As I sit outside Stuy Town, I notice certain things. One of the things I notice is how friendly and unfriendly Stuy Town is to residents. We can talk about how Stuy Town is primarily concerned about money from residents, but it also has other things that residents should be thankful for.
One of my eye-openers happened near the end of last year. I fell. It was a nice day and I decided to walk to Chinatown, using a foldable shopping cart to help me along and insert whatever when I would get there. Good idea, it seemed. But terrible outcome. The streets and particularly some corners were getting to be more of a physical nightmare. By the time I reached Houston Street, I was knocked down. A pedestrian took the blame, but I didn't know if it was him or me. I turned the corner, but that was as far as I could get to Chinatown. I decided to head back. Walking, of course. Then I fell again at a corner several streets away. Either I was too tried or my muscles gave way or mentally I surrendered.. Thankfully, a few New Yorkers, young too, helped me to sit on a small plastic chair that they grabbed from the coffee shop nearby.Then another young man spent time to flag a suitable taxi, even though he was on his way to work. I was able to get in the taxi and head back to Stuy Town. I was feeling well, but when I got out of the taxi, I couldn't make it. I fell again in front of my building. Two Public Safety officers came. I was actually in a good mood with them and joked around while I waited for my energy to return to head back to the building. But, after this and that, I finally was home. Safe and sound.
This was the start. The next two months or so, I didn't leave the building, and either called the deli for food or used my roommate to get things for me. With Covid, much had been set up to get things online. So I got familiar with that process.
I wasn't going to rush, however. Slowly I went outside in front of the building, with a walker now. Things proceeded. The Oval, Trader Joe's, Target.... I am exercising more and lessening the mental hangup that still hampers me. But I did notice certain things. Not only are the city streets difficult with a walker, but a lot outside, except for sitting, is a pain in the neck or legs.
This gets me to the gravel around the interior of the Oval. Though the gravel is less than it was, it is burdensome. Not just for walkers. People with shopping carts, carriages, etc. But Stuy Town wants a certain look. But that look with gravel on walkways is a handicap for those with mobility challenges.
Beware of leaf blowers, though. There are a lot of fallen leaves and these guys do not care that much about the dust and dirt flying around.
570 comments:
1 – 200 of 570 Newer› Newest»So sorry to hear of your falls and pain, STR. I had no idea you had a disability. NYC is a rough place for anybody with mobility issues. I sincerely hope that your health improves and that you don't have any more tumbles. Btw, I am 75 and have fallen a couple of times on the street and I've had young people rush to assist me. There are a lot of lovely young people around and notwithstanding their noisy exuberance, they are very, very good-hearted.
Yeah, one thing I've learned (and not just recently) is not to pigeonhole anyone because of age. Also, I've had just those falls in one day, which is why I'm hesitant without an aid outside. That hesitancy is a major part of what I'm trying to get rid of or lower. Reading vlogs about wheelchair people and their issues helped me understand my issues. What they come across can be much more hard than my case or others like me.
Been a while. Nice to see you back.
I am just about to turn 70, and I have had to learn the hard lesson that I'm not as able as I used to be. Be careful out there, everybody.
It could be that I'm more sensitized to this, but I see more people with walkers, canes, or just walking with difficulty around Stuy Town. As I used to see violations of the "rules" when I go outside, I now see more walkers, etc. I also think some seniors with shopping carts are using then for walking stability.
I've learned several things. One of the most important is to keep a good spirit and not have a sour face outside. People will either ignore you or help you, if needed. There is no reason to be belligerent, unless a specific incident requires that, and even so, it is better for your mental health not to get too upset. One of the reasons I try not to call Resident Services or PS!
The other thing is not to be in your apartment as an escape from what you think are people's reaction to you. I think some people hide away because of what they PERCEIVE as the opinion of others. What is important is how you feel physically, not what others may think. The sun on your face is probably more valuable than what someone may think. And what others think may be a mirage in your mind. Even if it isn't, so what?
Live life as best you can.
New Yorkers are good neighbors, both in PCVST and in the streets of NYC. If you ask for help you can expect to get it. It's heart warming.
Leaf blowers are a public health hazard. They pick up trash, dirt, and crap (literally -- poop from dogs, squirrels, birds, that's been drying on the ground for the last six months) and lift it into the air where it ends up in your eyes, on your skin, and in your lungs. If you're an old or immuno-compromised person and you want to die of pneumonia, just hang out by leaf blowers.
2:35 AM. Anybody else being kept up by the unrelenting bellowing and braying of the shit from the Flyover States?
Hey, Ms Resident Experience, are you enjoying it too? Maybe you live off the property (if you have any sense) and don't have to be kept awake by the dreck you rent to. I've lived in numerous places in NYC and elsewhere, but never in such a nasty, noisy dump as this. Can't believe I'm paying what I'm paying to live in a vile student dorm for shitty undergrads and has no kind of supervision. I feel like standing outside the Leasing Office and warning the suckers who show an interest in renting in this lousy, nasty, noisy SHITHOLE.
If you dare have an E-bike in the city.... From https://comparisonsmaster.com/articles/bicycle-deals-for-seniors-what-does-government-subsidize?dc=mfb&subid4=iv-us-a-cmp-bicyclen-140441-Sep05_5133-LEAD-3xSquareWhisp:
The typical cost of an electric bicycle is between $600 and $1,000. There are also several E-Bike variants that cost far more than $1,000, with some costing up to $8,000. An average E-Bike suitable for Senior Adults however will cost in the region of approximately $1,000. E-Bike owners will inevitably incur additional expenses, such as maintenance and charging.
Owners of electric bicycles must additionally account for the expense of maintenance and charging. A tune-up is advised every six months or 500 miles and may cost between $75 and $125. Each new tire costs roughly $30. Additionally, the battery must be changed every 700 to 1,000 charges on an electric bicycle. This varies in price from $350 to over $800. Electricity pricing expenses must also be addressed. The cost per 1,000 kilometres may range from $1.28 to $4.80. Not a massive expense really and when you figure in the cost of the 30% government rebate, which would amount to a cool $300 on an E-Bike costing $1000, then this a truly smart way to travel.
Well, this was the first time since the beginning of Covid that I went into Gracefully and sat by the window, looking out. It was a test for me, and after buying my coffee, I folded my walker by the window and sat down in one of their stools. No problem anyone getting through the area. I know the place gets criticized, mainly for the high prices, but I like it.
Dogs and dog refuse are major problems here, and nothing is being done about it. If fact, Beam encourages dog owners to rent here (money). Big dogs, too. Though big dogs may be better than the small ones, some of whom bark a lot.... And special dog areas in ST and PCV? All for dogs.
Dog walkers use Stuy Town. I recently saw a pit bull being walked in Stuy Town. Again, Public Safety does nothing. Probably at the unmentioned request of Beam.
"During a press conference at the scene, Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said two residents were repairing an e-bike when the device caught fire."
The fire was on 52 Street, straight up from Stuyvesant Town.
More here:
https://www.amny.com/new-york/manhattan/high-rise-fire-east-midtown-november-5-2022/
I wonder how many e-bikes are charged in Sty Town? This should be considered a major fire safety violation and anybody caught charging a e-bike in Stuy/PCV should be evicted. Immediately!
It's bad enough that we are endangered on the streets AND SIDEWALKS by these assholes who are neither insured nor taxed like cars are, but if they are charging the lithium batteries inside the apartments, then they are threatening our lives both inside our homes.
It would be nice if the cops got off their lazy fat butts and ticketed the offenders on the streets and it would also be nice if this low-quality landlord started investigating where these things are kept and charged. Hey, Ms. K, being incinerated in our apartments is a "Resident Experience" we would rather not have. Nor would we care to have the experience of being hit and injured or maimed for life by these cretins because "Public Safety" is too damned lazy, stupid or ballsless to do something about them.
STR, I like Gracefully too. The people are nice and their products are very fresh, especially the fruits and vegetables and salads They have have a nice range of products (especially for such a small place) and it is all arranged very neatly and easy to find.
Having said that, I still miss Associated! I don't know what they are putting in that space, but I suspect it is something of a gimmick to generate revenue for Black$tone. I doubt I'll be a customer, especially as they are putting some kind of coffee shop in the space outside and it is even more encouragement for non-residents to be on the property. The problem with so many non-residents being on the property is the lack of security and the plague of theft we are enduring. Thanks Black$stone. You've taken away so much from us and what you have given us is NOTHING of any value to us residents.
I wish we had a REAL Property Manager who knows his/her ass from the elbow.
Beam will want to bury any bad news here. It is not transparent.
>>STR, I like Gracefully too. The people are nice and their products are very fresh, especially the fruits and vegetables and salads They have have a nice range of products (especially for such a small place) and it is all arranged very neatly and easy to find.<<
There was one bad comment on Yelp about the customer/complainer asking the person behind the counter to get the ready sandwich at the deli. Two things. 1) The counter person is not suppose to leave their station for a sandwich. 2) Why not get the sandwich yourself?
"Beam will want to bury any bad news here. It is not transparent."
True, and that is why is behooves us to report and discuss, loud and clear, all the bad news we learn of. This Putinesque LL would rather we all die than that lose a dime. I have absolutely zero respect for the people who own this place and the same goes for the hacks who "manage" and operate it. We are not human beings to them. Our lives are of no value as far as they are concerned. All they care about is filling (overfilling) the units and raking in as much gelt as they can. NOTHING they do is for our benefit or to make our lives easier or pleasanter in any way whatsoever. They only care about raking in every last penny in profit. Our safety and comfort are of no value to them.
"There was one bad comment on Yelp about the customer/complainer asking the person behind the counter to get the ready sandwich at the deli. Two things. 1) The counter person is not suppose to leave their station for a sandwich. 2) Why not get the sandwich yourself?"
Some people are so stupid and moronic they should just stay home.
I like everything about Gracefully except the prices. $9 for a bag of flour--holy moly!
Yes, the prices tend to be high and sometimes very high. But Gracefully has to make a healthy profit where they are located and hire workers who will do a good job. All that costs money. And sometimes one has to get an item that only Gracefully carries. And if you live nearby, there is another question. Is it a matter of time (and time is money) for one to go blocks away because of a saving of one dollar? Two, three dollars? Everything depends. So for me, Gracefully has certain things (like that window) that no deli has. As for prices, if something is too costly for me: forget about it.
I’ll buy dry goods elsewhere, but I need fresh vegetables and salads, not slimy bagged stuff a la TJ . I throw most of TJ’s salad greens out after one day.
Concerning the non-TA Tenants FB page: There are actually two monitors, not the five that they claim. They are Edward John Dunn and "Toni Martini" who is also "Inger Fard." Neither of those names are real. They also list the woman who created the page and no longer lives in NYC. I doubt she actually moderates the page from the distant place where she resides. EJD is the only "moderator" who uses their real name. I don't know how he can work with the nasty sock puppet woman and still act as prissy as he does.
The guy who calls himself "Adam Rose" is not a moderator, but he seems the most intelligent "authority" on that page.
As mentioned before, that FB is hilarious because of the many stupid questions posed publicly. These are not from students, but from (supposedly-)grown adults (based on their pictures) who are new tenants. Example: They don't know how to use the radiator diverter --I did at age 5 (very long ago). On the other hand, one would obviously have to be stupid to move-in now at market rate.
If you are one of the thousands of people who uses the laundry room at 444 E 20th street (the building has open access to everyone, ST residents and non residents alike) beware of the flea infestation in that building. Fleas are everywhere since they opened the building to all. Extremely disgusting and dangerous!
"If you are one of the thousands of people who uses the laundry room at 444 E 20th street (the building has open access to everyone, ST residents and non residents alike) beware of the flea infestation in that building. Fleas are everywhere since they opened the building to all. Extremely disgusting and dangerous!"
Is this for real? Is this Management's doing? I think it should be reported to the City. Definitely report it to the Dept. of Health. Can't believe what this place has deteriorated to. Thanks Miss Resident Experience! Thanks for making our experience a nightmare!
Ooooh! Gross! Send for an exterminator (to November 9 at 12:12 PM). Does Management know that the building is open and outsiders are coming in to do laundry? They seem so anxious to rent out apartments here, but they don't do much to make the place appealing! Maybe they think that all the commercial activity on the property makes the place more attractive to renters, but that is not the case if people want to rent here and live in a clean, safe and peaceful environment. Management seems absolutely determined to make sure the property is not any of those things.
Clean, Safe and Peaceful are great selling points and what most people look for when they consider renting a place. Especially at the ridiculous rents that Management is asking.
What a dump!
Total slum. All they care about is making money off us.
They no longer care about renting apartments here. They can fill them with students, Airbnb, unrelated roomies and city subsidized. That is the present demographic here.
The flea situation may be part of Blackstone's Master Plan to eventually build hi-rise condos and a marina here. And remember: Where there are dogs, there are fleas....
Does the woman who is the de facto manager of this place have a clue about what she is doing? She only seems capable of touting events and high-priced amenities. God save us from these nebbishes.
"Does the woman who is the de facto manager of this place have a clue about what she is doing? She only seems capable of touting events and high-priced amenities. God save us from these nebbishes."
I've been here over 40 years and I can say that this current 'management' crew is without doubt the most incompetent and clueless group of people I've ever seen in property management. I think many of the decent people left already and they have truly scraped the bottom of the barrel with the current group. If I was in charge I'd fire most of them and hire qualified people who understand residential real estate from a property management perspective as well as customer service professionals. It's really a sad state of affairs.
The company wants to run this property into the ground while making profits off transient renters. Managers will come and go, all following the company line of neglect.
Thank you for your service STR
Blackstone is apparently satisfied with conditions--and profits--here at present. They have no interest at all in what tenants (especially longtime ones) think.
Fleas are one thing but they are little, have you seen the size of the rats that run in and out of the buildings????
BIGMO, you are absolutely correct in your assessment of this "Management." They are an absolutely perfect example of INCOMPETENCE. They couldn't run a news stand.
It seems that there is more importance given to nonsense like Pickle Ball and dopey events that attract more outsiders than residents than there is to residents' safety, comfort, peace and quiet and enjoyment of a good quality of life in their apartments. Yes, in our apartments. They can stick the pickle ball and events crap right where the sun don't shine because those are the things that we are not paying rent for. We need quiet, peace, warmth and SAFETY in our homes.
Before the current (and a few previous) incompetents took over, the grounds of the property were peaceful, pleasant and safe. Now we have dozens of three-ring circuses going on much to the annoyance of people who want to enjoy peace and quiet in the homes. Plus the property is filled up with students, transients and riff-raff. Anything with a pulse and a bank account can rent here.
The current "manager" is an incompetent when it comes to running a residential property. She belongs in the fairs, circuses and amusement parks milieu. She is totally out of her depth in property management, as are most of the people on her staff.
The latest gimmick is Oval Services/Concierge. For $25 a month you can have your packages delivered there (if you are lucky enough that the delivery person finds it) and then go out in the slush, snow, rain, shine whatever and lug your stuff home yourself. They should pay us to use such an "amenity." I don't think they would have many takers even in that event!
The buildings are rife with thieves who troll the floors, looking for deliveries to steal. God help anybody who might decide to use the stairs. You might run into a knife or gun. The thugs who troll for packages to steal use the stairs for opening the stolen goods and conducting whatever business they conduct there.
Public Safety is a joke. A sick pathetic joke. Just like "Management" is a sick pathetic joke.
>>Thank you for your service STR<<
And thank you. I wasn't in a war situation, but some Vets were, and to them a salute is always appreciated.
Typical early Saturday morning (2:40 AM) in the Sty. The student crap are hooting and braying. This used to be called an oasis in the City. What is it called now? Filthy, noisy undergrad dorm.
The idiots who "run" this place don't care if people from outside are swarming all over the grounds and the buildings. It is a free-for-all. I have never felt so unsafe and impinged upon in my 20 plus years of living here. It has become a ratty, tatty hellhole. The woman who supposedly runs this dump only cares about events, side-shows, beehives and other crap, but doesn't give a shit about the safety and peaceful living of people who actually pay rent to live here.
I wish they'd get rid of this entire "management" crew and bring in some residential property professionals.
There are no competent, caring professionals running this place now. That is why it is such a lousy, noisy dump. The people running the dump are all from the resorts and hotels industry and have no clue whatsoever about how to run a residential property. They just don’t have the chops. It’s a shame because it could be a great place to live (as it once was) if it had the right kind of professionals in charge.
They put value on the bread and circus garbage at the expense of the quality of life that renters really look for. Nobody with a brain would move here if they knew what it was really like.
The people in the Leasing Office are professional liars. Unfortunately, that’s how their kind make a living. They are nothing more than high-paid hustlers. I would love to see their “profession” outlawed.
It would be nice if we got some heat. It is so f*cking cold and we have had no heat at all so far.
Am going to start calling the City and ask them to come over, but I think think they notify management and then heat comes on for a brief time. These City "inspectors" are probably on the payroll of this sleazy poor excuse for a management.
How are you feeling, STR? Are you getting over your painful mobility problem?
41 degrees and no heat in this dump.
We’re seriously thinking of distributing flyers and putting them on light poles and bus shelters warning prospective renters about this frigid dump
>>It would be nice if we got some heat.<<
Same lack of proper heat every year.
>>How are you feeling, STR? Are you getting over your painful mobility problem?<<
So far, so good. Not over mobility issues, but others have the same or worse problems.
That does happen. Last year an inspector came after a couple of days w/o adequate heat. Of course there was heat when I came. I explained how they operate, but at that point I had heat so he could do nothing.
No heat?
RENT STRIKE
That will get the attention of the sadists and soul-dead.
Even if a handful of us ORGANIZE AND WITHHOLD RENT AS A UNTI, HOWEVER SMALL, IT WILL GET THEIR ATTENTION.
These slimy bastards get away with murder when it comes to the heat system. I don't know anybody in NYC (or anywhere else, for that matter) who have a landlord that distributes thermometers and demands that tenants give the reading if they call to complain of lack of heat. Only this sleazy crew of fairground barkers do that.
We need to get them exposed to the press and media. They are the absolute scum of the earth. The underbelly of property ownership/management. I have ZERO respect for any of these scummy people. They are just rent collectors. They provide little-to-no services. I certainly do not count the tenth-rate garbage they tout as "entertainment." Now they are trying to gouge us for package holding. Totally the scum of the earth.
The sleazy bastards are getting around the lack of heating complaints by having a line dedicated to that issue when you call Resident Services. You have to have a thermometer and if it is registering below 70 yadayada they will only address the issue by sending a "technician" to the apartment. They know most people don't want any of their people in the apartments and that doesn't address the immediate need for heat, anyway.
Maybe we should ALL call and say we need a technician to come over. They would have to employ a whole battalion of technicians then. And what are their "technicians" anyway? Handymen.
This LL is mind-bogglingly sleazy and corrupt and vile. I wish them all ...... NOT Happy Holidays!
Just read on the non-TA fb that it now takes 2 weeks for someone to come and fix a clogged bathtub drain. It used to be done same or next day. Does this mean that they have laid off all the handymen and plumbers? I can't believe what this place has deteriorated to under the management of Beam Living (should be renamed Hope Dying). I think they have cut the maintenance staff to the bare bone. Anything to save money, but they have money for the shit they call "entertainment" and "events." Good Neighbors be damned. Nothing wrong with the neighbors, but the landlord is from hell. Blackstone is noted for being the destroyer of lives, hope and decency. They live up to that reputation very well.
I'm not going to wish Jonathan Gray and Steven Schwartzass Happy Holidays. What I do wish them is what STR would never print.
45 degrees tonight. No heat since yesterday. Have to put the oven on with a pot of water in it.
May these bastards burn in Hell. Soon.
I am downsizing my walkers/rollators. I have a couple to test out which is better for me. I have taken out the more expensive one, but found it is a bit too heavy for my use. So it's been outside of my building for 2 times briefly and that's it. It has shock absorbers, etc. The rollator sells for 189 dollars, and I am selling it for more than half price, 80 dollars. If you are interested, just message me here.
This is a description:
https://www.amazon.com/HEAO-Rollator-Absorber-Lightweight-Mobility/dp/B0995BHV3M/ref=sr_1_3?crid=4JZR4PMHTD33&keywords=outdoor+walker+heao&qid=1668686441&sprefix=outdoor+walker+heao%2Caps%2C70&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.08f69ac3-fd3d-4b88-bca2-8997e41410bb
"I am downsizing my walkers/rollators."
Consider putting an ad on Craigslist. It's free. I've used it for years selling many items.
I'm thinking of that, too.
Be careful with Craig’s List. Horrifying story on one of the tenants fb pages about being assaulted and robbed right here on the property by someone supposedly selling something on CL.
We’ve been here six months and have two toddlers. Nobody warned us that when the cold weather arrived there would be only very sporadic heat and that it was such a rigmarole, involving thermometers and a non-existent service office who never answer the phone!
We’re breaking our lease and will deal with this garbage landlord in Court.
Life’s too short and precious to live with this kind of horrific “service “ and deal with such moronic idiots in Management.
I'm so sick of being asked if I have a thermometer if I call to complain about the lack of heat. No other landlord in this city does that. If the temperature is a tad over the City's lowest mandated level, they claim they are giving us enough heat.
I detest these f*cking no-conscience assholes. If any one of them was drowning, I wouldn't throw a life belt. That's how much I despise them. As for their crappy, tenth-rate amenities and "entertainment" you have to be mentally defective to participate in any of those things or eat at one of their diabolical food joints.
It occurred to me that longtime older residents who opted out of getting wired for air conditioning are probably the people who feel the cold most intensely. They are the ones who are most likely to use space heaters. The electric points that are not specifically wired for the air conditioners are not strong enough to accommodate the electric demand of a space heater. Therefore, these people are at the greater risk for causing a fire by using space heaters.
I wonder if this has ever occurred to the bloodsuckers who run this dump? Maybe they would like all the old people to be burned to death if they try not to freeze to death.
I wonder if this has occurred to Miss Resident Experience and her bosses?
Seems you can no longer read the TA facebook unless you log in. Some of us don't have facebook, but would like to be able to read the TA facebook because it has useful information. I'm not going to join facebook just to read that.
Is it common practice in New York City for a landlord to distribute free thermometers to tenants and insist on getting a reading before they will turn on the heat?
I have encountered such astounding parsimony anywhere else and I’ve lived in quite a few places other than NYC!
We have to literally BEG for heat!
The heating system is total garbage and they just won’t admit it. I think a NYC newspaper should write an article about this. No wonder they have lie and beg for new residents and then can only get moronic brat undergrad students to fill it’s cold drafty units. Nobody with half a brain would rent here if they knew what they were really getting into.
Apparently and unfortunately, those folks from yesterday with two toddlers only began reading this blog "when the cold weather arrived."
We got decent heat all day today. Their stupid sensors must have failed. I wish they would rip those things out and just go back to sending up heat when it's cold outside, not when somebody with a sensor has decided to have salad for dinner instead of using the oven. I can't believe they use such an unreliable and crackpot-designed system to regulate our heat! I wonder if any other landlord in NYC (or anywhere else) has this loser of a heat system. I suspect that MetLife got some big kickback from a failed "engineering" company to install such garbage.
There's an extremely loud frathouse party going on in my building right now. Kids screaming and singing and hooting and braying at the top of their voices. I have no objection to kids having fun, but I think it is totally wrong for Management to turn this place into a dorm. When people are paying top dollar (or even lower rent) to live in a place they call "home," it is really a shit-in-the-face insult to have students living alongside them. The avaricious filth that owns this place don't have a shred of decency in their collective body.
Damn! I hate this place on Friday and Saturday nights/early mornings when the Dorm Shit is on its way out and then on its way in. I wish we had a few cops or at least Public Safety (LOL) who would shut them up. They have a nerve asking such high rents of hard-working people to live in a dorm.
They rent to students because they can’t get those high rents they charge for this dump. Pooling students and unrelated roomies enables them to get the high rents. This has been their game for years and it just gets worse. Who is going to pay 4,000 dollars monthly for a one bedroom in a project with no doorman or amenities !
"They rent to students because they can’t get those high rents they charge for this dump. Pooling students and unrelated roomies enables them to get the high rents. This has been their game for years and it just gets worse. Who is going to pay 4,000 dollars monthly for a one bedroom in a project with no doorman or amenities !"
AND NO HEAT!
There are also quite a few 'lottery' apartments here. The tenant above me and the tenants next to me are both 'lottery' apartments. I suppose that makes it more 'affordable' for some.
Strangely enough, I haven't heard the Dorm Shit hooting and braying their way off the property tonight. Maybe they've all gone back to their Flyover States homes for the holidays. May they never return! I make a point of telling everybody who asks me about life in this dump that they should avoid it like a deadly infectious disease (which we've had a lot of over the past couple of years) because it is a badly run dorm/hostel type of place, but with rents that start at $4k a month.
The crap who run this place don't have a clue.
Sometimes the vitriol spewed on this blog gets on my nerves. Slum, shithole, dump, lousy, filthy, noisy, toilet, nasty, hellhole, ghetto. Oh my!
Oh, they have a clue. This all intentional and evidently they are making a profit off the 4,000 dollar a month apartments filled with three or four students and roomie with seasonal transitions.
I’m sure they would make more profit if they ran it as a safe, comfortable and pleasant place to live (as it originally was) and stopped trying to squeeze every penny out of it. We don’t need the three-ring circus events and they would attract decent tenants if they stopped renting to students.
Unfortunately, I get the feeling that they are trying to run it into the ground with the plan to demolish it in the future. The land is more valuable than the buildings.
I believe that is the long term plan.
They certainly don’t give a damn about the health and well-being of the residents, especially the older ones.
So you don’t have to read it.
Is it just me, or does anyone else think that it is an insult to our intelligence for Management to insist that we have a thermometer and tell them the reading when we complain of no heat? Would we be calling and asking (begging) for heat if the apartment wasn't under-heated? Never heard of such a practice anywhere else. Though I've come to realize that anybody who has much intelligence and has done research wouldn't be renting here anyway. Some of us have to learn the hard way. Never thought I'd be paying what I'm paying and begging the landlord for heat. One born every minute as someone once said.
Even when they deign to send up heat it is not very much and for not very long. Seems they are determined we should not have more than the survival minimum that the City mandates (or not very much than the legal minimum). There's something Dickensian about the mentality of the assholes who run this development. They belong in a different time and place.
Their mentality is "Are there no prisons and workhouses?" Or if we want to give it a Continental air "Let them eat cake."
My perspective is that the heat has been better so far, but winter is just beginning. As I have no complaints about my immediate neighbors, I can't complain about them, but I realize that there are different neighbors and buildings in this complex. However, I still see an avoidance to properly deal the various rules of this community. Every day I see outside dogs being brought in (remember the insistence of the blue lanyard?), and no one from Public Safety stops them. I also see every day, smears of dog do-do on our paths. Then there are the leaf blowers. Dust and dirt (of any kind) is kicked up with pedestrians passing by. Throw-out mattresses covered against bedbugs? No way. I know that some of the concerns of seniors are laughed at or ignored by those in charge. As for Resident Services? Good luck in trying to deal with them. So, for me, there is good and bad. But the bad is there, for sure, and to deny that is just being a liar.
"I get the feeling that they are trying to run it into the ground with the plan to demolish it in the future."
-----
"Demolition by Neglect" is a major component of Blackstone's STPCV business plan.
They really need to hire more handymen, electricians and plumbers. I see posts on both facebooks from people who have to wait weeks for a handyman to fix something. They could get rid of those "lifestyle" idiots and spend the money on useful people. I think they are deliberately trying to make people just give up and move out (especially the older tenants) because there is no maintenance service, just three-ring circuses and bullshit. No heat either tonight. Have to get a space heater.
I've noticed on the tenants fb when somebody asks a simple question, that official man who is a moderator always makes it a complicated issue by citing all sorts of garbage to make the questioner more confused and will keep on repeating the mantra that we are all rent stabilized. OK. We know that, but some people are meaning the old rent stabilized with lower rent, as opposed to new rent stabilized with a market rate rent. He should just butt out and let someone less officious answer the question. He really needs to get a life.
I am on the Tenants Facebook and I agree that Mr Dunn is an absolute horror! There is some nice lady trying to get advice on taking an injured bird to a place where it can be helped. He keeps on telling people to search threads and not to post without doing so. Does he not realize that not everybody has as much time on their hands as he does? Some people (especially older people) get confused with all the threads and searching. It doesn't hurt to refresh a subject by starting a new thread. He really has a problem with his dictatorial pedantic manner of talking to members of the group.
He must be absolute HELL to live with. Or maybe he is henpecked and can only assert his authority when he's moderating on Facebook! Whatever the reason, he really is a nitpicking royal pain in the ass.
I agree. Mr. Dunn thinks he's the subject matter expert on many things. Sometimes he can be helpful but other times he acts like a 'tool' of management which makes me wonder if he's being paid by Blackstone or Beam Living. Because he's an admin of the site I think it gives him a 'God complex!' I've had 'arguments' with him on that site. I'm not the type of person to back down especially if I know I'm right and someone else is spewing nonsense.
Both of the moderators on that site are full of self-importance, but Dunn really is an over-the-top bloviating know-all. He belittled people without any thoughts as to what their issue is. He was so officiously dismissive to the lady who was concerned about the little bird.
FYI, besides being nasty, Dunn is a front for the corrupt TA.
Mr. Dunn constantly repeats rules and regulations and talks to posters like we're stupid. He takes up more space than the other posters. Btw, you can't argue with him (or the other "moderator") because they will block you and you won't be able to see that fb again and will miss some interesting and informative posts from intelligent people. Best to just keep quiet if you want to be able to read useful posts.
He definitely is TA all the way.
Mr Dunn doesn't seem to "get it" when somebody asks if certain tenants are market rate, they are asking if these are people with current "market rate" rents. He has to trot out the "We are all Rent Stabilized yadayadaya." We know we are all rent stabilized, but that is not what a person is inquiring about. Maybe the question should be "are they unrenovated?" We don't need to be told over and over what we already know.
I know people who live in Mr. Dunn's building and they say he is a very kind, helpful and friendly man. He is suffering from a very painful debilitating and progressive illness (I have a relative who has the same disease) and I think he is entitled to be a bit cranky at times.
I believe I briefly met Mr. Dunn during Superstorm Sandy back in 2012. I believe he was one of the TA volunteers who came trudging up the pitch-black stairs to check on elderly people who live alone. I cant swear that it was he, but I think it was. He wasn't disabled then.
Give the guy a break. Please.
That said, I do know that I was banned from that Facebook once I thanked someone online there. Why was I banned? Not saying it was Dunn, but some moderator there. I am willing to discuss anything, but someone (and not just over there, but in another Facebook Covid page for residents) banned me. Childish stuff.
42 degrees outside. Barely 65 inside. The latest bullshit from RS is a long-winded recording which basically amounts to FU.
Don’t use a space heater and don’t use the oven. Just sit in your apartment wearing a heavy sweater and coat and remember not to cook using the oven.
Am filing complaint with the City and writing to every newspaper and news station.
Bastards!
The other “moderator “ is a nasty sock puppet woman who uses two fake names. Never uses her real name, which is Nancy. A total psycho.
I have a sensor in my apt but no heat.
Was planning to make roast chicken and roast potatoes for dinner , so I guess nobody on my stack will get heat this evening. Sorry about that!
"That said, I do know that I was banned from that Facebook once I thanked someone online there. Why was I banned? Not saying it was Dunn, but some moderator there. I am willing to discuss anything, but someone (and not just over there, but in another Facebook Covid page for residents) banned me. Childish stuff."
Banned for thanking someone? Are good manners not permitted? What were you thanking them for?????
I was thanking the poster for notifying that packages (mine, included) were delivered to the wrong building.
In doing so, my Facebook name was available for any moderator to delete me from that group.
Why worry -- everyone has guns, the so called mayor is an affirmative action moron -- as long as the twenty year olds have their debit cards and pot is legal - the subway is a funhouse from hell and the brown creatures are running amuck. The pigeons have more sense than most people in this ty-d-bol of a city. Maybe fling saucers will land in the Oval !!!!!!
Hannibal Smith
>>the subway is a funhouse from hell<<
It will get worse, monetarily at least. The subway fare will go up and in a few years it will reach about $3.50. The city is asking for help from the Federal Government, which is in financial trouble itself.
Speaking of funhouse from hell, why does this landlord warn us in a recorded message to not use space heaters or the oven to warm our flats? Are they that so utterly stupid that they don't realize that people wouldn't use space heaters or the oven if they were not so cold? I've never lived in a place that insisted on handing out thermometers so that tenants could not claim the heat was not on. If we had consistent and sufficient heat, we would not be calling them to beg for heat and we would not need thermometers, space heaters or leaving the oven on.
The people who are "managing" this place are the stupidest and most corrupt and unprincipled lowlifes I have ever come across. Basically, they're no better than the scum who are killing people on the streets and subways. Morally, they are of the same issue. They just have nice clothes and money in the bank.
"In doing so, my Facebook name was available for any moderator to delete me from that group."
So they knew you were "STR?"
There are ways of knowing.
"Why worry -- everyone has guns, the so called mayor is an affirmative action moron -- as long as the twenty year olds have their debit cards and pot is legal - the subway is a funhouse from hell and the brown creatures are running amuck. The pigeons have more sense than most people in this ty-d-bol of a city. Maybe fling saucers will land in the Oval !!!!!!
Hannibal Smith"
I'm surprised you allow racist rhetoric on this blog, STR. Are we going to have an anti-semite deliver the next rant?
What do you consider racist?
And anti-Semitic?
It wasn't racist. It was accurate, unfortunately.
I've lived my entire life, a long one at this point, in this city. I've never been as sad, afraid, and disgusted. And that's saying a good deal.
We're in very bad shape. And all sorts of human CREATURES (that which has been created) are responsible. The other CREATURES (birds, trees, clouds, wind, squirrels, lions, et al) are innocent and do not destroy and torment everything and everyone else as do HUMANS.
And if descriptions of HUMANS who commit the atrocities are offensive, well . . .
"What do you consider racist?"
Must be the reference to 'brown creatures'.....
Schwarzman would say that any criticism of himself is "anti-Semitic." But in reality, shonda for the goyim. Google it, people. (Same goes for Susan Steinberg, TA President For Life.)
I think it might have been the Affirmative Action remark.
Susan Steinberg is equivalent to 1944's Rudolf Kastner (Reszo Kasztner) in Hungary. Sold her soul to the Devil in exchange for "seat at the table" and privileges for herself & friends. Don't know whether to laugh or cry....
"Susan Steinberg is equivalent to 1944's Rudolf Kastner (Reszo Kasztner) in Hungary. Sold her soul to the Devil in exchange for "seat at the table" and privileges for herself & friends. Don't know whether to laugh or cry...."
Bullshit! I don't think Susan Steinberg and her friends get anything from Management (if that's what you are inferring). How do you come up with that kind of ludicrous statement?
I wish this "management" would focus more on Safety, Warmth and Cleanliness and lay off the Carnival Cruise crap. We lived here happily before all that started and we could still live here happily without it. The property was also a more desirable place before it was turned into an unsupervised undergrad dorm. So sick of living with the type I lived with (and was) 30 years ago, but in a real dorm! I was born and raised here and I know how different and better it used to be.
Dec. 4 @ 9:21 pm
AMEN!!!
Saturday evening had to listen to upstairs neighbor walking back and forth in her heels for 30 minutes before going out.
Was awakened at 3am when she returned with others who were engaged in conversation in the bedroom!
Please
There isn't even a rug in that apartment never mind carpeting!!!
There are 16 "Board Members" listed on the TA site (not FB). This likely constitutes their entire membership. All Generals, and no Privates. Undoubtedly, 'special arrangements' have been made in order that none of them are ever cold during the winter. That is, if they even live here F/T. These folks get benefits from Blackstone, and money from Powers. Of course, it's a two-way street. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive.
Everyone is the real estate industry in NYC knows that when you get young, first time, multiple roommate arrangements looking for apartments send them to Stuy Town. We don't want to rent to them as they ruin the buildings, so send them to the renter of last resorts, Stuy Town!
Dog owners are something else. They have a dog run, a bunch of smelly dog crap areas, no limits on size or breed and still they aren't satisfied. Now, the new thing is turning the stairwells to the garages into tiny dog runs. Unbelievable but true. There is a stairway to the garage at playground one in ST that is constantly used as a dog run, complete with the dog droppings which get left behind. What a dump this place has become. Beam Living and Blackstone are the incompetent duo!
I just read on the Tenants (not TA) Facebook that the SCUM who own this place are not replacing doors with the fireproof doors that we have always had. Instead, they are replacing them with wooden doors. Cheap wooden doors. We have no sprinkler system, no fire escape and the windows are useless as a means of escape. This was pointed out by one of the posters who responded to the post. How much money and who-knows-what else in the way of favors does this mercenary shit of a landlord send the way of politicians, inspectors, etc. in order to get away with what they do get away with?
One of the reasons that there are so many packages left in the lobbies is because the Buffoon named Hayduck removed so many names from the directories in the lobbies. These are mandated by law. They can't update them on a regular basis because we have so many transients and I doubt that the students' names are included on the directories. I don't think "management" even knows who lives here and who doesn't. The dumbass woman who is supposed to be running the place ("Miss Resident Experience") only cares about the pathetic "events" and side shows. She should be working on a cruise ship, not supposedly running a huge residential property. We don't even know who else is supposed to be running the dump. At least Hayduck, idiot as he was, was out there and made himself known to residents.
There are some hefty payouts going to people who should be overseeing the way this despicable scum does business. We are not safe; our packages and property are not safe. Most importably, OUR LIVES ARE NOT SAFE.
This dump is a major fire hazard because we have to use space heaters to compensate for the defective heating system. God only knows how many E-bikes are being charged in apartments here.
My apartment overlooks one of the dog-shit patches that are now lined with artificial grass. Every f*cking morning I am woken up by the yapping and barking of the dogs taking their morning crap. This before I've even done the same and had my coffee!
I consider it a Public Service to tell everybody I meet what a shithole this is and that it should be avoided at all costs. Word does get around because I know for a fact that I have deterred one co-worker from even thinking of living here. She was asking me about the place because she was looking to move into the City and had heard that PCVST was a good place to live. I soon disabused her of that notion.
The dog situation here is bad and getting worse. Beam doesn't mind, it seems.
'Saturday evening had to listen to upstairs neighbor walking back and forth in her heels for 30 minutes before going out.'
I had such a neighbor. I called PS every time and they came. It's a pain in the ass to have to wait for them to come, but they have to hear it. Keep on complaining and make it known to the Carnival Cruise woman (Kennedy) and don't let up.
"Saturday evening had to listen to upstairs neighbor walking back and forth in her heels for 30 minutes before going out.
Was awakened at 3am when she returned with others who were engaged in conversation in the bedroom!
Please
There isn't even a rug in that apartment never mind carpeting!!!"
Current management rarely enforces the carpeting rule which is in the lease even if you complain about a tenant. This management is pretty much worthless. If you email them they might respond or more often they won't hoping you and your issue will go away.
As far as noisy neighbors I've had my fair share here over the past 40 years. If they don't quiet down I make their life hell by waking them up when I know they're asleep. I even sued one neighbor for excessive noise. They moved out.
If you go the route of calling security, documenting the noise instances and contacting management you'll likely die before management takes any responsibility. My methods are more effective and quicker. People are like countries: try diplomacy first and if that doesn't work....go to war!
Why should Beam mind? They don't have to live here.
There are two dogs on my floor and the carpet is full of their stains. It hasn't been shampooed in months and I don't blame the porters because they are overwhelmed with all the shit they have to clean up thanks to the revolving population and the mountains of garbage and boxes that they have to deal with. I bet that the NYU characters never give those guys a tip. Just a lot of shit to shovel.
They need to get rid of current Beam people and get people who know how to run a place like this. The way this place is run is a very, very bad "advertisement" for any Beam-run properties and any of those resorts owned and run by Blackstone. I have never lived in such a badly mismanaged place. They don't cater to "tenants." Instead, they cater to "guests" and they don't even do that at all well. They don't expect anybody to actually live here.
More dog runs on the stairs to the garage today. Un fucking believable how bad this place is run.
Dog run on the stairs again at night in the rain. Pit bull off leash running up and down the stairs playing fetch barking all the while. There isn't one single solitary competent person at Beam Living, not one.
That is patently true!
There's an occasional push to join Morning Brew, but our landlord is talked about here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNlXayG_9b8
I lasted half the way, but it's interesting to note how Blackstone is doing much better than others and why. For us, the peasants, it doesn't matter what we say.
I wonder if all Blackstone properties are as badly run as this one is? I read the reviews for some of their resorts and they suck! It figures when you see what we have running this place. They have no idea as to how to run a residential property, especially one of this size.
This place is going further and further down the toilet thanks to Blackhole and its inept, stupid employees at the managerial level. We get little-to-no heat; little-to-no security; packages are piled up in lobbies (they want us to join their package-holding scam for $25 per month); new neighbors are pigs (my apologies to the real porkers) who leave garbage out in the hall, have no carpets and have drunken parties into the early hours and all the lady who is supposedly in charge of our "experience" here can do is arrange more and more entertainment events. I've never met her, but people who have met her tell me that Ms Kennedy is a lovely person. I wish she would consider our overall quality of life experience. Maybe I am misjudging her because I heard that some dope named Vasquez (or something like that) is the one who arranges the dopey, intrusive events. Don't know exactly what Ms. Kennedy does apart from send out news bulletins about the events.
Bottom line: I don't think we even have an actual PROPERTY MANAGER any more. If we do then he or she in hiding. I've heard a couple of names tossed around (Kelly Vos and somebody else), but we never hear from or about any of them. The crap events are probably enjoyed by more outsiders than residents. They're not people who are thinking of (or able to) rent here. Maybe "management" sees it as a public service for the locals.
We have pickle ball and tree lightings, intrusively loud music and a shitty cafe, but no f*cking heat and no peace and quiet and no sense of safety. Criminals roam the buildings looking for opportunities to commit crime. Mostly the crimes are theft of packages, but it's only a matter of time before a serious assault or murder takes place. I'm not sure it's dogs who shit and piss in the stairwells; I suspect it is the scum from outside who get in and steal packages within minutes (or seconds) of them being left in hallways or lobbies. We are NOT safe in our homes and that is an absolute, provable fact.
Way to go Blackhole!
Just got the latest email blurb for "Our Urban Oasis." It should read "Blackstone's Exploitation Gold Mine."
42 degrees. No heat. Way to go, Black$oul and your loathsome lackeys.
"I heard that some dope named Vasquez (or something like that) is the one who arranges the dopey, intrusive events."
His name is Robert Vasquez. His official title is "Senior Lifestyle Director". Go to his LinkedIn profile, it's all hospitality industry crap.
This from the Beam Living webpage: "Before joining Beam as our Lifestyle Director, Vazquez sailed the high seas as a resident DJ and Cruise Director".
He's the worst. EVERY rube event he promotes has loud, crappy "music". And one of these days, this constant marketing of events with no real enforced non-resident restrictions will catch up to Blackstone in a very bad way. He has a staff of at least 2 Beam Living employees who report to him and he is given carte blanche to do whatever he wants. But funny all of these events take place in Stuyvesant Town. Not Peter Cooper Village where senior Beam Living Management lives. I wonder why?
https://www.beamliving.com/stories/robert-vazquez
" "Before joining Beam as our Lifestyle Director, Vazquez sailed the high seas as a resident DJ and Cruise Director"."
I have always said that this place is run by the Carnival Cruise mob! LOL! It doesn't surprise me one little bit that he was a cruise director and dj. And now he has been inflicted on us!
Vasquez and Kennedy are both from the hospitality/pub/resort entertainment industries and are totally unfit to run a place like this. This is a residential property, NOT a friggin' cruise ship or resort hotel.
We have little-to-no heat, filthy carpets in our hallways, rampant crime (so far of the theft variety, but could eventually escalate to the violent level as we have such inferior "security" at this time) and anybody with a pulse and bank account can rent here. On top of that, we have to endure undergrads from the various seats of learning around here. I have nothing against students per se, but I don't like living with them! No rules are enforced here. No carpeting and these units are anything but soundproof. Not fireproof either since the "renovated" units have lost all their fireproof doors, etc.
I would never recommend this place to anybody because it is so dirty, noisy and dangerous.
This "management" is a bad joke. We have no actual management. We have a couple of cruise director/resorts and pubs alumni and they are not qualified nor equipped professionally to manage a residential property such as this. I wish they would go away - along with all of their ilk who work here and make this place such a dump.
Anybody doubting what a total shithole Stuyvesant Town has devolved into under the Cruise Ship Management, just read the Stuyvesant Town Peter Cooper Tenants Facebook. Not the TA Facebook page. We all know the TA treads very carefully with management notwithstanding some important victories they have had such as stopping the power stations being built by Blackstone on the property.
You will see photos of the atrocities committed and tolerated by the idiots who run this place. As in run it into the ground, that is. I wish the NYT or any other news outlet would show these photographs so that people know what kind of a badly run shitshow Stuyvesant Town now is. Maybe PCV is better. I don't know.
Cruise Director? Disc Jockey? Exactly which demo are they endeavoring to cater to with this guy? Certainly he does not belong here! LOL!
The oval events this year were louder than ever. Terrible. I don’t know how they get away with it. I live on the oval and I couldn’t bear it. I agree with the above assessment of the “entertainment director “. The few times I came across him, I was turned off.
Mention has been made in several posts (above) about the filthy carpeting in hallways -- this is so true! You can always tell which floor houses a dog by the unsanitary condition of the hallway carpeting!! I live in a PCV building and some of the floors have truly disgusting carpeting! They should be shampooing the carpeting more often than ever before, when in fact we have to wait months! Carpeting in our building needs to be replaced; it is that old, threadbare and dirty!
38 degrees. Ice cold pipes all day. Worst cruise ship I've ever been on. I think it will probably sink in the near future unless they offload the current crew. Make em all walk the plank.
Totally off-topic, but I have always read the TA Facebook page even though I don't have a Facebook account. Now it won't let me view it without being logged in. I don't particularly want to have a Facebook account of my own because I probably wouldn't use it. I would like to read the TA fb though because it has lots of relevant info about life here.
Regarding dirty carpets - they certainly have let them get into a state of gross neglect. I think the old uncarpeted floors were better. They could be mopped. I think it was TS who installed the carpets when they decided we were "LUXURY". What a joke!
Do you live in PCV or Stuytown?
"I would like to read the TA fb though because it has lots of relevant info about life here."
If you want to read useful information about this place you should read the non-TA Facebook. They now have a thread about e-bikes being stored (and used) on the property. Apparently, the ban on charging them in the apartments does not apply to us. No wonder we cannot get renters insurance at a reasonable price because we live in this dump. They also talk about the fact that PS does not enforce the rules about e-bikes and scooters being used on the property, notwithstanding many near-misses when it comes to people walking. Same goes for dogs that are brought in from outside.
Speaking of dogs, our apartment overlooks one of the new dog shit patches that have been lined with fake grass. Every morning around dawn (sometimes earlier) we are woken up by yapping dogs out there as they relieve themselves.
I can't believe what a total nightmare this place has become thanks to these cruise ship people. They are the barrel-scrapings of their "professions." Kennedy and Vasquez are total morons. They don't belong in the jobs they have. They should be working in some tacky resort or on some tacky cruise ship. They haven't got a clue as to how a residential property should be run. I wish they would go away and stay away.
As far as renting here (the post I read has disappeared), it depends which building. I'm in Stuy Town, so I have limited experience in PCV.
No sleep the whole night because it is so damned cold. This is like living in a rundown tenement slum . I think we should have a rent strike. Too bad we don’t have a tenants association to represent us. Instead, we have a pack of brown nosers who collude with the vile landlord and arrange for tours of the heating system. Gimme a break!
"Speaking of dogs, our apartment overlooks one of the new dog shit patches that have been lined with fake grass" @7:16PM
They pulled up the lawn in front of our PCV building too, and replaced it with AstroTurf and pronounced it an official dog relief area.... it is a marvelous sight to see right in front of our building door! And although the sign clearly states no dogs off the leash permitted, it has been happening frequently on this patch, often in groups too (I personally counted 4 dogs playing off leash while their owners chatted). I call security each and every time I see it -- whether security does anything about it is something else. I should also add that dogs off-leash are a frequent occurrence inside our elevators, laundry room and lobby. In fact, there is a certain dog whom I have never seen on a leash, inside or outside the building!!
I consider it a public service to warn people about this dump so they don’t rent here.
They use his title as a fake screen for so called “amenities “. Makes it sound more appealing . No matter, this place is officially a student, transient dump.
The rugs are disgusting and need replacement. The lobbies are seedy and full of packages left there and crap people leave. The porters work hard. These lobbies and halls need an entire refurbishing.
Temp in 20s. Pipes ice cold. We really should do something to bring attention to this situation. The TA and local pols don’t a f*ck. Sick of sleeping wearing woolen socks and sweatpants and still
am cold. Have to get a space heater. Probably will break my lease and will battle them in court. Will get this horrible place into the news while I’m at it.
Worst landlord I’ve ever had.
Why the hell can't they give us some heat overnight when the weather is so brutally cold? I've never lived in such a rotten dump and it is not exactly cheap! Can't wait to get out of here and find a decent place to live.
I love it...Stuy Town is the renter of last resorts...lol.
I remember when there was 20 year wait list.
Has anybody tried the new concierge "amenity" for which they charge $25 per month? Just wondering if it's worth it.
So do I. It seems like it was a different place in a different time. It has really gone down the proverbial drain, while the rents have sky rocketed. When people move in here they soon realize they’ve been had.
I’m sure they don’t know about the lack of heat and general seediness of the property when they sign the lease.
33 degrees outside. Ice cold pipes and 64 degrees inside. Nice going Beam Living as residents are dying! Bastards.
"November 20 @ 11:25-Sometimes the vitriol spewed on this blog gets on my nerves. Slum, shithole, dump, lousy, filthy, noisy, toilet, nasty, hellhole, ghetto. Oh my!"
You left out dangerous, seedy and vile.
12:15 am, well below freezing outside. Heat went off an hour ago and indoor temp dropping like a stone. The above mentioned description of this slum scum who are managing this shithole
is really more flattering than they deserve.
Nobody is forced to read this blog. If it gets on your nerves and you continue to read it, you arnuts
Overall, this blog is an enjoyable read. The repetitious, foaming-at-the-mouth blather is easily skipped.
This blog is a safe place to vent about the rotten landlord we have, but I know some people get a bit too "expressive."
If only Management (for want of a better name for them) would read it and know how so many of us feel. Maybe they don't care though.
Does anybody know what the flashing light thing is on the 14th Street Loop? At first I thought it was an ambulance, but it's been there all day.
The regular weekend noisy exodus of the undergrads to the bars has started. The agent DID NOT tell us when we signed the lease that this place is used as a dorm for undergrads during the school year. We most definitely would NOT have signed the lease if we had known this.
We will warn everybody we meet from now on because we would hate for this shitty LL to keep on luring hard-working adults to sign leases for "luxury" apartments without apprising them that is a dorm during the school year. Actually, I'm surprised that there are so many of them still here this close to the Holidays. Probably their parents don't want them home until they absolutely must!
"Overall, this blog is an enjoyable read. The repetitious, foaming-at-the-mouth blather is easily skipped."
I think that the readers who are offended by the occasional "crude" language should stop and ponder on the fact that if this place was run by professionals and not carnival barkers, tenants wouldn't feel so constrained to express themselves in angry and obscene language. When you have signed a lease for an expensive (for what you get) apartment and then discovered that you are paying to live in a cold, dirty, noisy unsupervised dorm and have no recourse to its management because all they are interested in is promoting their bread and circus "events," you are entitled to feeling screwed (not in a pleasant way) and put out some vituperative language. Well, that's the way I see it.
In fact, right now there is a bunch of "kids" yelling and chanting right under my bedroom window. Good thing I am not armed.
The sell of this place does not represent reality here, but a lot of "sells" do not. Finding a decent place to live is not easy in NYC, and one needs money. A portion of these new tenants are subsidized by their parents. To them, college time is fun time. (Mostly.) Fun time is eating and drinking in the many restaurants and bars in NYC. Some of the new tenants are with their families, and hope for a good, safe life while in the city. They see ST and PCV as part of that, and they get it, but only in part. The reality here is that Beam (Blackstone) offers that, but a lot of other things that new renters are not aware of. Time and experience will tell them the reality of living here.
I am seeing more and more dog refuse by ST buildings and paths. Not helping at all is the newer dog areas in ST and PCV, and the lack of enforcement of dog rules. I was going to the deli nearby, and there were multiple "droppings" on the sidewalk. Never saw something like this, even a year ago.
Management definitely DOES read this blog, and...definitely doesn't care.
Has it ever occurred to the dumb children of the corn that when you yell and scream bloody murder just for the fun of it in New York City, we are going to get sick of your stupid behavior and if the time should come when you are really in trouble we will ignore your screams and turn over and go back to sleep.
Clearly; they don’t breed for intelligence in the burbs and flyover states.
The crime rate in the neighborhood, especially along and below 14th Street seems to have gone back to the levels of the old Alphabet City era. I hope that Management will boost our so-called Public Safety crew. They need boosting in numbers and morale. I miss the old Security force. They were very professional. What we have now are only allowed to be mall cops. Hayduk did nothing for their morale by not allowing them to apprehend cyclists speeding through the property. He was such a DICKHEAD! He was afraid of cyclists (or anybody apprehended by PS) suing Management. As though Management can't afford lawyers of its own, especially in cases where there was a definite and verifiable breach of the rules and the perp was endangering others.
Hayduk was the first in a list of Beam managers assigned to run this property into the ground. The only difference is that Hayduk was a hypocrite and pretended to support the residents with his hands on approach. He actually began the long list of neglect: loud events, dorm increase, lack of heat excuses, etc. Now they don’t even bother communicating at all with residents.
Those dog relief areas are the very worst, addlebrained decisions this stupid and poor apology for a management has ever come up with. I'm sick of being woken up in the very, VERY early hours by the f*cking dogs yapping as they do their business. I don't know if anybody ever cleans up this plastic "grass" though I doubt that they do. Where the hell did they get these numbnuts in "Management" from? What's this crap about "Resident Experience?" Don't they realize that the experience of being a resident here is not a good one? Nobody in their right mind would rent here if they knew what they were letting themselves in for. No wonder they have to "Frankenstein" the apartments and turn them into dorms.
I would have respect for current Management if they would just use their brains and gumption in how they deal with all the situations that exist and arise here - both good and bad. If they would actually ENFORCE the rules (rules pertaining to being a "good neighbor," as well as the rules required by law and common sense) this would be a pleasanter, safer and cleaner and more desirable place to live. It could be so very much better if Management would act like they know how to do their jobs or at least learn how to do their jobs when it comes to running a RESIDENTIAL property and not a fairground.
Most of us want to live in a safe, clean and warm (in winter) home and we feel that for the rent we pay we are entitled to all that. Somehow, I get the feeling that the people in the managerial positions are very lazy and/or incompetent and oblivious. It is a shame because this could be a truly wonderful place to call "home" if it was run professionally.
The events and amenities would be more enjoyable if they were in addition to, rather than instead of, a place that is professionally run and where residents felt safe and comfortable. We LIVE here. Many of us are not transients, but even those who are short-stay renters still want to feel safe and comfortable. What's wrong with that?
Management needs to start enforcing the quality of life and safety rules and laws and not just pay lip service while focussing exclusively on the revenue-generating "entertainment." The events and amenities should be in addition to, not instead of, a safe and well-run residential experience.
Their latest brain-fart defies belief. They tore up very nice areas of lawn and plants and turned them into dog litter boxes. Whoever came up with that idea should be on some heavy-duty meds, as well as the dopes who approved it! It's like something you'd see in a National Lampoon movie!
I'm seeing more and more dog droppings and smears on the interior sidewalks and in front of my building. And by more, I do mean more.
The solution to the Management problem is to start over again. Hire professionals, enforce "the rules," etc. As it is, the current problems are just getting worse. But I don't expect any of this to happen.
There is no solution as long as Beam owns the property.
Not happening. The plan is to use this as a student /transient slum. It has been obvious for the last few years. They can charge these high rents only if the pool unrelated tenants into the apartments and likely turn a profit. I believe they have deals not only with NYU but with travel companies, organizations, the city,etc to keep this going. Don’t expect any changes.
The dopey emails from Kennedy only promote the stupid events and nonsense they try to foist on us. Any mention of real issues (heat, etc) are links to their shitty website. I wish they would dump her and the cruise director. They are totally unsuited to working on a residential property. They are resorts people. Tacky resorts and cruises.
11:15 PM and 10 degrees outside, so these godless, soulless bastards have turned the heat off. May they all rot in Hell. The sooner, the better. Money-grubbing filth!
I have dozens of facebook friends all over the country and all over the planet. I post warnings about renting at this place and any Blackstone-owned, Beam Living-managed properties. I request that everybody share the warnings.
Somebody on the non-TA fb posted a photo of frosted up a/c and windows. Can't figure out if his apartment is too hot or too cold. Then somebody posted and said their apartment was 64 degrees inside and who to complain to. Of course, Major General Dunn jumped in to tell her to go to the post at the top of the page and yadayadayada. Why can't he shut up and realize that not everybody wants to search all over the site. It never hurts to start a new thread about a serious subject. He's such a bully. I just keep my mouth shut because if you complain in any way whatsoever about the attitude of the "moderators" you get thrown off the site and blocked. Tinpot Hitlers.
We've been getting better heat lately, but the heating system here is weird. Never lived anywhere before where it was so erratic, as in some people got too much and others got none. I think they should scrap the "sensors" they boast about it and just go by the outside temp. Btw, 70 degrees max is very stingy! It's like a bread and water meal as opposed to a steak! I'm glad our lease will be up in February because I'd hate to spend another winter here.
Same story as last night - temp outside 15 degrees, heat has already gone off. Indoor temp dropping like a stone because there is no insulation and the windows are drafty as are the doors. The people who manage this dump have absolutely no consciences. They are rotten, evil and vile.
Actually, I find that the heat has been very good lately. Until recently it was very sporadic, but during this bitterly cold spell it has been cycling on and 24 hours solid instead of going off completely overnight. True the temperature drops rapidly when the pipes go cold, but it comes back on very soon. I usually grumble about how chilly my apartment gets, but it’s been very comfortable lately.
My heat has been generally better but with some lapses. A few days ago it was below 68 for several hours. Much of the time it is about 72.
Just woke up absolutely freezing and had to put space heaters on. Pipes stone cold - but it is a toasty 21 degrees outside.
No heat tonight, but it is a balmy 30 degrees outside. Not much better inside without two space heaters. But then, the rent is a mere $4.5k per month so can't expect better than slum conditions.
3;30 AM. Cannot sleep because it is so damned cold. Howling wind coming through these drafty, faulty windows that we are paying a perpetual MCI for and the pipes are as cold as Schwartzman's heart. I hate this place and the schnorers who own it and the incompetents who run it.
Heat just came on at 4 am. Now maybe we can get to sleep. This place reminds me of "Christmas Day in The Workhouse" or the scenario for a Charles Dickens novel.
Where are the people? I know it very cold outside, but I'm seeing less and less people here for the holidays. The students have left to be with their families, and that is leaving the place deserted.
STR, you are right. The place is deserted. Just shows what this place really is these days - a dorm. An unsupervised, badly run dorm for undergraduates. No wonder they can't get new tenants from the adult, high income population. It is widely known that nobody with a brain and would rent here. I see a moving van outside, but that is somebody moving out. At the end of the month it is not uncommon to see people who have finally come to their senses leaving this dump. Don't see too many people moving in at the beginning of the month, apart from students.
The greed-mongers have killed Peter Cooper Village Stuyvesant Town, which used to be one of the most desirable and enviable places to live and had a massive waiting list. I wouldn't recommend this noisy, dirty, freezing cold, dangerous dump to my worst enemy, never mind a friend or colleague. Btw, take a look at the non-TA fb today. There is a photograph of a bum sleeping in a Peter Cooper hallway. Lovely! PCV used to the crown jewel of the complex; now it is just a part of a disgustingly badly run project.
No heat today in this shithole. But then it is a scorching 33 degrees outside. Isn't that one degree above freezing? It figures the heat would go off then!
I am spreading the word globally via Facebook that this is an unheated vile student dorm and nobody in their right mind should rent here. They will get useless embellishments such as Christmas trees, Menorahs and lousy, noisy events, but no heat in cold weather and they might find bums sleeping in their halls. No wonder we have packages stolen all the time. Anybody can get in here and roam around and do whatever the hell they want. I guess sleeping in our halls and stairs is better than sleeping on the street and it's free. We pay for heat that we don't get.
There's a thread on Facebook with a photograph of a (probably homeless) man sprawled out in a PCV hallway. It's amusing (sort of) to read all the self-righteous "bleeding heart" posters excoriating the original poster for calling "Security." I wonder if they would take such a guy into their apartments and run the risks of him being dangerously mentally ill and/or carrying lice and disease? There were suggestions of hot soup and a blanket. I'm pretty sure that word would soon get round to the denizens of the sidewalks that PCV was a good place to go and flop!
I feel sorry for such people, but there are hospitals and shelters and anybody renting here has an absolute right to not want homeless people sleeping outside their apartments.
If you are a justifiably righteous person, take those people into your apartment and feed them and give them the run of your place so they can bathe and sober up. Don't judge those of your neighbors who would rather not do that.
Nobody here except maybe some long time tenants. The ones that Management would like to purge are the majority of the actual non-dorm residents. It’s so depressing the way this place has gone downhill. Blackstone is known worldwide for being the vilest big landlord on the planet.
Freezing cold tonight, but no heat. Have two space heaters on. One in each bedroom. This is really disgusting situation. Maybe they’re hoping that the older people who pay lower rents will get sick and die. There are people with babies and toddlers living here and the children’s lives are endangered too.
This is such a crappy, mismanaged dump, but they tell me it wasn’t always this horrible.
So frickin cold with no heat whatsoever. I cannot sleep because I am so cold. I wish I had not moved in here. For what I’m paying I took it for granted there would be consistent heat, especially when the outside temperature drops to below freezing. I am going to break my lease and I will make sure they don’t get a penny beyond January’s rent. I may have to couch surf for a while until I find a decent place to live, but I cannot spend the rest of the winter here. I don’t know if I’ll make it through January.
This place is freezing hell and the people who run it are despicable crooks. No wonder there are mainly student living here. They probably don’t care because they’re young and crowded in together.
Just have to get out of here before I get sick from this cold, bleak, miserable place.
I’ll fight them in housing court and whatever happens they are not getting any more rent from me.
>>There's a thread on Facebook with a photograph of a (probably homeless) man sprawled out in a PCV hallway. It's amusing (sort of) to read all the self-righteous "bleeding heart" posters excoriating the original poster for calling "Security." I wonder if they would take such a guy into their apartments and run the risks of him being dangerously mentally ill and/or carrying lice and disease?<<
Calling Security is mandatory in this case. Stupid to think otherwise. On another topic, the other day on the Citizen Ap, it was said that a man with a gun was on 1st and 15h/16th. Nice. Welcome to NYC and welcome to Stuy Town.
On another topic, it is fact that cold can kill one. The elderly, babies are most vulnerable. While personally the heat has been better this year (so far), the heating situation should be a priority here.
We also need a General Manager here, not several people divided up and experts in the leisure entertainment field.
Concerning the homeless man sleeping in the hall in PCV, it was on a night when Code Blue was applicable, so he wouldn’t have been put out on the street. He would have been mandatorily sent to a shelter. At least I think that would have been the case. I would have waited till morning to have him removed and given him coffee and a sandwich and sent him on his way. I would’ve called PS if he refused to leave the hallway after that.
4:00 PM Yesterday: Word has already gotten around to "the denizens of the sidewalks...."
>>I would have waited till morning to have him removed and given him coffee and a sandwich and sent him on his way.<<
So, you are taking your chances, as you don't know anything about the person. You can do that. But you are taking the chances of your neighbors.
When the temperature was down in the 30s we had no heat. Now it is in high 40s we have heat blasting. That f*cking sensor system really works, don't it?! NOT!!!!
Even when it’s in the 40s we need heat. Don’t complain. Open a window. 40s is not toasty.
Just can't believe the sanctimonious jerks on the non-ta fb page. They are really giving a hard time to the tenant who called Security because of the drunk who was dossing outside her parents' apartment. Maybe we should note their names and make sure to call on them if we ever find a drunk (homeless or not) passed out right outside our door. They can come over and minister to him.
I doubt the guy was tossed out into the cold. It's against the law to do that when there is a deep freeze going on. The cops take the homeless into shelters whether they want to go or not.
The heat sensors are very much like the management who run this dump ... not here for the benefit of tenants, but simply to wring more money out of them. We have stupid events, cruise ship activities, but no reliable heat. Well, cruise ships probably do have better heating systems than we do. One other thing that makes this place like a tacky cruise ship: it makes us sick.
Wishing you a Very Happy and Healthy New Year, STR. :-)
Same to you!
The cretinous losers who run this dump have turned it into a filthy dog run. I am sick of yapping, shitting dogs and astro turf and concrete where we used to have real grass and plants and an environment that lifted the spirits and soothed the soul.
I wish Kennedy, Vasques and the entire company of tacky hustlers would pack up their shit and go back to the gigs they come from. They are an embarrassment as are their brainless gimmicks.
They know as much about running residential real estate as a plumber knows about neurosurgery.
"Discussion" on Tenant FB (re: numerous serious issues) is hilarious--if one doesn't live here. Fortunately, I left in 1985. But older family members still remain....
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