Noted

Spotted making a deliver this afternoon in Stuy Town... via @KarenLoew

[Updated] Trees coming down for L train expansion on 14th Street

As previously reported, preliminary work is underway along 14th Street for building new entrances at Avenue A and an underground power station at Avenue B for the L train.

And to make way for all this, some trees need to come down. On Friday, workers removed several trees (I counted three barrels on top of stumps) on the cobblestone median along 14th Street/the Stuy Town service road between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Several EVG readers shared emails about this taking place.

Wrote one: "I am appalled and sickened to see [the trees] being cut down and fed through a chipper. Did anyone know that this was going to occur? I am sick at heart and will never see full grown trees on this block for the rest of my life. Incredible."

And more will be coming down between Avenue A and Avenue B... X marks the doomed trees...



These six trees have Xs on them...



... and the trees that will remain ...





Updated 8/15
Several readers noted that the six trees came down yesterday...

1 week left to apply for the Stuy Town Lottery

Via the EVG inbox...

The StuyTown Lottery, a middle-income affordable housing lottery at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, has one week left to run.

The deadline to apply is March 10. Anyone with between $84,150 and $149,490 in pre-tax, combined household income might be eligible. We are offering one- and two-bedroom apartments.

More information, including floorplans, FAQs and instructions on how to apply can be found at www.stuytownlottery.com.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Lottery open for below-market rate apartments in Stuy Town

Lottery open for below-market rate apartments in Stuy Town

The Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village affordable housing lottery is underway ...again.

Property owner Blackstone said that potential renters who missed out on a unit last year (15,000 reportedly applied) could try again now through March 10.

Here's Town & Village with more:

This reopening is specifically for applicants in the higher-income bracket for one and two-bedroom apartments since those are the unit sizes that are most common throughout the property. However, the original waiting list is still active for unit types not included in the current lottery as well as one and two-bedrooms.

And!

An ad promoting the lottery that’s running in four newspapers this week, including Town & Village, states that the rent for a one-bedroom would go for $2,805 for one person earning $84,150-$104,775 or for two people earning $84,150-119,625. A two-bedroom would go for $3,366 for a 2-4 person household earning a minimum of $100,980 to a maximum of $119,625 for two people, $134,640 for three people and $149,490 for four people.

By contrast, market rent in Stuyvesant Town starts at $3,200 for one-bedroom units and at $3,900 for two-bedroom units.

Town & Village interviewed several people about the process. (Read that article here.) Here's one person, who entered the lottery last year, expressing frustration about the experience.

“The city was proud to announce that 5,000 units at Stuy Town would remain affordable, and they claimed that Stuy Town would remain a place to live for low to middle-income New Yorkers like nurses, teachers,” he said. “However, 90 percent of these affordable units are being awarded to those making no less than $84,150 a year. I don’t know any teachers or nurses who make that kind of a salary.”

You can apply online here.

We'll always have Paris (Baguette), and Egg Salad Bacon Rolls

Early last September, I noted that an outpost of Paris Baguette was opening in the shoppes of Stuy Town on First Avenue near 16th Street.

And that was likely the last time I walked by this strip of shoppes. Which is why I had no idea that this Paris Baguette had opened earlier in the fall.

As noted, the quickly expanding South Korea-based company has more than 3,000 corporate and franchised stores across multiple countries in Asia as well as in Europe. There are a handful of locations currently in Manhattan.

Anyway, I happened to walk by the other day ... and so I went inside. I recalled DrGecko's comment about the food items:

Oh, god, I love their place on 32nd St. If I'm feeling down, just a quick look at their bizarre stuff always cheers me up.

I haven't seen the doughnut stuffed with potato salad recently, but their skewered hotdog-in-a-roll or their sweet-potato sponge cake will surely brighten up the neighborhood.

P.S. I don't necessarily recommend actually eating any of these things.

This item for sale certainly cheered me up — behold the Egg Salad Bacon Roll (#paleo)...



Anyway, the place looked to be doing pretty good business. There was a short line at the counter and I didn't feel like waiting for an Egg Salad Bacon Roll coffee. Another day perhaps.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Paris Baguette opening a location in Stuy Town (28 comments)

Reader report: In case your packages were a little wet this evening

An EVG reader shared this from earlier this evening in Stuy Town...

I saw a bunch of Amazon.com and Jet.com packages sitting on the sidewalk in the rain. They are drenched.

There wasn't any sign of the delivery people.

Are they off delivering other packages and maybe they plan to come back for these? I don't know! It's not a great move given that everything is soaked. Meanwhile, stuff could be stolen.

Paris Baguette opening a location in Stuy Town

Signage is up in the shoppes of Stuy Town near 16th Street for an outpost of Paris Baguette.

The quickly expanding South Korea-based company has more than 3,000 corporate and franchised stores across multiple countries in Asia as well as in Europe. There are seven cafe locations currently in Manhattan.



No word on an opening date here for their cakes, pastries, sandwiches and coffee.

Report: Mount Sinai Beth Israel ready to sell its 1st Avenue campus

[Photo from May]

The Mount Sinai Health System, as previously reported, plans to replace its existing First Avenue facility by opening a smaller hospital on 14th Street and Second Avenue in the years ahead.

Now officials have reportedly put up its First Avenue properties, which are expected to close in the next four years, on the market.

Lois Weiss at the Post had the scoop:

Real estate sources say the sale, which is expected to include that full block bordered by First and Second avenues and East 16th to East 17th streets, will also include other First Avenue properties.

Weiss reported that Douglas Harmon of Eastdil Secured, who brokered the $5.45 billion Stuy Town/Peter Cooper deal with Blackstone, is talking to interested investors.

While it lies opposite Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village ... the campus is also opposite the leafy and elegant Stuyvesant Square Park, making residential options enticing, especially as Stuy Town’s new owner, Blackstone, has plenty of air rights toward seeking landing strip.

There's no word yet what this prime chunk of real estate might fetch. The Real Deal noted that "hospitals make an attractive target for developers. For example, in 2014, Fortis Property Group paid $240 million for the Long Island College Hospital in Cobble Hill, where it plans to build residential towers."

All dogs in Stuy Town must now have a tag and lanyard

An EVG tipster shared the following missive with us from the senior director of resident relations for Stuy Town-Peter Cooper Village:

In an effort to keep PCVST occupied with only registered dogs, Public Safety is requiring all dog owners to hang their dog’s registration tag from the leash handle. Complimentary lanyards are now available to clip on to the handle of the leash so that the registration tag can be clearly visible. After April 30th, 2016, anyone walking a dog on property without a lanyard and tag will be asked to leave the grounds, including dog walkers who walk PCVST dogs along with non-registered dogs.

The lanyard and clips are now available for pickup at the Resident Services Office at 276 1st Avenue Loop and Public Safety at 2 Stuyvesant Oval. If your dog is already registered, simply show your dog’s registration tag to the receptionist and you’ll be given a lanyard.

Per the EVG tipster: "They should worry about out-of-control delivery guys, residents who don't clean up after their dogs and woo-ers."

Report: An interest in keeping the Associated on East 14th Street

[EVG file photo]

As you may have read, the Associated Supermarket on West 14th Street and Eighth Avenue faces a likely closure after the building's landlord served the market with a $168,000 monthly rent hike. Local elected officials and community members have been rallying to help save the market.

The owners of the Chelsea location also run the Associated in Stuy Town on East 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. However, as previously reported, this store also faces an uncertain future.

The Town & Village Blog talked with principal owner Joseph Falzon about the situation at the East 14th Street Associated.

Falzon said that he and the other three owners are still working with Blackstone to come to an agreement for the Stuyvesant Town Associated before their lease expires for that store in 2017. No further information was available about a possible lease for the location but a representative for Blackstone confirmed that management is committed to having an affordable grocery store in that space.

Falzon also confirmed that the new owner seemed interested in keeping the store there and he and the owners had a good meeting with Blackstone at the beginning of the year.

Falzon, who, along with his partners, also operates the Avenue C Associated, had wanted confirmation of a lease renewal so that he could renovate the store.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Associated owners not having any luck shopping for a lease renewal on East 14th Street (34 comments)

Petition drive underway to help save the Stuy Town Associated on East 14th Street

Report: New Stuy Town owner pledges to keep a grocery story on East 14th Street, but it may not be Associated

Take a chance on living in a rent-stabilized apartment in Stuy Town

The Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village affordable housing lottery is underway.

DNAinfo has the details:

The lottery will give as many as 15,000 applicants a spot on a waiting list for affordable apartments in the complex, according to a spokeswoman for Blackstone, the firm that purchased the twin housing complexes last year.

Prices for the affordable apartments vary widely based on unit size and household size. The cheapest option is a studio apartment for $1,210 per month for people making between $36,300 and $48,400, while the priciest is a five-bedroom apartment for $4,560 for families of five to 10 members making a total of between $136,800 and $210,870 per year.

You can head over to DNAinfo for more details. The lottery submission process ends on March 31.

About those Stuy Town-Peter Cooper air rights that could fetch Blackstone $625 million

Well, you know that the Blackstone Group and Ivanhoe Cambridge's $5 billion-plus purchase of the Stuy-Town/Peter Cooper Village is in the books. (Mostly!)

Now Lois Weiss at the Post has more details about those air rights bandied about in previous sale discussions:

Blackstone has tucked away air rights that could be worth some $625 million.

While the majority of the air rights — roughly 1 million square feet — will be transferred somewhere over the city’s rainbow through a new entity, Blackstone also retained 250,000 feet of air rights within a Stuyvesant Town associated LLC.

These include 200,000 square feet for a community facility, 25,000 square feet for residential and 25,000 square feet for commercial use.

But before residents and elected officials freak out, Blackstone sources said the company is sticking with its promise and will not build anything else on site. The executives spoke on condition of anonymity and explained the deed filings merely divvied up the air rights between various entities.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Local politicos seek answers from the Blackstone Group on the Stuy Town air rights deal

Report: Manhattan Cryobank wants Stuy Town's sperm

An EVG reader shared this story with us from the past week that we missed...

As Town & Village first reported, Midtown-based Manhattan Cryobank sent a mailer to to all of Stuyvesant Town’s buildings (though not Peter Cooper’s) "because of the high population of NYU graduate students and men in their early twenties to early thirties."

As you might expect, the mailer didn't go over real well with some folks.

Per one resident:

“This is the kind of PR that Tishman and CWCapital have been putting out that people are sending us that. We’ve never received this kind of thing — this is what they think this neighborhood is? What if you sent your kid down to get the mail? We do not want to be known as the sperm bank neighborhood. I think the new people (Blackstone) should know about this. They bought a sperm bank.”

Anyway, Spring Break!

Stuy Town T-Mobile store robbed at gunpoint

Police are searching for two men who robbed the T-Mobile store on First Avenue near East 19th Street on Sunday afternoon.

Here's some narrative via Town & Village:

While one of them waved a gun around, the men ordered two employees and one male customer into a back room. The suspects then forced an employee to turn over 40 Apple and Samsung phones off a shelf as well as approximately $1500 in cash from a safe.

The NYPD released this surveillance video today... the customer, who is carrying a cane, is made to lie down on the floor while an employee hands over the merchandise and money...



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.

Report: New Stuy Town owner pledges to keep a grocery story on East 14th Street, but it may not be Associated

During a meeting with the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association last Thursday evening, representatives of the soon-to-be owner Blackstone said that they are committed to keeping a grocery store on East 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue, DNAinfo reports.

As previously noted, owners of the Associated here would like to have their supermarket's lease renewed so that they can revamp their space. However, the current Stuy Town management has refused to commit to a renewal and then tried to buy out the lease. (Find more background at the Town & Village blog, who was the first to report on this.)

At Thursday night's meeting, a Blackstone rep told residents that they "are absolutely committed to keeping a supermarket in that space with a similar price point to the Associated."

As DNAInfo points out: "There is no guarantee, however, that the space will stay in the hands of the Associated, which has two more years on the lease."

City Councilmember Daniel Garodnick's office also shared the news about a grocery store remaining at this location.



As one resident told us: "The community wants Associated, not just a different grocery store … and are we really supposed to trust the word of an NYC landlord?"

Meanwhile, there's a petition drive underway to keep the Associated in the space. You can access the petition here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Associated owners not having any luck shopping for a lease renewal on East 14th Street (34 comments)

Petition drive underway to help save the Stuy Town Associated on East 14th Street

Petition drive underway to help save the Stuy Town Associated on East 14th Street

As previously noted, owners of the Associated on East 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue in Stuy Town would like to have their supermarket's lease renewed.

However, the current Stuy Town management has refused to commit to a renewal and then tried to buy out the lease. (Find more background at the Town & Village blog, who was the first to report on this.)

And no one knows what the new owners, Blackstone, intend to do. While the lease isn't up for two years, Joseph Falzon, the principal owner of the Associated, has been asking because he wants to renovate the store, per Town & Village.

Now members of the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association have launched a campaign at Change.org to help save the Associated.

Per the petition:

Tell Blackstone we need to save our Associated Supermarket

Stuyvesant Town needs to keep its local supermarket. It is especially important for our seniors who can't walk five or six long blocks to get to the next nearest food market. Since 2005, 4 local supermarkets have closed because of rising rents or because chain drug stores could pay much more. NYC is losing too many of its small stores because of rising rents and because landlords have no real connection or concern for the needs of working class New Yorkers.

Associated is willing to pay more rent if the landlord Blackstone is reasonable. The city is bending over backwards to give all kinds of lucrative incentives away so Blackstone can be reasonable. Having an affordable supermarket is just as essential in maintaining the middle class lifestyle in this unique neighborhood.

You can access the petition here.

As a rep of the tenants association told us, "This all-purpose supermarket is essential not only to many Stuyvesant Town residents but also to those who live south of 14th Street."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Associated owners not having any luck shopping for a lease renewal on East 14th Street (34 comments)

About the Stuy Town affordable units deal with the city

The term sheet for the agreement between the city and the Blackstone Group to keep 5,000 affordable units at Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village is 12 pages long. The Real Deal sifted through it and noted the following:

"None of the Affordable Units will be used by Purchaser on a transient basis or as a hotel, motel, hospital, nursing home, sanitarium, rest home or trailer park."

And one point to reiterate, as The Real Deal summarizes:

Under the agreement, Blackstone can likely reduce the number of affordable units from 5,000 to almost zero between 2035 and 2040.

Blackstone signed a contract last month to buy the 11,000-apartment complex for $5.3 billion in partnership with Canadian pension fund manager Ivanhoe Cambridge.

You can find the PDF of the term sheet here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Local politicos seek answers from the Blackstone Group on the Stuy Town air rights deal

Local politicos seek answers from the Blackstone Group on the Stuy Town air rights deal

News broke last week that The Blackstone Group was partnering with Canadian investment firm Ivanhoe Cambridge to buy Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village for $5.3 billion.

As part of the new agreement with the city, Blackstone will preserve 5,000 units as affordable for the next 20 years, according to The New York Times.

Only later did more details emerge, that the deal contains an inducement: Blackstone has New York City's backing to sell the property’s unused development rights, as The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Per the Journal:

Development rights — also known as air rights — are a hotly contested jewel sought by Manhattan developers. Every property has its own allocation of air rights based on zoning, and for those buildings that haven’t used all of them, the rights can be sold to others looking to build vertically. But such sales are generally restricted to properties on the same block.

Stuyvesant Town has more than 700,000 square feet of these rights, according to people who have reviewed the property’s zoning. That is more than half the size of the Chrysler Building— roughly enough for about 1,000 rental apartments.

Yesterday, City Comptroller Scott Stringer sent John Gray, global head of real estate, a letter asking for clarification on the density of the air rights Blackstone may be transferring.

Here are portions of the letter:

[W]e must express our concern regarding your intention to pursue transferring air rights from ST/PCV to the surrounding communities. This component of the agreement has not been disclosed in any detailed way either in the public documents or in our New York’s communities are keenly aware of the potential impacts associated with air rights, and any plan to radically change the zoning of a large parcel of land must include the community’s voice. ST/PCV tenants, the local community board, and the surrounding neighborhoods need and deserve a detailed description of Blackstone’s intentions including the scale, timeline and public purpose of the zoning change.

Air rights are not a commodity that can be transferred across the city at will; they are zoned onto individual properties pursuant to a larger neighborhood plan and only after full consideration of the potential impacts. The transfer of air rights from one block to another has only been permitted in connection with a clear public purpose and only when limited to the immediate vicinity of the site in question...

While ST/PCV is an iconic community endowed with substantial open space, the two superblocks that make up the complex include neither landmarks nor public parks. Further, the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the superblocks have few vacant parcels to accommodate any new density. Therefore, the public purpose of your proposal, and the boundaries within which an air rights transfer can occur, are not readily apparent.

The public reporting has indicated that only 700,000 square feet of air rights are available on the site. However, the October 2015 term sheet applies no restriction on the total density that can be transferred, and Department of City Planning data indicates that the unused air rights on the two superblocks could amount to 10.7 million square feet when community facility uses are included. While we recognize that no official number has yet to be set, the potential impacts of 10.7 million square feet of density on public transit, streets or other critical infrastructure are staggering, and the true number must be clarified and publicly disclosed.

Finally, while we appreciate that no formal agreement has been submitted, a change of this potential magnitude deserves immediate public disclosure and discussion. It is essential that these conversations begin prior to finalizing an agreement to ensure time for community consultation.

The letter was also signed by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, State Sen. Brad Hoylman and State Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh.

Among the questions they are seeking answers to:

• What is the scale of density of air rights that Blackstone is intending to transfer?
• What is Blackstone’s intended timeline for public discussions, disclosures and feedback?
• What geographical constraints is Blackstone considering for receiving sites of the density?

Image via

[Updated] Reports: Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village will be hitting the market

According to published reports, the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village complex is being prepped for a sale.

Per the The Wall Street Journal:

CWCapital Asset Management LLC, a special servicer that represents bondholders of the property’s debt, has hired Doug Harmon at Eastdil Secured LLC to advise it on the sales process, according to a written statement issued by the company on Sunday. The statement said that the owners are able to move ahead with a sale because CWCapital has “finalized in principle the settlement of the outstanding litigation.”

A CWCapital spokesman declined to comment further, but people familiar with the matter say the owner is hoping to sell it for at least $5 billion.

And here's more from Bloomberg, who first reported on the potential sale on Saturday:

A sale of Stuyvesant Town, home to about 30,000 New Yorkers, would end the squabbling and litigation that has plagued residents, bondholders and politicians since 2010, when Tishman Speyer and BlackRock Inc. gave up the property after its value plunged in the financial crisis and they were unable to raise rents.

Guess this is why the owners of Associated aren't having any luck negotiating with CWCapital for a lease renewal on East 14th Street.

Updated 9:39 p.m.

The Blackstone Group is partnering with Canadian investment firm Ivanhoe Cambridge to buy Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village for $5.3 billion. Read more at The Real Deal.

Image via

Chipotle announces itself in Stuy Town

[Photo by Gwen Deely]

The conversion of 286 First Ave. into a Chipotle continues… the signage arrived late last week here in Stuy Town near East 17th Street.

The storefront last housed the PCVST Broker Welcome Center, which moved up the block. Seems like maybe they could have combined these two ventures in the space?

Previously on EV Grieve:
A Chipotle for Stuy Town