Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Flex Apartments

I thought these were not allowed anymore or, rather, not being built anymore? I still see workers rushing around with their "flex" walls.

But:

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20161018/murray-hill/convertible-walls-apartments-flexible-layout-roommates-nyc

>>At Stuy Town, once the hotspot for illicit wall activity, temporary walls have in many cases become sanctioned — and now cost a premium.

One-bedroom units, ranging from 707 and 790 square feet, cost from $3,138 to $3,559 a month, according to the complex's website. Meanwhile, the same sized units, listed as a “one-bedroom flex” where an extra wall is already installed — with windows in it to bring light to the newly sectioned-off living room — are marketed as costing $3,421 to $3,942 a month.

The flex apartments likely helped the complex’s bottom line, according to a Real Deal analysis from November, which found about a third of its market-rate units were marketed as the pricier flex apartments.

Representatives from Stuy Town and the Grayson declined to comment on the convertible layouts.<<

49 comments:

Anonymous said...

The flex and the renovations are at an all time high. How can we find out if BS earnings on the property - net rentroll?

Anonymous said...

High-priced tenements.

Anonymous said...

An anonymous post recently informed us Blackstone stopped installing temporary walls, vaguely accused STR of slander, demanded an apology and retraction.

Blackstone has a well-deserved reputation for honesty. De Blasio, Garodnick and our TA were elected to protect us. They have always been honest with us and can always be trusted to always act in our best interests.

BTW, how much $$$$ did Wall Street/REBNY predators give our Mayor de Blasio and our Councilman Garodnick, both elected to protect us from Wall Street/REBNY predators like Blackstone? How much Wall Street/REBNY $$$$ was laundered into our TA's slush fund to help our TA, elected to protect us from Wall Street/REBNY predators, in the TA's futile attempt to deliver EVERYTHING PCVST, including our homes, into the claws of major REBNY predator Brookfield investing $25 Million supporting and cheer leading Speyer's failed attempt to boot us all out of our PCVST homes?

Our elected representatives disgraced themselves hellbent on needlessly delivering EVERYTHING PCVST, including our homes, right back into the claws of Wall Street/REBNY predators fully realizing Speyer's business plan permanently booting a historic, world renowned, middle class community out of PCVST.

Preet should follow the dirty, filthy Wall Street/REBNY $$$$ trail leading to the scandal going down at PCVST.

Anonymous said...

I wish they would worry about crime more here...

Cops are on the lookout for a man who robbed three women in one night, two in Stuyvesant Town. One of the robberies happened at 15 Stuyvesant Oval, the other on the sidewalk near 330 First Avenue, and another took place in the East Village. All the incidents happened on Monday, October 10 from 2-3 a.m.

https://town-village.com/

Anonymous said...

"An anonymous post recently informed us Blackstone stopped installing temporary walls, vaguely accused STR of slander, demanded an apology and retraction."

Where is this post? I don't recall seeing it. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Ironic that DOB permits construction of flex units that up the number of occupants and DHCR does not increase room count. Former Mayor Bloomberg says he will not help Stuyvesant Town and Mayor deBlasio negotiates deal where Mayor Bloomberg's best pal now owns Stuyvesant Town.

Blackstone CEO gala is sign of buyout boom
| Wed Feb 14, 2007 | 8:28pm EST

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-blackstone-party-idUSN1440877020070215

For Schwarzman, the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Blackstone, Thursday night was indeed his night. The last few years haven't been so bad either.

The Blackstone Group's success has brought his net worth to around $2.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine. He reportedly earned more than $200 million last year.

The over-the-top 60th birthday party highlighted the golden era being enjoyed by Blackstone and other private equity firms, which buy and sell companies.

In his speech, he paid tribute to his wife Christine and gave a nod to three guests in particular: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Bear Stearns CEO James Cayne and Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of advertising and marketing company WPP Group. They, like Schwarzman, were born on Valentines Day.

Anonymous said...

As I have said before. As we see with WikiLeaks now, it is only a matter of time before everything comes out against DeBlasio, Dan, the TA, etc.

In no way do I back Trump (or HI'll art for that matter), but I firmly believe that the reason Trump got this far is because people are just sick and tired of our politicians, and the shady groups they ate associated with.

Personally I know that I do not trust a single politician.

Anonymous said...

That explains the lower and upper level politicians and the TA all loving Target on 14th. Mega Chain Store Target is taking over New York City and its partnered with Chuck Schumer's favorite corporate pal Chobani Yogurt. The politicians are pushing for the mega chain stores to replace the small businesses. No wonder the TA said the Target store was great for the neighborhood! The TA says what the politicians tell the TA to say. The Target Chobani Cafe might give the Oval 5 Cafe a run for its money until the Oval 5 Cafe gets is beer license from Community Board 6. NYC looks like every other place with a Target Store, generic and nothing special.

Target in New York
Target is expanding across the New York City metro area and we’re sharing the details here. Check back often as dates and details are bound to change.

https://corporate.target.com/about/shopping-experience/New-York-market?ref=sr_shorturl_newyork&utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=referral

https://corporate.target.com/article/2016/05/tribeca-chobani-cafe

https://corporate.target.com/article/2016/10/tribeca-opening

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>Where is this post? I don't recall seeing it. Thanks.<<

I know there was a post negating the work on new partitions.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/de-blasios-bloombergian-land-use-plan-9237170

Money quote:

>>Zoned Out!, as the title suggests, traces the history of New York housing policy back to the 1916 decision by the Board of Aldermen to develop the city through zoning: specifically, by way of the Zoning Resolution, a set of rules dictating building heights and uses and governed by the thirteen-member City Planning Commission. Because the commissioners were political appointments, and rezoning to be done piecemeal, neighborhood by neighborhood, it became easier for developers to sway the outcome of zoning decisions in directions that would promote development on cheap land while leaving wealthy neighborhoods intact — a reality that continues today.<<

Thirteen member City Planning Commission.

Anonymous said...

5:24 Are you surprised? Look at the list of politicians attending the "TA" meeting this Saturday.

There will probably be more politicians present than tenants!

Anonymous said...

I am wondering if anyone has GE a/c on the property such as we do and are they working ok? Our units - we are somewhat new here - seem new and don't cool off the rooms well which is alright by us but are terribly loud a humming loud humming noise constant.

Anonymous said...

every week more friends and families we know are moving out. what a strain on the building and chuckle, costly to the management. no rent for months and days, weeks of clean up, paint, fixing.g Ha.ha.

Anonymous said...

October 19, 2016 at 8:35 PM Something about that does not sit right. Unified in some spin version of something to feed the community no doubt as if we will believe them if they all say the same thing.

Anonymous said...

A neighbor had what they were told were new ACs when they moved in. They didn't seem to be working properly. Tenants removed cover ( which were new) & saw that the insides were old!!! They contacted management & the ACs were eventually replaced. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

Off the topic, but someone is smoking marijuana and the fumes are filtering into my apartment, from outside my window. I think I may know where it is coming from. Any suggestions as to how to handle this? Does anyone else have a similar problem? Thank you.

Anonymous said...

"every week more friends and families we know are moving out. what a strain on the building and chuckle, costly to the management. no rent for months and days, weeks of clean up, paint, fixing.g Ha.ha."

Blackstone pops the cork off a champagne bottle every time a longer term RS resident vacates.

Anonymous said...

"They didn't seem to be working properly. Tenants removed cover ( which were new) & saw that the insides were old!!! "

What a bunch of skeavy schnorrers!

Anonymous said...

The tenant does not have to be long term. families are leaving. new families. LL care? I guess not either.

Anonymous said...

AC: they were old and were not working or what? because my wife was told ours are working fine, they are not I can assure you, and blackstone won't replace.

Anonymous said...

Blackstone gets money from the city for each working air conditioner they put in an apartment. That's why there are air conditioners in every room. Complain to the city about the air conditioners not working and demand the city stop giving money rewards to the landlord for air conditioners that do not work.

Anonymous said...

They get money from the city for ac? What the fuckkkkkkk. What an awesome deal they have. How much money, and what else besides the large tax break do they get?

so awesome wondering why tischman couldn't pull it off.

Anonymous said...

October 19, 2016 at 8:35 PM Is this another united front to convince us of a political spin? Every TA meeting with the list of politicians has ended up being nothing other than total failure to protect this community, the open space, and the Oval Park. They gave us every reason to stop trusting them already. What could they possibly have to say now to undo that? Not a word is believable from them anymore.


Anonymous said...

If the TA really cared about tenants, they would find a way for their meetings to reach more of us. It's 2016, all they need is a smartphone and a YouTube account. They need to post these meetings for all of us to hear.

With that being said, here is the meeting in a nutshell. Politicians and TA pat each other on the back for saving affordable housing with the lottery ($3600/Mo is affordable, right). Then the TA praises Rick for everything Blackstone has done. They will through in a criticism or two to seem legit. Then we have 10 minutes of questions. Most will deal with SCRIE. There you have it.

Anonymous said...

Oct. 20 @ 6:01 PM: You just about nailed it. The TA is useless and is more of a hindrance to tenants than a help. The Board is made up of a bunch of sycophantic groupies who just LOVE getting their photographs and names in the paper (even if it is the inconsequential T&V) and who grossly overestimate their importance and relevance. I think that Management puts up with them because they can be useful at times when they need an ass-kisser on their side.

They are always whining for money. What do they do with that great big slush fund they have? I think they should be audited and the results made public.

Anonymous said...

Oct. 20 at 6:01 PM: you are absolutely right. The TA has lost all credibility. It's a shame because it used to be a really good organization that was on the side of tenants, not the LL, when it came to things that affected the tenants.

Atomic Man said...

someone is smoking marijuana and the fumes are filtering into my apartment, from outside my window. I think I may know where it is coming from. Any suggestions as to how to handle this?

a) Close your window.

b) Call the NYPD. The desk sergeant could use a good laugh.

c) Call PCVST Security. A few years ago, I was listening to a more senior officer who was training a newbie. A call came over the radio about some kids smoking pot in a spot nearby. The veteran barks into the radio that they were right on it. The new guy starts moving quickly towards their vehicle, and the other puts his hand on his shoulder and stops him. "Whattaya gonna do", he says, "tell them to put that shit out? We'll wait five minutes and call in that they're gone."

OK, maybe a) is your best bet.

Anonymous said...

WE keep hashing to an fro about the TA. let's just stop wasting posts since we do not have the balls to form our own new Ta.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of the TA, how about them loop roads that the TA puppet master Dan got us? The flooding this morning is much worse then I have ever seen them. The one on first Ave is nearly impassable.

Anonymous said...

October 20, 2016 at 1:14 PM

Yes, I smelled that marijuana smell coming from outside my window last night as well. This place is a dump. Trashy low lives that live here. Keep up the good job Rick!

Anonymous said...

dan lives in a building with picture perfect neighbors. top floor no less.

Anonymous said...

3:27 post Re- AC. Just repeating a conversation with my new neighbor. The ACs were not working & they called management. When the new tenants took cover off AC - it was an old AC with a new cover. Tenant said that management kept telling them that it was a new AC. Not true according to tenant. They did replace the ACs. Saw them bringing in new ones. This happened during this summer's heat wave !!! Ugh!! Good luck with your situation.

Anonymous said...

Marijuana pollution: STOP SITTING STILL! BANG ON DOORS. AND I MEAN REPEATEDLY AND LOUD! CONFRONT THE MORONS. DIRECTLY. IN THEIR FACE. IF THEY CLAIM THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE, ASK THEM TO JOIN WITH YOU TO STOP YOUR NEIGHBORS WHO ARE DOING IT.

PUT UP SIGNS! SLIP SIGNS UNDER THEIR DOORS! AFFIX SIGNS TO THEIR DOORS!

DO NOT BE POLITE ABOUT THIS. DO NOT EXPECT EITHER YOUR LANDLORD OR YOUR POLICE DEPARTMENT TO INTERFERE. THEY WILL NOT DO SO.

EXCEPT: if you build a case of careful and ongoing documentation, LANDLORD WILL START ISSUING LEASE VIOLTION NOTICES. That could lead to eviction proceedings.

PEOPLE: OPEN YOUR MOUTHS AND TAKE YOUR LIFE BACK INTO YOUR HANDS!

Anonymous said...

Hey 8:20 am, there is nothing more I would like then to start a new TA. Unfortunately, I live in a market rate apartment and work 70+ hours a week to afford to live here so I can have my kid at PS40.

Don't talk to us about starting a new TA when you know that none of us have the time to do so.

Anonymous said...

The stink of Pot is no worse than tobacco, especially pipe and cigar tobacco. You wouldn't knock on someone's door and tell them you can smell their cigarets, etc., because they would tell you to fuck off.

Anonymous said...

We work 70 hours a week also to live near ps 40 and pay market rent. Make the time. Again, no balls.

Anonymous said...

Went down to do a laundry after an overseas vacation and could not get a machine. The laundry room was full of NYU students. This place has become a dorm, they might as well just sell the dump to NYU.

Anonymous said...

Is PS 40 that great that you would work 70 hours and live in this dump to pay for it? That is very sad.

Anonymous said...

1:29 PM: It certainly has become a dorm. A very unsafe dorm. Apartments occupied by too many people to live safely, fire hazards from the temporary walls and no-doubt huge demand on electric from all the appliances the kids use; flood hazards from the ancient plumbing that has to service so many people all using the one toilet and bathtub! Though in an emergency, there is always the stairs.

I think they should start giving rent reductions to adult tenants (MR and RS) who are being deprived of security and safety because of the dangers posed by making the property an unsupervised illegal dorm.

Anonymous said...

no, ps 40 is not that great. NO funds for private and all the other publics are even worse.


?

Anonymous said...

October 22, 2016 at 1:52 PM Agree. Also the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement should have used their undercovers on the property to investigate the violations of the Certificates of Occupancy creating the hazardous dangerous living conditions were the Mayors Office of Special Enforcement and Mayor not working for....I mean negotiating with the current owners Blackstone in a deal where Blackstone made out like bandits, the City lost huge revenue due which NYC residents will be paying for with cuts to services, and the tenants continue to be oppressed, pushed around and pushed out.

The Mayors Office of Special Enforcement is responsible for investigating the overcrowding violations. Call 311 and flood it with complaints on every unit neighboring you that has more than 3 unrelated occupants and demand the complaint get escalated to the Mayors Office of Special Enforcement as this is a life and death safety matter. You can call 311 anonymously. The report gets directed to the DOB and the OSE. Those reports can be made anonymously so there is no fearing Blackstone retaliating.

Anonymous said...

9:50 AM, are you serious? I would love to do what you suggest, but I think that the DeBlasio admin is more corrupt than any we've had since Boss Tweed's day. I think any such complaints would be brushed under the carpet and the complainers would be hounded to hell.

Anonymous said...

Reply to 10/20 - re: marijuana:
Here's what I did. If you think you know where it's coming from go to that apartment (in your building) and stand outside to confirm. If it's not in your building still, go outside and see if you can pinpoint the area it's coming from. Be a detective.
Then call Security and say you have a marijuana complaint from the apartment in - wherever you discovered. the should come over but some of them won't confirm it, saying it;s only incense! You have to be persistent, and whatever shift, if still not satisfied ask to speak to the supervisor. Then, if still not satisfied go to Security and speak to the manager there. the 4-12 is Joe and he's very receptive.
You can also speak to these people yourself but it will probably cause a lot of tension between you and the other tenant. I also bought some very obnoxious air spray and went ot their apartment (I knew who it was obviously) and sprayed outside the apartment, around the door etc.
And don't hesitate to go to the 13th Pct on ?21 street.
They told me they could send someone over to see if drugs were being sold at that apartment.
And don't let them tell you it's legal. It is only legal as medical marijuana and most likely these aren't sick people

Anonymous said...

"An anonymous post recently informed us Blackstone stopped installing temporary walls, vaguely accused STR of slander, demanded an apology and retraction."

Where is this post? I don't recall seeing it. Thanks. "

Wait are those partitions not legal? I have an apartment full of dumb students above me with a partition in their living room. Saw it when I went up to speak to them about their godawful incessant noise. Also saw their lack of rugs and trash strewn everywhere. can they have a partition wall? they're real a$$holes, naturally. 3 nyu students.

regarding smoke: call PS and keep calling them. if they don't show up in 10 minutes, I call them again. then again 5 minutes later. This is their job. They need to know that if they don't get off their lazy a$$es, we're going to keep calling them about smokers. There is no smoking outside the building. Period. These idiots need to learn. This was never a problem 10 years ago. smoke coming from an apartment--I have a chain smoker living next to me. I just let it go--it's her apartment and NYC smoke laws aren't that strong. Hopefully she'll get cancer soon and leave.

Tom said...

--by the way, previous comment left by me and just to add, when your hallway continuously smells like tobacco smoke, this is a genuine health risk (and is disgusting, additionally) while the marijuana smoke, tho illegal and annoying, is actually not quite as toxic to be continually ingesting.
it's a bit of a grey area how much tobacco smoke a neighbor is allowed to flood the hallway with, if building was not set up as "nonsmoking"--NYC laws prohibit it, but sort of wishy washy in the way they're applied.

Anonymous said...

Tom - you wish your next door neighbor cancer? I wish you six NYU students upstairs from you who make enough noise to drive you out.

Anonymous said...

>>--by the way, previous comment left by me and just to add, when your hallway continuously smells like tobacco smoke, this is a genuine health risk (and is disgusting, additionally) while the marijuana smoke, tho illegal and annoying, is actually not quite as toxic to be continually ingesting.<<

This is not correct, it is actually worse for one's lungs than tobacco smoke. If you look at scientific studies it has been proven. What you are quoting is a myth promulgated by the people trying to legalize it.

Anonymous said...

I remember a doctor telling me that one joint is equivalent to 12 cigarets. It has also been proven that pot raises the risk of breast cancer. Horrible stuff.

Anonymous said...

Who is tom