January isn't over yet, of course, but here are some news items of interest to Stuy Town and Peter Cooper residents:
1) Management uncovered an illegal "hotel" in Stuy Town in which the tenant had hooked up a door release on the foyer floor door that opened the door whenever the apartment was buzzed! Inventive but illegal, of course.
2) NTT's storage units are now going to be charging $10 more per month.
3) According to Town & Village, Guterman Westwood Partners is going to do a second and then a third mailing to tenants about its own plan for the complex, co-op rather than the TA/Brookfield-favored condo. The second mailing, which should arrive soon, will contain a website address where the company will address whatever questions tenants may have concerning the Guterman plan. Boy, these guys really want this property badly!
4) Another article in T & V suggests that lawsuits may have influenced a change in the decades-long no dog policy MET Life had in place for Stuy Town/PCV. This suggestion comes from a lawyer who represented tenants with "service animals" before the policy was changed. I believe this suggestion is mere bs and publicity stunt for this lawyer and his firm, but it does shine a light again on a major divisive issue that Tishman Speyer instigated when it allowed dogs in the complex. The (dog) crap that was coming out of TS' managing director at the time, George Hatzmann (and quoted in the T & V article), is particularly irking in its corporate-spin speak:
"A large number of the residents of this community have sought this change in policy, recognizing the warmth and companionship inherent with keeping and taking care of pets. We listened and are pleased to offer our current and future residents this accommodation. We view this as a natural extension of a community built for and sustained by families."
Perhaps my memory is faulty here, but were we, the residents, ever asked about a change in dog policy by Tishman Speyer?
UPDATE:
5) I had been contacted recently by a writer for the NY Observer who asked about Airbnb and the controversy it generated here in Stuy Town/PCV. I didn't have any pertinent information, as it was Lux who followed the Airbnb situation, and I just didn't (and don't) have the time to deal with this as he did, but the following just fell into my lap, as it were, on the commentary page on the NY Observer website:
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/301818
Note the "quiet times" above, under "House Rules"... "Come and go as you please. Quiet times are 2am - 8am."
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/300241
I just don't understand why someone doesn't take in a paid roommate (which is legal), instead of creating a revolving door into one's apartment for a variety of travelers who probably are all strangers.
52 comments:
Would that be the same George Hatzman f/k/a "Heartless Hatzman" who tried hard to kick out a severely disabled lifelong tenant who had fallen behind with her rent? The same warm and fuzzy guy who said "we could have pushed harder." Those Tishman Speyer people make me vomit.
We tenants have no right under the law to be "asked" about service animals. It's a matter of federal law. If you have a disability that requires a service animal, you have an absolute right under the law to have it. And if you as a landlord deny this request, you face treble (triple) damages under the law.
These federal rights laws are serious, don't mess with them--what you are saying is tantamount to asking for a vote about allowing black people in here. Blind, deaf, handicapped who need a service monkey, etc. have an absolute right under the law to live as we do.
That is just a few of the legal changes that have occurred since Stuytown was built...you have to accept it and move on.
I think Dan Garodnick & the TA Exec Board have not sufficiently enabled communication around the credible conversion proposals that are out there. (Actually for now, there's only Guterman's.) Just a note...I may open up my own blog over the next few weeks that will focus exclusively on the conversion proposals. There will be posts every day so that the threads don't get too long and the posts will change accordingly as new circumstances arise. The purpose of blog will be to do what Garodnick & the TA have not done...which is open up the channels of communication about the main proposals, compare them point by point, pros and cons, seek and convey explanations as needed and allow tenant voices to be heard. A few caveats. There will be technical checking to ensure that the same people are not skewing sentiment by sending in responses using different names. I'll cut out responses that use profanity, responses that have nothing to do with the proposals (so rants about the ice rink, heat problems, NYU students won't make it). And like STR, if the thread degenerates into a few people calling each other morons back & forth, those will come out also. My point of view is that the conversion is likely to happen & even if tenants themselves have no great impact, they need to know all the dynamics of what's going on & need the ability to respond...and the internet provides the perfect forum for mass communication.
>>We tenants have no right under the law to be "asked" about service animals. It's a matter of federal law. If you have a disability that requires a service animal, you have an absolute right under the law to have it. And if you as a landlord deny this request, you face treble (triple) damages under the law.
These federal rights laws are serious, don't mess with them--what you are saying is tantamount to asking for a vote about allowing black people in here. Blind, deaf, handicapped who need a service monkey, etc. have an absolute right under the law to live as we do.
That is just a few of the legal changes that have occurred since Stuytown was built...you have to accept it and move on.<<
The point being made was not against service animals, just that the change in ST/PCV's dog policy (for ANY dog) did not come about because of lawsuits over service animals. Yes, service animals are allowed under the law and would be here in ST/PCV, even if the no-dog rule were still in effect. That said, the government does NOT define a service animal, as a "pet" that one has to keep one happy....
"Service animals perform some of the functions and tasks that the individual with a disability cannot perform for him or herself."
http://www.ada.gov/qasrvc.htm
>>I may open up my own blog over the next few weeks that will focus exclusively on the conversion proposals.<<
I will gladly link to your blog if you start it.
Thanks, brother.
And I didn't live here before, but I did live "next door" at Waterside, and I always thought this place looked like a Soviet gulag. I used to sing the Internationale when I jogged through--in a lighthearted, affectionate way, but it's actually prettier now than then (not that Waterside was any better--indeed it was even bleaker). But Stuytown was a bit too fogey for me then, though now, I would like to see less extreme of young and old and more family age.
There are service animals and companion animals and with evidence of depression or cancer or other medical condition in which a companion animal would have a positive effect on the outcome of your health, then you are also entitled under the same civil rights laws to keep a companion animal. TS/CW likely sought to avoid the administrative burden of forms and letters and such by just permitting dogs and cats. If for some reason, your condition requires a larger dog, a service monkey, or even a small horse (to pull wheelchairs or support people with Parkinson's), then they likely still require some medical support for that.
You know, of course, that the "positive effect on the outcome of your health" is used as a bs line from people for whom such a "service animal" is just pet that keeps them happy. That is NOT covered under the law.
Please read this case where a woman considered her monkey (!) a service animal and she LOST the case:
http://doglawreporter.blogspot.com/2010/07/can-macaque-be-psychiatric-service.html
It doesn't matter what you think, it matters what the court thinks. Obviously it does happen, but the penalties are very stiff if you deny a claim, and so it's not worth taking lightly. And tenants can be evicted for interfering with a disabled tenant's rights (meaning, the landlord is liable for your illegal actions so courts are willing to evict you if you try to deny a disabled tenant's rights.
The point is that this is not a very winning point and not worth your time. It's petty and ugly. Doesn't make complaining tenants look like very good people and no judge, politician or other tenant group is going to find this a very important issue for you (but definitely for the disabled tenant). Again, just like Black people, you're going to have to get used to living with them. It's not 1950 anymore.
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/295226
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/292978
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/300241
RE; AIR BNB.
BEDBUGS included
I suspect that you can make more money by running an illegal B&B than you can with a roommate. Theoretically, anyway, a roommate can't be charged more than a proportionate share of the rent. An out-of-town guest isn't going to ask to see the lease. If you make more money with an out-of-towner, you have to share your apartment for fewer days a month. Of course you have to hope your guest isn't an ax murderer, but that doesn't seem to concern the renters of these apartment.
Ii am totally confused by this condo/conversion plan that the TA is talking about. We need a complete analysis and some hard facts and figures, please.
>>The point is that this is not a very winning point and not worth your time. It's petty and ugly. Doesn't make complaining tenants look like very good people and no judge, politician or other tenant group is going to find this a very important issue for you (but definitely for the disabled tenant). Again, just like Black people, you're going to have to get used to living with them. It's not 1950 anymore.<<
Why are you persistently ignoring my point? I have nothing against service dogs and have already stated that service dogs are legal in any establishment. And this has nothing to do with a comparison to "Black people"(!) or 1950. And it's all a MOOT POINT because ALL dogs, service or not, are allowed in Stuy Town/PCV.
"Management uncovered an illegal "hotel" in Stuy Town in which the tenant had hooked up a door release on the foyer floor door that opened the door whenever the apartment was buzzed! Inventive but illegal, of course."
GOOD FOR MANAGEMENT FOR CATCHING THE GREEDY, DESPICTABLE CREEP WHO DID THIS.
The audacity of this lowlife to subvert the building's security system - and potentially put all the people who live there at risk - for personal gain. Not only should this person be evicted, he/she should be prosecuted to the fullest possible extent of the law.
Thank you MBaar. As much as I follow the STR and it does an excellent job, a blog without rants about students, old people or just people who disagree with the writer would be very welcome. I need more information about conversion plans
I think I addressed your point--if enough people were requesting ssrvice and companion animals, TS finally just changed the policy to permit a certain weight. Much less of an administrative burden and as you can see in actual evidence of dogs, one that many of the residents wanted. I don't really know who you think will rally around this issue?
RE: Anonymous said...
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/295226
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/292978
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/300241
January 13, 2012 8:22 PM
Thanks for finding those.
I am amazed by people's lack of taste in decorating their apts.
At least they're not running hookers or a shooting gallery.
just sayin'
>>I think I addressed your point--if enough people were requesting ssrvice and companion animals, TS finally just changed the policy to permit a certain weight. Much less of an administrative burden and as you can see in actual evidence of dogs, one that many of the residents wanted. I don't really know who you think will rally around this issue?<<
Rally for what? For the third time, at least, I am telling you I have no problem with service animals.
>>I suspect that you can make more money by running an illegal B&B than you can with a roommate.<<
That's true, but how much more? One of those offers was about $70 a day (starting, however), so if someone has revolving "hotel guests" for 30 days, that's $2,100. Most of these Stuy Town hotels seem to be refurbished apartments, so the rents will be anywhere from $3,500 to over 4,000. If a person just gets a in half roommate, splits the rent cost, the share may come close to what the lease-holder would get for turning the apartment into a hotel AND without the possibility of being evicted.
I'll drop it--I'm not getting your point at all. I don't think you'd be served trying to get rid of pets though, if that's your point. But we're just talking around each other.
If I may, I don't think pets are the problem and like STR already said they are allowed. The issue really is that every single pet owner here disobeys the rules. I believe this will change after the conversion and rules are enforced. Pet owners will understand not to let dogs crap on the grass if it will cost them a few bucks. All of a sudden everyone will be abiding by the rules. It is a shame, however, that dog owners can't simply obey the rules out of mutual respect for their neighbors but I suppose that's just what we are.
I'm thinking I'll rent one of these illegal BNBs so I can steal all of their silverware, clog all their drains, urinate on their houseplants and tear out the last 15 pages of every book in the flat.
Peace Out G-Money
Hey, STR. I love your new format. Nice bright colors make it much more "clean" looking. Easier to read too, though that may just be my imagination because it seems brighter. Y'know us grey-haired, Fox-loving, yoot-hating ole farts have failing eyesight! (Wouldn't have Fox on if it was the ONLY channel on the air! I'd burn the tv first!)
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/294476
"If I may, I don't think pets are the problem and like STR already said they are allowed. The issue really is that every single pet owner here disobeys the rules."
This statement could be said about most of the rules we have in Stuy Town.
If you are so bold as to speak up, some of newer, younger tenants are quick with the "move to the country / New Jersey /a cemetery / a retirement home etc. as if we, the considerate neighbors who mind their business, are the problem.
Where to post this?
is there a max # of adults that can live in a one BR?
there are probably 4 to 5 adults and a kid living in the floor above us. CONSTANT screaming , sometimes early AM.
These are not students or young adults. They're OLDER.
But again, you old-timers act like you are the perfect tenants and younger/new tenants all suck. But if you heard the old man from the black lagoon above me, who emits all kinds of sounds from his decaying body all day and night. I can hear it as easily as you complain about footsteps or other sounds from your young neighbors.
I'd rather hear footsteps, laughter or a little music than that disgusting old fart. But do I want the guy evicted for sounding like the creature from the black lagoon? Well, part of me does, but no, because I know I live in a New York City apartment where there are all different kinds.
Somewhere between perfect silence and that story about the guy throwing up on the mezzanine level lies most tenants. We all make noises, emit cooking smells, play the TV too loud, use too many laundry machines at once, don't wash our recycling perfectly, accidentally flood the toilet, have a dog that barks, a baby that cries...And hopefully we will all get old and (well, not hopefully) start emitting disgusting sounds as our bodily functions start failing.
You are acting a bit like Mrs. Kravitz, keeping track of every neighbor's life and make sure they follow EVERY SINGLE RULE EVERY SINGLE MOMENT or else they are useless and rude. But you aren't perfect either. Indeed, one of you could be the chubacabra above me for all I know.
>>is there a max # of adults that can live in a one BR?<<
Is it a family?
>>the old man from the black lagoon above me, who emits all kinds of sounds from his decaying body all day and night.<<
If he's really decaying, I doubt very much you can hear him.
LOL, he's decaying from the inside out...believe me, these are disgusting, almost ghostly sounds. There are only so many orifices that an old man can make sound, but these don't sound human, lol! He really is the creature from the black lagoon. Forget calling security, I'm calling in Ghostbusters to evict this guy!
All joking aside, this old guy is as annoying as you find the young people. I would MUCH prefer a few footsteps and a bit of party noise to this old guy.
This man sounds as if he may be very sick or dying. To compare his suffering to someone blaring their radio is heartless.
"is there a max # of adults that can live in a one BR?"
There is really no way to answer that question from the information you have given.
Depends on whether it is a PCV or a ST 1BR.
Also depends on how you stack them...
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/79071
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/195269
https://roomorama.com/short-term-rentals/new-york/east-village-downtown/room/14548?guests=1&origin=search
https://roomorama.com/short-term-rentals/new-york/lower-east-side/apartment/5397?guests=1&origin=search&room_types%5B%5D=room&room_types%5B%5D=apartment
Nice amount of listings on airbnb. W.T.F.
Mr. Rose, think you could visit the site and have one of the hundreds and well trained members of your Public Safety staff investigate?
It's an industry!
Re; conversion. What if a tenant did not have the funds at the time of conversion, but would have in about a year or so? Is it a one time offering?
Also, what about subletting polcies? Can owners rent out the units (with approval)?
Anon 7:51 PM wrote: "Again, just like Black people, you're going to have to get used to living with them."
What an ignorant, sick, cruel, and racist thing to say. This statement perfectly illustrates the rotten characters of the students and 20-nothings with Narcissistic Personality Disorder that are taking over this place, actually, the entire east village, and turning it to ruin.
And if anybody seriously believes his story about the older gentleman who constantly emits bodily noises," then I've got a bridge to sell you. He is obviously using that lame fabrication as an excuse to make more digs at who he believes are older tenants registering complaints against yunnies like himself. What a lack of imagination. The sooner these awful people clear out of here the higher the quality of life we'll all have here.
I think NYC law says no more than 3 unrelated people may share an apartment.
"is there a max # of adults that can live in a one BR?"
The NYC building code defines specific requirements for occupancy, including square footage per occupant and also sets requirements in defining "bedroom" as including a window. You can find the info if you Google.
I'm not a RE expert, so there might be amendments, case law etc covering this, but some info on NYC occupancy and sq footage etc. here:
http://tenant.net/Other_Laws/HMC/new/sub3/art4.html
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/downloads/pdf/cc_chapter3.pdf
I would assume that any conversion to condominium should require that the development be brought up to, and enforced according to housing code.
WTF is a yunnie?
I want to make up my own words too.
I almost think we should not even talk about this conversion thing until it's real and final. It's becoming ridiculous and the TA and CW are probably laughing their asses off listening to us argue back and forth about it. ____ing joke at this point, sorry.
"Yunnie" is a young urban narcissist.
Speaking of which, there'll be no more posts about the old guy who lives upstairs. Thanks.
Yes, control the message.
"Again, just like Black people, you're going to have to get used to living with them. It's not 1950 anymore."
January 13, 2012 7:51 PM
Hey, you got your racist rant in just in time for MLK day! We all appreciate your timeliness.
You people are the racists. I was just pointing that out by your wish to return to the ero before the civil rights act and protections for the disabled.
And STR, you better post this or you have NO credibility--you let them call me a racist, but I can't retort? Again, yes, control the message to suit your agenda.
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/287996
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/285467
I don't control the message, but I do control, and will control, absurd, over-the-top posts about "gurgling" old men who may be dying or ill. You may think such a "message" is amusing and pointed and full of intellectual bravado. I don't. I let a bit of it through in the beginning, but that's it. Sorry.
Bravo, STR.
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