August 2009 Archives

Via EV Grieve:

"East Village bars Drop Off Service, Planet Rose, Forbidden City, Common Ground, Habibi Lounge, and Superdive will donate 50% of their register on Monday, Aug. 31 (all day and night) to set up a college fund for the children of murdered bouncer Eric "Taz" Pagan."

EV Bars Come Together To Create College Fund For Eric "Taz" pagan's Children [EV Grieve]
Drinking for a Good Cause [EV Grieve]

Previously
NYPD Make Arrest In Shooting Death Of NYC Bouncer

NEW YORK CITY-Fitch Ratings says that debt service reserves for New York City's Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village loan are likely to run out by the end of this year. The ratings agency says in a release, that in this scenario, a default on the loan is likely if an equity infusion or recapitalization does not take place. Loan sponsors are Tishman Speyer Properties, LP and Black Rock Realty. Tishman had no official response.

However, a source familiar with the deal says the reserve will last longer, but not by much. "The joint venture is confident the reserve will last into 2010, so the ranges are between January and March," says the source.

Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village is an 80-acre, 56-building red bricked complex that extends from 14th Street to 23rd Street on Manhattan's east side. Original owner, MetLife agreed to sell the complex in 2006 to Tishman Speyer and Black Rock for $5.6 billion.

Fitch says it reviewed Q1, 2009 financials, debt service draws and it's reviewed the most recent unit conversion statistics for the Stuyvesant Town/ Peter Cooper village loan and found cash flow from the property remained "significantly below what is needed to service the current outstanding debt." The ratings agency says the borrower continues to use debt service reserves to cover operating shortfalls.

Dears Stuyvesont Town Residonts,

Your most valuible of conseearges Manny is here to tell you about a special offer we have in store for you at Oval Fittness. See, your consearjis know that its hard to have that gym body without a gym. Afterall there are lots of new neighbors to meet so going to partees everynight and all the beer, brownies, and mushrooms can really pack on the pounds! That is why we your nmost indispensible conseearges always got your back!

Oval Fitniss is the best place to go to work off all that festive eating though we are still unsure why the gym is called Oval since its not near the oval and oval is not a shape that gym going people want to be assosiated with. Manny will have to check on that.

Did you know that for new residents we will wave the $250 inishiashin fee is you sign up for Oval Fitness within 15 days of getting your new keys to your glorious stuy town apartment? That's right! We don't tell anyone usually until the 16th day but since our luxurious gym, comprible to the kind of gym you might find in a fancey Ramada Inn, is mostly empty thesese days we'd like to invite residonts to come and take the tour!

Some resdints have taken the tour and have asked, Manny, why is the gym so small? Well heres is why! We know that you have a very busy pertinint on-the-gone lifestyle in the big apple so who has time to walk 10 feet to use another piece of equipmeint? Certinly not Manny! At Ovail Fitniss you can step right off your tredmill and right on too a stashinary bike. Now that is convenince! Who need a huge gym certinly not yous!

But remember you must get to the gym and sign up width in 15 days otherwise we will charge you the $250 inishiation fee. And even if you want to pay a hole yeer in advanve we still will charge you the $250 inishiation fee. And if you come 2 minutes late we will charge yous the inishiashin fee. And pleese dont call me at Oval Conseergae to ask me to wave the fee because manny doesnt have a magic wand and he is very busy pecking out importint t tenent relation corrsipondance as such!

So pleese come see for yourself the Oval Gym on these the last days of summer in Stuyvesant Town. Tell them manny sent you! But don;t call me. Seriously peeple.

Manny
val mnttys / ssntls
mrcn Lsr
Nwrk rprt
Gng t spy schl

The website, Multifamily Investor, is also watching the the debacle that is Tishman Speyer's failed venture into residential property. In less than three years Tishman Speyer has failed at reinventing the middle-class housing complex Stuyvesant Town, as "luxury living" and has settled for filling their vacant apartments with students from local colleges.

Cash Crisis for America's Most Expensive Apartment Complex

Developer Tishman Speyer has nearly depleted a $650 million cash reserve needed to prop up iconic apartment complexes Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town, and thanks to an unresolved court case, can't replenish its coffers.

The real-estate developer led by Chairman Jerry Speyer has had to put its fundraising plans on ice because the properties' revenue potential is tied up in the legal battle.

Set up as a temporary cash cushion when Tishman and a group of investors bought the massive Manhattan apartment complex in 2006 for $5.4 billion, Tishman has tapped the reserve at a faster rate than expected to help cover day-to-day expenses, including payments on a $3 billion mortgage.

As of this week, there was just $49.6 million left, according to trade publication Commercial Real Estate Direct, and with Tishman tapping the reserve at an average rate of $11.3 million a month, it could be completely depleted by December.

Under normal circumstances, savvy, well-respected developers like Tishman would simply go out and raise more money, either through loans or by selling stakes to new investors.

But an unresolved court case that could affect its revenues from the property is crimping those plans, sources said.

In March, the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court ruled that Tishman and other property owners improperly converted rent-stabilized apartments to market-rate prices while receiving special tax benefits.

On Sept. 10, the New York Court of Appeals will hear Tishman's appeal of the decision. But even if the courts ultimately rule in Tishman's favor, sources said a decision could take months.

And until Tishman can answer if and when it can convert the complex's apartments to market-rate units, investors are likely to stay away from any deals the developer tries to put together.

"It's a material risk," said one real-estate lawyer. Losing the case will have a "very, very, very, very material impact," and investors just aren't willing to take the chance, he said.

Tishman officials declined to comment, but people close to the firm said the developer and its investors are banking on the cash reserves lasting through at least March or April, giving them time to rebuild the cash coffers once the case is settled.

Of course, The appeals court could also decide to uphold the lower court's ruling, which may further impede fundraising plans.

"It would be a disaster," said an attorney, adding that the impact would be felt by all New York landlords, not just Tishman.

Source: Stuytown Cash Crisis, Kaja Whitehouse, New York Post, 8/22/09

Cash Crisis for America's Most Expensive Apartment Complex [Multifamily Investor]

Bouncer At NYC Nightclub Shot To Death; 2 Wounded

Eric Pagan was killed outside Forbidden City after a fight inside spilled onto the street and a man grabbed a gun from a nearby minivan.

Police arrested Louis Rodriguez on charges of murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. There was no number listed at the address provided by police and it's unclear if he has a lawyer.

Officers responded to the bar on Avenue A near East 13th Street about 4 a.m. on Sunday, where they found Pagan and two other men bleeding from gunshot wounds.

The men, Salvador Moran and Robert Calbo, were hospitalized in stable condition.

Witnesses say Pagan was trying to calm the people down when he was shot. He was off-duty.

NYPD Make Arrest In Shooting Death Of NYC Bouncer [CBS]

Related
Man Arrested In Fatal Bouncer Shooting [NY1]

Deadly shooting at trendy East Village bar: Bouncer killed, 2 wounded outside Forbidden City club

The bouncer at a slick East Village lounge was killed and two revelers wounded during a wild sidewalk shooting that rattled the trendy neighborhood early Sunday, police and witnesses said.

The doorman at Forbidden City, a hip Asian-themed bar on Ave. A near E. 13th St., tossed out two rowdy patrons just before 4:30 a.m., leading to the lethal confrontation, police said.

The men, who continued to fight with another group as they exited the night spot, hopped into a waiting white van and one of them reemerged a moment later brandishing a handgun, horrified witnesses said.

"I saw a big guy get out of the driver's seat with a gun," said witness Eric Searle, a nightlife promoter who was standing across the street.

"He then walked around a car and popped one guy," said Searle. "He then walked around another car, went straight up to [the bouncer] and capped him point blank in the forehead."

"He collapsed and there was blood pouring everywhere," said Searle, 28. "The shooter didn't say anything - not a word. He just capped those guys and walked back to his car and drove off."

The 42-year-old bouncer, whose name is being withheld pending the notification of his family, died moments later at Bellevue Hospital.

Another man was shot in the stomach and a third man was struck in the hand, police said. Both were listed in stable condition at Bellevue.

"You always see the police tape but you never see someone actually come out with a gun and shoot people," Searle said. "I'm still in shock - I know I won't be sleeping tonight."

No arrests have been made, police said. Investigators were combing Ave. A, which had been teeming with late-night revelers in the moments before the shooting, looking for surveillance video of the murder, police said

Deadly shooting at trendy East Village bar [NY Daily News]

Related
Fatal Shooting in Stuyvesant Town [1010 Wins]
One Killed, Two Wounded In Alphabet City Shootout [NY1]

Developer Tishman Speyer has nearly depleted a $650 million cash reserve needed to prop up iconic apartment complexes Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town, and thanks to an unresolved court case, can't replenish its coffers.

Sources tell The Post that the real-estate developer led by Chairman Jerry Speyer has had to put its fundraising plans on ice because the properties' revenue potential is tied up in the legal battle.

Set up as a temporary cash cushion when Tishman and a group of investors bought the massive Manhattan apartment complex in 2006 for $5.4 billion, Tishman has tapped the reserve at a faster rate than expected to help cover day-to-day expenses, including payments on a $3 billion mortgage.

As of this week, there was just $49.6 million left, according to trade publication Commercial Real Estate Direct, and with Tishman tapping the reserve at an average rate of $11.3 million a month, it could be completely depleted by December.

Under normal circumstances, savvy, well-respected developers like Tishman would simply go out and raise more money, either through loans or by selling stakes to new investors.

But an unresolved court case that could affect its revenues from the property is crimping those plans, sources said.

In March, the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court ruled that Tishman and other property owners improperly converted rent-stabilized apartments to market-rate prices while receiving special tax benefits.

On Sept. 10, the New York Court of Appeals will hear Tishman's appeal of the decision. But even if the courts ultimately rule in Tishman's favor, sources said a decision could take months.

And until Tishman can answer if and when it can convert the complex's apartments to market-rate units, investors are likely to stay away from any deals the developer tries to put together.

"It's a material risk," said one real-estate lawyer. Losing the case will have a "very, very, very, very material impact," and investors just aren't willing to take the chance, he said.

Tishman officials declined to comment, but people close to the firm said the developer and its investors are banking on the cash reserves lasting through at least March or April, giving them time to rebuild the cash coffers once the case is settled.

Of course, The appeals court could also decide to uphold the lower court's ruling, which may further impede fundraising plans.

"It would be a disaster," said an attorney, adding that the impact would be felt by all New York landlords, not just Tishman.

Stuy Town Cash Crisis [NY Post]

-----Original Message-----
From: Your Tenants Association <members@stpcvta.org>
To: xxxxx
Sent: Fri, Aug 21, 2009 10:07 am
Subject: Passing the Cost of Paving On To Rent Stabilized Tenants

Alert:  Here Comes Yet Another MCI:
Repaving of Walkways and Roadbeds

E-mail is barely fast enough for us to keep up with Tishman Speyer's efforts to shift part of its desperate financial burden onto the shoulders of rent-stabilized tenants via Major Capital Improvement rent increases.

On Tuesday, the Tenants Association rushed instructions to stabilized Peter Cooper residents on how to handle notices from the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) regarding an unexpected MCI notice for water tanks and valves.

And now comes the August 20th issue of Town & Village with a report that DHCR has already received additional applications for MCIs for 75 buildings throughout Stuy Town and Peter Cooper.  These are to cover repaving of pedestrian pathways and roadbeds and the installation of exterior doors in common areas such as carriage rooms.  Clearly, all 110 buildings will ultimately be included - and the costs threaten to be heavy.

The Tenants Association has not yet received any resident reports of a DHCR notice on the roadways or doors.  However, should you get such a notice, DO NOT THROW IT AWAY.  You will need it to participate actively in the Tenants Association's response.  When the time comes, we will send you instructions on the most effective way to make your voice heard.

Be assured that your Tenants Association will vigorously review and challenge all of these MCIs both administratively and, if needed, in the courts.

Age-defying soap star, Susan Lucci, is filming a new series of Tide commercials in Stuyvesant Town today for an upcoming contest for the Soap Network. The 30-second spots will begin airing on the Soap Network in early September during Super Soap Weekends and hope to increase the channel's viewership of New York City's stay-at-home moms and promote Stuy Town as the ideal place to raise a family.

The "Squalor Scrubbing Superstar" contest will put three stay-at-home moms to work cleaning filthy New York City apartments top to bottom using a new line of Tide cleaning products. The scullery superstar with the cleanest apartment will get a free year-long lease in a furnished Stuy Town apartment, a years supply of Tide laundry detergent, and a free year of Verizon FIOS so they can enjoy the Soap Network in picture perfect quality.

Image submitted by Edna Doodle

Tired of tripping over rats while coming in and out of your Stuy Town apartment? You're not alone! A Sty Spy sent us a link to the New York City Department of Health and Metal Hygiene's website he used to report the rats he surfs on in Stuy Town. *You should too!

*Complaint form should be used to report actual rats and not the Speyers, the employees in the management office, or the leasing agents.

Previously
File a complaint!

Tishman having debt trouble in D.C. holdings

There's a common credo in real estate that your profit comes at the price you purchased your property. For a partnership led by Tishman Speyer Properties, they likely wish they paid far less than $2.8 billion for 28 properties in Washington from CarrAmerica Realty Corp. in 2006. Now, the partnership is in default of debt tied to those properties because of high vacancies, according to The Wall Street Journal.

For Tishman, however, the CarrAmerica properties are not the only ones it may have overpaid for at the height of the real estate market. Remember the 80-acre residential development in Manhattan known as Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village that Tishman purchased for a record $5.4 billion in 2006? Bonds tied to that purchase were downgraded by debt rating agency Moody's Investors Service last year. Beginning to see a pattern here?

Now, Tishman is far from going broke anytime soon. The company has more than $37 billion worth of global properties it can sell, but these credit problems are an obvious blow to its current bottom line.

The commercial real estate sector seems like it'll be down in the dumps for a very long time. Worries over the meltdown in commercial real estate has prompted the Federal Reserve System and Department of the Treasury to announce Tuesday a six-month extension of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility. Those funds would allow investors to lend money in order to purchase new asset-backed securities in consumer and commercial real estate debt.

As for Tishman, it's hoping the economy picks up fast enough to fill its office vacancies so that its debt worries subsides.

Tishman having debt trouble in D.C. holdings [The Deal]

If you are moving out of Stuyvesant Town soon and cling to hope that you will see any of your security deposit in the near future, you better have a close look at Tishman Speyer's pricey "to-do" list. This notice was given to a Stuy Town tenant who will be released back into society soon and warns that the tenant return the apartment in the "same condition as the apartment was in on the commencement date" of the lease. Items of note:

- Remove all cable TV wiring back to the connection point in your foyer closet and discard to avoid a per room charge of $38.

- If you have custom paint colors they must be covered with sufficient primer, prior to vacating the apartment, to avoid charges of up to $281 per wall.

- Avoid a $12/item charge by removing all picture hooks.

Getting paid $12 to remove a nail AND being belly up at the bar by 3PM? Where can WE get one of these jobs? Of course the notice doesn't address what Stuy Town keeps from the newer tenants who are not required to put down a security deposit. Maybe they confiscate their bongs and rolling papers?

Portfolio in Washington in Default; If No Risks, 'Don't Have Any Rewards'

A partnership led by Tishman Speyer Properties is in default on debt tied to one of the largest office portfolios in the Washington area, the latest in a line of humbling turns for the prominent property developer.

Tishman Speyer paid $2.8 billion in late 2006 for what was known as the CarrAmerica portfolio, a collection of 28 buildings leased to law firms, lobbyists and other upscale tenants in and around Washington. But in taking advantage of the easy credit terms of the time, Tishman ended up overpaying.

With office vacancies rising and rents falling, the partnership has violated lender's covenants. Tishman also must find a way to refinance the debt when it comes due in 2011, something that analysts say could be a struggle.

Tishman Speyer itself isn't threatened by the problems.

Despite its size, CarrAmerica is one of the lesser-known investments in the Tishman Speyer empire, which includes Manhattan's Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Building. In addition to the CarrAmerica deal, it also is facing stress from its other top-of-the-market acquisitions including Archstone-Smith, a high-end apartment real-estate investment trust, and the sprawling New York apartment complexes of Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town.

It is proving a test of the business mettle of Rob Speyer, a 39-year old former newspaper reporter. The son of Jerry Speyer -- former chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and chairman of the Museum of Modern Art -- is being groomed to take over Tishman Speyer, a closely held 31-year-old firm that owns or manages real estate valued at over $35 billion from Brazil to Germany to China.

Like other deals done in the boom years, the CarrAmerica transaction was underwritten on the assumption that rents and occupancy would rise, not fall. Now, according to people familiar with the matter, the Tishman partnership has violated covenants on $200 million in its revolving credit line because the properties' cash flow barely covers debt service.

-----Original Message-----
From: Your Tenants Association <members@stpcvta.org>
To: xxxxx
Sent: Tue, Aug 18, 2009 12:51 pm
Subject: Rent Increase for Peter Cooper Rent Stabilized Tenants

- All Peter Cooper Rent Stabilized Tenants

Greetings!

What You Should Do About DHCR's Notice of Application By Owner for MCI Rent Increase for Water Tank an d Valves

If you are a Rent-Stabilized Tenant, you received a notice from the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) within the last few days advising that Tishman Speyer has applied for a Major Capital Improvement (MCI) rent increase to cover the cost of a water tank and valves repair in your building. All PCV buildings have received these notices.

PLEASE DO NOT DISCARD THE NOTICE. INSTEAD, PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

We are asking you to request a 60-day extension to respond to the notice, which will give the Association time to analyze the MCI application and develop a plan of action.

   1. Make two (2) copies of the notice from DHCR.

   2. On the back of one copy, write:  I request a 60-day extension.  Sign it and write the date you are mailing it.  Also include the docket number that appears on the fourth line at the upper right hand corner of the notice (It will have two letters, a space, 6 numbers, another space, and two more letters.)  Each building has a different Docket Number.

   3. Mail the form to: State of New York, Div. of Housing & Community Renewal, MCI Unit, 92-31 Union Hall St., Jamaica, NY 11433.

   4. Mail or fax a copy of the form to: PCV Watertank MCI, ST/PCV-TA, P.O. Box 1202, New York, NY 10009-1202.  Fax:  (866) 290-9036.

   5. Keep the other copy for yourself.  You will need it again in a month or two for filing a Petition for Administrative Review (PAR).  Don't worry about that now.  We'll send you full instructions for filing when the time comes.

Every resident who sends in the extension request will be helping the Tenants association to mount an effective  challenge of a nearly $3.00 per room per month rent increase we had no idea was coming and whose legitimacy we will seriously question.

-----Original Message-----
From: Your Tenants Association <members@stpcvta.org>
To: xxxxxx
Sent: Tue, Aug 18, 2009 8:50 am
Subject: 24 Hour Closure of FDR Drive Northbound

DOT Warns FDR Drive Northbound Will Be Closed For a Full 24 Hours - Tuesday 9pm

Detours to Area Streets Will Significantly Impact Local Traffic  - Plan Accordingly

Released August 17, 2009
 
The Department of Transportation (DOT) advises motorists that all three northbound lanes of the FDR Drive will be closed to traffic from East Houston Street to East 20th Street beginning at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 18th and continuing until 9 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19th.

These lanes will be closed to facilitate roadway repair work between East 14th and East 20th Streets. Upon completion of this work, one northbound lane will remain closed until further notice.

NYPD traffic agents will be stationed along detour routes  along with fixed and variable message signs will be located throughout the impacted area during the closure.

The southbound lanes of the FDR Drive will remain open throughout this period.

FDR Drive Closure PDF [Tenants Association]

Stuy Town security has found a job they are completely capable of. Fertilizer! Meanwhile for the tree-nappers, muggers, rapists, batterers, burglars, furniture dumpers, vandals, etc., it is business as usual.

It's anyone's guess as to how much of the $13.3 million dollars Tishman Speyer dumped into their sinking PCV/ST ship last month went towards unnecessary landscaping.

A concerned Sty Spy wanted to keep Lux Living readers up to date on the random thongs found in the bushes of Oval Study. Last week we told you how an Oval Amenities / Essentials member was enjoying the patio of Stuy Town's Oval Study when she was repulsed by a crusty thong discarded in the gravel. As of today the thong is still there, meaning there's still hope for the knicker-less ...lady... to reclaim her unspeakables.

Quite the treatment for the amenity / essential members who pay a yearly fee of $400 to join in addition to a separate $20 monthly fee. Don't all sign up at once!

Who says that Stuy Town U's college kids are all self-absorbed pigs? A member of Delta Beta Tool kindly took it upon himself to clean the dingy lobby floors! A Sty Spy writes:

"WTF? At about 12:30am I come home and look what I find, some dumb ass college kid dragged his SOAPY LAUNDRY through my T level lobby."

Cleanliness is next to godliness!

Previously: Keep Laundry Carts Where They Belong...Next to the Broken Washing Machines

Stuy Town residents have given up on trying to figure out Tishman Speyer's elusive furniture dumping policy. Tish-Spey's self-created dumping problem started when their transient Stuy Town community began moving out in droves, leaving piles of unwanted furniture strewn about the housing complex making it look like a sad IKEA flea market. Management's response to the problem was to plaster the buildings with threatening orange stickers followed by a less f*ck-offish sticker.

Since the failed sticker initiative, management has told Town & Village newspaper that residents need to make an appointment to have their old furniture hauled away, at their own expense of course. One resident did the math and found it would cost her nearly $80 to throw out a broken TV. When the legality of charging residents to throw out trash was addressed, Tishman Speyer's spokesperson then said each building would have a designated time and date to dispose of unwanted furniture though this information has yet to be shared with tenants.

Residents blame Tishman Speyer for the problem as they feel stickers and blurbs in local newspapers aren't the best way to keep them informed. Said one tenant, "How do they dictate policy at Rockefeller Center, through the falafel guy on the corner?"

Rush to foreclose on properties when their owners default; opportunities a-go-go

The end came remarkably quickly. Over a matter of months, Fortress Investment Group quietly snapped up deeply discounted debt on a troubled West Side condo conversion project. Two weeks ago, in an auction that lasted less then five minutes, Fortress used its position to foreclose on the property--the 597-unit Sheffield57.

Similarly, Normandy Real Estate Partners and Five Mile Capital Partners took slightly longer to foreclose on two buildings owned by battered New York developer Scott Lawlor. They spent nine months purchasing discounted debt that in March ultimately gave them the keys to Boston's famed John Hancock Tower and another building in Los Angeles.

Sources say those investors and others, including BlackRock Inc., are scouring the market for debt on distressed properties that they can buy for pennies on the dollar, and then use those positions to seize control of the properties when their owners fall behind on their debt payments. The supply of such debt is mushrooming.

"The geometric increase in upcoming mortgage and mezzanine loan maturities will provide opportunistic real estate investors with a vast new playground in which to seek their required returns," says Mark Edelstein, head of the global distressed real estate group at law firm Morrison & Foerster.

In Manhattan alone, there are 130 troubled properties worth $7.5 billion, according to Real Capital Analytics. With credit markets still frozen shut, many owners will be unable to refinance loans falling due and will have no choice but to default.

Eastdil Secured, for example, is currently marketing a $100 million debt position owned by insurer The Hartford that was used in 2006 to help finance the $5.4 billion purchase of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village by Tishman Speyer and BlackRock. The owners had hoped to deregulate a substantial number of units in the sprawling rent-regulated complex and use the increased cash flow to pare down debt. That didn't happen, and the complex has been rapidly burning through rainy-day reserve funds. A default is possible as early as this fall, sources say.

This week Stuyvesant Town tenants received Tishman Speyer's pressure wall pop-quiz [Page 1 pdf, Page 2 pdf] which hopes to rid Stuyvesant Town of the illegal pressure walls the landlord installed last year. In a rush to put asses in seats, Tishman Speyer used pressure walls to divide apartments to make them affordable to potential renters. When Tishman Speyer took over the property the cost of a one bedroom apartment skyrocketed to $3,500. Their greed backfired as the vacancy rate grew higher than the cost of a modest Stuy Town apartment. Tishman Speyer's backup plan was to allow tenants to have a cheap wall constructed in their apartments, at their cost, to divide the living room into a second bedroom. Tishman Speyer provided the tenants with a list of contractors they could use to have the walls constructed but it was soon discovered the wall design violated several building codes.

The letter Tishman Speyer sent out this week hopes to smoke out the Stuy Town residents who still have the original, illegal walls. Residents are hesitant to come forward because Tishman Speyer is passing the construction costs of the second wall on to the tenants who already paid out of pocket for the first wall.

Previously:
Lux Living Inbox Rant - Walls Aren't the Only Things Pressured!
Stuy Town's Illegal Pressure Walls Still in Use

Stuy Town residents out for their early walks on Sunday mornings are the complex's unwilling first responders to the previous night's antics. Beer cans, condoms, and thongs often litter the landscape, visual reminders of Tishman Speyer's failed "luxury" marketing campaign turned sloppy sorority. It's hard to shock a community that routinely sees Coney Island Whitefish scattered about, but a resident passing by 21 Stuyvesant Oval this morning was truly shocked at what she saw. A tree ripped from the ground outside, dragged through the front door, into an elevator, and presumably into the thief's apartment. The tree-napping happened in front of several security cameras which, surprise surprise, did nothing to stop to alcohol inspired act. 

Last week a tree on the First Avenue Loop, spitting distance from Oval Concierge, was stomped down by a passerbyer late Saturday night / early Sunday morning. That tree was also under the groggy-eyed security cameras.
 
These routine drunken stunts, the recent muggings of several seniors in Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town, and the random acts of violence taking place have residents wondering who is monitoring the security cameras? Residents paid a hefty MCI when the cameras were installed in the lobbies, elevators and across the property but based on the rise in recent criminal activity in Stuy Town, they seem to do little or nothing to deter crime.

Taking a break from reporting actual news, The New York Times published a 1,061 word advertisement for Stuyvesant Town today. Brother and sister duo Miriam and Benjamin Fink are the latest pawns in Tishman Speyer's effort to do damage control for the self-created pressure wall nightmare in Stuy Town. The article briefly discusses their move from closet-size diggs to a Stuy Town apartment which they could only afford on their modest salaries by converting the living room into a second bedroom with a pressure wall. Cute story. The end.

Unfortunately the writer of the article, Constance Rosenblume, turns Miriam and Benjamin's story into a Stuy Town infomercial:

"The Finks adored their old neighborhood. But barely 72 hours after moving into Stuyvesant Town, they were burbling about the attractions of their new home. From the kitchen window they can watch the antics of the squirrel that lives in a tree across the way. The top of the Empire State Building is visible through the branches. Their old apartment faced a brick wall, and they never knew what the weather was.

There's more. Their old kitchen was nothing more than a stove, a sink and a refrigerator next to a pull-out sofa, which, by the way, couldn't be pulled out because there was not enough space. In this kitchen, they can actually cook, a nice touch for two self-described foodies.

Now, when Ms. Fink buys groceries, she doesn't have to worry about lugging heavy bags up four flights of stairs. And they were dazzled by the presence of a linen closet; they barely knew what to put in it.

When the Finks, knowing that their lease would expire in July, started apartment hunting earlier this year, they resolved to look at nothing north of 14th Street. This building sits on the cusp of the East Village and just two blocks from the L train, on which they're only one stop from Williamsburg. It is also a doable walk to places like Marie's Crisis Cafe, a piano bar on Grove Street in the West Village that Mr. Fink particularly likes."

The article sugarcoats Stuy Town's overall downward spiral thanks to the incompetent handling of the residential newbies, Tishman Speyer. An article posted yesterday on Forbes.com reports that Tishman Speyer's $400 million cash reserve meant to tide them over until Stuy Town turns a profit, is at an all time low of $56.5 million dollars. In the month of July alone they burned through $13.3 million dollars.

Pressure wall issues? A non-responsive management office? Inconvenienced market-rate tenants? The HELL you say!

"I live in Stuyvesant Town and am being forced out of my apartment because of a bookcase wall we had built based on the recommendation of the Stuyvesant Town leasing agent who leased us our apartment. We built this wall in order to convert our one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom. Tishman Speyer is telling us that we now have to build a t-shaped, perpendicular wall in our apartment that would cut our living room in half. We have called them along with their attorney numerous times to try and find out why we have to do this and no one can give us a straight answer.

I have letters from both Tishman Speyer and their attorney. I have also been in contact with the owner of the Bookcase Wall Company and apparently there are other tenants who are dealing with this issue as well. I am happy to provide all of these documents. What they are doing is wrong and baffling since there are so many vacant apartments. I was also told on Friday, Aug. 7 that we had until Aug. 15 to decide if we wanted to break our two-year lease (we've only been living there since Jan. 2009) or have them come in to install the second wall."

Since Stuy Town's management office seems incapable of giving accurate, timely information about pressure wall problems, it may be time for this tenant to call Nikki Stern's How'm I Doin' hotline! Honestly, we thought this issue was resolved.

APTS TO RENT: $2B
TARP SURPLUS MAY GO TO STOP BUILDING FORECLOSURES

Via NY Post

First it was the banks and automakers that got a helping hand from Uncle Sam -- and soon some New York City apartment complexes could get one, too.

A bill winding its way through Congress proposes to prop up deteriorating apartment complexes by injecting $2 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program into an effort to stabilize multifamily properties in default or foreclosure.

The bill, which is called the TARP for Main Street Act and was sponsored by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-Brooklyn and Manhattan), would use TARP funds that have been returned by banks and plow it into programs that, according to the bill, would create "sustainable financing" for the complexes as well as provide funding for property rehabilitation.

The House is considering the measure, which focuses on apartment buildings with units that are either rent stabilized or receive government subsidies.

Many developers during the housing boom bought rent-regulated apartments by borrowing against the properties themselves and betting they could make hefty returns by converting them into market-rate buildings.

However, thanks to the recession and the collapse of the real estate market, many developers are now struggling to make mortgage payments, let alone finance repairs and upkeep of the properties they own.

"Just about everyone who purchased an asset in 2006 and 2007 is under water, especially the rent-stabilized complexes bought in upper Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn," said Dan Fasulo, managing director of Real Capital Analytics, a real estate research and consulting firm.

There already have been casualties. Larry Gluck of Stellar Management and partner Rockpoint Group last October defaulted on their loan for Riverton Apartments in Harlem.

More recently, developer Kent Swig lost control of Sheffield57 to hedge fund Fortress Investment Group after he defaulted on loans used to convert the former rental building into a condominium.

According to data released last month from Real Capital Analytics, 120 properties in Manhattan, including 84 apartment buildings, were considered "troubled."

Dina Levy of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board said 70,000 New York City apartments, or about 6 percent of the city's roughly 1.2 million rent-regulated units, are at risk of deterioration in part because of the market crunch.

Despite those numbers, Gluck, who in addition to Riverton also bought 16 Mitchell-Lama buildings , told The Post that the situation facing developers isn't as dire as some would believe.

Indeed, Gluck said many loans don't need a bailout because large local lenders are working with developers to prevent complexes from defaulting.

Nevertheless, Gluck, who stressed he maintains his properties, said the bill sounded like a good idea, and that real estate developers might as well collect from the government since everyone else was already getting handouts.

"As long as there is a long list of people out there with their caps in hand, why should everyone else be getting a free run?" Gluck said. "If it staves off some bank foreclosures, it is good for real estate and good for tenants."

TARP SURPLUS MAY GO TO STOP BUILDING FORECLOSURES [NY Post]

Our Stuy Town Reporter expose! The real story about the ghoulish Polish translator who resides in Stuy Town and threatens to reveal the identity of Lux Living on his incoherent blog. His fascination with graphic horror films, his unhealthy obsession with Lux Living, and the shady friend he enrolled in his Mark David Chapman-like scheme to instigate violence. In other words, the truth about the unstable, psychotic shut-in!

Dear Readers,

Thank you for reading Lux Living. I said a few months ago that I would be winding down the site and unfortunately, that time has come. The writer of the other Stuyvesant Town blog plans on publishing photos of a person he suspects is me. Unfortunately this "reporter" isn't capable of thinking big picture, his motivation and actions serve only himself.

Thank you for reading.

Lux Living

Residents in Stuy Town's 447 East 14th Street anxiously await the crime blotter which may explain what the f*ck happened to their front door. Let's hope it's not part of another violent senior mugging. On the plus side it will most likely be fixed overnight since the building houses one of Stuy Town's bait and switch model apartments.

Stuyvesant Town would like to invite new parents to Oval Kids today from 2-4pm for a special baby-friendly event. The Hidalgo Baby Food Company is hosting a focus group for new baby food flavors they will be introducing to the market this fall and they want your feedback. The Mexico based company has several delicious flavors for your baby to enjoy including Boston Baked Bean, Happy Jalapeno, and Kansas City Broiler which includes tiny pieces of delicious steak. The Moore Brothers will be on hand to supply refreshing grape juice that will doubt make all feel relaxed and at home!

As part of this exclusive event, Pampers will be on hand giving away free diapers, wet wipes, and thermometers to the first 50 babies who brave the bold brunch. Spend time with your family and be part of baby food history at yet another fantastic Oval event!

-----Original Message-----
From: Your Tenants Association <members@stpcvta.org>
To: xxxxx
Sent: Fri, Aug 7, 2009 7:21 pm
Subject: NYS Supreme Court Upholds Tenant Protection Act

Greetings!

NYS Supreme Court Upholds Garodnick/Quinn Tenant Legislation

News From City Council Speaker Christine Quinn

August 6, 2009
 
Dear New Yorker,
 
Good news!  The State Supreme Court=2 0upheld the Tenant Protection Act (Local Law 7 of 2008).  Signed into law last March, this pro-tenant law was targeted for repeal in an unwarranted lawsuit by the landlord lobby.
 
The Tenant Protection Act gives tenants the power to confront a landlord who engages in a pattern of behavior designed to get them out of their homes.  Contrary to the assertions of the landlord lobby, this law is neither vague nor unnecessary. 
 
What you have with the Tenant Protection Act is a sensible legislative measure designed to help people take action against the reckless acts of the unscrupulous few.  And thanks to the decision by the State Supreme Court, this law will continue to help those who need it for years to come. 
 
To read more about this important court decision click here. [PDF]  I am also attaching a copy of the court's decision to this e-mail.
 
Sincerely,
Christine C. Quinn
Speaker
New York City Council

Today NY Magazine's Daily Intel ran a piece about the Stuy Town U article published by NY Press this week which dicsussed the culture clash between Stuy Town residents and the recent influx of college students. The Daily Intel writer, who resides in Stuy Town, writes:
 

"As one third of the Daily Intel team lives in Stuy Town, we can assure you there are a handful of young people that make it bad for the rest of us. There was a group of what had to be 35 students apparently crammed into the three-bedroom apartment above Intel Chris's early this year, and the noise was so ridiculous that even at the quietest moments you could still hear the bubbling from their water bong through the floor. But after a number of complaints from neighbors, they were kicked out -- which is just how it happens in any apartment building anywhere else in the city. It just seems awfully silly to generalize about people so glibly in Stuyvesant Town. After all, you don't read about the "students" complaining at paying one, two, and three times the price for their apartments so that the entire complex can continue operating and rent-controlled tenants can enjoy their market-rate facilities."

Tishman Speyer, Stuy Town's owner and inept management co., has been advertising heavily at local colleges such as Columbia, where they have put up posters for their MyFirstNYApt.com website which clearly targets a younger crowd. And why would these kids complain? They are given free first and last month's rent for the first year in addition to not having to put down a security deposit. With the questionable pressure walls, a $2,500 month apartment costs each of the three occupants a little over $833. a month, far less than the previously mentioned rent-stabilized tenant, (there are NO rent-controlled apartments in Stuy Town). The students also enjoy the benefit of new stainless steel appliances, a modernized apartment, and a dishwasher - none of which stabilized tenants have. So, yeah, why would they complain?  

Via Town & Village

A Sty Spy out to enjoy a quiet morning at Stuyvesant Town's Oval Study was distracted, not by the vast selection of books the study hut has to offer, but by the crusty thong she noticed on the patio. Let's not assume the debutante who left it behind was whoring it up in the bushes, perhaps the eager beaver was rushing to her study group and didn't realize her twine slipped off. Either way it's a good idea to Purell the seats on the patio before using.

Via Town & Village

Stuyvesant Town's Leasing Director, Nikki Stern, and The LeFrak Organization's Richard Wernick, are proving to be quite the headache for Tishman Speyer and Stuyvesant Town. Stern is making a lot of enemies at the leasing office by quoting potential residents one price for a pressure wall only to jack up the cost once the tenant has signed a lease as she did to this furious tenant:

 "I just got off the phone with Nikki Stern, head of leasing at Stuy town. I recently signed for a one bedroom apt to share with a friend. I was told by multiple agents that the pressurized wall would cost me 1200 to 1400 dollars. Well, it in fact is going to cost me 1950 dollars. I tried to explain my case to a number of Stuy Town leasing managers until I was forwarded to the head bitch, Nikki Stern. Not only is she rude, unintelligent, and daft, but she is completely unaccommodating as well. It was my fault, evidently that Stuy Town agents lied to me about the price of the wall."

The bait and switch is an ongoing problem for new Stuyvesant Town tenants who suspect someone is getting a kickback. A Lux Living reader sent us an email tonight explaining a connection between Stuy Town's Stern and LeFrak's Wernick. They're married.

 "Nikki Stern is Nikki Stern-Wernick, Richard (LeFrak) is the leasing Directors husband.  Also, you know how the temporary walls are so expensive?  Guess who gets a cut of each one?  That is right, Richard Wernick because they need to go through Nikki to get approved.  Dirty dealing or what."

You may remember Wernick, an Executive Leasing Director at The LeFrak Organization, from his hate filled diatribes against Stuy Town residents on Lux Living last month. Wernick wrote:

 "You people are all pathetic. Met Life and/or Tishman Speyer are not your benefactors. Most of you just whine and whine that your undeserved charity is being taken from you. You complain that this country is like Iran but then contradict yourselves by saying Companies should not be allowed to make money off of their investments and should provide people with cheap housing. Seriously, you are all pathetic whiners who are living off of my tax dollars.

 ...you have parks and playgrounds. How many of you are illegally living in your dead grandmothers apartments??? And students live near you? Oh poor you.

 And now they are giving away a car. While most people would think that was a cool thing, no, you now need to complain about the fact that you need to pay taxes on it???? Good. Your tax dollars can go to help pay your neighbors government-subsidized rent. And you even have to pay tax on the free parking as a gift, man that sucks. You already don't pay utilities. Should Tishman Speyer pay for your damn groceries and health insurance too? Or maybe you should have government regulated caps on your drinks and dinner when you go out at night so that we have a dining control board."

He went on to call one Stuy Town resident a "...money grubbing, charity leaching loser" and suggested he "...grow up and stop complaining. Get a better paying job or move out of the city. Are you on food stamps as well???"

If the possible wall kickback wasn't bad enough Stuyvesant Town is now requiring that tenants foot the bill to have their illegal pressure walls removed. When Stuy Town first offered the pressure wall alternative to residents, the walls were not up to code, blocking out sufficient amounts of sunlight and air from entering the apartments, as well a being a danger to firefighters. The walls were later redesigned but the initial hazardous walls still exist throughout the complex. Another tenant writes:

 "...we used a company on their approved list of companies to build a wall and that company (suspiciously missing from the list on sty-town's notification) built it against NY fire code. Now Sty-Town is asking us to fix it? They MUST be kidding."

WHAT a breeding ground for con-artists.

Lux Living loves receiving the grammatically challenged, overly exuberant e-mails from Oval Concierge but we admit this particular e-mail is such a train wreck we're not even going to try to compete with it.

From:  "Oval Concierge" <ovalconcierge@abigailmichaels.com>
Subject: News from Oval Concierge
Date:  August 5, 2009 6:55:12 PM EDT
To:  xxxxxx

Dear Oval Concierge Member,
 
Despite the occasional rain, it is really starting to feel like summer in New York City. Considering all the incredible, FREE events happening throughout the city in August, there is no excuse to not go out and have some fun with your family or friends. There are myriad concerts, live bands, plays, and special screenings happening in all five boroughs at no charge whatsoever. Take a look below at what your concierges have put together for you to do. With all these cool happenings going on around the city, we're just as excited as you are to experience all that the city has to offer this month. There is something here for any one of any age so go enjoy the best kind of fun there is, the FREE kind! As always, don't hesitate to get in contact with us with any questions that you may have.
 
Warm Wishes,
 
THE OVAL CONCIERGE TEAM

 

If Oval Conceirge is looking to attract new business perhaps they should start by polishing up their communication skills. Would you want these people to have access to your credit card information and be in charge of booking your travel arrangements? Quite frightening.

Residents of Stuyvesant Town who park their cars in the complex's underground garages are coming down with a hacking cough they suspect is caused by rotting pipes. An ambitious construction project orchestrated by Tishman Speyer aims to remove the asbestos from the ceilings surrounding the pipes in all seven parking garages by the end of 2010. Construction on the project began two weeks ago and residents who use the garages are consulting physicians because of a cough they are calling 'garage gasp'.

Steven Sodderberg has parked his car in garage on 14th Street for three years without incident but when the construction began he developed a painful cough. "It started with a dry cough and within a week I was coughing up blood," he tells us. "The blood and rapid weight loss was a drag. It's murder on my sex life." Sodderberg went to Beth Israel Hospital where doctors diagnosed him with having mesothelioma. Sodderberg said he recently hired a lawyer.

New York Press writer, and Stuy Town resident, Henry Melcher, writes about his recent move to Stuy Town and the stigma of being under 30 in a complex in transition from middle-class housing to college campus.

"For years Stuyvesant Town was a middle-class oasis in Manhattan. Now college kids looking for a good deal are taking over. HENRY MELCHER tries to understand why his neighbors love to hate him.

Nothing seemed to change all that much while MetLife remained the owners of the sprawling East Village complex. Soon after real estate giant Tishman Speyer's 2006 purchase of Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village for $5.4 billion, the largest real estate purchase in American history, the college kids began to show up. According to many Stuy Town residents, what once was considered a middle-class oasis in the heart of the city has become a dorm overrun by noisy, binge-drinking, pot-smoking, disrespectful college students--who might even use the stairwells as toilets. I guess I'm one of these reviled college kids. I attend NYU and, as of this summer, I moved into Stuy Town with a roommate only to discover how our neighbors love to hate us.

According to Steinberg, who is currently the vice president of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association, things first began to change after MetLife went public in 2000. "The maintenance staff was no longer quite as helpful," she says. "They started outsourcing services and then, all of a sudden, we saw that instead of two porters for every building, there was only one." Now she blames Tishman Speyer for problems of general upkeep, maintenance and appearance of the grounds. For example, the Oval Lawn used to be a hallowed, keep-off-the-grass spot, not for casual recreation. "Everywhere you look, there are problems. I don't think [Tishman Speyer] understood what it was to be a residential landlord," Steinberg explains.

On the other hand, my roommate and I have had nothing to complain about since we moved in. Every appliance works, we have no mice and our building is always clean. Once I even woke up to the noise of gardeners planting a flowerbed outside of my window.

Steinberg claims to have seen the effects of the changing housing market first-hand as college students began piling into one-and two-bedrooms in the property. "There's a lot of tension. It's a shame," Steinberg says. "I hate to generalize, but I think a lot of college students are treating it like a dorm and not a real residence. Those who have been living here for a while feel as though they're not treating things with respect.

In fact, the only "official" relationship between NYU and Stuy Town has been the 95 apartments the university rents out for graduate students. Next year there will only be 70 apartments, according to John Beckman, a spokesperson for NYU. Beckman says that, despite Stuy Town and many other apartment buildings reducing rent, he hasn't seen a steep exodus of students moving off-campus even with a slight increase in the price of dorms.

Although it's difficult to gauge how many of the new tenants are NYU students, or from other area colleges since no official records are kept on the matter, just visit the first of the month as the Stuy Town roads are filled with trucks from pressurized wall companies. It's like a college move-in day."

Welcome To Stuy Town U [NY Press]

The Real Deal's August cover story features the best and worst real estate deals since the the collapse of Lehman Brothers and sure enough, Tishman Speyer and their directionless Stuyvesant Town are among the worst:

"Worst: Tishman Speyer's purchase of Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town from MetLife for $5.4 billion. Tishman Speyer's landmark purchase of the middle-income housing complex Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town for an eye-popping $5.4 billion was made back in 2006, but the chickens are coming home to roost these days.

A current court case --- centered on whether Tishman and the complex's previous owner, MetLife, illegally deregulated apartments while receiving a tax abatement intended for regulated buildings -- could impact thousands of city landlords. If Tishman loses, the company estimated investors could be forced to refund $200 million in rents to market-rate tenants. Another $10 million class action lawsuit was filed in May, accusing Tishman of using illegal tactics to evict regulated tenants.

Unfortunately for Tishman, its ability to make money on the complex depended on rents continuing to increase (they have fallen 17.5 percent in Manhattan in the past year, according to appraiser Jonathan Miller), and on evicting a higher number of regulated tenants than has been possible, despite hiring three law firms to ferret out tenants breaking stabilization laws.

To put it nicely, "They may have over-estimated the amount of people who occupied the complex illegally," Real Capital Analytics' Fasulo said.

In April, Fitch Ratings ranked the loan one of its 10 largest of concern nationally. The agency calculated that the 11,227-unit complex's reserve fund would be wiped out in six months. Portions of rents collected from deregulated units -- 36 percent of the complex as of last summer -- are being held in an escrow account pending litigation and cannot be used to pay off debt service, according to Fitch.

Now, according to one estimate, the complex is worth "maybe 60 percent of the original purchase price." Rumor is, Tishman is now asking equity investors to pitch in 15 percent in cash.

The company, headed by Jerry Speyer, isn't the only one struggling after purchasing a major complex: Stellar Management purchased Riverton Houses in Harlem under the aggressive assumption that it could turn 53 percent of units there market rate by 2011."

The best and worst deals
The 15 biggest winners and losers since the crunch [The Real Deal]

Image courtesy of a Lux Living reader.

Dear Stuyvesant town Residonts:

Your most valuable of consiairjes Manny is enthralled to bring you good news on what would have been an otherwise uneventful Monday in the Bif Appel! We have noticed that despite the plethora of emails we send you about exicitng events and exklusive valuable offers you have not called us your most beloved of conserjests. Not even once.

Now it very well could be that you have all moved out as indikated by the sea of moving vans on the loops this weekend. Or it could be the morojity of Stuy Town residents are under 25 and don't need theter tickets to Kiss Me kate. Or it could be that people have become keen to the idea they can make their own restirant or Super Dive reservations for free. Or it could be that people can get stamps at any post ofice or bodega and dont need us to sell them 75 cent 44 cent stamps for a monthly charge. Or it could be people enjoy walken their dogs for free. Or it could be nobody needs a photocopy anymore. Or it could be we have a First Avenue address but we are not on First Avenue so we cant be found. It could be alot!

Oval Concierge is now extra comited to offering you more choices to the residonts of Stuyvesant Town and the Peter Cooper Village! We are excited to announce that three days ago we have beguns to give you the opportunity to use Oval Concierege...FOR FREE! Just kidding. Now we'll just nickle and dim you for each individual service! Now of course it kind of sucks for those two residents who paid in full for the same services last month but we didn't give them the facney printed correspondacne under the door like the exclusive offer you have just been bestowed so shhhh.

But if you want the golden prememium expereience you can still pay the exclusiv price which will grant you all of the same services the pay as you go members get but in addition we will call you a bus when needed and hold your mail! A real rare luxury in this the crazy city!

So plese come see for yourself the services we have in store for you and don't forget to stop by for your free umbrella and dont forgit to tell them Manny sent you!

Manny
Oval Conserje
American Leighway
Newark Airprot
Eye of the tiger

It's that time of the month again. No not that time! It's the first weekend of the month and time to witness Stuy Town's transient community in action! Each month Stuy Town residents sit back and watch another family move out and another fraternity move in, all leaving a wake of garbage and furniture strewn about the complex.

Are these crusty mattresses part of a new Yunnie hookup spot? Nah, they were part of the old Yunnie hookup spot.

Shop IKEA online or at your front door.

Beer Summits are teachable moments!

Dude and Bro grow a garden.

Separating paper and plastic proves to be too confusing after the wake and bake.

Convenient seating for the soon-to-be-mugged seniors supplied by Alpha Beta Douche.

There's no shortage of suspicious fluids to slip on in Stuy Town.

Why don't we do it in the Oval.

Residents of Stuyvesant Town, Tishman Speyer's failed venture into residential property, are concerned with the increase of algae in front of their buildings. Excessive summer heat in combination with the constant watering of the rain drenched landscaping is creating an algae problem that has tenants concerned for their safety.

Jennifer Johanson moved into her new Stuyvesant Town apartment this weekend and slipped on the algae while carrying heavy furniture into her building. "The ground was really wet. I was carrying a coffee table when I slipped on something," she tells us. "I fell flat on my ass on a sheet of green slime just as the sprinklers came on. I was soaked."

The landscaping in Stuyvesant Town has been a problem for tenants since last summer when Tishman Speyer hired the California based PWP Landscape Architects to viciously rearrange the peaceful grounds. Most of the trees the firm planted died in the ground due in large part to the faulty irrigation system they installed.

The irrigation system has been the root of many accidents and mystery illnesses residents of Stuy Town are facing. Last month several tenants and their children were nearly killed when large tree branch came crashing to the ground. The irrigation system waters the trees several times a day despite the recent record breaking rainfall in New York City.

Aside from large branches randomly falling from the sky residents have been catching a mysterious flu after spending time on the property's main park, the Oval. Large puddles of standing water have become a hot-spot for mosquitoes that are breeding in record numbers this summer.  And now residents have to deal with algae.

"Mosquitoes. Branches. Rats. And now algae? It's a nightmare out there," says Agnes Angaloo, an 87 year-old resident of 9 Stuyvesant Oval. "Between that and the crime I am terrified to leave my apartment."

Tishman Speyer spokesperson, Bud Perrone, dismissed the idea that algae was the cause of the accident. "Oh please! That woman fell out of her flip-flops."

Dear Stuy Town Reisdots,

Come see for yourself! It's finally upon us! The dog days of summer. And what whirlwind of a summer it has been! Your xonserirges have been hard at work making sure that you make sure you can have an exciting and entralling lifetsyle in the STuyvesant Town. From mad dope art battles on the Ovil lawn to exkquiste wine tastings in the Ovval Longe, Stuyvesnt Town continues to offer all the Big Aple has to offer right in your backyard. And we're not threw yet!

We know what your thinking. Manny, I want to enjoy the last few days of summer but it's too hot and I sweat like a whore in church whenever I leave my converted convertible apartment. How can I look good and feel glamourous in Stuy Town? Funny you shuld ask! Your most indispossible conserarges have been busy trying to make sure you end your summer with a bang. No, not an eviction notice, a party! This month we have the most regal of events scheduled for you to partake in such a an exclusiev party by the Stila Cosmetics, delicous and fresh pastry tastings, and just for couples, a romantic chocolit covered strawberry suckoff!

And for those of you oh so sadly single we have a variety of party of one events where you can mix and mingle with other singles. From romantic comedies shown in the Oval Film to self help classes and courses in the Ovil Study you can take to find out what's wrong with you, you will always have something to do!

So whether you lay in the grass and enjoy some stealth sangria or just enjoy some free wi fi on a bench please, come to the oval and see what we have cooked up for you. You may even see manny grilling by the fountain! So come see for yourself!

Manny
Ovil Conseirge
American lesuree
Newark Aoprot
old school