PO demo porn, and other East 13th Street razing action

[This post sponsored by Little Bites]

Workers have finally started demolishing the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office … you can't really tell, though, from the front entrance on East 14th Street just west of Avenue A…



However, once you come around to the loading dock on East 13th Street … you can see the demo in progress…









An 8-story retail-residential building — featuring 114 units — is in the works for the PO space. Still no sign of a rendering yet from SLCE Architects.

Now some bonus demo action across East 13th Street… where the single-level garages at 436 and 442 E. 13th St. are coming down to make way for the Thirteen East + West condos…



An EVG reader shared a view from above the former garage at No. 436 …



You can read more about the project here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office slated to be demolished

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office will yield to an 8-story residential building

New residential building at former 14th Street PO will feature a quiet lounge, private dining room

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office closer to demolition

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office continues slow march toward demolition

Workers erected the sidewalk bridge and scaffolding on the East 13th Street side of the the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office two weeks ago.

They did the same on the East 14th Street side on Friday and Saturday…





As previously noted, an 8-story retail-residential building — featuring 114 apartments — will eventually rise here.

The PO closed in February 2014, though some frustrated patrons wish it had been demolished sooner.

No word just yet what impact the sidewalk bridge will have on the building's western corner…



Previously on EV Grieve:
UPDATED: Did you hear the rumor about the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office branch closing?

Report: Closure of the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office is pretty much a done deal

First sign of more development on East 14th Street?

Asbestos abatement to begin at former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office

Davey drill arrives ahead of rumored development at former East 14th Street post office

Former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office slated to be demolished

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office will yield to an 8-story residential building

New residential building at former 14th Street PO will feature a quiet lounge, private dining room

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office closer to demolition

Reader report: Blowing fuses on East 13th Street this winter

[EVG file photo of 438 E. 13th St. from November 2012]

A resident shared the following with us ... about the situation for longtime residents at 438 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue...

Rent-stabilized tenants in the building have had their electricity limited thanks to landlord Stone Street Properties. We don’t have the same wattage/volts as other apartments since November.

For example, one tenant has to turn off all his lights to microwave food. Another tenant’s lights kept going out when the fuses blew out on Thanksgiving. The solution? We must call or text our super to go down to the basement to reset the circuit breaker. The poor guy has to do this several times a day. One tenant has fainting spells and had her chin cut open a few weeks ago (from fainting in her bedroom), so having to walk around in a dark home has caused her anxiety. The same tenant can't use a space heater when it's cold out because the fuse blows.

Jared Kushner's Kushner Companies recently purchased the address here as part of a 16-building/$131.5 million portfolio.

Per the resident: "We're worried that this electricity issue won't be resolved until new management takes over. It has been tough to live with limited electricity."

Of course, the Kushner Companies have not been too popular around the East Village with the allegations and subsequent media reports of tenant harassment and quality-of-life issues brought on by gut renovations in their buildings.

Previously on EV Grieve:
2 East Village buildings part of $73 million deal

Life at 438 E. 13th St.

Jared Kushner picks up 2 more East Village apartment buildings

[EVG file photo of 438 E. 13th St. from November 2012]

Jared Kushner's Kushner Companies has expanded its East Village portfolio.

According to Lois Weiss at the Post, Kushner has closed on a 16-building apartment portfolio for $131.5 million. Two of the properties are in the East Village — 104 E. Seventh St. and 438-440 E. 13th St.

Stone Street and Florida-based HIG Realty Partners were the sellers. Stone Street bought the EV properties in November 2012.

We heard from a resident at No. 438 this past April who let us know what life has been like here since Stone Street took over the building. First, the resident says that many longtime tenants were driven out of their units … "and we had to deal with a round of apartment gut renovations last year."

And!

"I have lived in the East Village for [20-plus] years and have never dealt with such disregard for tenants," the resident said. "Even the tenants who moved into the renovated 'luxury' units are being screwed."

Not that Kushner will be a much better landlord. The Kushner Companies have not been very popular around here with all the allegations and subsequent media reports of tenant harassment and quality-of-life issues brought on by gut renovations in their buildings.

The Kushner Companies have bought up 28-29 or so East Village walk-up buildings in the past two years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
2 East Village buildings part of $73 million deal

Life at 438 E. 13th St.

Life at 438 E. 13th St.

[EVG file photo of 438 E. 13th St. from November 2012]

Back in November 2012, news surfaced about a deal involving 11 walkup apartment buildings in the city, including two in the East Village — 438-440 E. 13th St. and 104 E. Seventh St. Stone Street Properties reportedly bought the properties for $73 million, according to The Real Deal.

We heard from a resident at No. 438 who let us know what life has been like here since the sale. First, the resident says that many longtime tenants were driven out of their units … "and we had to deal with a round of apartment gut renovations last year. But things have really gotten bad in the past two months as they have started another round of gut renovations."

Among the problems: No gas (the resident says that it was turned off on March 20). "We didn't have any heat for extended periods in January and February and a whole list of plumbing/electric/structural issues that have occurred since."

Is there hot water now?

"Yes, we do have hot water at the moment, but you never know from one day to the next. Sometimes we get notices stuck to the door, sometimes not," the resident said. "Depends on what the construction crew is doing. What we do have consistently is construction noise every weekday morning at 8 — with workers ringing all the buzzers to gain access starting at 7:45. This has gone on since the first week of March. Two weeks ago they started at 7 a.m. on a Saturday.

In the resident's opinion, "Stone Street doesn't seem to care at all. They ignore calls and emails on these issues."

"I have lived in the East Village for [20-plus] years and have never dealt with such disregard for tenants," the resident said. "Even the tenants who moved into the renovated 'luxury' units are being screwed."

Previously on EV Grieve:
2 East Village buildings part of $73 million deal