There are certain things I am thankful for. But there are other things....
Some of the thankful things:The landscape and space. While things have changed (and the landscape is not the "jewel" it was before), we are still better off than a lot of people in Manhattan. At least, most of us are surrounded by a good portion of nature, unless you live on the perimeter, and can, if it's a nice day, step outside and sit on many of the benches and have the freedom to relax or socialize or just resident or nature watch. Most people in Manhattan can't do that, being forced to go to a park that is not outside their building.
We have a security presence. I know: The security here is woefully lacking in a lot of areas, but we do have it, and if one is in real trouble, one can always call security and they will come.
The playgrounds. I don't have a child at this point, but if I did, the playgrounds would be a great place to bring my little one. I believe some of our newer residents stay here mainly because of that.
The Community Center. Almost exclusively used by seniors, but it is there and has various programs for seniors. A good resource.
The service. Again, it is there. Whether the job is done properly is another question, but if something is not working in one's apartment, you can get a worker to come over, hopefully on the same day or soon.
But there are problems:
Leaf blowers. While Stuy Town/PCV prides itself on sustainability, their leaf blowers are a major health issue. I personally have seen high clouds of dust and debris kicked up in the air while residents are going to work and children to school. For residents who wear contact lenses, this dust and debris can get into their eyes. Many times, these workers do not wear masks.
Golf carts. Useful for Beam and its workers, but they can be a major headache, particularly to seniors. Crossing 20th Street from PCV to Stuy Town by these carts is against the law, but no one in authority cares.
Artificial turf. Artificial turf can cause
health issues. Possibly a problem for some people.
Elevators. Every elevator should have a statement of inspection. Instead, these have been replaced by a Beam placard of upcoming events. Beam, they say, is following the law, but to have someone living blocks away in Stuy Town or PCV to see their elevator''s statement is ridiculous and goes against the intent of the law. But no one in authority cares.
Dogs. Outside dogs are not being stopped from coming into this community. And I've seen oversize dogs by residents or more than the limit of two. Blue tags on dogs? Checked? Not anymore. And I have seem more and more dog smears or unpicked dog crap, too.
Oval events. The noise seems to be greater than what is allowed, and residents in buildings nearby can hear everything. Does Beam care? No. There are also events to celebrate a particular agenda of a small group of people who are vocal and even violent if they don't get their way.
Politicians. We can debate the quality of our governor and mayor, but our councilman is worthless and just parrots whatever is said by his party. Council persons got a pay raise of over 30% a few years back, which they do not want to talk about these days.
Electric scooters and Citibank in Stuy Town. Despite laws and regulations, enforcement by Public Safety is a major problem. Again, no one in authority cares.
Resident service. The front-line workers can be nice, but if one digs, not even too deep, they don't know about this property. A problem.
Money, money, money. Money is a god here, so if you don't have it or much of it, you can be in trouble. But I guess that isn't unusual all over the world.
So, moving here: A good choice or not?
116 comments:
Good points: Maintenance Service, large apartments, good location for subway travel.
Bad points: event noise in Oval during the summer, dog issues, transient population, seedy look of hall carpets, heat issues in winter ( I was lucky this winter and didn’t have any, but did in the past), lack of a supermarket close by.
In general, OK for low rent long time tenants, terrible for market rate. And getting worse by the year.
I agree that our council person does nothing but publicize himself.
I grew up in Stuy Town and moved out on my own when I was 22, as soon as I could. There was nothing a kid could do in ST that escaped the notice of the old biddies who thought they owned the place. One time, when I was about eight, I was sitting on the end of a bench at Playground 11 reading a comic book, and one of the rent-a-cops ordered me to move so the sour-faced old ladies standing next to him could have "their" bench to themselves. Seems trivial now, but it's stuck with me. I've been back only once or twice to see friends who lived there, and of course I ran into a few of my contemporaries who never left. Pitiful.
Stuy Town is the Appalachia of Manhattan.
Moving here is not a good choice. It is a pig with a lot of lipstick. True, the apartments are roomy if they are not converted to house more bodies than they were designed for. It was built for people of modest means (there used to be a plaque stating just that) to live in comfortable apartments with very pleasant and bucolic grounds. There was a years-long waiting list and returning vets were given first dibs as it was building with them in mind.
If you are fortunate enough to have an unrenovated apartment which only houses as many bodies as it was originally designed for and has an affordable rent, you are doing very well. If you are paying "market rate" and sharing with several roommates, you are being taken for a ride.
The plumbing is shot (always has been because the complex was built when metal was in short supply and very expensive), but that is not really a problem for most people living here. However, the real problem is that we have an avaricious, godless, totally without morals of any kind owner. The people he employs are not exactly "top drawer." Many of Blackstone's resorts and hotels went into bankruptcy, so the former employees of these gigs were sent to work at PCVST. They are not experienced in the management and custodianship of residential real estate. They run the place as if it were a resort, which it most definitely IS NOT and don't really want or expect anybody to stay for very long. Of course, the people who suffer the most from this business plan are the long-term tenants who have seen the property deteriorate from desirable, pleasant living to hotel/dorm/living. People who might want to live here long-term and raise children here are priced-out by the ludicrously high rents. It's a no-win situation for them and even if they can afford the ludicrously high rents to live here long-term, they can afford to buy something much better and in a nicer location. Those are the people who go through the revolving door very fast.
Another big drawback is that the surrounding neighborhood is going down the sewer fast. It is more dangerous and fetid now than it has been for many years. We used to have a really good Security Force, but now we have dorm-style Public Safety and they are not much good considering the level of danger we are dealing with. People get into the buildings to pee and poo and steal. The Chief Clown has decided not to replace the aging locks on the laundry room doors. Real smart and innovative thinking NOT. Still, we always have overly loud old movies on the Oval to keep us up and the poor old Oval is now just a scrubby patch almost devoid of trees. It was, until the vultures descended, a beautiful tree park and was the Jewel in The Crown of the grounds.
A quick comment here for now: much of what Blackstone does here is both dangerous and illegal. ALL of the commercialization of all kinds is ILLEGAL. ALL OF THE "EVENTS" ARE ILLEGAL, DANGEROUS, AND OFTEN THOROUGHLY DESTRUCTIVE TO RESIDENTS. PERIOD.
Much more, as we write about all of the time. More to come (including, yes, some comments about what is "good")
"Stuy Town is the Appalachia of Manhattan." at 4:58 PM.
I'm sorry about what happened here when you were a child. I'd guess that you're not old enough yet to be near to the ages of the "old biddies" whom you describe. Their behavior does sound selfish and inconsiderate, and yet, I wonder . . .
As a human being who has reached my older years, I understand now so well what was incomprehensible and both anger-making and disgust-making when I was younger.
The combination of accumulation of negative experiences and a body which may often be in pain (several different kinds at once, too!), along with the loss of dearly loved and needed people due to death wreaks havoc with peace and calm and tolerance and patience - often!
For your sake, please understand and forgive all of the "old biddies" and the Security Guard. And for their sake, as well. I'm sure they are all long gone.
P.S. to "Old Biddies" at 4:58 PM:
One of the smartest, funniest, most active, well-educated, and kindest people I know was born and raised in Kentucky.
Appalachia has a bad reputation. Perhaps you'd like to see if you could find a job as a coal-miner in your next lifetime so you could understand and hence sympathize with those who have lived there and spent their lives in extreme want and hardship.
You seem to express contempt for those who grew up and lived in Stuyvesant Town their entire lives. I'm curious to understand why.
I'm close to someone who has made friends with a group of them. I would give a great deal to live surrounded by those with whom I was raised. A supportive, caring matrix of people who are just about literally (good) family? Good for the heart, the mind, the body.
Am now over 70, but can actually empathize with 4:58 PM yesterday. In Olden Times, one was supposed to respect and defer to those older than oneself. Which led to a lot of cruelty and bullying towards children by adults. While today, situation has gone to the opposite extreme. Also, wish I could have left this faux-Paradise as early as age 22....
To one or more of the Anonymi: There is nothing incomprehensible about the injustice of being ordered off a public bench because some old ladies don't want you sitting there, even though you're occupying only the end of the bench, and all you're doing is quietly reading a comic book you've just bought on a nice, sunny day. Perhaps Stuy Town has become a flippin' paradise since those days, and you are certainly welcome to it, but I wouldn't want to grow up there again.
>>Am now over 70, but can actually empathize with 4:58 PM yesterday. In Olden Times, one was supposed to respect and defer to those older than oneself. Which led to a lot of cruelty and bullying towards children by adults.<<
Never felt that. Here or elsewhere.
"As a human being who has reached my older years, I understand now so well what was incomprehensible and both anger-making and disgust-making when I was younger.
The combination of accumulation of negative experiences and a body which may often be in pain (several different kinds at once, too!), along with the loss of dearly loved and needed people due to death wreaks havoc with peace and calm and tolerance and patience - often!"
Your comments perfectly reflect my own feelings. At 76 I don't have the energy I used to have; have lost all family and many friends as they have passed away. Being elderly and alone is not fun and depression, loneliness and aches and pains are very tough companions.
True, and it can seem a daily fight against certain age-related demons. After one passes a certain age, life can become difficult. The question is: "Can we lessen this process and/or convert it to something else?" Although I am not 76, I am a senior, and refuse to give up. When I don't, the days are better.
I am the original poster regarding age. I am glad to read the understanding and support here, but not necessarily the hostility.
There is lots to understand about the concept of "child," and "children" and "childhood." Different societies and cultures have either defined it differently than our current views and attitudes and behaviors showcase . . . or they neither recognized nor defined it. This isn't the place for historical and cross-cultural examination of it, though. It is fascinating.
I was trying to get across that the truly insane and too often literally injurious noise and other elements of life here can help hasten the deaths of us seniors.
As I've written previously, there are many ways to cause the death of another human creature. Slowly, through tension and stress brought on by danger, interference with sleep, and so on, is no less despicable than a quick and violent method, and maybe more heinous when deliberate and cynical.
Modern life is WAY too hectic, complicated, confusing, FAST than is healthful for any of us, including young children and young adults. It sure as hell is harmful to older folks. Extremes of every variety of bad behavior are multiplying here more and more quickly, thanks to Blackstone and the tendency of people to take advantage of what is NOT good for them individually AND collectively.
It is, to a large extent, "Just the way life is these days," because people do not know better. We used to know better.
Esp. to thirteen: Maybe they seemed "old" to you at the time. And STR won't like this, but he only moved-in later on, when everyone was (supposedly) one big, happy family: Were the old ladies who'd harassed you Jewish Yentas, or their Irish equivalents? Those 2 groups would NEVER sit together on the same bench, of course. The original "rent-a cops" here were all Irish, btw. Maybe STR is a bit naive? Perhaps he had a Perfect Catholic Childhood? STPCV in the Fifties and Sixties was superficially beautiful (physical plant), but 'psychology' of the place was toxic. Children weren't 'supposed' to sit on benches, which were 'reserved' exclusively for adults. And that was only tip of the iceberg....
Again with the Irish! LOL. You may have been here longer than I, but I'm about as old as you and must have been somewhere during that time. I even lived in the Times Square area and a bullet just missed my head by inches! But "cruelty and bullying towards children by adults" is an extreme statement, and that I have never witnessed, even by the Irish. Yeah, older people were respected by some, and one didn't answer back, but that is not cruelty or bullying.
Although "eat you Brussels sprouts" can be cruel and bullying.
"Were the old ladies who'd harassed you Jewish Yentas, or their Irish equivalents? Those 2 groups would NEVER sit together on the same bench, of course."
I have no idea, especially at this late date, whether the old ladies were yentas or mollys. They were just pains in the butt, just as they felt entitled to be. There are worse places to grow up than ST ... but there are better ones, too.
I grew up in ST and it was a wonderful place to grow up. They were strict with rules and kids, but that was OK. My parents sat on benches with our neighbors of different religions and ethnicities and socialized with them as close friends.
I am the poster who said that growing up in ST was wonderful. Just to clarify it was during the 1950’s.
It had nothing to do with eating Brussels sprouts. These are Pink Floyd lyrics from 1979 (which didn't just apply only to teachers, in my experience):
"The Happiest Days Of Our Lives"
When we grew up and went to school
There were certain teachers who would
Hurt the children in any way they could
By pouring their derision
Upon anything we did
And exposing every weakness
However carefully hidden by the kids
6:28, Stuyvesant Town during the 50’s and 60’s was great for a child. FYI we as children often sat on benches whenever we liked. Of course we preferred the playgrounds . Security did not let us walk on the grass, but looking at the appearance of the oval today, that was a good thing. We were allowed to play jump rope and do other activities on the pathways. There was an ice cream man by the playground and Although there might have been a little tension between the different religions, it was mostly amiable and peaceful. Not sure where you lived, but it doesn’t sound like the ST I grew up in.
>>It had nothing to do with eating Brussels sprouts. These are Pink Floyd lyrics from 1979<<
That's a song (a fiction), and there are a lot of songs. I'm referring to life. My life. BTW, the Brussels sprouts comment was a joke, though I hated them as a kid and probably do now, too.
"[ST] is a pig with a lot of lipstick."
There are some posters who are certainly leaning heavily on the lip gloss here. The ST of decades ago had its problems, whether you want to acknowledge them or not.
And grass is to be walked on and enjoyed, not just looked at.
Here's another old story which am certain others here will probably just mock/deny:
Used to be 3 different bakeries on South 14th Street between Avenues A & B, although such places have mostly ceased to exist in NYC today. Two were chain branches, while one was independent (Town Rose). When I was a bit older than poster “thirteen,” my parents would send me to latter on Sunday mornings to buy fresh bread and rolls. 14th was completely safe to all back then. But ...that was also same time that mass was letting-out at I.C. Church. Adult customers coming from there would always push ahead of anyone else waiting in line at this bakery, esp. a kid, whom they didn’t “recognize” (using euphemism here). Many years later, a young Irish attorney with whom I worked—the nicest guy imaginable—told me that such people were/are actually termed "Sunday Morning Catholics." Ironic, huh?
Children don’t forget such things—ever. Yes, there was a Good Humor ice cream man by the closest playground (12). First Eddie, then Joe. But I.C. students did NOT make Public School ones welcome there when no parents were around to intervene. Very first question they asked any newcomer was "What school do you go to?". And STR, some songs have messages and/or are based on real experiences, which fact you apparently have trouble understanding....
The project is no longer hospitable to seniors. With the scooters and bikes flying around and the loud crappy music belted out on summers evenings when it would be nice to just sit on a bench and chat with friends or read a book. I used to love listening to the breeze blowing through the beautiful London Plane trees on the Oval. Stuyvesant Town has been ruined by greedy, soulless vultures and they were welcomed with open arms (would have also been open legs if that's what it had taken and age wasn't a factor) by the so-called "TA."
>>Very first question they asked any newcomer was "What school do you go to?". And STR, some songs have messages and/or are based on real experiences, which fact you apparently have trouble understanding....<<
Every school has a clique. Part of living. As for trouble understanding, I hated THE WALL, but I was a fan of TV's THE PRISONER.
Maybe first question asked could have been "What's your name?". And one they DID ask (not for purely informational purposes) wasn't that near their school, but in the ST playground, which--in theory--was open to all resident youngsters. Entire I.C. student body was a big, clannish "clique." They'd absorbed it all from their bigoted parents and priests....
Maybe you are bigoted?
I accidentally let though the post about parents and priests (I guess the Irish are the trouble makers again), but I was going to deep-six it. My mistake.
People of a certain age can know about Pink Floyd--and The Prisoner, too--without necessarily being fans thereof. Take off your blinders, STR, and broaden your horizons.
>>Take off your blinders, STR, and broaden your horizons.<<
Meaning: Accept what I say, period.
Sorry, can't do. Your choice to live and think the way you want. Not mine. Can you deal with that and other people's opinions? Or do you want control of everyone?
So glad I didn’t grow up here! Yikes!
Most younger residents here are "uncontrolled." Do you like that, STR? And (returning more to original topic) what good is a "park-like setting" if it's also infested with dogs, their largely self-entitled owners, rodents, and what dogs leave behind?
Now they have a "Roommate Portal." They are turning this place into more and more of a transient dump.
4:09 P.M: "And grass is to be walked on and enjoyed, not just looked at."
Grass is living; it is ALIVE.
Would you like to be "walked on" and "enjoyed?"
That's for starters, just as the trees are ALIVE.
Next: YES, THE GRASS WAS TO PROVIDE VISUAL AND SOMETIMES OLFACTORY, and other BALM FOR THE HARASSED, TIRED, OVERWORKED SOUL. It was to LOOK AT in order to "Enjoy." It wasn't and isn't for human abuse, exploitation, injury.
Grass screans (at a pitch indiscernible to the human ear/brain) when it is cut.
The noise from the dorm shit on the 14th Street Loop is overwhelming tonight/morning. I wish they would return this place to being a family-oriented residential property. Why should we be subjected to this kind of crap?
>>So glad I didn’t grow up here! Yikes!<<
This is confusing. On one hand, the message is that it was a terrible place to live in the old days (it wasn't) and on the other hand, it's a terrible place now.
>>Most younger residents here are "uncontrolled." Do you like that, STR? And (returning more to original topic) what good is a "park-like setting" if it's also infested with dogs, their largely self-entitled owners, rodents, and what dogs leave behind?<<
Extreme viewpoint, which I don't share. Sorry.
>>Grass is living; it is ALIVE.
Would you like to be "walked on" and "enjoyed?"<<
Grass is meant to be enjoyed, too, not just seen. Very restrictive. Now sometimes the Oval lawn is like Jones Beach. But that is also a result of outsiders coming in and using the lawn. I wouldn't be surprised if half of the "crowd" there was made up of non-residents.
I am opposed to using the oval as a beach like crowd assemblage. I do agree that many there are outsiders. I have been asked where it is located. If they are going to use it, food and beverages should be prohibited. Of course, there would be nobody to enforce that.
This is absolutely outrageous. I have heard young people discussing renting rooms here.
With sunny weather (not today!), the Oval lawn is filled. I know, having seen with my own eyes, that people head over to this lawn, for it is common knowledge that Stuy Town is open to non-residents and that Public Safety does nothing. So outside dogs, many times large or a banned breed, and humans (usually just young people), head over. It is possible that many of the lawn "worshipers" live here as residents, as I would think that there's been an increase in rooms being rented to students. Stuy Town has turned into a student rental. Period. When they move out, the rent will go up every time, legally.
When I say non-residents, I mean whites or Asians. If there were an increase in Puerto Ricans and blacks at the lawn, we'd see enforcement from PS, who themselves are made up of these minority groups. The migrants nearby is a new and interesting issue. Right now, they can't know the area, but they may in the near future. What will PS do then if they come into Stuy Town?
10:39 AM doesn't understand some of what was posted before about Old Times. Yes, the property was physically beautiful and well taken care of, but bubbled with interpersonal hostilities under the surface. And remember folks, the Oval is "a great resource." Just as the whole planet is being destroyed by human greed, so is the Oval.
For your information STR, whites are now officially a "minority group" in NYC. And in the past, Asians were sometimes lumped-in with whites to fake the statistics. Is Blackstone being "racist" for not employing either group in PS? I'm sure they don't get paid very much....
2020 Census:
As according to the New York City Department of City Planning, there were a total of 8,804,190 residents. There were almost equivalent populations of 2,719,856 White residents at 30.9% and 2,490,350 Hispanic residents at 28.3%, meanwhile there were 1,776,891 Black residents at 20.2% and 1,373,502 Asian residents at 15.6%. There were even much smaller numbers of 143,632 other race residents at 1.6% and 299,959 Two or More races residents at 3.4%. Although the Asian population is still below the Black population in ranking, they are slowly catching up to being close to the Black population ranking. From 2010 to 2020, the growing Asian population outpaced the growing Hispanic population despite that the Hispanic population is still much larger than the Asian population. The Asian population rose from 1,028,119 residents (12.6% in 2010) to 1,373,502 Asian residents (15.6% in 2020) increasing by 345,383 residents or 33.6% by 2020. The Hispanic population increased marginally from 2,336,076 residents (28.6% in 2010) to 2,490,350 residents (28.3% in 2020) increasing by 154,274 residents or 6.6% by 2020, though their percentage portion from the total NYC population dropped as other populations grew. Meanwhile, the White and Black populations experienced declines from 2010 to 2020. Of all racial populations, the Black population experienced the biggest decline in NYC from being 1,861,295 residents (22.8% in 2010) to 1,776,891 residents (20.2% in 2020) decreasing by -84,404 residents or -4.5% by 2020. The White population declined from 2,722,904 residents (33.3% in 2010) to 2,719,856 residents (30.9% in 2020) decreasing by -3,048 -0.1 by 2020.[67][68][69][70][71][72] The White population declined mainly in these NYC Boroughs through these following rankings, Queens, The Bronx, and then Staten Island, though the White population increased marginally in Brooklyn and then Manhattan. The Black population experienced declines by these following rankings in these NYC Boroughs, Brooklyn, Queens, and then Manhattan, though the Black population increased marginally in The Bronx and then Staten Island. The Hispanic population increased in these NYC Boroughs by these following rankings, The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and then Staten Island, but experienced decline in Manhattan. The Asian population increased in these NYC Boroughs by these following rankings, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, The Bronx, and then Staten Island.[73]
According to the 2019-20 demographic data from Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, there were 3,030,397 foreign born residents in the city. Each the foreign born White and Black populations made up 19% of the foreign born residents, Hispanics made up 31% of the foreign born residents, and the Asians made 28% of the foreign born residents. For a long time since the mid to late 20th century, the Hispanic residents made up the vast majority of the foreign born population in the city, but since the 2010s, the growing foreign born Asian residents have been catching up and now starting to challenge the Hispanic residents as the largest foreign born population.[74]
The above from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_New_York_City
"The migrants nearby is a new and interesting issue. Right now, they can't know the area, but they may in the near future. What will PS do then if they come into Stuy Town?"
Nothing
I really wish they would post a PS office near the entrance to the 14th Street Loop on Friday and Saturday nights. The college crew going out and coming home make so much noise with their hooting and woo-hooing and they wake up our 5 year old son and 2 year old daughter. Unfortunately, we are on a low floor, but I'm sure they can be heard much higher up.
Little did we know when we signed the lease that we would be letting ourselves in for an over-priced, over-rated, under-managed dump. If this is the way Blackstone runs its properties, they should get OUT of the housing business or employ people who know how to run a housing complex. What a nightmare this place is at times. Too many times.
Our wonderful Mayor says: "Welcome, migrants!" Then he begs Mighty Joe in D.C. for more money to handle the influx (as if that would completely solve the problem). And what are the latest demographic statistics for Manhattan? Perhaps that's what 7:05 PM yesterday had meant to say?
I am not letting through by-now predictable (and, to me, infantile) negative comments about "the old days." Old days, new days, any day. The Irish. Catholics. Etc. That's it. Sorry.
What would posting a PS office(r) on the 14th Street Loop accomplish? What would he be expected to do? And what would/could he actually do? Also, there are 2 entrances for pedestrians. BTW, "loop" wasn't the term originally used. (If STR objects, he can delete last sentence.)
I really wish that Management would think a bit more about our safety. No locks on the laundry room doors. They are just being cheap because the old locks are failing and they don't want to replace them. I'm not worried about my laundry being stolen (nobody would want it!), but at times it is so quiet and empty down there and the carriage rooms are dark and creepy. I think I'm one of the few people here to still use the laundry room, but I just don't want to send my laundry out. I like to do it myself, even though the machines are pretty inferior.
The drunken kids enter the property at 3 or 4 in the morning on weekends. I thought maybe a booth with a PS officer in it just on weekends might help
quiet them down. We used to have such booths years ago when the neighborhood south of 14th was “Alphabet City”
and was infested with drugs and crime.
The residents of Forest Hills are complaining about concerts at the old stadium. They should come and live here and have concerts right under their windows on work/school nights.
I read that too. At least the Forest Hills concerts are real music. We get this noise pollution crap and it is closer to our oval apartments and defies zoning rules for residential housing. This is what bothers me most about our illustrious council member and assembly person. They have been confronted with this horrendous noise pollution and do nothing about it.
That booth they have at the 14th and B loop entrance is a waste of space. No purpose at all. Rarely occupied.
Those "drunken kids" are residents--albeit temporary ones, right? YOU will be considered to be "harassing" them. Very long time ago, there were teens who never left the property and got drunk on beer at night outside the playgrounds, but STR might object to that being pointed-out, so won't elaborate further....
The benches at the corner of the exercise playground are being used by students to roll and smoke dope (marijuana) during breaks. Good going, Beam!
The beautiful green trees are the best thing about the property. Without them it would be just an ugly, dinghy old housing project.
Mayor Adams: "Light-up and have fun."
I live in 2 Oval, next to Playground 12 (the idiotic SMILEY FACE to so handily and effectively replaced the CLOCK which needed repair or replacement some years back "Village" playground).
Moronic pot heads and other kinds of smokers use the bench closest to the 14th Street Loop for the same smoking-crap-which-makes-you-stupider-than-you-already-are purpose.
I have a mouth which works. I presume readers of this blog do as well. When it annoys the living daylights out of you, please consider using your mouth to speak nicely or otherwise to these jackasses.
Thank you
Even the lottery "winners" don't stay here. That speaks volumes. I knew a person who got a lottery apartment and left after 1 year. Couldn't stand it here. Moved downtown. Loves it in Battery Park City.
I have had people's cigarette's thrown from apartments above me come in my window. The shit they rent to are the bottom of the barrel.
They're arguing on the non-TA fb about moderators. Somebody removed a post without consulting the poster. It was a post asking a question that may have been asked before. Sounds like Ms. Toni Martini (little dictator). Two of the listed "moderators" are one and the same person: Toni Martini and Inger Fard. Neither is her real name. Everybody else is expected to provide their correct name.
Never practice what you preach is the rule on that FB.
They are most definitely renting out rooms here. Today I was in the elevator with a young man checking his phone for the floor number, suitcase. The apartment across the hall is on its third occupant in a year. This place is a transient seedy motel.
May not have been her. There are other tyrants. One moderates the TA fb page too.
" have had people's cigarette's thrown from apartments above me come in my window. The shit they rent to are the bottom of the barrel.
May 25, 2023 at 5:39 PM"
I'd have to agree with the above. Some A-hole living above me continually throws cigarettes out of their bedroom window landing on the drip cushion on top of my A/C burning holes in the cushion. Management is useless in resolving these types of issues. I should probably contact the Fire Dept and tell them this is a fire hazard and also it's illegal. There are four apartments above me so I don't know which of the four is the culprit. Lucky for that person that I can't identify him/her.
Wow, what a thread. I've never before read that grass is sentient. Sounds like the Outer Limits.
Complaints about transients, fine. But complaints about offending sentient grass? Go live in the desert.
"They are most definitely renting out rooms here. Today I was in the elevator with a young man checking his phone for the floor number, suitcase. The apartment across the hall is on its third occupant in a year. This place is a transient seedy motel."
You got that right! The place is crawling with transients. It has declined from being an unsupervised undergrad dorm to being a seedy transient flop. I wouldn't call it a motel because a motel has real facilities and room service. I think many, many of the apartments are rented out as AirBnB and "Management" doesn't give a flying f*ck. In fact, I think "Management" probably gets a kick-back from the "hosts." Or could be that some members of "Management" are in the AirBnB business themselves as a sideline. They are sleaziest bunch of grifters that have ever been foisted upon us.
We have all these transients roaming around and we can't even lock the laundry room doors when we are in there. When the porters go home at 4 pm, the carriage rooms (especially those in the buildings that adjoin another building) is dark and filled with storage lockers as well as the garbage pails. Anybody could be lurking in those passages (or even in the bike rooms). There are some pretty desperate dope addicts out on 14th Street (and other places around here) and we already have a rash of package thefts, both from the lobbies and from outside apartment doors. The thieves go onto the stairs to open them and discard what they don't want. When a resident is seriously hurt or killed by some POS who got in this bad joke of a "management" is going to be sued up the wazoo and probably charged with criminal neglect.
Thank you, TA, for welcoming these bozos. This LL is the absolute worst of the worst and has a global reputation for being vile. The people they employ are the pot-scrapings of the motel/resort/restaurant world.
Thirteen ("Outer Limits" comment about respect for grass):
Popular culture pretty much reflects back a time's zeitgeist. That a preoccupation with zombies, the walking dead, took over years ago accurately portrays our collective and individual state of being soul dead, unconscious.
Everything is alive and "feels" in its own way. Modern humans are, for the most part, foolish, vain, arrogant machines of destruction who claim superiority. Grass, squirrels, worms, rats, clouds, bricks . . . you name it . . . are wiser and more filled with vitality than most of the human species.
I'm sorry you think/feel as you do. You've articulated perfectly how we are able to blithely torment and destroy everything around us.
I will never forget the TA meeting during which they ,along with Garodnick welcomed and praised these new owners, Blackstone. A real sell out . Needless to say, that was the last TA meeting I attended and anyone who pays dues to that arm of management is wasting their money. At that first meeting, the Blackstone rep addressed an audience question about student apartments. He gave a favorable response leading to believe they would look into it. They looked into it all right and made it a key rental process, increasing the number until now it is exploding. We can thank the TA and Garodnick along with the other pols who sat there on the stage for the destruction of our community.
I agree, Air B&B prevails here along with room rentals and of course dorm deals.Management has no idea who lives in some of these transient apartments.
Anonymous Some Selflessness, Please said...
Thirteen ("Outer Limits" comment about respect for grass):
Popular culture pretty much reflects back a time's zeitgeist. That a preoccupation with zombies, the walking dead, took over years ago accurately portrays our collective and individual state of being soul dead, unconscious.
Everything is alive and "feels" in its own way. Modern humans are, for the most part, foolish, vain, arrogant machines of destruction who claim superiority. Grass, squirrels, worms, rats, clouds, bricks . . . you name it . . . are wiser and more filled with vitality than most of the human species.
Bricks are more vital than most people? Wow. I really wish things were better for you.
How does the grass here feel about dog shit, 9:38?
Plastic grass loves dogshit.
Nonstop barking dogs, including specific Blackstone-banned dogs, have joined college students, gypsy transients and illegal hotel guests as Blackstone's most coveted, most recruited, most welcome, most undocumented STPCV demographic.
STPCV residents should anticipate lots more plastic grass and lots more dogshit.
This place has completely gone to the dogs, as the saying goes. It is a nasty, dangerous, overpriced dump.
Also, the non-tenants fb is just about defunct. Nothing but bots on it now.
Hard to believe that this was once a place that people went on waiting list to get in and hardly ever left before they died. Just the opposite now. They have to beg for tenants and nobody bit the long-time tenants stay for more than a year or so. It must cost them a fortune with all the cleaning and repainting they have to do.
I consider it a public service to warn people not to rent here. Too dirty, noisy, cold in winter, dangerous because of poor security/ps and lack of vetting of incoming tenants. Anybody with a pulse and checkbook can rent here. They could be fresh out of Sing Sing, San Quenten, Attica, or plain ole Rikers. Nobody cares. At least nobody in "management" cares.
Stuy Town is the renter of last resorts!
"Also, the non-tenants fb is just about defunct. Nothing but bots on it now."
That would have been a very useful and informative facebook site if it hadn't been for the over-zealous "moderators" who wielded too much power. One comment that they didn't like would get you banned and blocked for life. Even the most harmless of comments could do it. I think it was one particularly nasty woman (who never used her real name) who did most of the censoring.
"Stuy Town is the renter of last resorts!"
The apartments are great - roomy and most have a nice view of the greenery (unless you face 14th Street), but the management we have now totally sucks. "Inept" doesn't even begin to describe it. The apartments are overpriced when you consider the lousy plumbing and paper-thin walls as well as the numerous transients and students who flop here. If we had a decent management it would be great. Unfortunately, the are totally "Bread and Circus" people.
All the "Bread" is in Schwarzman's pockets. Tenants get the Circuses.
Off topic, but is anybody having trouble with AOL mail? All my emails disappeared overnight. Not in Trash or Spam. Just GONE!
A massive dog dump has been smeared this morning on the path between the setup tables for selling your junk. Massive and long along the path. Good going, Stuy Town!
Speaking of dogs, I see huge dogs, two together, being brought in from outside to use the grounds. Public Safety doesn't care, of course. Just invite all to come into Stuy Town and stop the BS that residents are being given.
The flea market of junk has expanded to right in front of my building. Our council person was on Facebook advertising that he was with the TA on this flea market event day, willing to discuss issues. Constant promoting of himself. Yeh, I have an issue. Those noisy, horrible concerts that will begin soon. Oh, but he has heard that before and could care less. That flea market makes this dump look even seedier. Years ago they had nice stuff and it was confined within a space. Now it is one big eyesore.
This “management “ has to be the worse in the world! PS are nothing more than costumed rent-a-cop nothings.
Which flea market are you talking about? The one on 14th or the one being held today in the Sty?
The one in Stuyvesant Town.
I saw a delivery worker squatting down and taking a sh*t this afternoon on the 7th floor stairwell of my building at xx Oval.
I've seen dog feces and urine in the elevator and stairwell before but this is the first time I've seen a human do his business there.
I guess this in Luxury Living at its finest!
@12:38 AM: That is totally disgusting and inexcusable. I hope you called PS. He should be banned from ever entering the building and his employers should be held accountable. There was a law passed about a year ago stipulating that coffee shops, restaurants, etc., MUST allow their delivery guys to use the bathrooms. His employer should be fined if it turns out (no pun intended) that he was denied bathroom use.
I am sick of the fetid lavatory that Stuyvesant Town is becoming. NYC has always been such, but now it is encroaching onto our homes.
"The one in Stuyvesant Town."
Seems to me that the 7-days-a-week flea market that stretches across 14th Street from First Avenue almost to the East River is the one to complain about. All stolen stuff. That's the one that Powers and Rivera don't give a shit about.
The Flea Market in Stuyvesant Town is a once-a-year event and I don't think it bothers anybody. If it does, it is only for ONE day.
The Stuyvesant Town flea market does indeed bother some of us. It used to be useful and sane and fairly decorous and quiet. It was on the PERIMETER of Stuyvesant Town, not literally in some people's homes/buildings. It was also not accompanied by food vendors and by music.
It has turned into another hellish and illegal and also SELECTIVELY HARASSING "event" for some of us who live near the Oval.
Once it was turned into yet another carnival/circus NOISY CHAOTIC, CROWDED and BLOCKING WALKING EVENT years ago, and I spoke to both Rick Hayduk and Fred Knapp about it as it was happening, I was told, in only a bit more polite language by both of them: GET READY FOR MUCH MORE OF THIS NOISE AND COMMOTION AND MESS AND GARBAGE-PRODUCTION BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA GET WAY MORE OF THIS IN THE DAYS TO COME.
About THAT they neither lied nor exaggerated.
@June 5 at 8:10 PM:
This "management" does not know how to run a RESIDENTIAL property. They are all from the "hospitality" industry and just don't have a clue. They don't think of us as rent-paying tenants, living in our HOMES. They see us all as guests in one of their cheesy hostels.
I have not seen that awful flea market on 14th in a while. Although I am not a fan of Councilman Powers, he did address that and brought it to the attention of a mayoral committee. Rivera did nothing and it was actually her district.
It is all a way of making money by jacking up to high rents which are not suited for an old project. They chop up the apartments into dorms(3-4) students, roomie apartments, Airbnb and transient share short term rentals. This works for them to obtain high rents for apartments in an old development with no amenities and inferior heat and plumbing. They know what they are doing.
I agree completely with what you say about the food vendors and music, but saying that the old flea market was only around the perimeter is just not true. The event used to be 2 days, and was throughout the property, including around the oval and inside and around playgrounds 9, 10, 11, and 12 as well as the loop roads. PCV was only around the perimeter. I’ve got 10+ years of photos of my family selling at the flea market, and all of them were in the oval and the oval playgrounds - those were the most desired spots.
>>I have not seen that awful flea market on 14th in a while. Although I am not a fan of Councilman Powers, he did address that and brought it to the attention of a mayoral committee. Rivera did nothing and it was actually her district.<<
The area may be better, even much better, than it was, but it is still lousy, depending on what time of the day.
>>I agree completely with what you say about the food vendors and music, but saying that the old flea market was only around the perimeter is just not true.<<
Yeah, from memory our flea market was huge and taking up a lot of space all over. Two days sounds familiar, too.
The smell of fires in Canada has now reached NYC. Hazy skies, bad quality air. If you don't need to, stay inside.
There is, of course, no alert from Beam Living. You know, those intercoms that we are forever paying a MCI. It has a function where management can alert residents.
STR, I got an email alert about the haze and air quality from Beam Living:
As you may be aware, wildfires in Canada are impacting the air quality in our community at this time. New York State has issued an Air Quality Health Advisory for most parts of the state, including all of New York City, categorizing our outside air as “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” and noting that “Active children and adults, and people with respiratory problems, such as asthma, should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.”
We recommend all residents pay close attention to government air quality advisories and limit outdoor exposure. We also recommend all residents keep their windows firmly closed while these advisories are in effect.
For the latest updates from official sources, please visit Notify NYC or the State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Air Quality Index page for information.
If you have difficulty breathing and require emergency assistance, please dial 911 immediately.
Please take care of yourself and others, and as always, let us know if there is anything we can do to assist you
I checked. As I am on AOL, I have different accounts. There was one yesterday from that Kennedy woman, but I had to go to that mail, rather than my usual one. Not all residents read their mail or have it, but everyone should have an intercom.
Those intercoms don't work the way they were supposed to. We paid through the nose for garbage. SOP.
STR, we all have television, internet and maybe even radios. We don't need nannies to tell us not to go and play outside. The intercoms haven't worked since they were installed and we haven't died as a result of that. Management couldn't tell us anything we didn't already know concerning the situation today. Maybe a blind, deaf and isolated person would be ignorant of what is going on outside, but an intercom message would be of no use to such a person, anyway.
>>STR, we all have television, internet and maybe even radios.<<
You are speaking for yourself, not me. I don't have a TV, on purpose. And nothing was done via the intercom. Yes, I knew that something was going to happen, but not like this! I was outside in the late morning and most of the people I met did not know. Young adults were playing basketball, etc. When it got really dark and hazy and smelly, most New Yorkers (for sure not you, of course) were surprised by the scope and intensity of what was happening. Even our Mayor.
Best for real residents to minimize any/all 'interactions' with Blackstone. Maybe we should consider ourselves lucky that the Social Director hasn't (yet) suggested blasting their "concerts" directly into every apt. via intercom system....
"Stuy Town is the renter of last resorts!"
I was the person who first posted this line back some time ago. It comes from other Management firms in Manhattan who send all the people they reject to Stuy Town. They tell them that the only place that would rent to them is "Stuy Town, the renter of last resorts". That's how this place got to be the slum it is today.
STR, we are paying through the nose for a lot of shit that MetLife installed and which is as useless as a broken toilet bowl. Look at the damned windows and the “sensor-driven” heating system.
Absolute garbage, all of it.
I seem to remember that the intercoms were installed twice, though it can’t remember why.
In the Stuyvesant Town manager’s latest e-mail, she laid out imminent upcoming concerts and loud events. I hate summers here when my oval apartment becomes unbearable. They have the nerve to present these disgusting events as fun amenities.
"Best for real residents to minimize any/all 'interactions' with Blackstone. Maybe we should consider ourselves lucky that the Social Director hasn't (yet) suggested blasting their "concerts" directly into every apt. via intercom system...."
DON'T GIVE THEM ANY NEW IDEAS!!!!!!
Those summer "events" are truly vile. They destroy the quiet enjoyment of our homes that we are entitled to by law. I think that most of the people who attend them are outsiders. This dump has a reputation for being open to anybody who wants free "entertainment." Everything that made PCVST one of the most envied places to live has been destroyed. Now it really is the "rental of last resort."
"Management firms in Manhattan who send all the people they reject to Stuy Town. They tell them that the only place that would rent to them is "Stuy Town, the renter of last resorts"."
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STPCV is the only place that will rent to you If you have a banned pitbull. In fact, pitbulls are welcome here. Just don't say your dog is a pitbull.
"STPCV is the only place that will rent to you If you have a banned pitbull. In fact, pitbulls are welcome here. Just don't say your dog is a pitbull."
None of the "rules" is enforced here except that you pay your rent. I see loads of pitbulls and humungous dogs here. There is absolutely no enforcement of any rules by this so-called "Management." They are the dregs of the hospitality world and serve as a warning to avoid any place owned by Blackstone. The entire property is dirty, unsafe and filled with people who wouldn't be accepted anywhere else. The main demo is students and they don't give a shit about anybody but themselves. Can't wait to get out of here and warn everybody I meet to avoid this dump.
"STPCV is the only place that will rent to you If you have a banned pitbull. In fact, pitbulls are welcome here. Just don't say your dog is a pitbull."
They will rent to anybody with a pulse and a checkbook. Just look around and see what I mean.
In your opinion, of the people who have been rented to, who do you feel they shouldn't rent to??
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