What Zoning Regulations?

From the April 12 issue of TOWN & VILLAGE, Sabina Mallot reporting:

"Although the issue of zoning for commercial activity in the Oval at Stuyvesant Town was hotly debated as the weekly greenmarket concluded its business for the season last fall, the market is scheduled to return this spring.

"Farmers who spoke with Town and Village this week said they expect to return to their tents in the complex and a spokesperson for CW Capital confirmed that the market would be returning, and in the same area."

Read more in this week's issue of T&V. The newspaper tried to get a comment from Amanda Burden, the Director of the Department of City Planning (whose review--"advisory opinion"--stated that the Farmers Market, as well as food trucks, were not zoned for use at their usual spots on the Oval), but the phone call was not returned. Dan Garodnick, who offered to work with CW Capital and management to find an appropriately zoned place for the Farmers Market, was not approached for a comment apparently; neither was the Tenants Association.

The market will open earlier than usual it seems, beginning May 6 and continuing till November 18th.

UPDATE: Well, this is going to be the excuse (or the legal reasoning): The Farmers Market can be in the Oval, as long as it's an "accessory use" for residents and their guests. If it's promoted for outsiders to come in, or if outsiders use it, one could say the Farmers Market is not zoned for that use. So, I guess the powers that be can put in a bowling alley in the middle of the Oval, and as long as only residents and their guests would be able to use it, at the exclusion of outsiders, everything would be okay. Now I understand how zoning regulations work.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Just gettin' the word out to Stuy Town residents and their guests. Don't forget, we live in Manhattan....





ANOTHER UPDATE!: There's been some confusion about what Amanda Burden, director of the Department of City Planning, wrote in her response to Dan Garodnick's query about commercial activities and zoning in Stuyvesant Town. Here is a link to the Tenants Association post on this issue, which itself has link to her letter. On a side note, I may have made this mistake as well as others, but the Department of Buildings did not make an initial ruling on this. Garodnick was supposed to follow up his letter to Burden with a similar one to the Buildings Department, but a response has yet to be made public. Based on my query today to Gardonick's office, the "accessory use" concept may have come from communication with this department.

How Are Things Going?

First off, thanks for the messages about missing this blog. It seems like only yesterday (well, a week maybe) since I took a break, but I see that it's been much longer. I wish I could say I missed posting on the blog, but I didn't, and even now I'm kinda dismayed at starting up again because I already feel my posts will be negative ones, as I've seen nothing to particularly uplift me about this place for the last several weeks. Nothing has worsened at least. The bottom line is that money rules here, and there's just little of it for maintaining the grounds in an aesthetically pleasing way. I'm chiefly concerned about the grounds (forget about the fool's gold of tenant ownership here), as it is our park-like environment that makes Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper distinctive. Not the gimmicks that are thrown up now and then for show and a pleasing photo promo on Stuy Town's official website or commercial.

On the good side, there have been numerous tulip plantings about the complex....





And trees that were already planted years ago are blooming, or beginning to bloom, nicely...



But other areas of the complex are pathetic. I don't even know why this is cordoned off by string. Do we expect to see something beautiful arise here or has the Miracle Gro run out?



There are many areas around the Oval buildings that are nearly bare of any plantings or trees. Is something going to happen here or does it just stay like this? (I would at least suggest cactus at this point.)



The central Oval grass/plant area has been diminishing through the years, with the latest diminution being a result of the cute white guard booth put in last year. Because the field of vision from it would have been blocked by the plants/trees that were around it, those plantings were cut down and now we have more bare space:



And don't get me started on the disastrous, slum-like appearance of the earth dirt area that housed the weekly Farmers Market (which I'm sure will be back in the same place, despite the area not being zoned for a commercial enterprise).



At least the pleasing activities on Easter were geared toward families, and the hope is that their promotion will attract more families to rent here, but I do have to state that the band that was playing was dreadful or at least the sound system was awful. Why is noise the prime factor in selecting music to accompany an event in Stuy Town? The aesthetic in choosing what music is played (if it has to be played) is completely missing.

I did head over to Tompkins Square Park on Sunday and, as you can see by the following photos, the grounds-keeping there is--surprise, surprise--better than what we have. Their Miracle Gro hasn't run out.















BTW, I'm just catching up on the backlog of messages.

What a Mess... And Taking a Break

First off, due to an overwhelming work load of late (no, I'm not a retired senior who spends his days walking around Stuy Town taking photos!), I will have to take a break from posting on this blog for a while. I don't know how long, and something could always compel me to post sooner than expected, but I need a break. I will still monitor and pass through comments, and make my own brief responses, but it may take me a day or so, if not longer, to get to them.

Now to tie up some loose ends. The brouhaha over My Student Apartment got messier this past week, with updated info via the latest Town & Village. The CEO of My Student Apartment, Kyle Freedman, found himself banned from ST/PCV, and the newspaper stated that he had only "completed one leasing deal at Stuy Town." Also, quoting Freedman's email to T & V, "We never claimed that we had partnerships with any specific management companies, leasing agents or brokerage house." The article further stated that Freedman had been "terminated at his request from Kian Realty."

Mr. Freedman contacted this blog to note that T & V made erroneous statements and suppositions in their articles about him and his start-up business. About those 2,000 apartments becoming available in the summer, quoting Freedman: "In truth, the apartments mentioned in the article were not exclusive to my firm; we were simply able to gain access to them. As it says in the Ticker article, 2,000 apartments were available via mystudentapartment, not exclusively through."

Freedman also addressed his relationship with Kian Realty: "Another misconception that the article perpetuates is that I was forced to resign from my previous brokerage. Again, I must deny this allegation in full, and without caveat. I voluntarily left Kian Realty in order to forge a partnership with Ezra Realty. I remain a former employee in good standing and with close colleagues at Kian Realty."

Whatever the situation, it does appear that a lot of apartments will become available in the summer, and given that the Stuy Town leasing office is chiefly filled with young people who look like students and not professionals, one can expect an influx of new student residents this coming year and all those moving trucks along the loops and discarded mattresses from students leaving the complex. We already know what the story is and what this place will look like.

Both the TA and councilman Dan Garodnick took advantage of all the noise made by the My Student Apartment situation to issue statements about student housing in Stuy Town. The TA had published a full page ad in Town & Village, addressing their concerns and stating certain obvious facts. "What is behind this rental strategy? It seems obvious that it is the patent desire to rapidly fill vacant apartments with the expectation of rapid turnover, thus affording the landlord incremental rent increases under the rent stabilization laws."

My question is: Why hasn't anything been done about this crafty misuse of the intent of rent stabilization laws? Where are the city's politicians to stop this type of leasing behavior? Why is it that we are looking at this, living through this, when such rapid turnover rentals should have been made illegal years ago?

The TA also placed the following photo in its ad:



[Note: My previous comment about this photo, removed now, was based solely on the photograph itself, which shows the person checking his cellphone and technically, at this point, not "passed out," as I presumed in the TA's text below the photo. I have since been told what led up to the photo being taken, and that this guy was indeed "passed out" when first spotted.]

I do have to add one more thing before I take my mini-vacation from this blog. There should be a housing law in the city and certainly in particular for ST/PCV, a voluntary one for now in the latter case: Partitions should be illegal unless the partition is for the use of a family that occupies an apartment. This would stop the accumulation of students in this complex real fast or at least make it impossible to sell a one-bedroom as a two-bedroom, and a two-bedroom as a three-bedroom. And surely there must be some Certificate of Occupancy issues in these cases where alterations are made to add rooms to an apartment.

About Those 2,000 Student Apartments....

An article in the current Town & Village, titled "Student Town," clarifies and corrects certain impressions/statements that got a considerable amount of attention on various web pages, including this blog, while at the same time leaving questions open about just what is really occurring here, or about to occur, regarding student housing. First off, forget about those 2,000 student apartments waiting to be filled this summer. The number, according to Kyle Freedman, the young CEO of My Student Apartment, is near 300 (that he "expects to close"), but, as of now the article states that "he's arranged dozens of his clients to move into Stuy Town." We also hear from the grapevine that things may not be going so smoothly for Mr. Freedman and his intentions toward student housing in Stuy Town. So, at this point, it appears that the news item we all got upset about may have been just wishful thinking on the part of a start-up business.

I should also clarify and correct certain impressions/statements made by someone in the commenting section. Regarding all night "raves" at Stuy Town, if the calls are made to Public Safety/Security, the "raves" get shut down. I've repeated this several times, but tenants have to call Public Safety if they feel neighbors are too noisy in the middle of the night. By its very definition, a rave is an extended loud party, and it's hard to believe that Public Safety would do nothing if such a rave continues after the first warning.

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Update 2/26: Over at the TA Facebook, there's an open letter from our councilman Dan Garodnick, addressed to both CW and Rose Associates, stating concerns over whatever arrangement ST/PCV has with colleges and student brokerage firms and demanding (or almost demanding) answers. We may be in for a couple of interesting weeks, or then again, CW and Rose could just ignore Dan's letter, as I'm assuming such information is kept close to the vest. It would be good to know just what the reality is concerning student housing in ST/PCV. Student housing here is one of the issues that will have to be addressed in any serious conversion offer, a conversion offer that seems less and less likely to sway CW or most older tenants, in my opinion.

The way I see it is that student housing is a Manhattan reality, and not just in Stuy Town. If you step outside the perimeters of ST/PCV, you should have noted the tremendous increase in students these past years and businesses that cater to students. The old businesses that catered to a more permanent NY resident have closed down and are closing down. It's all tiny Asian fusion bars and bistros, Starbucks, etc. Students are not heading to Jewish delis or Ukrainian butcher shops. The demographics are changing rapidly. CW needs students as renters, because that seems to be the largest pool of applicants (true?) for renting units here and willing to share. Any talk of condo conversion has to face this reality.

Fresh Direct Vending Machines Coming to Stuy Town?

Fresh Direct Vending Machines coming to Stuy Town? Not yet, and perhaps never. But Rose Associates does have them at another property they manage. I don't believe the above Stoler Report Show has been linked before, but, even though it's over a year old, it still is of considerable interest, particularly as one of the guests is Robert Scaglion, Senior Managing Director, Residential Marketing of Rose Associates. Despite the coziness of the setting with moderator Stoler, there's a "close-to-the-vest" aspect to many of the answers from the participants, who want to paint a positive picture of their holdings and gloss over problems, while gently admitting to some.

Some money quotes from Scaglion:

"Amenities are crucial. It's all about lifestyle. People work very hard to be able to afford the rents that they are paying and they want to come home and be able to go work out or go to the lounge or do some other social entertaining in their amenity space within their own home."

"I think you're going to see an evolution in lifestyle spaces in these buildings where not only will we be providing amenity spaces, we'll be programing the events for them. "

And my favorite:

"People want services very convenient to them and food is a big part of it. Not many people are cooking."

Can We Now Say that Stuy Town is a Dorm?

According to Wikipedia, Stuyvesant Town has 8,757 apartments. Together with Peter Cooper Village, the complex has 11,250 apartments. Zeroing in on Stuy Town, we now find out the following: that close to 2,000 apartments are/will be available via MyStudentApartment.com. These are apartments that are NOT part of the lease system from schools like NYU. If PCV is not included in the 2,000 student apartment figure, that means, taking into account apartments made available directly to schools, and other means of rental access, that we may be seeing at least 1/4 of Stuy Town apartments filled with college students.

While this should come as no surprise, considering all the seasonal moving trucks and discarded furniture we see in Stuy Town, the college crowds at the rental office, and the piles of pizza boxes tipping over in the recycling area, it is rather astounding to consider that Stuyvesant Town may have more college students as renters than Stuy Town residents who are members of the TA. The college population carries a heaving burden on the maintenance here and presents quality of life issues we are already familiar with. Importantly, the more student renters we have, the less we have of a more permanent body of tenants who are interested in the future of this complex. Whatever landlord owns this place gains by a student population in a speedier turnover of apartments and a decrease in the pool of a Tenants Association population. How this all translates into a condo/co-op conversion remains to be seen.

It's Happening All Over New York

Hipsters vs. Immigrants

No "war" really evident in this BBC clip, but if you watch it to the end, the pattern becomes obvious.

NYC neighborhoods: Immigrants > Artists > Hipsters/Yunnies/Whatever. Bottom line: The old "cheap" (ie, affordable) neighborhoods get eventually transformed into streets of highrises with high rents.

That's Three--No, Make that Four College Students in One Apartment

A three-bedroom affair, soon to be a fourth when the living room is converted to a make-shift sleeping area.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/roo/2843055769.html

Three full time college students in our 20's looking for a fourth roommate . We live in a 3 bedroom fully renovated secure building in beautiful Stuy Town. Ideally located on 16th and 1st close to the L train, bus and Union Sq. Great restaurants, nightlife and shopping. The room offered is being used as our living room currently and while no walls can be put up its a large space and comes with a huge closet and we will work with you to make it as private as possible.

Looking for someone between the ages of 20-27.

Can't wait to hear from you.

At first I thought this was a three-bedroom without partitions, but from the photo, it seems this once was a two-bedroom. (?)



So on the couch you go!