.
ReplyDelete>>Btw, all these "green" initiatives Management keeps patting itself on the back for,<<
ReplyDelete"Green" is BS. You can take that to the bank and get real green!
>>This is what de Blasio is interested in.<<
ReplyDeleteNot just de Blasio. How about our City Council? How about Dan our Man? Money, money, money. It's "good" for the city.
What has Rick done??? Oh don't forget his salary + bonus + stipends +++++ housing ++++
ReplyDeleteThere are 2 cultures that apply. There's the culture of what all of us experience everyday and the culture created by mayor that everyone in gov't experiences everyday.
ReplyDeleteMost people in corporate hierarchies live by one dictum: do whatever your boss tells you to do. To survive at appointment and elected levels (if in fact you really want to survive), you have to know which way thew wind is blowing.
So that includes everyone in the administration. Every agency and the city council.
To get 2 terms a mayor has to be in sync with what people experience every day. de Blasio is not. At least in Manhattan I think he'll be defeated in the next primary.
"To get 2 terms a mayor has to be in sync with what people experience every day. de Blasio is not. At least in Manhattan I think he'll be defeated in the next primary."
ReplyDeleteI can't say I agree with you there. Mayor Bloomberg was definitely in sync with what people experience every day. He was definitely in sync with what the developers and billionaires wanted. He got three terms, remember! Mind you, it could have been that he bought them. They used to say he was incorruptible because he couldn't be bought. Problem with that was that he could BUY everybody he needed to buy to further his agenda! Corruption runs two ways - it isn't just those who are bought; it is also those who do the buying!
Meant to say "Mayor Bloomberg was definitely NOT in sync with what people experience every day." At least not regular, non-billionaire people.
ReplyDeleteShit all over the floor of one of the elevators in 435 this morning. Lovely! This really is a SHIT HOLE!!!!! I almost skidded on it on my way out.
ReplyDeleteThey have cameras ya'll know. Tell the overpaid do nothing security guards to pull the camera and show the dog and the owner and the elevator. Duh.
ReplyDeleteSmelled marijuana again in my elevator this morning!
ReplyDeleteTwo dog shit piles around outside our building and last week, walked into the lobby and saw 5 or 6 dog turds there, a small old dog and an elderly lady explaining apologetically that she just couldn't get her dog to do its business outside. Said she'd clean it up.
ReplyDeleteWTF. I've been in touch with Hayduk several times about things like this and tried to make his life miserable over it. If you haven't done the same, then you're doing nothing. Stop complaining.
Have to laugh. Some of the other ST blog posters are talking about the beautiful pumpkin/harvest displays management has put up at some of the entrance loops. That is their PR in action, pretty on the outside and grimy dorm hotel dump on the inside.
ReplyDeleteCall Rick, Email Rick or and call the guy with the fake tan too. Pompous arrogant tools who earn lots of money (your money) and do jack shit.
ReplyDelete"Two dog shit piles around outside our building and last week, walked into the lobby and saw 5 or 6 dog turds there, a small old dog and an elderly lady explaining apologetically that she just couldn't get her dog to do its business outside. Said she'd clean it up."
ReplyDeletePlease cut the small old dog and the elderly lady some slack. She probably (hopefully) does clean it up and is probably embarrassed by it. There's so much cruelty and strife in the world and an old lady and her little old pet aren't part of it. The elderly are treated like shit by Management, who clearly wants them to die or go into nursing homes. I hate this place and can't wait to get out of it because it is a noisy, unsupervised dorm with an open door and a revolving door policy. All kinds of weirdos live here. Well they doss here. You don't know who or what is trying to follow you in and who is subletting the unit next door or across the hall. I wouldn't be surprised to learn there is a very busy drug trade going on here. Or even a Pot Farm!
>>Please cut the small old dog and the elderly lady some slack.<<
ReplyDeleteDid she clean it up, is the question?
Also, "elderly" is subjective. 60 years old? 70? 80?
ReplyDeleteI give "slack" to people who can't provide for themselves well, btw. Others...
ReplyDeleteThen cut the poor little old dog some slack. You might be old and incontinent yourself one day.
ReplyDeleteThe dog isn't old, but the person is!
ReplyDelete"...there, a small old dog and an elderly lady explaining apologetically that she just couldn't get her dog to do its business outside. Said she'd clean it up."
ReplyDeleteBlogger Stuy Town Reporter said...
ReplyDeleteOh, please, not the elderly lady again! Okay. Forget what the guy or gal wrote. How many old dogs have you seen in this complex? If you are like me, you've seen practically none. I have seen maybe one "old" dog in my entire viewing of this complex! Most dogs are at least middle age if not younger, given the amount of time dogs have been allowed in this complex and the people who have bought them, an important point, as many have bought them in the last years. If you have seen an old dog and an old lady, my apologies, but something smells (and I don't mean the doggie poop!) suspicious about the absolute veracity of this story!
Their ad campaign should be pretty on outside, fountains and pumpkins and inside the audio track from your hellish TT neighbors with the ever constant blocked plumbing.
ReplyDeleteSTR, sorry, but I do know a couple of neighbors who have very elderly dogs. I don't know whether they were living here illegally before it became ok to have a dog or if the neighbors acquired them when they were getting on. Remember, dogs only live to be at most early teens and dogs have been permitted in this dump since Rob Speyer acquired it at least 10 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI wish you didn't hate dogs so much. I like them much better than I like the braying, screeching fucking students and they leave puke, piss and (sometimes) shit stains around the property. The shit in my elevator recently did not seem to be dog doo.
I doubt that this was an old dog, but if it was, then, as I said, my apologies.
ReplyDeleteI also don't think that dogs belong in this crowded complex. Sorry, but that's the way I feel. Nothing against the dogs!
ReplyDeleteThey don't belong in this crowded complex, but they're here and they're here to stay. Blame that shit stain named Rob Speyer for that.
ReplyDelete