Amazing Stuy Town Apartment

Forget the cheap assembly-line renovated market-rate Stuyvesant Town apartments. This guy knows how to makes a Stuy Town apartment really look like luxury living! Wow!

RIP: Oval Lawn

It's a disaster right now. Mud, standing water, and stink all over the place. Amazingly, you will find stupid people--like some of our Yunnies--who lie on this mess, hopeful of getting a few "rays" so that they can look as if they went to an exclusive Long Island beach over the weekend. One chick at least brought a plastic tarp to put over the swamp, yet I still don't know how she could stand the noxious odors arising about her.

The worse area is where the Farmers Market is placed every Sunday (until late November!). Take a look:







Absolutely disgusting. If desecrating one's own property were a crime, Jerry and Rob Speyer would be in jail now, doing some serious time.

Now, Photography is Permitted at Stuyvesant Town

The website NYCPHOTORIGHTS.COM, which covered the Stuyvesant Town photo controversy via Lux Living's blog, managed to get a response from Stuyvesant Town (the Management Office?) that appears to clarify the matter:

"Personal photography is permitted at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. After receiving a number of inquiries, we circled back with our staff to make sure everyone is clear on this. Thanks and have a nice weekend."

From the looks of this, the following possibilities exist:

1) Stuy Town security didn't understand a new directive from the Management Office and assumed that personal photography was not permitted in Stuyvesant Town by residents. The directive, if it exists, may have had to do with use of the property by professional photographers for commercial purposes. In such case, a permit is indeed needed.

OR:

2) Stuyvesant Town backed down from their original directive, which security got correct, when they saw the online outrage and possible protests--and the illegality of having such a rule.

My feeling is that number one is the more correct assumption, as I can't believe that Tishman Speyer would be that stupid to ban residents from taking photographs in the complex.

Photography Banned in Stuyvesant Town?

Suddenly, this is now a hot question being asked on Lux Living's blog and this one. It appears that individuals have been told yesterday and today by Stuyvesant Town security that taking photos of the property is a "no-no." At this point, I haven't heard anything official from the landlord, Tishman Speyer, about this supposed new policy, so until notices are posted, on the grounds and in buildings, this new rule is rather flimsy and just based on security's understanding (ie, misunderstanding) of some directive from the Management Office.

I've done some internet searching on the topic of taking photographs in a public/private area, and the conclusion reached by the writers I've read is that one is certainly allowed to take photos in a public place (of anything and anyone), and even in a private area, where the only "no-no" is being on the grounds if you are trespassing.

As one website states:

"Trespassing is the act of being on property without permission from the owner or lessee. Note that this is about where you are, not what you're doing -- trespassing is legally separate from photography. You can be illegally trespassing and still be legally taking photographs."

My impression is that Tishman Speyer is upset by the photographs of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village that have been appearing on this blog and on Lux Living's blog, and that in an effort to stop more of such photos (which, after all, only show the property as it is) the company is trying to put an intimidation squeeze on those who photograph the property. The fact that a security guard demanded to know of one photographer whether he was a resident hints that the only enforcement possible is to escort a non-resident off the property if he or she is taking a photograph in this private community. (Though many times this is an open community, as witnessed by the various events in which outsiders are encouraged to enter Stuyvesant Town, so even then the law may be vague for a non-resident.) Using the non-resident rule (if it is indeed applicable here), Tishman Speyer hopes to cloudy the matter and imply that residents also are not allowed to photograph the property, which appears to be BULLSHIT at this point in time.

My recommendation for residents is to continue taking photographs as you would normally, for whatever purpose, and if you are confronted by a security guard press the matter. Ask to see his supervisor, remember what is being said and GET NAMES. If you have to go to the Management Office, do so, and remember what is said to you there and take down the name of the person who spoke to you. I will gladly post this information here.

You should also feel free to contact the Town & Village newspaper with your story. Editor Sabina Mollot's e-mail is editor@townvillage.net, and the phone number to T & V should be 212-777-6611.

One more point: Under NO CIRCUMSTANCE is a security guard allowed to confiscate or destroy your camera or take it away temporarily to erase what you have photographed. This is an illegal act on his part.

Oval Lawn in Complete Ruin

A blog reader sent in these two photos of Stuyvesant Town's Oval Lawn in its present condition. With the lousy weather we've been having, the "concerts," the farmers market, and the sloppy use of the space, this lawn is more a disaster than ever. How much worse can it get? Stay tuned!

Pro-Tenant Rent Bill - "It's dead." -- Michael McKee

Above: The face of political corruption.

Thanks to the shenanigans of Democrat Pedro Espada, Jr., the pro-tenant rent bill that Democrats promised would get passed if the Democrats could gain the majority in the State Senate is dead. So says Michael McKee, the hard-working tenant rights activist whom we've seen many times at Stuyvesant Town tenant meetings. According to reports (including this one from the NY Times), Espada has been courted by the landlord lobby, but refuses to divulge if real estate interests have given him donations, a disclosure that is required by law! With all his other legal troubles, one wonders what's keeping this bum Espada from being housed in jail???

Anyway, score one for Jerry & Rob Speyer. But payback will be a bitch.

Update: The more you read about what was/is happening in Albany, the more ill and angry you get. The fix was probably in before Espada's break with the Democrats. The former (current?) Senate Majority Leader, Malcolm Smith, received more than $236,000 from landlord interests since 2007. Smith is the guy who gave Espada his high-ranking position of chairman of the Housing Committee.

Oh, and the guy who preceded Espada as State Senator from his district? Efrain Gonzalez. What kind of person/politician was he? We learn from Wikipedia:

"On August 25, 2006, it was disclosed that Senator Gonzalez had been indicted for mail fraud. He surrendered to federal authorities shortly after his indictment was unsealed, and was subsequently released on $25,000 bail following his arraignment. According to the indictment, Gonzalez is accused of defrauding the West Bronx Neighborhood Association Inc., a not-for-profit corporation, by using funds donated to the organization in order to pay for over $37,000 in personal expenses. In December 2006, in a new Federal indictment that replaced the August indictment, he was charged with diverting over $400,000 meant for the community not-for-profit to personal expenses, including vacation homes in the Dominican Republic, homes for his wife, mistress, renovations to his mother-in-law's home, Yankees tickets and college tuition for his daughter. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison."

So is "politician" a dirty word?

Oval Lawn Ravaged After Concert

The condition of Stuyvesant Town's Oval lawn is so bad that it's not ready for the further deterioration that concerts and the Farmers Market will cause this summer. Stuy Town Reporter took a walk about the Oval lawn on Saturday morning and found it in the worse shape he's ever seen, and that's saying a lot.

Here's where the concert stage was set up, leaving behind lengthy strong etchings into the ground that are now filled with water and mud:



Here's a closer look of different parts of this L-shape scarring:





And that low-lying mound in the center of the lawn, a mound that was a Tishman Speyer addition, is now a revolting mass of swampy mud giving off noxious fumes, probably coming from the stagnation of the surface water and the Brownfield gasses (supposedly trapped) below:





Amazingly, the Yunnies (Young Urban Narcissists) of Stuyvesant Town and the Yunnie visitors from the Lower East Side will still plant themselves face-up, then face-down on the smelly, swampy lawn when the sun comes out. It's all yours!

The Wobbly Swing Back?

It now appears that Democrat Hiram ("MonsterRat")Monserrate may be having second thoughts about joining the Republican coalition. He walked about of the Senate chamber today, telling reporters outside, "You can't have coalition government with two Democrats. We need to continue to work on that. My role here is to make sure the Democratic Party is at the table." Aside from MonsterRat and Espada, no Democrats showed up in the chamber today.

Meanwhile, Tom Duane has thought things over (ie, gotten a lot of heated feedback from New Yorkers). Quoting the NY Times:

Senator Thomas K. Duane, a liberal Manhattan Democrat who had remained in his hotel room since Monday and skipped meetings with Senate Democrats — leading to speculation about his party loyalties — resolved on Wednesday to remain with the Democratic caucus, his staff said. "He needed some time to reassess," said Mark Furnish, Mr. Duane’s counsel.

It just may be that Espada will be the lone Democrat in the Republican coalition, denying the 32 vote majority needed to pass any bill/law. Stalemate?