Report: Associated owners not having any luck shopping for a lease renewal on East 14th Street

The other day, an EVG regular was shopping at the Associated on East 14th Street in Stuy Town. Word there was that ownership was currently renegotiating a lease renewal ... but that management "didn't feel confident they will get a renewal they can afford."

Well, turns out that the Town & Village Blog has been on this story.

In post from Sept. 29, Sabina Mollot reported that while the end of the store's 15-year lease is still two years away, principal owner Joseph Falzon has been asking about a renewal because he wants to renovate the store.

As he told Town & Village, Falzon "wanted to make sure the store had a future before making the investment, which he feels is necessary given competition from places like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods in Union Square."

Apparently, though, Stuy Town landlord CWCapital Asset Management hasn't been interested in such conversations.

To Town & Village:

“I called up last June and said, ‘It’s time to talk about a lease. We’d like to revamp the store,’ and at that time they just ignored me,” said Falzon. He continued to call but was told to ask again closer to when the lease would be up. But Falzon didn’t want to wait, explaining, “The store needs a face lift right now.” In a recent conversation, when he asked, “’When the time comes for a lease renewal will you talk to us?”, the answer from a company rep was that he “wasn’t at liberty to say right now,” Falzon said. “Our feeling is that the landlord doesn’t want us to renew when it’s up. We’re good tenants. We pay our rent. I don’t know if it looks hopeful.”

Additionally, recently, a representative from a competing supermarket who Falzon declined to name, has also approached CWCapital about taking over Associated’s space.

“He offered double what we pay and they said no,” said Falzon. “I don’t know if they have plans for it. They’re not telling us, anyway.”

In April, the owners of this Associated closed Met supermarket on Third Avenue and East 17th Street after a rent increase. That space remains vacant.

A Chipotle for Stuy Town

Yep, a Chipotle is coming to 286 First Ave. in Stuy Town … near East 17th Street… not sure exactly when Chipotle made this announcement… (an EVG Facebook friend shared the info with us on Friday) …

The Chipotle displaces the PCVST Broker Welcome Center, which has moved up the block…

[Updated] Report: Police make an arrest in attempted Stuy Town rape

The NYPD has arrested a suspect wanted for the attempted rape of a 20-year-old woman in an elevator at 600 E. 14th St., the Town & Village Blog reported.

Juan Scott, 26, who lives at 544 E. 13th St., has been charged with attempted rape.

The incident occurred around 4 a.m. this past Friday. The victim reportedly screamed and struggled with her attacker, causing him to flee. Security cameras showed the suspect escaping from the building by climbing down a tree to street level.



The NYPD are investigating the suspect for other crimes as well, according to DNAinfo.

Updated 5:40 p.m.

The Villager reports that Scott is a cousin of Rosario Dawson. Her mother and father and other relatives still live at 544 E. 13th St., The Villager points out.

Report: Police searching for suspect in attempted Stuy Town rape

Stuy Town tenants received the following alert:

At about 4 a.m. on Friday, October 17, a 20-year-old woman was assaulted by a would-be rapist who followed her into the elevator of her Stuyvesant Town building on the 600 block of East 14th Street. She fought him off, and he fled. The man's image was captured on security cameras in the Terrace and Main lobbies, the elevator, and then later in the street. He was seen climbing down a tree to get to street level.

Per CBS New York:

The suspect is wearing a dark hoodie, a dark t-shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers and carrying a white plastic bag, perhaps filled with groceries. Police said he is Hispanic.

Here is video via Gothamist...



According to the Stuyvesant Town Report, "The woman was badly injured and treated at Beth Israel Medical Center."

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

Two weeks ago, a man with the same general description was spotted by a neighbor trying to attack a young woman on East Eighth Street at Avenue B. The neighbor who intervened placed these flyers around the neighborhood.

Police say this man groped 2 women in Stuy Town

The NYPD is looking for a suspect in two "forcible touching incidents."

Per Gothamist:

The first incident occurred on Sunday, May 18, at around 2:52 a.m., when the man allegedly grabbed a 24-year-old woman's buttocks in the hallway of her apartment building near East 14th Street. Then on Sunday, June 15, at 2:05 a.m., the same suspect touched the buttocks of a 22-year-old woman inside the hallway of her apartment building on Stuyvesant Oval.

The suspect, who can be seen in the above surveillance footage, is a 25- to 35-year-old male, around 5-10 and 175-200 pounds.

Anyone with information may call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

We have a note!: 'To the Dirt Bag who stole my black push cart out of the laundry room'

EVG reader stickmanpk sends us these awesome signs spotted in a building in Stuy Town, the land of enchantment…



And there's an update. Apparently there is a cart thief among us!



Do these qualify as Urban Etiquette Signs?

As stickmanpk put it, "This is sort of the opposite of polite. Maybe?

Noted

And an incident to report over in Stuy Town... via the Town & Village Blog's Police Watch:

A resident of 310 First Avenue reported that her apartment was broken into last Friday at 4:09 p.m. She told police that when she entered the apartment, she saw a man inside her bedroom without permission to be there. He was also naked in her bedroom and when she went in the room, she saw him putting on her skirt. She said that she was unsure if she had locked the door and there was no forced entry. No arrests have been made.

There was not a description of the man provided in the report.

H/T Crazy Eddie

Citi Bikes docking station arrives this morning on East 14th Street and Stuy Town

EVG reader Brett notes that the docking stations arrived this morning around 10...



... here on East 14th Street... just east of Avenue B and adjacent to Stuy Town...



Bike docking stations also arrived this morning on East Sixth Street ... on the south side of the street near Avenue B...


[Photo by Sally Davies]

An amenity to die for, apparently, at Stuy Town

Stuy Town shows us that, once again, they are ahead of the curve when it comes to amenities. In the past few years they've added a cafe, a study, a mini-movie theater, a playroom for the kids as well as a seasonal greenmarket and ice skating rink. Got all that? Good!

Via an EV Grieve Facebook friend, now comes word of a new amenity – cremation services!

For a mere $795, Stuyvesant Town – Peter Cooper Village Direct Cremation Services will handle all of the morbid details involved with cremating a loved one.

And to answer the question of one Facebook commenter, no, they do not take requests.

Here's Garland Jeffreys and East 14th Street in 'The Contortionist'

Here's the new single/video by EVG favorite Garland Jeffreys — "The Contortionist," which Devereux Milburn shot near Jeffreys' Stuy Town home ... and featuring East 14th Street and Avenue C. Background vocals by Lou Reed and Savannah Jeffreys.

Is a member of the NYPD listing his apartment on Airbnb?

The New York Times recently published an article about a group of Stuyvesant Town tenants turned detectives who uncovered nearly two dozen short-term rentals on Airbnb.com.

One new listing the tenants discovered is of particular interest because the Airbnb host says that he is a police officer.

Here is the Airbnb ad titled "Room Available 18th St & 1st Ave" ...

"I’m a Police Officer from New York who secretly takes singing and dancing lessons. And I make a mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I'm Greek and yes I do put Windex on everything."

One of several accompanying photos on Paul's Airbnb profile page shows him in uniform, posing with a civilian in front of an NYPD police cruiser.

Stuy Town's spokesperson, Joe DePlasco, recently told the Times that Stuy Town is actively pursuing the tenants listing their apartments as short-term rentals on Airbnb. He says nearly 50 cease-and-desist letters have been sent to residents since the middle of last year, 15 of which have moved out.

(For most residential buildings, a 2011 law prohibits rentals of fewer than 30 days. Although those who microsublet for fewer than 30 consecutive days and remain present in the unit along with their guests — and those who don't accept money from renters while away on vacation — are exempt, according to city officials, as the Post recently pointed out.)

If it is in fact true a member of the NYPD is listing his apartment as a short-term rental, this will only fuel the Airbnb controversy. We'll no doubt be hearing more about this.

Report: Stuy Town full of fire code violations

Here's a story that merits widespread coverage... The Stuyvesant Town Tenants Association's new survey finds fire code violations in all but four of the complex's 110 buildings. Tenants Association volunteers recently inspected the buildings to check on things like building maintenance and cleanliness and what they found were a whole lot of fire code violations. Cut to the report:

"The survey, conducted in late spring by Tenants Association volunteers, discovered instances in all but four buildings in which fire doors do not close properly, in violation of Fire Code requirements that fire doors be self-closing. The TA has brought the survey results to the attention of Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano and Sean Sullivan, General Manager of ST/PCV.

In addition to the findings on the doors, the TA’s volunteers noted buildings that were missing floor indicator signage in hallways, on stair doors, and in stairwells; standpipes that were locked and chained; piping passing through holes larger than the pipes themselves creating a path for fire and smoke to travel; and what are unsafe and non-code-compliant window safety panes, such as plastic, in the fire doors themselves."

A FDNY Fire Inspector described the failure of self-closing doors as “extremely dangerous, because it could fail to stop the spread of fire, and especially smoke, to other areas of the structure."

To make matters worse, they found evidence of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use in the stairwells as well as indications that people have been using stair landings to relieve themselves and their dogs.

Anyway, at least they have a snappy new cafe!

Read the full report from the Tenants Association here:
Over 580 Fire Doors Are Found Not To Close In Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village

Also:
Building study reveals fire code violations (Town & Village Blog)

Apartment fire in Stuy Town

Crazy Eddie passes these photos of an apartment fire at a 10-12 Stuyvesant Oval address ... no word yet on the extent of the blaze...

About that really loud noise around 14th Street and Avenue B last night

[Not last night. But it could have been!]

From a reader who lives in Stuy Town near 14th Street and Avenue B:

Just wanted to see if anyone else had heard or contacted you yet about this really loud noise I experienced last night. Around 3:30 am I woke up from a deep sleep to the noise of what sounded like a jet literally hovering over my area. I woke up my boyfriend so that he could hear it too and so that I knew I wasn't dreaming. This noise went on consistently for about a half hour.

They didn't spot anything out the windows... Anyone else experience this? I'm going with UFO. No crackpot conspiracies, please.

Anyway, rats are passé now that the mainstream media are on to them

Thanks to Crazy Eddie for passing along these photos... Union painters are protesting outside Stuy Town ... setting up a picket area yesterday on 14th Street at Avenue B.

On Wednesday, EV Grieve reader thisboyshouts noted that the group had the familiar inflatable rat with them. However! Yesterday, Crazy Eddie points out their picket friend...

As he says, "Love the inflatable cockroach. The Rats are so passé today now that the mainstream media is on it at Tompkins Square Park."

Oh, and here's more on the union protest.

Stuy Town unveils new studios

Oh, just a worker taking a break on 14th Street and First Avenue outside Stuy Town.

Photo by blue glass.

13th Precinct pays visit to local blogger; deemed safe to society

Back on Nov. 2o, Stuy Town's Lux Living posted a satirical item titled "Tenant to Children: STFU." The post was based on an e-mail in which a resident complained about screaming children playing in Stuy Town early Saturday mornings.

Per the resident: "Parents, nobody likes your kids. THEY ARE ONLY CUTE TO YOU. Keep them indoors, tied up, gagged, drugged, WHATEVER, and stop letting them loose at 8AM on Saturday mornings."

Lux Living illustrated the post with a crying child in a rifle scope's crosshairs. Which didn't go over well with some residents. In total, the post generated 70 comments... Given the controversy over the image, Lux Living changed the illustration to the one pictured above. Meanwhile, a few angry residents were fearful that a real whackjob was living among them.

Enter the police.

I'll let the folks at Lux Living, who shared this with me, pick up the story from here.

Detectives from the 13th Precinct stopped by today to check on my lucidity and be sure there were no guns in my apartment after some tenants complained that I was inciting violence by posting an email sent to me for the "Tenant to Children: STFU!" post. They were really nice and understood the Lux Living post in question was satire but they had a job to do. After a tour of my apartment and some light conversation about my art collection and antique furniture it was clear to them that I am just a writer with a dark sense of humor and not a threat to society.

Yesterday, the Lux Living team felt compelled to write a clarification for the benefit of new readers.

It has come to our attention that some of Stuy Town's new suburban transplants haven't caught on that Lux Living is a satirical website even with such lively content. Unfortunately, when they moved to the city not only did they bring their ill-behaving children and bourgeoisie sensibilities, they also brought their fear mongering.

The downside to this, aside from becoming a terrible bore to those around them, is that they lost the ability to distinguish a perceived threat from over the top, in-poor-taste, Married With Children / John Waters / Always Sunny-esque humor.

And just to spell it out: "There is nobody targeting children, setting neon colored bear traps baited with mint candies and silly bandz, or razor scooter jousting taking place."

The post includes an epic comment from Park Avenue Grinch, who discusses the "the tsunami of suburbanite dullards that are spreading throughout the city like Dutch Elm disease – another suburban blight."

"Ice pick bandit" menacing Stuy Town

Stuy Town Lux Living has more details.

Breaking: Delivery bike removed from Stuy Town

We just noted the presence of an abandoned restaurant delivery bike that has been locked to this tree in 4 Stuyvesant Oval in Stuy Town since.... Halloween!



EV Grieve reader Nixta now reports that, as of this morning, workers removed the bike!

The mystery of the abandoned delivery bike in Stuy Town

EV Grieve reader Nixta sends along these photos of an abandoned restaurant delivery bike that has been locked to this tree in 4 Stuyvesant Oval in Stuy Town since.... Halloween!





Nixta notes there is now a Stuy Town "Remove your bike" notice... Still, questions remain!

So... what happened to the delivery person? How much longer will the bike stay locked to the tree? Who locks a bike to a tree?