Via Town & Village
December 2009 Archives
Via Curbed
A spokesman for Tishman Speyer just sent over a statement explaining that the Stuyvesant Town landlord's inability to rent vacant apartments while the rent-stabilization mess got sorted out is ending along with the wild and wacky year of 2009. On January 4th, approximately 100 vacant apartments will be available at rent-stabilized rates calculated on a per-apartment basis. Tishman Speyer will be going down the waiting list in chronological order until the apartments are filled.
Here's the deal:
The interim agreement is in place for six months, though the court's ruling would seem to indicate that the stabilized rents are here to stay.
Stuy Town Rent Freeze Thawing; 100 Apartments Available [Curbed]
Related:
Tishman to Resume Stuyvesant Town Apartment Leasing (Update1) [Business Week]
A spokesman for Tishman Speyer just sent over a statement explaining that the Stuyvesant Town landlord's inability to rent vacant apartments while the rent-stabilization mess got sorted out is ending along with the wild and wacky year of 2009. On January 4th, approximately 100 vacant apartments will be available at rent-stabilized rates calculated on a per-apartment basis. Tishman Speyer will be going down the waiting list in chronological order until the apartments are filled.Here's the deal:
As of January 4, 2010, we will begin leasing approximately 100 vacant apartments to those who contacted us to be placed on a waiting list following the Court of Appeals decision in the J-51 case. A small number of apartments, with interim rents substantially below market, are being offered to current rent stabilized residents of the community, with the remaining apartments being offered to all others on the waiting list. We are contacting those who joined the waiting list first and will move down the list in chronological order until each available unit is leased.
"The interim rents on these apartments have been determined using the same formula that was used to determine interim rents for existing tenants pursuant to our recent agreement with the tenant plaintiff's counsel. As is the case with current residents, each new resident will be afforded the rights of automatic lease renewal and succession rights available to rent stabilized tenants, during the term of the interim agreement and any extension of it.
The interim agreement is in place for six months, though the court's ruling would seem to indicate that the stabilized rents are here to stay.
Stuy Town Rent Freeze Thawing; 100 Apartments Available [Curbed]
Related:
Tishman to Resume Stuyvesant Town Apartment Leasing (Update1) [Business Week]
"Love Nest" by Ken Canaan - 2009
As a last ditch effort to revive the D.O.A. Oval Amenities, Stuyvesant Town's Oval Lounge is hosting a New Year's Eve Art Show. The event highlights the work of local artists who chose to make Stuy Town their full time muse.
The show, titled "Oh Make Me Over," highlights Stuyvesant Town's transition from Met Life's family-orientated community to Tishman Speyer's trashy, suburbanite stomping ground. Submissions were collected through the resident portal website and finalists were chosen by a panel of New York's cultural elite including former New Museum curator Dan Cameron, art dealer Jeffrey Deitch, and performance artist Karen Finley.
The event is December 31st and starts at 10PM in the Oval Lounge. Admission is $50 per guest and a silent auction will be held at 11PM. All proceeds go to the Oval Amenities Charity which hopes to keep the amenities open until the end of 2010.
A Stuy Spy writes:
Well, Lux Living is all about poor taste so here it is:
"Three years ago (12/14/2006) I bought a full-page ad in Town and Village to publish a satire on Steve Stadmeyer, then manager of PVC/ST. It was called, "Stadmeyer's Christmas Surprise." [PDF] You may have seen it. It got quite a response. Apparently, nobody showed it to the publisher, Chris Hagedorn, before publishing it. He was quite upset.
Now I have updated the satire, writing about Rob and Jerry. I tried to publish it in T&V, buying a full page, but they showed it to Hagedorn and he refused. I said that they could put a disclaimer on it, that it was satire, but he said it was in "poor taste." He checked up on me in '06 and found I no longer lived in PCV. (I deliberately waited until I moved out because I believed they would evict me.) He said he doesn't know why I'm so angry. He said, "That's it. I just choose not to publish it.""
Well, Lux Living is all about poor taste so here it is:
Continue reading The Return of the Stadmeyer Christmas!.
Ah, the Oval
Jerry, Rob, and Clarabelle the goat. (Again with the goats!)
Rob's day laborers break a water pipe.
It's the Stuy Town mascot, Penis with Chicken Feet!
The infamous Avenue C dumpsters!
Merry Christmas!
The website Multifamily Investor has compiled of it's top-ten stories of 2009 and to nobody's surprise, Tishman Speyer's Stuy Town makes number 1:
"Stuyvesant Town: Where to start in this bouillabaisse? Every applicable city agency supported or signed off on the following conclusion: If you receive J-51 tax benefits for improving your apartment building, and your building was rent regulated prior to receiving these benefits, you can remove units from rent regulation once they reached $2000 per month. The New York State Court of Appeals held that the NYC agencies were flat out wrong for about a decade, even though the New York State legislature was silent on this interpretation. The Court had previously ruled that if City agencies interpret legislation in a particular way, and the Legislature stays quiet long after, then the Legislature is deemed to have consented to such an interpretation. End of story. Not so here. The Court of Appeals changed the rules midstream, and will unleash a tidal wave of litigation: owners suing the City, tenants in class action suits suing owners, and a host of unresolved procedural issues stemming from bad law. How do you calculate what a tenant can recover? Will courts extract triple damages from owners? What requirements does an owner have to repay and track down tenants who have since left? Can you ever drink red wine with fish?
The other significant issue is that this purchase epitomized all that was wrong with bad underwriting in the early part of this decade. What was assumed? Unrealistic vacancy/turnover rates, climbing rents, a continually growing economy, the ability to condo, the insignificance of negative cash flow. And yet, lenders fell all over themselves trying to finance this deal. It is said that sometimes the best deals you do are the ones you don't do. Every bank that failed to secure the financing, every buyer that failed to clinch the deal, must be thanking their lucky stars every day. Of course, Stuyvesant Town gets the most deserved coverage because of the deal's size and scope. This is what I call the "Madoff effect." Other Ponzi schemers' names have fallen by the wayside because Madoff dwarfed everyone by comparison. Likewise, plenty of real estate neophytes and savvy investors alike made the same fundamental errors of judgment. It will be very interesting to see if investors resume jumping on deals that are not fire sales because other (foreign) investors can sit on their cash no more."
Top 10 New York Multifamily Stories of 2009 [Multifamily Investor]
"Stuyvesant Town: Where to start in this bouillabaisse? Every applicable city agency supported or signed off on the following conclusion: If you receive J-51 tax benefits for improving your apartment building, and your building was rent regulated prior to receiving these benefits, you can remove units from rent regulation once they reached $2000 per month. The New York State Court of Appeals held that the NYC agencies were flat out wrong for about a decade, even though the New York State legislature was silent on this interpretation. The Court had previously ruled that if City agencies interpret legislation in a particular way, and the Legislature stays quiet long after, then the Legislature is deemed to have consented to such an interpretation. End of story. Not so here. The Court of Appeals changed the rules midstream, and will unleash a tidal wave of litigation: owners suing the City, tenants in class action suits suing owners, and a host of unresolved procedural issues stemming from bad law. How do you calculate what a tenant can recover? Will courts extract triple damages from owners? What requirements does an owner have to repay and track down tenants who have since left? Can you ever drink red wine with fish?The other significant issue is that this purchase epitomized all that was wrong with bad underwriting in the early part of this decade. What was assumed? Unrealistic vacancy/turnover rates, climbing rents, a continually growing economy, the ability to condo, the insignificance of negative cash flow. And yet, lenders fell all over themselves trying to finance this deal. It is said that sometimes the best deals you do are the ones you don't do. Every bank that failed to secure the financing, every buyer that failed to clinch the deal, must be thanking their lucky stars every day. Of course, Stuyvesant Town gets the most deserved coverage because of the deal's size and scope. This is what I call the "Madoff effect." Other Ponzi schemers' names have fallen by the wayside because Madoff dwarfed everyone by comparison. Likewise, plenty of real estate neophytes and savvy investors alike made the same fundamental errors of judgment. It will be very interesting to see if investors resume jumping on deals that are not fire sales because other (foreign) investors can sit on their cash no more."
Top 10 New York Multifamily Stories of 2009 [Multifamily Investor]
Via NY Post
Embattled owners of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village failed to get a $1.5 billion Christmas bailout they had hoped to collect from Uncle Sam.
The desperate attempt to cover a cash shortfall on the historic 80-acre housing development began two weeks ago when the property's owners, Tishman Speyer and BlackRock, applied for bailout funds, using the housing assets as collateral for a new federally backed bond.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which received 58 applications for bailout bonds under its Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), accepted all but three of the requests, including the StuyTown application.
As of last month, the owners had just $6.75 million left in reserves for StuyTown, according to credit rating agency RealPoint. That isn't enough even to cover December's costs, which include more than 6 percent interest on a $3 billion loan.
The New York Fed gave no reason for rejecting the request. The value of the property has plummeted by more than one-half to about $2 billion due to its inability to raise regulated rents to market rates.
The fate of StuyTown has hung in the balance since the state's highest court ruled in October that Tishman was unable to raise rents on the 11,000 apartments that make up the residential complex. Tishman and BlackRock bought the property in 2006 for $5.4 billion -- the height of the real-estate boom -- and have since had trouble making debt payments.
Earlier this month, thousands of the tenants got their holiday presents early when it was announced their rents would be rolled back for at least six months beginning Jan. 1.
The New York State Court of Appeals ruling ordered all the rents permanently rolled back -- and a joint announcement indicated that both sides are working to make that happen, although they have yet to finalize an agreement.
A person close to the StuyTown partnership said, "We fully expect the borrowers will make the December payments," and that a default will more likely come next month.
No $1.5B gift for StuyTown [NY Post]
Embattled owners of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village failed to get a $1.5 billion Christmas bailout they had hoped to collect from Uncle Sam.
The desperate attempt to cover a cash shortfall on the historic 80-acre housing development began two weeks ago when the property's owners, Tishman Speyer and BlackRock, applied for bailout funds, using the housing assets as collateral for a new federally backed bond.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which received 58 applications for bailout bonds under its Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), accepted all but three of the requests, including the StuyTown application.
As of last month, the owners had just $6.75 million left in reserves for StuyTown, according to credit rating agency RealPoint. That isn't enough even to cover December's costs, which include more than 6 percent interest on a $3 billion loan.
The New York Fed gave no reason for rejecting the request. The value of the property has plummeted by more than one-half to about $2 billion due to its inability to raise regulated rents to market rates.
The fate of StuyTown has hung in the balance since the state's highest court ruled in October that Tishman was unable to raise rents on the 11,000 apartments that make up the residential complex. Tishman and BlackRock bought the property in 2006 for $5.4 billion -- the height of the real-estate boom -- and have since had trouble making debt payments.
Earlier this month, thousands of the tenants got their holiday presents early when it was announced their rents would be rolled back for at least six months beginning Jan. 1.
The New York State Court of Appeals ruling ordered all the rents permanently rolled back -- and a joint announcement indicated that both sides are working to make that happen, although they have yet to finalize an agreement.
A person close to the StuyTown partnership said, "We fully expect the borrowers will make the December payments," and that a default will more likely come next month.
No $1.5B gift for StuyTown [NY Post]
The Night Before Stuy Town Christmas
by Rob Speyer*
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Stuy
Not a student was stirring, no one left to get high;
The eviction notices were hung on the front doors with care,
In hopes that market rate renters soon would be there;
The tenants were nestled with bugs in their beds,
Thanks to filthy Stuy dorms, some of which were co-ed;
The beard in her boxers, and I in my coat,
Had just settled down with Clarabelle the goat,
When out on the sidewalk the dumpsters did clatter,
I sprang from the bed mad as a hatter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tripped on a cold heat pipe and opened a gash.
The moon on the crust of the filth down below
Gave the luster of swamp gas to the yellow snow,
When, what to my bloodshot eyes should appear,
But a miniature dumpster, pulled by local rats in leather gear
With a skanky old driver, so stinkin' drunk and yet so merry;
I knew in a moment it must be fuckin' Jerry!
More rabid than 'coons his coursers they came,
Like a pimp to his bitches he called them by name;
"Now, Hatzmann! now, Habersham! now, Cohen and Stern!
On, Mayor Bloomberg, working on your fourth term!
To the top of Peter Cooper! to the top of Co Ed!"
Jerry rode those twirps hard until they all bled!
As dry leaves that before the leaf blowers fly,
When they meet with a lawsuit, mount to the sky,
So up to the top of Stuy Town they flew,
With the dumpster full disappointment, and fuckin' Jerry too.
And then, all the sobbing, I heard from the tenants,
The begging and pleading as they all did their penance.
Down the garbage shoot fuckin' Jerry came with a bound.
Knocking old ladies right to the ground,
And his Brooks Brothers suit tarnished with trash and soot;
On an a stabilized tenant's throat he did rest his foot.
A bundle of golubs he had flung on his back,
Hoping he could win his Stuyvesant Town back!
His horns -- how pointy! his chins so many!
Now we know why he's called "fat bastard Jerry!"
His little black eyes sparkled like treasure,
Evicting Stuy tenants, gave him such pleasure!;
The stump of a pipe he clenched tight in his teeth,
Like the smell of burned flesh my apartment soon wreaked;
He had a sagging old face and a disgusting fat belly,
And when he saw me said, "Young Rob, you 'ol nelly!"
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had everything to dread;
He hissed not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled stockings with eviction notices, oh what a jerk!
And laying his middle finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the trash shoot he rose;
He sprang to his dumpster, to his team he called 'bitches',
And away they all flew like creepy old witches.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Good riddance to Stuy Town, and to all a cold-night."
*Not written by Rob Speyer
by Rob Speyer*
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Stuy
Not a student was stirring, no one left to get high;
The eviction notices were hung on the front doors with care,
In hopes that market rate renters soon would be there;
The tenants were nestled with bugs in their beds,
Thanks to filthy Stuy dorms, some of which were co-ed;
The beard in her boxers, and I in my coat,
Had just settled down with Clarabelle the goat,
When out on the sidewalk the dumpsters did clatter,
I sprang from the bed mad as a hatter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tripped on a cold heat pipe and opened a gash.
The moon on the crust of the filth down below
Gave the luster of swamp gas to the yellow snow,
When, what to my bloodshot eyes should appear,
But a miniature dumpster, pulled by local rats in leather gear
With a skanky old driver, so stinkin' drunk and yet so merry;
I knew in a moment it must be fuckin' Jerry!
More rabid than 'coons his coursers they came,
Like a pimp to his bitches he called them by name;
"Now, Hatzmann! now, Habersham! now, Cohen and Stern!
On, Mayor Bloomberg, working on your fourth term!
To the top of Peter Cooper! to the top of Co Ed!"
Jerry rode those twirps hard until they all bled!
As dry leaves that before the leaf blowers fly,
When they meet with a lawsuit, mount to the sky,
So up to the top of Stuy Town they flew,
With the dumpster full disappointment, and fuckin' Jerry too.
And then, all the sobbing, I heard from the tenants,
The begging and pleading as they all did their penance.
Down the garbage shoot fuckin' Jerry came with a bound.
Knocking old ladies right to the ground,
And his Brooks Brothers suit tarnished with trash and soot;
On an a stabilized tenant's throat he did rest his foot.
A bundle of golubs he had flung on his back,
Hoping he could win his Stuyvesant Town back!
His horns -- how pointy! his chins so many!
Now we know why he's called "fat bastard Jerry!"
His little black eyes sparkled like treasure,
Evicting Stuy tenants, gave him such pleasure!;
The stump of a pipe he clenched tight in his teeth,
Like the smell of burned flesh my apartment soon wreaked;
He had a sagging old face and a disgusting fat belly,
And when he saw me said, "Young Rob, you 'ol nelly!"
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had everything to dread;
He hissed not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled stockings with eviction notices, oh what a jerk!
And laying his middle finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the trash shoot he rose;
He sprang to his dumpster, to his team he called 'bitches',
And away they all flew like creepy old witches.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Good riddance to Stuy Town, and to all a cold-night."
*Not written by Rob Speyer
Via Curbed
Christmas came a few days early to the 4,400 or so newly rent-stabilized Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village tenants: January rent bills have reached mailboxes, reflecting the new, post-lawsuit rents. The recalculated rents are a mystery to most tenants, so tearing open the envelope will provide the same adrenaline rush as ripping into a wrapped present on Christmas morning. As per the interim agreement, these estimated stabilized rents will be in place for at least January and February while a more thorough unit-by-unit review is conducted and the issue of refunding rent overcharges is resolved. That being said, we've already heard a bit of disappointment from some Stuy Town renters who didn't quite see the huge reductions they were expecting. But that really shouldn't have come as a surprise.
Here's what people are paying. >>
Beyond the annual increases allowed by the Rent Stabilization law, larger increases are permitted each time an apartment turns over to a new tenant, as well as to make up for renovation costs (each market-rate Stuy Town unit was renovated before being de-stabilized, and there have been many Major Capital Improvement projects). Given the way the post-collegiate crowd has been sardined into Stuy Town apartments over the past few years, it's no shocker that many apartments have seen numerous tenant turnovers.
We've compiled all the info from Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village tenants who've told us their old vs. new rent. Here's what we've got so far:
$2,775 --> $2,555 (-$220, 1BR)
$3,000 --> $2,600 (-$400, 1BR)
$3,080 --> $2,600 (-$480, 1BR)
$2,990 --> $2,430 (-$560, 1BR)
$3,275 --> $2,633 (-$642, 1BR)
$3,318 --> ~$2,400 (-$918, 1BR)
And in a couple cases, the stabilized rent has actually been calculated higher than the market-rate rent, in which case the tenants can continue paying the market rent:
$2,500 --> $2,711 (+$211)
$2,600 --> $2,900 (+$300)
The stabilized rents don't seem too far off from what the rents should be in this crap rental market, so it seems the prophecies of impending Rentpocalypse may have been exaggerated, though there's still that pesky rental freeze going on. If we're not mistaken (please correct us if we are), the tax breaks received by landlord Tishman Speyer that triggered this whole mess will expire in 2019, and then apartments can once again be de-stabilized.
But until then, a $918 monthly reduction is the current mark to beat. Any other Stuy Towners wish to share their good fortune?
A Guide to Stuy Town's New Rents [Curbed]
Christmas came a few days early to the 4,400 or so newly rent-stabilized Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village tenants: January rent bills have reached mailboxes, reflecting the new, post-lawsuit rents. The recalculated rents are a mystery to most tenants, so tearing open the envelope will provide the same adrenaline rush as ripping into a wrapped present on Christmas morning. As per the interim agreement, these estimated stabilized rents will be in place for at least January and February while a more thorough unit-by-unit review is conducted and the issue of refunding rent overcharges is resolved. That being said, we've already heard a bit of disappointment from some Stuy Town renters who didn't quite see the huge reductions they were expecting. But that really shouldn't have come as a surprise.
Here's what people are paying. >>
Beyond the annual increases allowed by the Rent Stabilization law, larger increases are permitted each time an apartment turns over to a new tenant, as well as to make up for renovation costs (each market-rate Stuy Town unit was renovated before being de-stabilized, and there have been many Major Capital Improvement projects). Given the way the post-collegiate crowd has been sardined into Stuy Town apartments over the past few years, it's no shocker that many apartments have seen numerous tenant turnovers.
We've compiled all the info from Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village tenants who've told us their old vs. new rent. Here's what we've got so far:
$2,775 --> $2,555 (-$220, 1BR)
$3,000 --> $2,600 (-$400, 1BR)
$3,080 --> $2,600 (-$480, 1BR)
$2,990 --> $2,430 (-$560, 1BR)
$3,275 --> $2,633 (-$642, 1BR)
$3,318 --> ~$2,400 (-$918, 1BR)
And in a couple cases, the stabilized rent has actually been calculated higher than the market-rate rent, in which case the tenants can continue paying the market rent:
$2,500 --> $2,711 (+$211)
$2,600 --> $2,900 (+$300)
The stabilized rents don't seem too far off from what the rents should be in this crap rental market, so it seems the prophecies of impending Rentpocalypse may have been exaggerated, though there's still that pesky rental freeze going on. If we're not mistaken (please correct us if we are), the tax breaks received by landlord Tishman Speyer that triggered this whole mess will expire in 2019, and then apartments can once again be de-stabilized.
But until then, a $918 monthly reduction is the current mark to beat. Any other Stuy Towners wish to share their good fortune?
A Guide to Stuy Town's New Rents [Curbed]
Oval Fitness, the gym Stuyvesant Town refers to as an "amenity," is temporarily dropping it's enrollment fee for tenants who join between January 1st to the 15th of 2010. Located on the far side of Stuyvesant Town, the street level voyeur's dream come true has refused to drop the needless fee for tenants in the past, even those willing to pay a full year in advance.It may be wishful thinking on Tishman Speyer's part to believe anyone will drop serious money on "amenities" that may or may not be open in 2010.
Via Bloomberg,com
Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Rob Speyer showed little interest in his family's real estate business until his father began talking about buying Manhattan's Rockefeller Center.
It was 1995. Speyer, then 26, was a reporter for the New York Daily News, covering fires and events like the Puerto Rican Day Parade. His dad's plans to purchase the art-deco complex for $1.2 billion changed everything.
"I caught the bug," Speyer said of joining Tishman Speyer Properties LP, the firm co-founded in 1978 by his father, Jerry, and Robert Tishman. "Until that moment, I had other ideas and ambitions and it was really hearing about that transaction that flipped the switch in my head and made me say: 'I want to learn this business.'"
Speyer, now co-chief executive officer of Tishman Speyer, is getting another lesson, one on enduring the global commercial property rout. Tishman Speyer and BlackRock Realty LP's $5.4 billion purchase of New York's Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village apartments is unraveling, testing the young Speyer and his father, a 30-year real estate veteran. "A default is expected" on the complex, according to Fitch Ratings, which has estimated the property's value at $1.8 billion.
The transaction is among at least four -- including the $13.6 billion purchase of Archstone-Smith Trust with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in October 2007 -- that the company made as values rose and Jerry Speyer was giving his son increasing responsibility for running the company.
Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Rob Speyer showed little interest in his family's real estate business until his father began talking about buying Manhattan's Rockefeller Center.
It was 1995. Speyer, then 26, was a reporter for the New York Daily News, covering fires and events like the Puerto Rican Day Parade. His dad's plans to purchase the art-deco complex for $1.2 billion changed everything.
"I caught the bug," Speyer said of joining Tishman Speyer Properties LP, the firm co-founded in 1978 by his father, Jerry, and Robert Tishman. "Until that moment, I had other ideas and ambitions and it was really hearing about that transaction that flipped the switch in my head and made me say: 'I want to learn this business.'"
Speyer, now co-chief executive officer of Tishman Speyer, is getting another lesson, one on enduring the global commercial property rout. Tishman Speyer and BlackRock Realty LP's $5.4 billion purchase of New York's Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village apartments is unraveling, testing the young Speyer and his father, a 30-year real estate veteran. "A default is expected" on the complex, according to Fitch Ratings, which has estimated the property's value at $1.8 billion.
The transaction is among at least four -- including the $13.6 billion purchase of Archstone-Smith Trust with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in October 2007 -- that the company made as values rose and Jerry Speyer was giving his son increasing responsibility for running the company.
Continue reading Tishman's $5.4 Billion Boomerang Gives Rob Speyer Costly Lesson.
Tishman Speyer needs another lawsuit like they need another "amenity" in the Oval. So Stuy Town residents are wondering why they did such a half-assed job at removing the snow dumped on the complex last night?Though most of Stuyvesant Town was plowed at some point, the walking paths are still obstructed by snow mounds and thinly shoveled paths to nowhere are about to turn to black ice any moment now. We know Tish-Spey is cutting back on maintenance, security, and staff at the management office, but couldn't they at least spring for some rock salt?
Residents of 16 Stuyvesant Oval can kiss goodbye any hope of doing laundry, accessing their storage units, or getting rid of garbage and recyclables today. A Stuy Spy writes the locked door has been inoperable since yesterday and the trash and recyclables are now piling up in the lobby.
Because their apartment buildings aren't troubled enough, Stuy Town maintenance workers want to be sure everyone is as miserable as possible. Today, they accomplish that task by surrounding NTT storage units with bed bug infested furniture. A skeeved out Sty Spy writes:
It's too bad when Tishman Speyer scolded their tenants last month about leaving random shit in the storage area, they didn't instruct their maintenance department on how to deal with infested furniture.
"Isn't this lovey! I just went to my storage unit to get some books and I see several units, including mine, are surrounded by bed bug infested furniture. Why else would the sofa and cushions be wrapped in plastic? And just to be sure they spread the infestation as fast as possible, there are also two mattresses resting on another storage unit. Looks like it's time to cancel my contract."
It's too bad when Tishman Speyer scolded their tenants last month about leaving random shit in the storage area, they didn't instruct their maintenance department on how to deal with infested furniture.
Via New York Magazine
Tishman Speyer's $3.4 billion Stuyvesant Town mistake.
On the evening of October 16, 2006, the day before the board of Metropolitan Life approved the $5.4 billion sale of Stuyvesant Town to Tishman Speyer Properties, Jerry I. Speyer, Tishman Speyer's CEO, placed a call to Harry Kamen, the former chairman and CEO of MetLife and a member of the MetLife board, at Kamen's Park Avenue co-op. Jerry's son Rob Speyer, a former journalist and heir apparent to the Tishman Speyer dynasty, had taken the lead on the Stuy Town deal, and Jerry worked quietly behind the scenes--making calls, visiting the 80-acre complex one night in private--so that his son emerged victorious. "He said he wanted me to know they were bidding on it," Kamen recalls. "He didn't want me to do anything, but if a question came up at the meeting, he asked if I could talk about his character and his honesty." The call was emblematic of Jerry's preference for the discreet exercise of power and relationship massaging that propelled his firm into the elite tier of real-estate players, and made him a confidante to mayors and governors, financiers and philanthropists--the archetypal New York macher. The next day at the meeting, Kamen disclosed Jerry's call the previous night to the board. Robert Henrikson, CEO of MetLife, turned to Kamen. "Don't worry about it, he's the highest bidder."
Three years later, that bid will go down as an epic blunder. Sometime in the next several weeks, Tishman Speyer Properties, the global real-estate empire run by father-son duo Jerry and Rob Speyer, along with their investment partner BlackRock, will default on the mortgage at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. And just as the transaction was the biggest real-estate deal in American history, the collapse is liable to be similarly epic.
Read more: Tishman Speyer's $3.4 Billion Stuyvesant Town Mistake [New York Magazine]
Related
How the Stuy Deal Went Down...and Down...and Down [NY Times]
Tishman Speyer's $3.4 billion Stuyvesant Town mistake.
On the evening of October 16, 2006, the day before the board of Metropolitan Life approved the $5.4 billion sale of Stuyvesant Town to Tishman Speyer Properties, Jerry I. Speyer, Tishman Speyer's CEO, placed a call to Harry Kamen, the former chairman and CEO of MetLife and a member of the MetLife board, at Kamen's Park Avenue co-op. Jerry's son Rob Speyer, a former journalist and heir apparent to the Tishman Speyer dynasty, had taken the lead on the Stuy Town deal, and Jerry worked quietly behind the scenes--making calls, visiting the 80-acre complex one night in private--so that his son emerged victorious. "He said he wanted me to know they were bidding on it," Kamen recalls. "He didn't want me to do anything, but if a question came up at the meeting, he asked if I could talk about his character and his honesty." The call was emblematic of Jerry's preference for the discreet exercise of power and relationship massaging that propelled his firm into the elite tier of real-estate players, and made him a confidante to mayors and governors, financiers and philanthropists--the archetypal New York macher. The next day at the meeting, Kamen disclosed Jerry's call the previous night to the board. Robert Henrikson, CEO of MetLife, turned to Kamen. "Don't worry about it, he's the highest bidder."Three years later, that bid will go down as an epic blunder. Sometime in the next several weeks, Tishman Speyer Properties, the global real-estate empire run by father-son duo Jerry and Rob Speyer, along with their investment partner BlackRock, will default on the mortgage at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. And just as the transaction was the biggest real-estate deal in American history, the collapse is liable to be similarly epic.
Read more: Tishman Speyer's $3.4 Billion Stuyvesant Town Mistake [New York Magazine]
Related
How the Stuy Deal Went Down...and Down...and Down [NY Times]
Via the Tenants Association
Just a Reminder that the J-51 Tele-Broadcast is Today at 3:30 pm
Learn more on how to ask your questions and where the transcript can be found for those that can't listen by clicking the link below:
On 12/14 Representatives of the property owner and counsel for the plaintiffs, Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP and Bernstein Liebhard LLP, announced they had reached an interim agreement to adjust rents in each apartment affected by the recent Court of Appeals decision in Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Properties to an estimated rent-stabilized level for January and February 2010. The rent adjustment will be reflected in the January invoices that will shortly be sent to residents.
Your Tenants Association along with Alex Schmidt of Wolf Haldenstein (counsel to the tenants in the suit) has arranged its second Telebroadcast of a J-51 question and answer session to answer your questions regarding the Interim Court Order. Council Member Dan Garodnick will MC the broadcast.
If you have questions about the Interim Order and its implications, please send your question in advance via an email to j51confquestions@stpcvta.org anytime from now through the beginning of the conference call. Once the call begins, we will continue to accept questions submitted to us via email to the email address above.
If you do not have email, you can also pose questions by phone ahead of time by leaving a message with the Tenants Association's special temporary J-51 questions line at 1-(917) 388-9558 by Friday at 2pm.
While we cannot guarantee that every question will be answered, we will do our best to address as many as we can.
To listen in this Friday's telebroadcast call, dial 1-(218) 862-1300, and when prompted, dial in conference code 587925.
For those that cannot dial in, a recording (MP3 file) accessible from the web will be posted within a week. Soon after a written transcript will be made available via this website.
Just a Reminder that the J-51 Tele-Broadcast is Today at 3:30 pm
Learn more on how to ask your questions and where the transcript can be found for those that can't listen by clicking the link below:
On 12/14 Representatives of the property owner and counsel for the plaintiffs, Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP and Bernstein Liebhard LLP, announced they had reached an interim agreement to adjust rents in each apartment affected by the recent Court of Appeals decision in Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Properties to an estimated rent-stabilized level for January and February 2010. The rent adjustment will be reflected in the January invoices that will shortly be sent to residents.
Your Tenants Association along with Alex Schmidt of Wolf Haldenstein (counsel to the tenants in the suit) has arranged its second Telebroadcast of a J-51 question and answer session to answer your questions regarding the Interim Court Order. Council Member Dan Garodnick will MC the broadcast.
If you have questions about the Interim Order and its implications, please send your question in advance via an email to j51confquestions@stpcvta.org anytime from now through the beginning of the conference call. Once the call begins, we will continue to accept questions submitted to us via email to the email address above.
If you do not have email, you can also pose questions by phone ahead of time by leaving a message with the Tenants Association's special temporary J-51 questions line at 1-(917) 388-9558 by Friday at 2pm.
While we cannot guarantee that every question will be answered, we will do our best to address as many as we can.
To listen in this Friday's telebroadcast call, dial 1-(218) 862-1300, and when prompted, dial in conference code 587925.
For those that cannot dial in, a recording (MP3 file) accessible from the web will be posted within a week. Soon after a written transcript will be made available via this website.
Stuyvesant Town residents know the Maytag energy efficient washing machines serviced by Mac-Gray are a huge fail but today we learn why.A Sty Spy found a Maytag Owners Manual [PDF] for the washing machines installed in Stuyvesant Town and it seems they require a lot of attention in order to remain functional. The Sty Spy writes:
"Pages 17-18 of the Maytag Owners Manual (for the machines installed in ST laundry rooms) specifies routine monthly maintenance that the owner should follow in order to keep the machines clean and sanitary. The complete manual is attached. Clearly neither MacGray or TS has ever done this.WHAT a smart choice for such a large apartment complex! The manual goes on to give step by step instructions for removing the musty smell of mold:
Also it says in there that the doors on the machines should remain OPEN after removing clothing so that interior can air out. Closing the doors will help to grow mold and mildew - according to consumer reviews and manufacturing guidelines. Some people will say that keeping doors open will allow mice and roaches to get in there. Well I guess they might. Not sure which is worse; roaches and mouse droppings or mold and mildew?"
Continue reading Why Laundry Day Has You in Therapy.
Via NY Times
An article in some editions on Tuesday about a temporary agreement that will reduce rents for thousands of tenants at the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village apartment complexes in Manhattan referred imprecisely to the agreement, which covers 4,400 apartments that a court ruled had been wrongfully deregulated and rented at market rate. While most tenants will see their rent lowered, tenants whose regulated rent would have been the same as the market rate will see no change.
Temporary Accord Cuts Rents for Many at Two Complexes [NY Times]
Correction [NY Times]
An article in some editions on Tuesday about a temporary agreement that will reduce rents for thousands of tenants at the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village apartment complexes in Manhattan referred imprecisely to the agreement, which covers 4,400 apartments that a court ruled had been wrongfully deregulated and rented at market rate. While most tenants will see their rent lowered, tenants whose regulated rent would have been the same as the market rate will see no change.
Temporary Accord Cuts Rents for Many at Two Complexes [NY Times]
Correction [NY Times]
Stuyvesant Town residents have received notices about a new MCI which will cost each resident approximately $13 per room, per month. The items for which the increases are requested are:
TV / Security System
Storage Card System
Video Command Center
Entrance Doors / Lobby Modifications
When Met Life owned Stuy Town, the security force consisted mostly of retired NYPD officers. Under Tishman Speyer's management, most of the existing security force was laid off and replaced by security cameras, resulting in an increase of criminal activity and a smaller payroll for Tishman Speyer.
How to respond to the MCI Rent Increase Application
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 another copy of the form to: STPCV Repaving MCI, ST/PCV-TA, P.O. Box 1202, New York, NY 1009-1202. This is for the use of the Tenants Association's attorney.
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 deal with instructions for filing when the time comes.
Do you really want to pay for the Video Command Center?
No crime on Craig's List...
though this price is a steal!
Sponge Bob and Bikini Bottom are safe!
TV / Security System
Storage Card System
Video Command Center
Entrance Doors / Lobby Modifications
When Met Life owned Stuy Town, the security force consisted mostly of retired NYPD officers. Under Tishman Speyer's management, most of the existing security force was laid off and replaced by security cameras, resulting in an increase of criminal activity and a smaller payroll for Tishman Speyer.
How to respond to the MCI Rent Increase Application
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 another copy of the form to: STPCV Repaving MCI, ST/PCV-TA, P.O. Box 1202, New York, NY 1009-1202. This is for the use of the Tenants Association's attorney.
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 deal with instructions for filing when the time comes.
Do you really want to pay for the Video Command Center?
No crime on Craig's List...
though this price is a steal!
Sponge Bob and Bikini Bottom are safe!
Questions and Answers on J-51 Interim Court Order Regarding Rent Reductions
On 12/14 Representatives of the property owner and counsel for the plaintiffs, Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP and Bernstein Liebhard LLP, announced they had reached an interim agreement to adjust rents in each apartment affected by the recent Court of Appeals decision in Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Properties to an estimated rent-stabilized level for January and February 2010. The rent adjustment will be reflected in the January invoices that will shortly be sent to residents.
Your Tenants Association along with Alex Schmidt of Wolf Haldenstein (counsel to the tenants in the suit)has arranged its second Telebroadcast of a J-51 question and answer session to answer your questions regarding the Interim Court Order. Council Member Dan Garodnick will MC the broadcast.
If you have questions about the Interim Order and its implications, please send your question in advance via an email to j51confquestions@stpcvta.org anytime from now through the beginning of the conference call. Once the call begins, we will continue to accept questions submitted to us via email to the email address above.
If you do not have email, you can also pose questions by phone ahead of time by leaving a message with the Tenants Association's special temporary J-51 questions line at 1-(917) 388-9558 by Friday at 2pm.
While we cannot guarantee that every question will be answered, we will do our best to address as many as we can.
To listen in this Friday's telebroadcast call, dial 1-(218) 862-1300, and when prompted, dial in conference code 587925.
For those that cannot dial in, a recording (MP3 file) accessible from the web will be posted within a week. Soon after a written transcript will be made available via this [The TA] website.
Stuyvesant Town - Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association
On 12/14 Representatives of the property owner and counsel for the plaintiffs, Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP and Bernstein Liebhard LLP, announced they had reached an interim agreement to adjust rents in each apartment affected by the recent Court of Appeals decision in Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Properties to an estimated rent-stabilized level for January and February 2010. The rent adjustment will be reflected in the January invoices that will shortly be sent to residents.
Your Tenants Association along with Alex Schmidt of Wolf Haldenstein (counsel to the tenants in the suit)has arranged its second Telebroadcast of a J-51 question and answer session to answer your questions regarding the Interim Court Order. Council Member Dan Garodnick will MC the broadcast.
If you have questions about the Interim Order and its implications, please send your question in advance via an email to j51confquestions@stpcvta.org anytime from now through the beginning of the conference call. Once the call begins, we will continue to accept questions submitted to us via email to the email address above.
If you do not have email, you can also pose questions by phone ahead of time by leaving a message with the Tenants Association's special temporary J-51 questions line at 1-(917) 388-9558 by Friday at 2pm.
While we cannot guarantee that every question will be answered, we will do our best to address as many as we can.
To listen in this Friday's telebroadcast call, dial 1-(218) 862-1300, and when prompted, dial in conference code 587925.
For those that cannot dial in, a recording (MP3 file) accessible from the web will be posted within a week. Soon after a written transcript will be made available via this [The TA] website.
Stuyvesant Town - Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association
Stuyvesant Town residents living
along the Avenue C Loop have been tormented by the three large
dumpsters Tishman Speyer placed on the road in 2007. The dumpsters have
been an ongoing problem because they are routinely emptied in the
middle of the night, have been filled with illegal waste such as tires, paint, and computers, and - thanks to the groundskeepers who dispose of dead rats and squirrels - give off the foul smell of decomposition.The dumpsters were to be moved into the Avenue C parking garage but the project required a permit from the Department of Transportation to remove a divider in the road that was preventing flatbed trucks carrying the dumpsters from entering the garage. The original completion date for the project was Spring of 2008 which has since been changed several times before project was abandoned.
Disgruntled residents living on the road have taken matters into their own hands by vandalizing the dumpsters hoping Tishman Speyer will have them removed before they are completely destroyed. One member of this covert group spoke frankly with Lux Living about the guerrilla warfare tactics they have resorted to in order to rid the street of the dumpsters.
"It started off with a conversation I was having with a neighbor in my lobby," said the anonymous tenant. "Neither of us has had a good nights sleep in years because of these dumpsters and we joked about blowing them up. Another tenant passing by heard us and said 'If you need any help let me know!' Well, one thing led to another and we formed a small group to brainstorm ways we could destroy those horrible things."
The group has been vandalizing the dumpsters since August of this year. Working quietly late at night, they have removed nuts, bolts and screws that are critical to the functioning of the motorized dumpsters. They have doused the motors on the dumpsters with antifreeze, oil, rubber cement, and sand. The group has cut power cords and - this past week - has made one of their most brazen strikes and set a dumpster on fire.
Continue reading Residents Turn Vandals to Rid Stuy Town of Dumpsters.
Via Crain's New York
The November spike is seen to be driven by $3 billion in mortgage-backed loans for Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village that went sour.
The value of new properties in Manhattan falling into distress skyrocketed to over $12 billion last month--the highest levels since July when it reached over $15 billion--according to the latest regional report conducted by Real Capital Analytics.
In the borough, there are 186 distressed properties, ranging from offices to hotels, which are valued at $12.3 billion, according to the latest Troubled Asset Radar report. The spike in Manhattan distressed assets were mostly attributed to the $3 billion commercial-mortgage backed securities loans for Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village, which finally transferred to a special servicer in November. The Manhattan market ranked 29th among U.S. markets in distress as a percentage of total property investment volume.
"We have seen more and more owners of office buildings that have purchased assets at the top of the market throw in the towel," said Dan Fasulo, managing director at Real Capital Analytics. "We haven't seen the apex of distressed properties just yet; more will come in 2010."
Some 43 offices, valued at $4.5 billion, and 100 apartment buildings worth $5.7 billion make up the bulk of the distressed properties in Manhattan, the report noted.
Among the 50 properties listed in the report as distressed are 100 Church St., the W hotel at Union Square, and two properties owned by developer Joseph Moinian: Columbus Tower at 1775 Broadway and Ocean Residences at 1 West St., also known as 17 Battery Park South. Recently, the developer missed a $90 million loan payment for Ocean Residences and the luxury residential tower is now in the hands of a special servicer.
Earlier this month, of the W hotel's lenders, LEM Mezzanine, bid $2 million for the debt at a foreclosure auction on Park Avenue South. Istithmar, a unit of troubled government-owned investment fund Dubai World, bought the hotel in 2006 for $285 million. Meanwhile, Manhattan's largest commercial landlord SL Green moved to foreclose on 100 Church St. earlier this year. SL Green held most of the building's mezzanine debt, the financing that comes between the first mortgage and the equity on the property.
Most of the distressed properties, including Stuyvesant Town, will be internally restructured, predicted Mr. Fasulo. There will be a lot of debt-for-equity swaps or lenders forgiving loans in return for equity, he said.
"Unless you're savvy enough to negotiate, a lot of investors will be disappointed with opportunities in Manhattan," said Mr. Fasulo, adding that he gets calls every day from investors who can't find anything to buy.
New distressed Manhattan properties top $12B [Crain's New York]
The November spike is seen to be driven by $3 billion in mortgage-backed loans for Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village that went sour.
The value of new properties in Manhattan falling into distress skyrocketed to over $12 billion last month--the highest levels since July when it reached over $15 billion--according to the latest regional report conducted by Real Capital Analytics.
In the borough, there are 186 distressed properties, ranging from offices to hotels, which are valued at $12.3 billion, according to the latest Troubled Asset Radar report. The spike in Manhattan distressed assets were mostly attributed to the $3 billion commercial-mortgage backed securities loans for Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village, which finally transferred to a special servicer in November. The Manhattan market ranked 29th among U.S. markets in distress as a percentage of total property investment volume.
"We have seen more and more owners of office buildings that have purchased assets at the top of the market throw in the towel," said Dan Fasulo, managing director at Real Capital Analytics. "We haven't seen the apex of distressed properties just yet; more will come in 2010."
Some 43 offices, valued at $4.5 billion, and 100 apartment buildings worth $5.7 billion make up the bulk of the distressed properties in Manhattan, the report noted.
Among the 50 properties listed in the report as distressed are 100 Church St., the W hotel at Union Square, and two properties owned by developer Joseph Moinian: Columbus Tower at 1775 Broadway and Ocean Residences at 1 West St., also known as 17 Battery Park South. Recently, the developer missed a $90 million loan payment for Ocean Residences and the luxury residential tower is now in the hands of a special servicer.
Earlier this month, of the W hotel's lenders, LEM Mezzanine, bid $2 million for the debt at a foreclosure auction on Park Avenue South. Istithmar, a unit of troubled government-owned investment fund Dubai World, bought the hotel in 2006 for $285 million. Meanwhile, Manhattan's largest commercial landlord SL Green moved to foreclose on 100 Church St. earlier this year. SL Green held most of the building's mezzanine debt, the financing that comes between the first mortgage and the equity on the property.
Most of the distressed properties, including Stuyvesant Town, will be internally restructured, predicted Mr. Fasulo. There will be a lot of debt-for-equity swaps or lenders forgiving loans in return for equity, he said.
"Unless you're savvy enough to negotiate, a lot of investors will be disappointed with opportunities in Manhattan," said Mr. Fasulo, adding that he gets calls every day from investors who can't find anything to buy.
New distressed Manhattan properties top $12B [Crain's New York]
Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village
Tenants Association
- All Buildings
From 1010 WINS News:
Rent Reductions Set at Manhattan Apartment Complex
IMPORTANT: This applies only to former Market Rate apartments, not to Rent Stabilized apartments.
NEW YORK (AP/ 1010 WINS) -- A tentative legal agreement has been reached that reduces rent for thousands of tenants at a massive middle-class Manhattan complex for the next six months.
The agreement was reached Monday in state Supreme Court. It comes after the state Court of Appeals upheld rent controls at the Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town complex.
Rents will be reduced based on each tenant's lease starting in January. The agreement is in place until a formal agreement can be reached following a study on exactly what rents are across the complex. It affects 4,400 apartments.
The East River enclave has more than 11,000 apartments. It was built to house World War II veterans returning to the city.
###
We will have more information as it becomes available. The complete Order can be found here. [PDF]
Tenants Association
- All Buildings
From 1010 WINS News:
Rent Reductions Set at Manhattan Apartment Complex
IMPORTANT: This applies only to former Market Rate apartments, not to Rent Stabilized apartments.
NEW YORK (AP/ 1010 WINS) -- A tentative legal agreement has been reached that reduces rent for thousands of tenants at a massive middle-class Manhattan complex for the next six months.
The agreement was reached Monday in state Supreme Court. It comes after the state Court of Appeals upheld rent controls at the Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town complex.
Rents will be reduced based on each tenant's lease starting in January. The agreement is in place until a formal agreement can be reached following a study on exactly what rents are across the complex. It affects 4,400 apartments.
The East River enclave has more than 11,000 apartments. It was built to house World War II veterans returning to the city.
###
We will have more information as it becomes available. The complete Order can be found here. [PDF]
Via Crain's New York
Tenants of 4,000 illegally rent-deregulated apartments will have their payments lowered as soon as next month.
Residents of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village whose apartments were illegally deregulated will finally see their rents lowered to estimated rent-stabilized levels for January and February, according to a Monday court filing detailing an agreement between the landlord and tenants.
The interim agreement comes a month after tenant lawyers threatened to ask the court to set January rent and force the return of back rent that has been held in escrow. Two months ago, New York's highest court ruled that a partnership led by co-owners Tishman Speyer and BlackRock Inc. had illegally deregulated apartments while receiving certain tax breaks. The apartment complex includes 110 buildings on 80 acres in Manhattan.
Continue reading @ Crain's
Tenants of 4,000 illegally rent-deregulated apartments will have their payments lowered as soon as next month.Residents of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village whose apartments were illegally deregulated will finally see their rents lowered to estimated rent-stabilized levels for January and February, according to a Monday court filing detailing an agreement between the landlord and tenants.
The interim agreement comes a month after tenant lawyers threatened to ask the court to set January rent and force the return of back rent that has been held in escrow. Two months ago, New York's highest court ruled that a partnership led by co-owners Tishman Speyer and BlackRock Inc. had illegally deregulated apartments while receiving certain tax breaks. The apartment complex includes 110 buildings on 80 acres in Manhattan.
Continue reading @ Crain's
Via New York Post
Call it a Christmas miracle for the residents of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.
Tishman Speyer and its partners today reached a deal to reduce some rents in the massive apartment complex starting next month, settling a major question that has loomed over the 80-acre property since October when the state's high court nixed the property owners' plan to jack up rents to market rates.
The settlement comes as Tishman and its partners scramble to avoid defaulting on $3 billion in loans against the complex, which the Tishman-led group bought for $5.4 billion in 2006 at the height of the market.
Tenants sued the owners, claiming they broke the law when they raised rents on units, and since March, a portion of those higher rents have gone into escrow pending the lawsuit's outcome.
Tishman, tenants reach rent pact on Stuy Town [NY Post]
Call it a Christmas miracle for the residents of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.
Tishman Speyer and its partners today reached a deal to reduce some rents in the massive apartment complex starting next month, settling a major question that has loomed over the 80-acre property since October when the state's high court nixed the property owners' plan to jack up rents to market rates.
The settlement comes as Tishman and its partners scramble to avoid defaulting on $3 billion in loans against the complex, which the Tishman-led group bought for $5.4 billion in 2006 at the height of the market.
Tenants sued the owners, claiming they broke the law when they raised rents on units, and since March, a portion of those higher rents have gone into escrow pending the lawsuit's outcome.
Tishman, tenants reach rent pact on Stuy Town [NY Post]
Who says it's impossible to find convenient parking in Stuyvesant Town? A Stuy Spy sent us these photos of someone who took the liberty to drive their car through the chained barricade and create a DIY parking spot on the sidewalk. The annoyed Stuy Spy writes:"I thought these were a cute way to start my day. So now I have to dodge tossed furniture (which, by the way has been there since Sunday) and some California transplant's make-your-own parking space in front of 14 Stuy Oval. The furniture wasn't even left curbside, but rather on the ground between benches near the basketball courts. I figure TS is just waiting for the snow to come falling down to hide the stuff?"
The sidewalks are already a cracked disaster thanks to moving trucks and construction vehicles driving over them. But hey, this is Tishman Speyer's Stuy Town. Another perfect example of the "It's all about ME" mentality.
Via AOL News
Charles Duhigg of The New York Times today delivered the latest unsettling news about the nation's water supply: It's not as clean as you might think. An analysis of federal data from the last five years revealed that more than 20 percent of the nation's water-treatment systems have broken provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act, the standards enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency. The result? As many as 19 million Americans are sickened each year.
Over the years, the EPA has identified many substances in water supplies far and wide. Here are nine unexpected things that they've spotted.
Arsenic
A naturally occurring element found in soil and minerals, arsenic is used as a pesticide and wood sealant. Ingesting high levels of arsenic, Madame Bovary can tell you, is deadly. At lower levels, over longer periods of time, it can darken skin and spur corns and warts. A carcinogen, arsenic can increase the risk of skin, liver, bladder and lung cancers.
The EPA has said that more than 3 million Americans have been exposed to water with illegal concentrations of arsenic since 2005.
Uranium
The element Iran insists on enriching despite howls from the U.S. and other Western nations, it is also used in helicopters, airplanes, armor, fertilizer and household items like certain microwaves. After it's mined and processed, some of it is released back into the environment in waste material, called mill tailings. Large amounts of uranium can lead to kidney disease and cancer, though naturally occurring uranium is much less radioactive.
The EPA says levels of uranium in drinking water are usually low and safe, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. However, the 3 million Americans exposed to illegal amounts of arsenic were also exposed to illegal amounts of radioactive substances.
Radium
This radioactive metal has been used to treat cancer, for scientific research and in instrument calibration. Everyone is exposed to low levels of the substance, but higher levels are found near uranium mines, coal-burning industries and sometimes in drinking water that comes from wells. Radium can cause anemia and cataracts. At high levels, it is a carcinogen, causing increased bone, liver and breast cancer.
The EPA has reported that levels of radium were 2,000 times the legal limit in water flowing in some areas.
Continue reading @ AOL News
Via New York Post
Two months after the tenants of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village claimed victory by blocking a plan to jack up rents at the storied apartment complex, they are writing up a list of demands to present to whatever group eventually takes control of the property, including current owner Tishman Speyer.
"It's not 2006 anymore. We're here and we're not going away," said a person familiar with the Tenants Association's so-called "Statement of Principles."
The relatively modest list, being crafted by the Tenants Association, demands that whatever entity ends up controlling the property -- which is currently on the verge of default -- return it to its former "small-town character" and "economic diversity," according to a copy of the list that was reviewed by The Post.
The tenants also demand the owners maintain the "non-commercial, park-like setting of its open spaces," and improve the maintenance.
The current owners -- a contingent led by Tishman and BlackRock -- bought the property for a record $5.4 billion in 2006 with plans to make a mint by converting rent-stabilized apartments to units charging market-rate rents.
The plan was thwarted in October when the state's highest court ruled the owners were improperly raising rents, putting the future of the debt-laden property into doubt.
Stuy Town Tenants Set List of Demands [NY Post]
Two months after the tenants of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village claimed victory by blocking a plan to jack up rents at the storied apartment complex, they are writing up a list of demands to present to whatever group eventually takes control of the property, including current owner Tishman Speyer.
"It's not 2006 anymore. We're here and we're not going away," said a person familiar with the Tenants Association's so-called "Statement of Principles."
The relatively modest list, being crafted by the Tenants Association, demands that whatever entity ends up controlling the property -- which is currently on the verge of default -- return it to its former "small-town character" and "economic diversity," according to a copy of the list that was reviewed by The Post.
The tenants also demand the owners maintain the "non-commercial, park-like setting of its open spaces," and improve the maintenance.
The current owners -- a contingent led by Tishman and BlackRock -- bought the property for a record $5.4 billion in 2006 with plans to make a mint by converting rent-stabilized apartments to units charging market-rate rents.
The plan was thwarted in October when the state's highest court ruled the owners were improperly raising rents, putting the future of the debt-laden property into doubt.
Stuy Town Tenants Set List of Demands [NY Post]
Study finds that overleveraged buildings more likely to harass rent-regulated tenants as several are seen heading for financial defaults.Via Crain's New York
Nearly 10%, or 100,000 units, of the city's affordable housing stock were overleveraged by predatory equity investors, and several of them are heading toward financial default, according to a recent report from a housing advocacy group.
According to the 30-page report, dubbed "Predatory Equity: Evolution of a Crisis" , these predatory equity investors "used tenant harassment as a business model to drive out rent-regulated tenants on a wholesale level by evicting and replacing them with market-rate renters." The report, compiled by the nonprofit Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, also found that many property portfolios are operating on equity loans that earn only 55 cents for every dollar in debt, which is classified as predatory.
It also highlighted the default risk of 10 major portfolio loans in the city that have used speculative underwriting practices. The report is based on industry loan servicer filings between 2005 and 2009, according to Benjamin Dulchin, executive director of the association.
"It is bad. There is already a lot of money lost and affordable housing destroyed," said Mr. Dulchin. "It is an important issue and we will actively pressure banks to preserve and deleverage these properties."
Continue reading @ Crain's New York
Neighborhood blog EV Grieve tipped us off to a story in Washington Square News today that parasitic NYU is looking for a new host to devour and has it's eyes on Governors Island among other places. EV Grieve writes:
"As you may be painfully aware, NYU aims to increase its space in New York City by approximately six million square feet by the year 2031. Aside from swallowing you whole and likely forcing you to move to, say, Delaware, expansion plans include a possible university center on Governors Island, Washington Square News reports today. Why? "We're space starved," NYU President John Sexton said."
What does this mean for the Govenors Island? Duane Reade, Subway, and a trail of vomit coming soon to a sidewalk near you!
(And we were so close to writing our first NYU post that didn't refer to dogs, pigs, feces, public sex, or bodily fluids. Next time.)
"Space-starved" NYU to Also Ruin Govenors Island [EV Grieve]
Via CNNmoney.com
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Real-estate giant Tishman Speyer is trying to renegotiate some $1.4 billion in loans backed by Chicago office towers with an unusual creditor: the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The Fed inherited the debt when it assumed assets from Bear Stearns in 2008 as part of that firm's distressed sale to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM). Now, the regulator is squaring off against Tishman Speyer as it seeks to renegotiate the loans that are secured by a $1.7 billion portfolio of Chicago office buildings, the company confirmed Monday.
ChicagoBusiness.com, a Crain's Web site, first reported the negotiations on Saturday. Tishman purchased the five office buildings, that included the Civic Opera Building, at the top of the market in 2007 and that totaled 6.5 million square feet, according to a press release at the time.
The Fed is playing hard ball in the talks; it has frozen a reserve fund for the properties. "During the course of these discussions, the lenders have delayed funding certain capital expenditures that already had been approved and that were required under the loan agreement," the company said in a statement. Tishman noted that the deterioration in commercial property values prompted the need for loan modifications.
Tishman added that it expected the negotiations "will be concluded soon" and the financial status of its other invested properties won't be affected.
Continue reading @ CNNmoney.com
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Real-estate giant Tishman Speyer is trying to renegotiate some $1.4 billion in loans backed by Chicago office towers with an unusual creditor: the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The Fed inherited the debt when it assumed assets from Bear Stearns in 2008 as part of that firm's distressed sale to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM). Now, the regulator is squaring off against Tishman Speyer as it seeks to renegotiate the loans that are secured by a $1.7 billion portfolio of Chicago office buildings, the company confirmed Monday.
ChicagoBusiness.com, a Crain's Web site, first reported the negotiations on Saturday. Tishman purchased the five office buildings, that included the Civic Opera Building, at the top of the market in 2007 and that totaled 6.5 million square feet, according to a press release at the time.
The Fed is playing hard ball in the talks; it has frozen a reserve fund for the properties. "During the course of these discussions, the lenders have delayed funding certain capital expenditures that already had been approved and that were required under the loan agreement," the company said in a statement. Tishman noted that the deterioration in commercial property values prompted the need for loan modifications.
Tishman added that it expected the negotiations "will be concluded soon" and the financial status of its other invested properties won't be affected.
Continue reading @ CNNmoney.com
Ah, Mondays. In Stuyvesant Town, that means it's time to start another work week by walking through a sea of garbage scattered across the 80 acre property. With Tishman Speyer expected to default on Stuy Town any moment now, residents are leaving the residential wasteland at a breathtaking pace as indicated by entire living rooms dumped onto the sidewalks.
Last week Tishman Speyer laid off another 30 people from their already strained maintenance department which means residents better brace themselves becuase it's only going to get worse.
Last week Tishman Speyer laid off another 30 people from their already strained maintenance department which means residents better brace themselves becuase it's only going to get worse.
Dear Ovil Concearge Members,It's hear! The most wondeful time of the year! Everyone is ecxited about the lights, the shopping and the presents that the holiday season yeilds. Especially the muggers lurking in the thicket of Stuyvesant town! The creepy month of December has crept up ontous once again and that can only meen one things: partake in holiday activities!
We your most valuable consearges have thought up some new things for you to do that you may have not thought of doing and our hope is that you will do them. Winter is the time of year that New Yorkers get to show their true colors and be brave. Did you know Manhattan was once inhabititd by braves? Manny did! Manny is also greatful for the peace pipe he smokes on the benches across from ovil consearge where he finds inspiration for his fantastical correspondance to his beloved readers.
We encourage you to have fun. God knows we at Ovail Cansearge are not. We lost our only three customers and now are reduced to wrapping your holiday treasures for free. Some business model we got!
You would think with all this free time we would hone our skills. No such luck. So forgive us if we confues photos of the Bronx with photos of Central Park. We know, Jeanne Claude and Christos EXTREMELY BRIGHT orange Gates in the background should have been a tip off. And we can't tell the diffronce between layed, laid, and lay lady lay. If you hadn't noticed by now, we're not the most worldy bunch over here.
So please come see for yourself the most spatular list of holiday to dos for you to do nowhere near your beloved neighborhoods of Stuyvesat Town and Peter Copper Villije.
Peace out.
manny,
Ovail Consearge
American Leasure
Newark Airport
Secrets Santa
Continue reading News From Ovol Consearje.
Via Epoch Times
The outlook for owners of rent-stabilized buildings in Manhattan is looking tough if they have been using the J-51 program. Issues that the owners of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village and its tenants now face are setting the precedent for thousands of other units.
Both the current owners (Tishman-Speyer and Blackrock) and the previous owners (MetLife) of the 80-acre development were found to have illegally decontrolled and raised rents on thousands of their rent-stabilized units, in a court ruling on Oct. 22.
The issue that the court ruling has raised is not confined to Stuy Town, according to a Deutsche Bank report published Dec. 1. The report says there are thousands of other apartment properties in New York City that have also participated in the J-51 Tax Incentive Program--a program set up to encourage landlords to upgrade properties.
Manhattan Market Impacted
At the heart of the decision was the ruling that rent-stabilized apartments in properties that participate in the J-51 program cannot be decontrolled while they are still receiving a city tax benefit, the report said.
"In our view, the recent Court of Appeals decision is likely to have a significantly negative impact on the New York apartment investment market for several years," the report said.
Bob Knakal, chairman of Massey-Knakal realty services, agreed, saying that with the decision, the court overturned a program that had been implemented and approved for 13 years.
"And I think that's a very dangerous thing because in order for commerce to function properly, you need a definite set of rules and guidelines, and we've gotten away from that," he said.
Unclear rules create uncertainty that Knakal says increases the risk premium associated with buying real estate and will lower prices.
"The extent to which prices drop will be dependent upon how the markets interpret the risk," he said.
The consortium of Tishman-Speyer and Blackrock bought Stuy Town late 2006 for $5.4 billion from MetLife, the original developers. The financial promise of luxury decontrol was the driving factor for the high price tag, the report said.
Three months after the purchase, a group of nine tenants sued the current and previous owners. Now, the value of the 11,041-unit development is estimated to have dropped to $1.8 billion.
The Deutsche report said the court ruling effectively ensures that all units will be subject to rent-stabilization until 2017.
"However, the current owners have already renovated the units and incurred significant expenses in doing so," it said. "While all rental units will be subject to rent stabilization going forward, units which were previously illegally decontrolled should be eligible to receive the appropriate amount of rent increases."
Tenants Nervous
A spokesperson from the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association said residents are a bit nervous right now.
"Who is going to own this now?" she said. "Hopefully not someone as predatory as these ones have been."
The spokesperson said one of the major concerns facing tenants right now is a cutback on maintenance and security.
"We used to have little carts constantly checking that everything is safe. We just don't see those carts anymore," the spokesperson said. "Now the grass is all trod over, there are mud puddles. ... It used to be lovely."
She said there have been cutbacks all year and in the last two weeks she heard that 25 staff were let go.
The Tenants Association is holding a meeting on Dec. 5 to discuss its next steps. The spokesperson did not wish to be named but has lived in the complex for 47 years.
The tenant group sought relief of $215 million for past rent overcharges plus legal expenses, the Deutsche report said.
Continue reading @ Epoch Times
The outlook for owners of rent-stabilized buildings in Manhattan is looking tough if they have been using the J-51 program. Issues that the owners of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village and its tenants now face are setting the precedent for thousands of other units.
Both the current owners (Tishman-Speyer and Blackrock) and the previous owners (MetLife) of the 80-acre development were found to have illegally decontrolled and raised rents on thousands of their rent-stabilized units, in a court ruling on Oct. 22.
The issue that the court ruling has raised is not confined to Stuy Town, according to a Deutsche Bank report published Dec. 1. The report says there are thousands of other apartment properties in New York City that have also participated in the J-51 Tax Incentive Program--a program set up to encourage landlords to upgrade properties.
Manhattan Market Impacted
At the heart of the decision was the ruling that rent-stabilized apartments in properties that participate in the J-51 program cannot be decontrolled while they are still receiving a city tax benefit, the report said.
"In our view, the recent Court of Appeals decision is likely to have a significantly negative impact on the New York apartment investment market for several years," the report said.
Bob Knakal, chairman of Massey-Knakal realty services, agreed, saying that with the decision, the court overturned a program that had been implemented and approved for 13 years.
"And I think that's a very dangerous thing because in order for commerce to function properly, you need a definite set of rules and guidelines, and we've gotten away from that," he said.
Unclear rules create uncertainty that Knakal says increases the risk premium associated with buying real estate and will lower prices.
"The extent to which prices drop will be dependent upon how the markets interpret the risk," he said.
The consortium of Tishman-Speyer and Blackrock bought Stuy Town late 2006 for $5.4 billion from MetLife, the original developers. The financial promise of luxury decontrol was the driving factor for the high price tag, the report said.
Three months after the purchase, a group of nine tenants sued the current and previous owners. Now, the value of the 11,041-unit development is estimated to have dropped to $1.8 billion.
The Deutsche report said the court ruling effectively ensures that all units will be subject to rent-stabilization until 2017.
"However, the current owners have already renovated the units and incurred significant expenses in doing so," it said. "While all rental units will be subject to rent stabilization going forward, units which were previously illegally decontrolled should be eligible to receive the appropriate amount of rent increases."
Tenants Nervous
A spokesperson from the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association said residents are a bit nervous right now.
"Who is going to own this now?" she said. "Hopefully not someone as predatory as these ones have been."
The spokesperson said one of the major concerns facing tenants right now is a cutback on maintenance and security.
"We used to have little carts constantly checking that everything is safe. We just don't see those carts anymore," the spokesperson said. "Now the grass is all trod over, there are mud puddles. ... It used to be lovely."
She said there have been cutbacks all year and in the last two weeks she heard that 25 staff were let go.
The Tenants Association is holding a meeting on Dec. 5 to discuss its next steps. The spokesperson did not wish to be named but has lived in the complex for 47 years.
The tenant group sought relief of $215 million for past rent overcharges plus legal expenses, the Deutsche report said.
Continue reading @ Epoch Times
Via New York Daily News
Landlords and real estate investors could lose billions of dollars as a result of the recent Stuyvesant Town court ruling, according to a report by Deutsche Bank.
The state Court of Appeals ruled that landlords who get property tax breaks cannot deregulate their rent-stabilized apartments and charge high market rents until they begin paying their full tax bills.
The report looked at several hundred apartment complexes around the city where the owners have tax abatements and found they face potential lawsuits and huge challenges in determining the legal rent for thousands of units.
Investors will be less eager to put money into the buildings because the rent-based cash flow will be limited, the report said.
Stuyvesant Town ruling may drain landlords of cash [NY Daily News]
Landlords and real estate investors could lose billions of dollars as a result of the recent Stuyvesant Town court ruling, according to a report by Deutsche Bank.
The state Court of Appeals ruled that landlords who get property tax breaks cannot deregulate their rent-stabilized apartments and charge high market rents until they begin paying their full tax bills.The report looked at several hundred apartment complexes around the city where the owners have tax abatements and found they face potential lawsuits and huge challenges in determining the legal rent for thousands of units.
Investors will be less eager to put money into the buildings because the rent-based cash flow will be limited, the report said.
Stuyvesant Town ruling may drain landlords of cash [NY Daily News]
When does it end? That's what Stuy Town residents forced to bath in brackish water want to know. A resident sent us this clip posted on YouTube of the nasty water that pours into the bathtub. The clip gives a whole new meaning to the term "viral video."
The tenant writes:
"This was what came out of my bathtub faucet this morning. It's been happening almost daily for the past two weeks, and frequently for the past several months."
As usual Stuyvesant Town has no explanation as to why they continually have a hard time supplying fresh water to their residents.
Gothamist is reporting that an "emotionally disturbed person" has gone missing at First Avenue and 16th Street. No word if the person escaped from Beth Israel Hospital's psych ward or Stuy Town's leasing office.
Via The Wall Street JournalA Deutsche Bank report out this week paints a grim picture for apartment owners and real-estate investors in New York City in the wake of the October ruling on Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan. The report also looks at some other buildings at risk of becoming, essentially, the next Stuy Town.
In October New York State's highest court handed a victory to renters at Stuy Town, a sprawling apartment complex on Manhattan's east side. The ruling held that the owners of the complex had improperly deregulated rents on thousands of units that were also benefiting from a city tax break -- known as J-51 -- given to landlords as an incentive to upgrade properties.
The billion dollar question right now for tenants: How much rent will they get back and will they actually see a reduction in rent? Meanwhile, the ruling could result in billions of dollars in losses both to property owners and holders of commercial-mortgage backed securities or CMBS, according to the Deutsche Bank report.
Continue reading @ The Wall Street Journal
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10/23/09 While NYC Renters Rejoice, More Pain for Tishman and Co. [WSJ]- 10/23/09 Tsk, tsk, Tishman [NY Post]
- 10/23/09 Why Jerry's $5.4B gamble failed [NY Post]
- 10/22/09 Stuyvesant Town Ruling Worries Tenants and Landlords Alike [NYT]
- 10/22/09 Court Deals Blow to Owners of Apartment Complex [NYT]
- 10/22/09 Tishman Rent Rise in Manhattan Voided by New York’s Top Court [Bloomberg]
- 10/22/09 Court Shakes Up New York Landlords [WSJ]
- 10/19/09 StuyTown Tenants Fear Inspections [WNYC]
- 10/15/09 Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association seeks second chance to buy building complex [NY Daily News]
- 10/15/09 Commercial Real Estate Watch: Stuyvesant Town Set To Implode [Business Insider]
- 10/15/09 An Apartment Complex Teeters [WSJ]
- 9/11/09 Stuy Town Down [NY Post]
- 9/10/09 Tishman Speyer's Stuyvesant Town Lost $3 Billion [Bloomberg]
- 9/10/09 Stuy Town Owners in Court Over Rent Boosts [NBC NY]
- 9/10/09 When a Real Estate Deal Goes Bad [NYT]
- 9/9/09 Tishman, BlackRock, Could Default on Stuy Town Loans [Real Deal]
- 9/9/09 ST / PCV on the Verge of Ruin [Gothamist]
- 9/9/09 Bloomberg's Rich Friends, and His Silence on Affordable Housing [The Awl]
- 9/1/09 Florida Lost $250 Millionon New York's Stuyvesant Apartments [Bloomberg]
- 8/31/09 Fitch: Stuy-Town Debt Reserve May Run Dry [Globe St]
- 8/25/09 Cash Crisis for America's Most Expensive Housing Complex [Multi Family Investor]
- 8/22/09 Stuy Town Cash Crisis [NY Post]
- 8/6/09 Welcome to Stuy Town U [NY Press]
- 7/21/09 Rape in Stuyvesant Town [NY Post]
- 7/15/09 Targets Elderly Men [The Villager]
- 7/14/09 East Side Attacker Of Elderly Re-Emerges [CBS News]
- 6/12/09 Police release video of suspect in muggin spree [NY Daily News]
- 6/4/09 I Really Don’t Think People Defecate in the Hallways of Stuyvesant Town [NY Magazine]
- 5/27/09 Now It's War [Curbed]
- 5/22/09 Group of Stabilized Tenants File $10M Suit [Curbed]
- 5/21/09 Landlords Could Soon be Responsible for Indoor Air Quality [Epoch Times]
- 4/7/09 Tishman Speyer Victory: Can Appeal Stuy Town Rent Ruling [Huffington Post]
- 5/18/09 Protections Sought For Foreclosed-Upon Renters [City Limits]
- 5/6/09 Stuy Town Woman Fondled by Teen [NY Post]
- 4/23/09 Gang Violence Leads to Mounted Partol in ST [Town & Village]
- 4/9/09 Perv Plea: Save My Stuy Apt [NY Post]
- 3/6/09 Stuy Town Owners Set Back on Rents [Metro]
- 3/6/09 Big Landlord Found to Have Wrongly Raised Rents [NYT]
- 3/6/09 Stuy Town Rent Win [NY Post]
- 3/5/09 NY court deals landlords huge setback [Crain's]
- 3/3/09 Study Questions Whether Cameras Cut Crime [NYT]
- 2/25/09 Stuyvesant Town Debt May Be Cut If Rent Law Changes [Bloomberg]
- 2/25/09 Fitch may downgrade New York City apartment CMBS [Reuters]
- 2/5/09 Proposed Rent Rules Stir an Owner Outcry [NYT]
- 2/1/09 Clash of the Utopias [NY Mag]
- 1/20/09 Illegal walls turn NYC apartments into firetraps [MSNBC]
- 1/14/09 Apartments Try to Stay Afloat [WSJ]
- 1/11/09 STUY TOWN OWNER SUED OVER 'EVICTION SPREE' [NY Post]
- 12/31/08 Tishman Close To Figuring Out If Stuy-Town Was Worth It [NY Observer]
- 12/16/08 A List a Landlord Doesn’t Want to Be On [NYT]
- 11/21/08 NYPD Daily Crime Blotter [NY Post]
- 11/13/08 Unclear why E Side water runs brown [NY Daily News]
- 11/13/08 Brown tap water plagues NYC residents for weeks [WCBSTV]
- 11/11/08 Will Tisnman Speyer Buckle [The Real Deal]
- 10/28/08 No gas for one week steams Stuy Town [NY Daily News]
- 10/26/08 Tishman Speyer up against residential rout [Crain's]
- 10/26/08 A Shift in Albany Could Avert Higher Rents [Gotham Gazette]
- 10/21/08 Heat's on Tishman [NY Post]
- 10/17/08 Stuy Town Fight Club [Curbed]
- 10/13/08 Managers facing ‘Survivor’ challenge [PI]
- 10/7/08 What the Other Half Thinks [City Limits]
- 9/29/08 Big Squeeze on Affordable Housing [NYP]
- 9/28/08 More City Apartments Facing Foreclosure [Crain's]
- 9/27/08 Stuy Town Blues [NYP]
- 9/17/08 Stuy Town a Money Loser for Tishman? [WNYC]
- 9/8/08 Out of Control [Barron's]
- 8/27/08 From a Doorman to Dorm Rooms [WSJ]
- 8/26/08 Fear of Defaults After a Flurry of Apartment House Sales [NYT]
- 8/3/08 Tishman's Stuy Buy Hurting [New York Post]
- 7/23/08 Revenues at Stuyvesant Town are Down [Gothamist]
- 7/23/08 Stuyvesant Town Revenues Have Fallen, Report Says [NYT]
- 7/15/08 Stuyvesant Town Renters Rally in Wake of WallGate [Curbed]
- 7/14/08 Stuy Town Wall Woes [New York Post]
- 7/5/08 A Very Stuyvesant Town Fourth of July [Gothamist]
- 7/2/08 Tishman Speyer Canceled Pressurized Wall [Curbed]
- 6/29/08 Life After Tenements [NYT]
- 6/22/08 Far From the Fairways, Unpopular Visitors [NYT]
- 5/27/08 Stuy Town Follies: Now It's War [Curbed]
- 5/27/08 Tenants Roiled by Challenges on Residency [NYT]
- 5/27/08 Renters Forced Out of Stuyvesant Town [NYT]
- 5/22/08 Preserving Stuyvesant Town [NY Sun]
- 5/8/08 Everybody's Sexy in Stuyvesant Town! [NYMAG]
- 3/5/08 Stuyvesant Town, Desperate for Renters? [Gothamist]
- 5/27/07 Tenants Blast Stuy Town 'Spying' [NYP]
- 5/27/07 Landlord probes tenants in fight over apartments [WABC]
- 10/21/07 Child Pornography Arrest Stirs Previous Allegation Against Therapist [NYT]
- 1/16/07 After Sale, Rent Increases Give Some Sticker Shock [NYT]
- 9/23/06 Complexes’ Seller Pushes Profits, as Critics Fear Higher Rents [NYT]
- 7/12/06 An Earlier Case of a Gas Explosion After a Broken Relationship [NYT]
- 7/6/06 A Surprise Lurks at Stuyvesant Town - Luxury Rentals [NY Sun]
- 11/5/03 Stuyvesant Town tenants wary of N.Y.U. influx [The Villager]
- 10/23/02 Sniper Hits a Teacher at Stuyvesant Town [NYT]
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