Stuy Town's Bikini Beauties Vs. Soccer Moms Makes the NY Post

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/tit_for_tot_furor_i737gl0J1p4j5rzENWbr1H

Note the URL address... "Tit for Tot Furor"....  LOL.

From the article:

NYU student Melissa DeBlasio (pictured), 21, watched as a guard told beauties laying out on benches outside the playground to sit up.

“This is so ridiculous,” DeBlasio said. “The sun’s out. It’s summer. People are going to be tanning.”

Kaya Gieniusz, 21, called the bikini crackdown “silly.”

“There’s just a lot of rules here, and they enforce them randomly,” said the Marymount Manhattan College student. “We pay outrageous money to live here. Let us sunbathe for a few hours.”

Incidentally, I did pass Playground 10 a little while ago, and there was one "bikini beauty" out there.  Loved the fact that kids were playing baseball right next to and around her, and she was looking this way and that way, distracted from her reading and annoyed.  That's the way to do it, children. Take control of your playground!

And this photo (the shock of an unexpected splendid view) speaks volumes:

 

More photos by Post photographer Helayne Seidman are here:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/tots_vs_teeny_bikinis_in_stuy_town_UdMc8VjEOW4B19paLu0vFL 

Update: This sexy story is getting traction:

http://gothamist.com/2013/05/12/stuy_town_residents_upset_over_side.php 

Another update!  I don't remember any article about affordable housing in Stuy Town getting such international attention, but bikini beauties in Stuy Town... Well, that's a real story!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2323362/Stuyvesant-Town-sunbathing-Soccer-moms-outrage-bikini-clad-students-invade-childrens-playground-sunbathe.html

Here's another one for you:

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2013/05/manhattan-stuyvesant-town-residents-insist-you-no-longer-scantily-sunbathe-in-their-park/

I expect we'll be visited by some cable news channels soon....

Evening update: CBS local radio....

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/05/12/bikini-clad-sunbathers-near-playground-lead-to-complaints-in-stuy-town/ 

When did we become "upscale"?....

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2013/05/12/Sunbathing-incites-fight-between-tenants/UPI-42501368371678/#ixzz2T5nld7Ih 

Next day update. It never stops!

http://m.now.msn.com/stuyvesant-town-sunbathers-cause-a-stir-in-new-york

Of course, by now, the story has taken incorrect tangents, as seen in the MSN article. This issue was never about the "parks" of Stuy Town, but Playground 10, and loads of commentators are pouncing on incorrect information. An obvious lesson about the faults and laziness of what passes as journalism.

The link below offers up a more thorough review, but, again, strays readers wrong with a photo that is not of Playground 10 (and doesn't even look like the Oval Lawn):

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/n-y--apartment-complex-calls-for-bikini-ban-181640182.html

I must note with some amusement that my "Think of the children!" comment was done very much tongue-in-cheek, but not one story that's picked up on that comment has taken it for what it is.

Tuesday update:  Now India gets into the act:

http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2013/05/13/271-Bikini-beauties-sunbathing-in-kids-park-spark-outrage-in-NYC-.html

Seriously, Folks, What Do We Do?

So this morning I had two confrontations with dog owners.  One guy had his dog right in the middle of a flower patch.  As I was walking by, I told him his dog is not supposed to be there, so he smiles stupidly and sticks his tongue out at me.  Naturally, this caused me to hurl some choice words at him, and he stuck his tongue out again, which I answered back with even more choice words, and the smile was at least disappearing from his face as we parted.  The next guy had no leash on his dog, so once again, the scene developed into a verbal confrontation.

This was not a confrontation this morning, but...as I was walking by the guard booth a female dog owner had her dog leash extended almost right across the walkway, while nearby another female dog owner had her dog in "the garden."  I looked to the guard booth, and the guy sitting there had his nose buried in--yes, you guessed it--his cell phone, completely oblivious to anything going on right before him.

The above are just examples of relatively minor quality of life issues that grate, at least for me.  What pisses me off probably more is that Public Safety is so lackadaisical in enforcing anything in this complex. It's been that way for years. What generally happens is that there is an initial enforcement of the rules, but give it two weeks or so, and the rules seem to start evaporating, at least where enforcement is concerned.  Talking to Stuy Town's Security Chief, Bill McClellan, doesn't help either in the long term.  I've already visited him twice during Tishman Speyer's reign, basically with the same concerns and observations and suggestions (such as having Public Safety walk around the complex rather than sporadically drive around the Oval and loops).

Again, the above dog-related matters are relatively minor when compared with such issues as noise, non-working laundry rooms and elevators, and the garbage we see both inside and outside buildings. People's frustrations are at a high, as evidenced by the recent fiery Town Hall meeting with general manager Sean Sullivan.

The question becomes what can we really do in the face of these quality of life issues?  It's obvious that the landlord isn't too concerned about them (other than the bad press they may provoke), so we--the tenants who care--seem to be on our own, both as a group (the TA) or individually.  And I'm not looking for the answer being ownership of this place.  That may or may not happen (and chances are very good that it won't happen).  I'm asking about now, not some time in a nebulous future.

I hate to become a person who just doesn't care about PCVST, who just puts blinders on to make things less annoying or upsetting.  I don't think I can ever become such a person.  But I wonder how many of the more permanent residents of this complex who used to care have just given up.

So what do you do to keep sane and calm here?  That is, if you care about this place.

Meanwhile, here's a new rule:  Bike riding is now forbidden around the Oval.  The signs are up at all the entry points. We'll see about enforcement.

Claim Form Deadline MAY 15 for Roberts Settlement

Important Message from the TA:

All Roberts Class Members: Claim Your Money NOW!

You will receive money from the $68.75 million in rent overcharges still unclaimed from the Roberts settlement provided you file your claim by May 15. Don't miss out on cash that's rightfully coming to you.

It's hard to believe that 5,412 current or former tenants who were illegally charged market rates for their apartments have not yet taken the simple step of signing and mailing a legal Claim Form that will permit them to collect their reimbursement from the J-51-Roberts settlement. If you are a member of the class and haven't yet filed your claim, time is running out for you.

To collect your money, you must mail your Claim Forms postmarked no later than May 15th. Any eligible tenant who does so will receive money from the settlement, from a minimum of approximately $150 up to potentially tens of thousands of dollars.

There is no reason not to claim the money! You have nothing to lose. Moreover, if you fail to act, your unclaimed money will be returned to CW Capital and Metropolitan Life. The Claim Form was attached to the Notice of the settlement that all eligible tenants received in January.

If you have the Claim Form, submit it immediately, following the instructions on the form. If you have not received a claim form or have misplaced it, or if you have any questions about this email, immediately contact Berdon Claims Administration at 1-800-766-3330, or go to Berdon's contact page at
http://www.berdonclaims.com/ContactPage.aspx

Hey, Students! Move into More!

It used to be that the sale of apartments in PCVST was geared toward families, then, these last years, young professionals.  But now, the pitch is gaining toward the student population, as is apparent from the above. The reasons are obvious: 1) a transient population gives the landlord the legal okay to make rent increases per turnover, and 2) a growing transient population is unconcerned about quality of life issues, the TA, rent stabilization, etc,--in effect replacing a more permanent class of renters who are troublesome to the landlord.

May Odds and Ends

 

WHEN IS A PLAYGROUND NOT A PLAYGROUND?

When it's being used by our college/university student population for sunbathing.  Playground 10 was almost half taken yesterday with sunbathers, effectively pushing out the kids who wanted access to that playground.  What was more absurd is that yesterday was on the chilly side, making these self-entitled yahoos look very stupid indeed.  This playground should NOT be used for sunbathing.  (And neither should the fountain area.)  We've heard that complaints were made, and now it's time for management to make sure Playground 10 is for playing, not for sunbathing. And please, management, show some balls and don't wait to enforce this once the Oval Lawn is open for sunbathing.  Think of the children!

* * *

MEET SEAN SULLIVAN MAY 7th

As part of its Senior Events, the Community Center will host a Town Hall Meeting with Sean Sullivan, the latest manager of PCVST.  The meeting begins at the inopportune hour of 5:30pm, Tuesday, May 7th.  I'm assuming the event is open to non-seniors?  So, come on down if you ain't working!

* * *

SUMMER EVENTS

The latest email from PCVST tells us that its summer concert series will begin June 8th with Soul Asylum.  What, Tom Dorsey and His Orchestra wasn't available?  Anyway, the promise is that PCVST will host less concerts this year, but what disturbed me was the return of sports games being shown on the Oval.  The first one is scheduled for a Saturday, so there goes your restful weekend.  Really, watching a sporting event on a balloon on the Oval Lawn is tacky and so primate....  Few residents attend anyway.  What a waste and noise/visual polluter.

Update: On the TA Facebook, Edmund John Dunn has noted that the Soul Asylum concert is being advertised on the band's website without the notation that the concert is for PCVST residents and their guests. Worse, the concert has a Buy Tickets page at MTV.com:

 

Recently, CWCapital has been proactive in stressing the "for residents and their guests" in advertising material (even if there's zero enforcement of the rule), so the above is probably due to misunderstanding and confusion, right? Management needs to alert all bands that will be playing in the Oval about the special dynamics of their performance and for whom they will be performing. And, finally, there needs to be enforcement of the "for residents and their guests" rule. Perhaps at the Community Center Town Hall Meeting, Mr. Sullivan can be asked why there is no such enforcement made during the concerts and other events.

 * * *

RESIDENT SERVICES OFF SITE

Though this hasn't received much protest, if any, I do think that moving Resident Services off site to an undisclosed location (some say CWCapital headquarters in Manhattan) is a bad idea and another downgrade to the stability that this complex once had.

Bloomberg Refused 2nd Slice of Pizza (If Only!)

http://dailycurrant.com/2013/05/02/bloomberg-refused-second-slice-of-pizza-at-local-restaurant/

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was denied a second slice of pizza today at an Italian eatery in Brooklyn.  The owners of Collegno's Pizzeria say they refused to serve him more than one piece to protest Bloomberg's proposed soda ban, which would limit the portions of soda sold in the city.

Bloomberg was having an informal working lunch with city comptroller John Liu at the time and was enraged by the embarrassing prohibition. The owners would not relent, however, and the pair were forced to decamp to another restaurant to finish their meal.

Witnesses say the situation unfolded when as the two were looking over budget documents, they realized they needed more food than originally ordered.

"Hey, could I get another pepperoni over here?" Bloomberg asked owner Antonio Benito.

"I'm sorry sir," he replied, "we can't do that. You've reached your personal slice limit."

Mayor Bloomberg, not accustomed to being challenged, assumed that the owner was joking.

"OK, that's funny," he remarked, "because of the soda thing ... No, come on. I'm not kidding. I haven't eaten all morning, just send over another pepperoni."

"I'm sorry sir. We're serious," Benito insisted. "We've decided that eating more than one piece isn't healthy for you, and so we're forbidding you from doing it."

More at the above link.

PCVST's Newest Amenity

Can't say this is a surprise....

If things aren't depressing enough....

An article in today's WALL STREET JOURNAL laid out CWCapital's plan for PCVST.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323551004578436862450162392.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

In a nutshell:

1) Hold onto the property for as long as possible, as CWCapital takes in huge fees for running the complex. ("CWCapital takes in $625,000 a month from overseeing the asset, with fees totaling $26 million since it first became involved in 2009.")

2) Keep on raising rents to make the purchase of the property more seductive to possible buyers. ("CWCapital believes it can raise rents on some units, boost the project's income and get a higher sales price, said the people familiar with its strategy. The company believes that process will stretch at least into 2014.")  The churning of apartments for ever high rents means a concentration on temporary student housing and the packing in of students into divided rooms to attain the highest level of rent. 

3) Sell when both numbers 1 & 2 have been suitably maximized, though a time limit is probably of import here.

So, where is affordable middle-class housing in all this?  Well, it's being systematically eradicated, with Mayor Bloomberg not on our side at all, and our councilman, Dan Garodnick, offering up the same-old, same-old tenant purchase of the property plan that will, if actualized, also eradicate affordable middle-class housing, though probably on a less speedier track. (If you think we already have serious divisions in our community, wait till the introduction of condo owners comes into the mix.)

I know I've said this several times before, but let me repeat it:  How is it legally possible for a landlord to divide up apartments with partitions/walls and have work orders state that there is NO change in occupancy? (Sample here.) How is it possible that the spirit of rent stabilization is being raped by the landlords, current and past? (What a cruel joke that the churning of PCVST apartments is happening to, yes, "rent stabilized" units.)

I just don't see why certain companies are not being sued, why certain people are not in jail, while the only ones left to suffer for the actions of these companies and individuals are the tenants themselves.

Shame on those who could have done something, but did nothing. And are still doing nothing.

Those who can't access the WSJ article can find it in a commentary on the TA Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/358760671689/ 

*  *  * 

Meanwhile, this is how the luxurious Peter Cooper Village is looking these days.  (Thanks to a reader for the photos.)