The current stream of news that flows in the Real Estate blogs about Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village (PCVST) and more specifically the management/owners Tishman/Speyer has of late been less than balanced to put it mildly. The record breaking purchase by Tishman/Speyer of PCVST for $5.4billion in 2006 from MetLife who developed and owned the project since World War II had conflict with the tenant’s association built in as the ink was drying on the contract. Partly due to a failed bid for the property by the tenant’s association and also to a deep concern that things were never going to be the same again for the longtime residents.
I am a managing director with NY Living Solutions who also happens to be a resident at Stuyvesant Town and I would like to offer some weekly reporting that will aim to show both sides of the story and ongoing daily disputes at PCVST.
While it is true there is a pending lawsuit that has uncovered scurrilous activity with the unlawful deregulation of thousands of rental units there are many other stories which are hysterical at best, vitriolic at worst. I have not been privy to the existence of any rats, my girlfriend has been ganged up on by the fierce east-side squirrel gang, but when they realized she had no nuts they went back to their business.
The stories are written in particular by one blogger who is hogging the blogwaves, who has the lion’s share of attention, and this person is a resident (or was once a resident for 10 years until last April) who thus far has remained elusive. A NY Times article that was published last July 2008 gives some background.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/nyregion/thecity/20blog.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=stuyvesant&st=cse&oref=slogin
As a resident myself I have had the opposite experiences of said mystery blogger who finds the time each and every day to dish the dirt on all manner of topics that may occur in the community of (PCVST).
I will give my perspective on what it’s like to live in the PCVST community. After all it is only fair for there to be an alternative voice to the one blog that exists merely to routinely inflict countless blows to Tishman/Speyer. I will also begin the hunt to uncover the identity of this elusive resident blogger that is until they find the courage to reveal themselves.
According to the NY Times article from July 2008, the blogger makes daily routine trips to PCVST,”On Tuesday, during one of his daily walks through Stuyvesant Town, he paused at a group of unplanted and decaying young trees corralled behind a temporary fence. “There’s no shortage of things to write about,” he said wryly.
Well, so we know it’s a guy and he makes routine visits. Let the hunt begin.
