Friday, October 23, 2015

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

In an article published last week, The Villager reported that the residents living in East Fifth Street buildings newly aquired by Raphael Toledano's Brook Hill Properties had "documented more than 140 interactions, altercations and outright threats by Toledano and his camp during the two-month period from this July 8 through Sept. 8."

In a Talking Point column in this week's paper, The Villager lets the 25-year-old Toledano outline his plans for the neighborhood:

The reason I chose to grow my business in this beautiful neighborhood is simple: I believe in the East Village. I am not here to transform this community, rather I am determined to become a part of the fabric of the neighborhood that so many wonderful New Yorkers call home.

And!

My plans for these buildings are simple. We want to renovate the apartments and common areas, improve the outward appearance and take suggestions from tenants for how to make the East Village the ultimate live / work / play community.

Beyond that, we are committed to making meaningful contributions to improve the welfare of the community. I have been engaged with a number of organizations to find out what we can do to help, and I look forward to announcing new partnerships in the next few weeks. But in the meantime, what you need to know is that my company is here to make the East Village a better place.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Toledano 2016.

Anonymous said...

Making the East Village the ultimate work / sleep / work / sleep / work / sleep / work / sleep

Anonymous said...

It's not about the money, it's about making the East Village "better". I doubt this 25-year-old shitbag can make anything better but his inflated ego. YUCK. Why are these people so hellbent on "recreating" what was already pretty good before they arrived on the scene? He is a gross caricature whose only goal is to INCREASE HIS BOTTOM LINE. Don't try to dress up plain old CAPITALISM as ALTRUISM. I've already got enough piss flowing down my back that these creeps claim is "just rain."

Anonymous said...

This guy is a terrible landlord hell bent on driving low income residents out of his building to make room for high end tenants.

Anonymous said...

If that's not the smile of a sociopathic landlord hell bent on making tenants lives miserable then I don't know what is.

Bowery Boogie said...

i call bullshit.

NOTORIOUS said...

This greasy little weasel is the person harassing all of these tenants? ROFL. It's like the curtain reveal in The Wizard of Oz!

Anonymous said...

Utter bullshit, actions speak louder than bullshit, he is only looking to make a lot of money by hurting the weakest and poorest here.

blue glass said...

looks like the cheshire cat's smile to me
the one from alice in wonderland
watch out

Anonymous said...

The Citizen Cane photo in the first link is a bit much. Did he bring his IHOP booster seat?

Anonymous said...

Kane... auto correct

Anonymous said...

Sorry, "Raffi", the East Village was a truly great place loooooong before you got here - in fact long before you were even born. We do wonderfully on our own. It's smart-ass jerks like you who think they know how to make this place "better" - but we don't need YOUR version of "better" (which is really only about making your bank account better).

If you had any decency and respect for the people who already live here, you would not be making these grandiose statements that boil down to "we're here to save you from yourselves" when we didn't need any saving in the first place.

We don't want or need to be the "ultimate" anything - especially not your idea of what's "ultimate"! We want a sane, livable neighborhood where people respect each other - which is what we had before you and Icon and Shaoul got here!

Anonymous said...

There's an excellent word that describes people like Toledano: "carpetbagger".

Anonymous said...

Sounds all well and good, but you know this guy has to be twisted--most 25-year olds with those kinds of assets would cash out and enjoy the good life. This kid on the other hand probably sees himself as the next Shaoul or whatever.

Anonymous said...

Wow...what a load. His company is here to make the East Village a better place. Uhhh...no. His company is here to make money. How do they make money? By pushing the old neighborhood and residents out and bringing in new residents who pay much more for small living spaces that happen to have some new appliances. Come on Toledano....you can't believe that people are that stupid to believe this line you and your company are putting out.
Now that this is clear..let's get real. This is progress. This is what happens. Old neighborhoods with cheap properties that can be seriously improved with renovations and restorations are money makers. Why not? This is free enterprise. We may not like it, but who are you gonna call? Donald Trump?

Ken from Ken's Kitchen said...

The only way Raph could make the EV a better place is by leaving. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.

Anonymous said...

He looks like he's 12 in that picture! And... did he inherit this portfolio?

Anonymous said...

The little ass is trying to buy my building right now... Cash. Screw everything about the prick.

Anonymous said...

I hope his intentions are actually good and not the typical bullshit. " the ultimate live / work / play community." sounds like some cheesy shit though.

EVQP said...

GAG.

Anonymous said...

I suspect this investor with fellow amigo, Ben Shaoul (et. al), are attempting to corner the east village real estate market, so they can manipulate pricing for their own financial gain.

Anonymous said...

@12:23pm: That's a nice sentiment, but the odds of his intentions being "actually good" (as far as E. Village existing residents are concerned) are about zero.

Look, science has demonstrated that the "executive area" of the brain does not finish maturing in most people until about age 26, so what are the chances that a supremely overconfident, smug, highly-entitled 25-year-old with access to tons of money (and in LOVE with the idea of having the POWER to make the E. Village into his vision of what it should be) would care about the well-being of existing tenants (who, from his POV, are "underpaying")? I'd say the chances are below zero, actually.

Anonymous said...

There are a lot of buildings in this neighborhood that needs fixing. I wish him good luck.

Anonymous said...

Is this the guy who screamed his family owns half of Manhattan outside a boozy brunch?

Anonymous said...

I thought you joined the Peace Corps when you wanted to make the world a better place.

Anonymous said...

@ 12:23 So sorry. totally my worst nightmare.
@ 1:36 Seriously?
@ 1:10 You nailed it.
@ 4:44 Here, here.

There should be riots in the streets over what is happening to our neighborhood, our neighbors. All of the vulnerable are at risk. The city is doing very, very little. It's a wholesale resale of an entire community in favor of the rich. Little do they know, the east village is not as it once was. And the sheer arrogance of it, the hubris — it's heartbreaking. My heart bleeds for these people as the clock counts down to my own demise. And no, this is not drama. Gentrification is a slow-mo shit-show ... all hustle until the deed flips into the wrong hands.

THESE ARE OUR HOMES.

These people, these new building owners, are vampires. Be wary of anyone coming on the scene who is claiming to remake anything in his own image. Good god! Forget the creeps, this guy gives me panic sweat. But all that money and no make-over? He looks like a dork. Like I bet he had a PR person who came up with this EV "vision". He should do a little reading about the history of this place. Does he think we're idiots?

Anonymous said...

@5:55pm:

To answer your last sentence: YES, he does think we're all idiots!

AND he thinks he's some kind of visionary genius.

So he's wrong twice right there.

Scuba Diva said...

I think he and Karen Black were separated at birth:

Blogger won't let me insert a picture, so click here

Mark Hand The Catchman said...

How can his teeth be bigger than his mouth?

Anonymous said...

Yo, Toledano, you want to make the East Village a better place? Here's how you can do that: go far, far away and stay there.

Anonymous said...

I'm a newcomer to the east village by 5 years. In this time it has rapidly changed. With little shitheads trying to make it a better place, this asshole I bet has not even involved himself with the community. Go back to the west village punk!
Can't imagine how the amazing feel of this neighborhood was 20 years ago. Respect to those who were!

Anonymous said...

Tell em friend!