Ugly and Pathetic, Part 2

It really isn't working.  The "gardening" or "landscaping" at the Oval crescents looks sterile and institutional--and, because of the excess of mulch spread all over the ground, the crescents smell bad, too. People who used to sit nearby are having a hard time breathing.  A good number of plants have been harmed in transit or are dying.  No doubt we will see a continual turnover of plants in both crescents, as the maimed ones die away.  Even the rope fence didn't survive a day without coming to harm, whether malicious or not. (Since then, it has been fixed.)  Ugly and pathetic is right.  Thanks for ruining the Oval for us, CWCapital/CompassRock. You guys are a treasure.

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Hey, you complainers about the noise coming from Oval concerts and activities!  Can't you read?  Would we lie to you about the perks of Stuy Town?

Ugly and Pathetic

UPDATE ALERT:  More trees are being cut down in the Oval Lawn today....

 

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The garden crescent on the east side of the Oval is being filled with new plantings in a horrid design and look that defines the words "ugly" and "pathetic."  And for this we permanently lost trees and the lush natural arbor that was there before and the sense of living in an oasis in the middle of Manhattan???  Everyone I talk to about unnecessary transformation of the Oval greenery is upset and mortified.  This is a major, irretrievable mistake by CWCapital and its CompassRock subsidiary.  Triple shame on them.

Meanwhile, the Powers That Be put on another hugely successful Lady Maya event: televised baseball on Saturday afternoon.  Hundreds, no make that thousands, filled the Oval Lawn.

Okay, I think it's time to start calling Stuyvesant Town "Stuy Slum."  What do you think?....

Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Oval Tree and Plant Replacements Have Arrived!

UPDATE

They aced it.  Perfection.  Very Zen.  Perhaps a front row to be added, but not much else, I'd think.  Now, isn't this much better than the messy lush garden that was here before?

2nd UPDATE

Important to read:

http://town-village.com/2013/07/12/shade-trees-chopped-down-in-oval-management-says-some-trees-were-overgrown/

I knew it.  Replacing the former gardens in the "crescents" around the Oval will be low plants with a bunch of space in-between.  The photo above is probably what both crescents will look like, aside from the addition of flowering perennials and, I assume, cabbages for the winter.  You can kiss the lush gardens that surrounded the Oval--and that were a delight to many, giving people the feel of being in the country--goodbye. Probably forever.  Management also states that the trees cut down in the crescents were "overgrown."  What the hell does that mean?  None of the trees were problematic and they offered welcome shade to those sitting on benches nearby. Damn these people. They have destroyed one of the the few things that made this place unique, just so they can promote how the Oval has been upscaled in a sale.

3rd UPDATE

Stuy Town and PCV residents who wish to take in a lush garden, now that their own lush gardens have been destroyed, can head over to Tomkins Square Park, which now puts the Oval to shame.  (Photos taken a couple of months ago.)

Question: How is it that a financially strapped Parks Department can maintain Tomkins Square Park grounds-keeping with the above results when the geniuses behind the grounds-keeping here seem to be always struggling and killing off plants and trees, and planting and replanting?

What's in it for CWCapital?

Don't forget, CWCapital actually wanted STPCV.  They bid on it.

We now know that CWCapital is getting paid over 600K per month to manage this place, but this near three-year-old article offers more light:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-01/stuyvesant-town-title-may-be-taken-over-by-cwcapital-at-foreclosure-sale.html

Transfer Taxes

CW would need to pay city and state transfer taxes of 3.025 percent of the bid price if it takes the title, according to Joshua Stein, principal of Joshua Stein PLLC, a New York-based independent commercial real estate law practice that isn’t involved in the case.

CW would also need to pay a second transfer tax when it eventually sells the property, Stein said. 

“Their position could be that we just want to acquire this damn thing,” Stein said of CWCapital. “Lets just buy it in, we’ll pay the transfer tax, and we’ll hope that the incremental value of holding and waiting will exceed the incremental cost of paying a second transfer tax.”

CW could avoid the double transfer taxes by negotiating a deal with a buyer ahead of the auction, and then selling the $3.67 billion mortgage to that acquirer moments before the foreclosure sale, Stein said. That buyer would still need to pay one transfer tax.

More Destruction of the Oval Park.....

Posted by Flavio on the TA Facebook page.  Update: Not the only tree being cut down.

Update #2 - July 10th: The video, which showed a worker cutting parts of a Oval tree, has been removed by the YouTube uploader. I wonder why?  There are also reports of other trees around Stuy Town and Peter Cooper being cut down.  Looks like I have a weekend tour of the complex, with a camera, ahead of me, weather permitting.

This CW crew seems to be worse than Tishman Speyer.  I'm sure none of us ever thought that could be possible!  At least Tishman Speyer planted (and over-planted) trees, these CW guys seem to be fixated on cutting them down.  Sure, something will go up or be planted in their place--one thinks/hopes--but trees that have been around longer than a few years are impossible to replace.  STPCV used to be known as "A Park Runs Through It" but now it's "A Wasteland Runs Through It."

I Don't Understand....

I don't understand how Stuy Town's bikini beauties can be out in the middle of the Oval Lawn right now, in near 100 degree weather, under a scorching sun.  I can get dizzy just in the shade!   I guess a tan at all costs rulz or is awesome or something like that.

What's Wrong with the City.....

I don't know if any blog readers have been to West 57th Street in the last couple of years, but if you have, you surely could not miss what has to be the poster child for An Ugly High-Rise That Devastates the Neighborhood and the City.  It's "One57"--a steel and glass monster that not only mars 57th Street, but one that casts a shadow over southern parts of Central Park and can probably be seen in most field areas of the park.

 

 The front of the building is hideous, too:

We find out that this monster, whose apartments have been bought up by billionaire hedge-fund operators and rich foreigners (many of whom will reside in these apartments for just a few months out of the year), is getting a 10-year tax exemption for developer Gary Barnett of Extell Development:

How have our politicians let this through?   According to the NY Times article, money is at the core:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/nyregion/luxe-builders-chase-dreams-of-property-tax-exemptions.html?_r=1&

 Mr. Barnett and four princeling developers joined the Real Estate Board of New York last year, spreading a thick green carpet of cash for politicians, at least $1.5 million. (To peruse their donation lists is to glory in nonpartisan giving: the governor, the attorney general, the state party organizations that have proved so corrupt of late, and any politician, Republican or Democrat, who possessed the simple wit to create a “Friends of ... ” committee — all are awash in the developers’ cash.) This is known as fertilizing a field. Spread manure and, voilà!

Our politicians are willfully destroying this city and handing it over to the super rich.

And wouldn't you know it that our councilman, Dan Garodnick, is a beneficiary of Barnett cash:

Barnett, Ayala		homemaker	Garodnick, Daniel R (NP) City Council  (2013)		$500.00	Monetary Contributions St#: 4   ID: R0004579
Barnett, Ayala			Garodnick, Daniel R (NP) City Council  (2013)		$2,250.00	Monetary Contributions St#: 6   ID: R0006356
Barnett, Ayala		homemaker	Garodnick, Daniel R (NP) City Council  (2013)		$2,750.00	Monetary Contributions St#: 8   ID: R0007108
Barnett, Gary		Extell Development Company Developer	Garodnick, Daniel R (NP) City Council  (2013)		$400.00	Monetary Contributions St#: 6   ID: R0006358

Source: http://www.nyccfb.info/searchabledb/SimpleSearchResult.aspx?election_cycle=2013&cand_id=721&cand_name=Garodnick%2c+Daniel+R

So generous were the Barnetts, that there was an adjustment made because their enthusiasm for Dan was overflowing:

Barnett, Gary

Garodnick, Daniel R (NP) City Council  (2013)

($150.00)

Receipt Adjustments St#: 7   ID: R0006645

Stuy Town's Newest Amenity Space (ie, Commercial Venture): CALIGARI'S NIGHTMARE (for Children!!!)

In an effort to squeeze even more money out of market-rate paying Stuyvesant Town parents and add more funds to someone's coffers, CWCapital/CompassRock have given Apple Seeds ("NYC's Premier Operator for Kids' Indoor Play Spaces and Programs") the right to set up shop at Oval Kids and charge $720 per year for the opportunity to let the little ones sing some songs and dance.

As something unique was required, Apple Seeds has redesigned the Ovals Kids space to resemble the expressionistic sets, designed to symbolize madness and conflict, from the silent horror classic, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI.

Rumors abound that Dr. Caligari himself is the "director" of the Oval Kids' program, but whether he is employed by Apple Seeds or CWCapital is unknown at this point. Perhaps he is next in line to take over from the recently departed general manager, Sean Sullivan, who in his last days in Stuy Town was seen walking stiffly around the Oval and looking a bit like Dr. Caligari's automaton, Cesare: