Stuy Town key card fuels controversy

October 14, 2008 02:30PM By Candace Taylor
Stuyvesant Town


Stuyvesant Town residents have been alerted that a controversial electronic photo key card system will replace lobby door keys starting Thursday.

The move is already drawing criticism from some residents who say it would make it easier for Stuy Town to identify and remove tenants who illegally sublet there.

Still, signs posted in the massive World War II-era rental complex state that lobby keys will no longer work after Wednesday, October 15th.

In order to obtain the key cards, residents must present a photo ID such as a current driver's license, student ID or passport at the complex's management office. Tenants may obtain cards for employees or guests by accompanying them to the office.

The key cards are part of a new security system at the complex that includes cameras in elevator cabs, sensors on roof doors, and roof alarms, the flier states.

The key card system, which is already in place at Peter Cooper Village, has also drawn criticism from residents who have claimed the cards keep track of them when they enter and leave the buildings and thus violate their privacy.

Tishman Speyer Properties LP and BlackRock Realty bought the 80-acre, 11,200-unit Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village complex in 2006 for $5.4 billion.

But the owners are facing higher costs and less income than expected after converting rent-regulated apartments to market rates proved more difficult than anticipated.

Stuyvesant Town is now worth 10 percent less than what Tishman and BlackRock paid two years ago, S&P said in the Sept. 26 report.

A spokesman for Tishman Speyer said the firm was "pleased to announce" the upgraded security system — which will be implemented in some buildings now and will be required at all buildings by mid-December. He also noted that it was part of an ongoing effort to "enhance the safety of Stuyvesant Town residents and the security of their homes."

He said each building will be given at least 15 days notice and said it is "the same Access Card program that has been seamlessly implemented at Peter Cooper Village."


Comments

Anonymous

Those residents who say it would make it easier for Stuy Town to identify and remove tenants who illegally sublet there and who object to the new card entry hve a lot of gaul. First and foremost because they think it is okay to violate the law and second because the potential safety risk unregistered tentants in the community could pose. Take for example sex offenders or worst case scenerio terrorists.

Comment #1 Posted By: Anonymous 10/14/08

Anonymous

amen Anonmmous poster #1... of course its going to be harder to ILLEGALLY sublet your unit. As well it should be!!!! Im sick of subsidizing rent stabilized tenants, those that abuse the system should be prosecuted to a greater extent then the full extent of the law allows.

Comment #2 Posted By: Anonymous 10/14/08

Anonymous

Stuy Town worth 10% less, said S&P on September 26th. How much less is it worth today?

Comment #3 Posted By: Anonymous 10/14/08

Ann

I am a stabilized tenant in Stuy Town and I have no interest in subletting my apartment nor do I have another residence. Did it ever occur to anyone that maybe we don't want to be WATCHED 24 hours a day nor do we want some database keeping record of when we enter and leave our buildings. It's creepy and unnecessary. I'm not a criminal and don't want to be treated like one.

Comment #4 Posted By: Ann 10/14/08

I am sorry Ann but we are just sick of subsidizing people who break the law. This program is necessary and should be required for all rent regulated building. Your rent regulated occupancy at the expense of NY taxpayers (and market apartment tenants who pay inflated rents b/c of limited supply) is a priveledge not a right.....

Comment #5 Posted By: 10/14/08

A. Nonny Mouse

Well . . . now we know who's been sending out all those misspelled/typo-filled letters and e-mails. priveledge //// You've gotta be kidding!

Comment #6 Posted By: A. Nonny Mouse 10/14/08

Anonymous

Market rate tenants have "chosen" to live here and are subsidizing no one but Tishman Speyer.

Comment #7 Posted By: Anonymous 10/14/08

Anonymous

commenter # 5 is an idiot who can't spell, but I share the thoughts exactly

Comment #8 Posted By: Anonymous 10/14/08

Ann

Exactly A Nonny Mouse! Plus it's been well documented that Tishman Speyer is losing money because they are going after legally stabilized tenants such as myself. I thought the NY Daily News article a few weeks ago was very interesting as it stated they have caught "two" people abusing the system. Two people justify this complex-wide crack down on privacy?

Comment #9 Posted By: Ann 10/14/08

Anonymous

Ann, As long as you're not illegally subletting your apartment, why do you care about the key card system? It's increased security. It makes no sense for you to be complaining. You sound like an ingrate. It's perfectly reasonable that the owners want to protect their rights and their large investment. They don't give a darn what you're doing as long as you're not illegally renting your apartment, so stop be such an annoying comlainer!

Comment #10 Posted By: Anonymous 10/14/08

Anonymous

Commenter #5 needs some Oval Amenities for her brain. Rent stabilization is not against the law.

Comment #11 Posted By: Anonymous 10/14/08

Anonymous

S&P was being generous to Jerry Speyer by reducing StuyTown's value by only 10%. Some time next year, more than $600 million set aside in reserve to cover operating deficits for 5 years will have been depleted in half that time. Speyer's reckless lenders, Merrill Lynch and Wachovia, are extinct dinosaurs. So, there will be no extensions or new money forthcoming for a property with no equity that is losing $30 million per month.

Comment #12 Posted By: Anonymous 10/14/08

Anonymous

Security my sweet !!&*** ----- how many times do we come home to find the supposed-to-be-locked "security" door propped wide open, either because someone is moving in or out, or for some unknown reason, as there is never anyone around keeping watch on who goes in and out. And try calling the security office to report this and get them to check it out & close the door -- they do not care and do not respond. You won't be so pleased with this bogus system the first time you have to march over to the office with your weekend guest & have them photographed & identified instead of just loaning them a door key.

Comment #13 Posted By: Anonymous 10/15/08

Anonymous

as a former real estate agent(prior to 2007), I can attest that when ever I delt with recent college graduates who had previousely lived in STUY TOWN or PETER COOPER, everyone of them said they were subleting a room or an entire apartment there. in the past, some stabilized tenants made huge profits, and now the jig is up and big brother is watching.

Comment #14 Posted By: Anonymous 10/15/08

Anonymous

Notice how the landlord lovers above are swift to approve of totalitarian measures? It takes a certain kind of person to well up in tears over the abuse of billionaires.

Comment #15 Posted By: Anonymous 10/15/08

Anonymous

Where were all of the ST residents who now object to this massive invasion of privacy when the battle was being fought, and lost in the courts by residents of PCV. (Note to Tishman Speyer whose PR people like to rewrite history and present fantasies as to life in ST and PCV - the process in PCV was not seamless.) If you object to this overload of cameras and tracking (none of which actually does anything to prevent crime in a community that had virtually no crime before this system)you need to get Council Member Garodnick to make another push with the legislation he introduced in teh City Council, which has been stalled by the Speaker, that would have regulated this. They could also write to Assemblyman Kavanagh to reintroduce his bill that passed the Assembly which would ban the photo card keys and to Senator Tom Duane to introduce it in the Senate.

Comment #16 Posted By: Anonymous 10/15/08

Anonymous

It says there you can register a guest... If you want to sublet your unit, just register the person you subletting as a guest...

Comment #17 Posted By: Anonymous 10/15/08

Anonymous

I wish that there were no rent stabalized apartments in Manhattan. If one cannot afford to pay market rent in an area they should be move. There are already too many rift-raft here.

Comment #18 Posted By: Anonymous 10/15/08

Anonymous

I think TS should start a tips line - tell them about an illegal sublet in the property and get $2K upon eviction. I also think the key card idea is a great idea. And finally the city should change the laws to allow landlords to litigate tenants who have been caught illegally subletting - landlords should be awarded their economic loss times 3. (similar to how rent overcharges work)

Comment #19 Posted By: Anonymous 10/15/08

Anonymous

re: Anonymous Comment #18 Are you freaking kidding me? No rent stablized apartments? Where are all those people supposed to go? A couple of years ago, no-one wanted to even step foot in the lower east side and now because it's the "cool" place to be and you morons are willing to pay $3000 for an apartment, now we have to move out! We've paid our dues, believe me. If you don't like the fact that someone else is paying less rent then you then YOU move back to the suburbs!

Comment #20 Posted By: Anonymous 10/15/08

Anonymous

I still don't want to step foot in the Lower East Side.

Comment #21 Posted By: Anonymous 10/15/08

Anonymous

it's not the lower east side, you snob.

Comment #22 Posted By: Anonymous 10/15/08

Garry

ST and PCV was always known as the place where one could "cheat" the system through illegal sublets. Why anyone who lives there would want a system where any Tom Dick or Harry could live as their neighbor without going through some application and background check process while allowing the actual overtenant to make a profit in the process speaks to underground economies and black markets. Its ironic that higher end communities are sought after for this type of security. What should a landlord do with a property of this magnitude regarding security, higher doormen and raise the rents even more? Anon #9 doen't comprehend the basics of arithmetic, that given the 6000 or so regulated apartments still there, that the only way is up over the long term for the rent roll. The fact that TS burned through a hefty reserve fund only points to their eagerness in trying to make this a better looking property to attract a tenant willing to pay a higher rent.

Comment #23 Posted By: Garry 10/15/08

Oval Babe

Rent stablized tenants riff raff? (not riff raft btw) You have got. to be kidding - They are the ones who made this community the desirable place that it is. To the one who just hates subsidizing rent stablized tenants, cry a river to your landlord, not to your neighbors! Oh if you had moved in here twenty years ago you would have turned down rent stabilized rent for market rates? Dream on and just go away..

Comment #24 Posted By: Oval Babe 10/16/08

Anonymous

I was born and raised on the UES (78 & Park to be exact. When I was going up Manhattan was not as desirable of a place to live as it is now. Given the overall health of the economy and the fall of Wall Street that Manhatten will slowly transform into what it used to be. You can already see more homeless and beggers on your street and subway stations. Just look around... New York City is slowly going back to a place of grit and grime. Times are slowly changing. The Disneyland era is all but over.

Comment #25 Posted By: Anonymous 10/16/08

Anonymous

I totally agree with comment #25. I see the face of the city changing as well. There are now more immigrants that Suits on the #4 train. Times-are-a-changin'

Comment #26 Posted By: Anonymous 10/16/08

Anonymous

Does anyone know how to spell anymore?

Comment #27 Posted By: Anonymous 10/16/08

Anonymous

I've lived in Stuy Town for 14 years and have seen it change. I don't care who sees me coming and going...what I care about is what happens when the electricity is down? Anyone remember 3 days in August....Do we have to prop the door open? Also, I have carried keys my whole life....if they put an electronic gizmo on my apt. door I'd be happier. Then I'd only have to carry the card NOT the key and the card. It was a ridiculous waste of money as are the other ammenities. So if TS is in a financial hole, then they dug it themselves. I'm just sick and tired of the construction noise.

Comment #28 Posted By: Anonymous 10/18/08

V

I find it simultaneously amusing & sad that so many posters (obviously from the RE industry) are calling for neocon-era strictures. The xenophobic statements about "illegals" and the train not having "as many suits" smacks of so-called "natives" wanting to put up a wall. Please bear in mind none of us outside American Indians are natives... once upon a time WE ALL were outsiders. Finally, in the interest of disclosure, I lived in Stuy Town for almost four years before the TS predators priced me out (I can afford the rent but won't pay the equivalent of $800K mortgage for non-equity). They jacked the rent of a 2BR from $2700 to $4100+ in a matter of months. Now the chickens, they say, are a' comin' home to roost. Shame on TS for their slumlord actions. Finally, it is perversely humorous to see this $5.4B boondoggle get its comeuppance. The city will hopefully return back to what it should be - a place for all kinds to live in, not just the (less) deep pockets.

Comment #29 Posted By: V 10/21/08

Anonymous

V Your post is just pathetic. First I've never been an "outsider." I was born and raised in NYC. Next, the reason they raised the rent was because they could. Metlife kept the rents too low and that's one reason TS bought the place. You make it seem like it's their fault that other people will pay $4,100. You had your chance to pay the number - if you don't want to fine - get out the way so someone else can. Next, they are anything but slumlords. They've put more cash into the property in the last 12 months than Metlife did in the last 12 years. If anything they can be accused of lavish overspending. Finally, TS is just fine financially. They sold $9B worth of property this year. They've got plenty of cash. This purchase is a long term hold. They'll be just fine. Certainly the downturn in the market hurts - but it's not going to hurt them anymore than it hurts other landlords.

Comment #30 Posted By: Anonymous 10/22/08

Angelica

I am a market rate tenant paying 3,000+.I'm NOT subletting! For this high rent I expect at least convenience and good service, which Stuytown under new ownership has NOT been providing. On top of many useless amenities, huge rent hikes, constant construction, insufficient heating and other problems there is this major inconvenience and INVASION OF PRIVACY!!! With the new card system I have to go with each visitor and stand in line on Saturday to take their pictures. This is outrageous!! When I tried to complain about it the security supervisor in the management office was EXTREMELY RUDE and refused to provide information on where I can submit an official complaint. I believe that this policy is infringing on residents rights. I believe there should be a card for all guests, who u can to put on the list by phone/e-mail. I'm not on rent control and don't see why I should suffer!! I would not jeopardize anyone's safety by putting people on the card ppl I know personally!!! I don't want a big brother! TS tries to market these apartments like luxury living, I think people should know the truth.

Comment #31 Posted By: Angelica 11/01/08

V

Anonymous: Evidently the rents they're charging aren't working, given they've drawn down on their war chest which will run out 3Q2009. With the economy in the tank and Wall Street bonuses (and jobs) vanishing I'd be surprised if it's not up for sale by 2010. And the "outsider" comment was a macro statement. Your just another cracker (like me) who believes the "Manhattan pedigree" is an excuse to act like a fool.

Comment #32 Posted By: V 11/07/08

Anonymous

no man is an island

Comment #33 Posted By: Anonymous 11/12/08

Anonymous

#18 is the outcast - people like you ruin our community. The attraction of Stuy-Town had been a solid middle class community, a great place to raise children - a place with no frills attached. It was fine and wonderful before the new landlords took over. Who needs these additional useless frills? we got along well without them. I miss the circa 1950's.

Comment #34 Posted By: Anonymous 11/23/08

Anonymous

My first question is if your photo is not actually being registered when you use your card key anyone can use the key? I can loan my key to whoever and that person will be able to use my key as long as my photo is not being registered. What is the point of a photo I.D.?

Comment #35 Posted By: Anonymous 12/03/08

Anonymous

#34 I completely agree. I have lived in Stuyvesant Town since I was two years old and it really was a different place then. I loved growing up in the tight-knit community that held flee markets and Christmas caroling in December. Anyone remember the old holiday decorations? Classic. The new management chooses, however, to give us useless "oval amenities" (that we can't even go in if we don't pay a monthly fee!) and other "frills" that we really don't need. The keycard system is horrible. I have found my front door open more times in the past month (because it failed to close all the way), then in six months with the old key system. I have never been worried for my safety in Stuyvesant Town. All the new management has done for me is implement useless policies and kill (or at least tried to kill) the community that Stuyvesant Town used to be.

Comment #36 Posted By: Anonymous 12/11/08

Anonymous

As an outsider, one who dates a ST resident, the new owners are moderizing a great property in need of updating. The grounds are looking great, security and lighting are plentiful and visual; sidewalks, parking areas, play grounds, common hallways, lobbies, etc all are all updated. They cannot do all updating at one time, but they are making a great effort in ahuge undertaking. Much more than the prior landlord, Met Life, did in many years. The incrdible challege will be to ad central air, update electic power and modernize the interior of each unit. Rent stablized units should go the way of the Edsel.

Comment #37 Posted By: Anonymous 03/09/09

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