Daily Archives: February 7, 2014

TA meeting to focus on management office construction

Rendering of the new management office as seen in 276 First Avenue (Photo by Kent Howard)

Rendering of the new management office as seen in 276 First Avenue (Photo by Kent Howard)

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

Stuy Town Tenants Association is set to host a meeting to discuss the construction of a new management office as concern over disruption caused by the project continues to rise.

The TA is primarily concerned about quality-of-life issues, including the removal of walkways and benches, loss of greenery and possible noise.The original management office on Avenue C was swept away by Hurricane Sandy . There are plans to turn what’s left into a children’s facility.

The new management office will border 272, 274, 276 and 278 First Avenue and while CW Capital met with residents to discuss the project last October, there has been little communication since then. Local elected officials — City Councilmember Dan Garodnick, Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh and State Senator Brad Hoylman — sent a letter to CW Capital vice president Andrew MacArthur last Friday asking for transparency about the project.

The Department of Buildings is to conduct an audit of the site in order to ensure compliance with the Building Code and Zoning Resolutions.

The letter from the elected officials was in response to a meeting held by tenants of 276 First Avenue that was organized by building resident and former Community Board 6 chair, Mark Thompson.

“Seniors especially are really stressed out because now the park is gone,” he said. “(Stuyvesant Town) is being marketed as this green oasis in the city and they’re cutting all the trees down.”

Kent Howard, of 276 First Avenue, told T&V that he started the website StuyTownBigDig.com to keep track of what they see going on.

“It’s hard to tell at this point but it looks a lot larger than I originally anticipated,” Howard said.

“Tenants are concerned,” Thompson added. “That’s the bottom line.”

The TA meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 18 at 6 p.m. in the auditorium at PS 40, 320 East 20th Street.

Doors will open at 5:45 p.m. Representatives from CW Capital and CompassRock will be there, in addition to local elected officials Senator Hoylman, Assemblymember Kavanagh and City Councilmember Garodnick.

Letters to the editor, Feb. 6

CW: look into heating issues

The following is a letter that City Councilmember Dan Garodnick’s office sent on January 23 to CW Capital Vice President Andrew MacArthur concerning the recent heat complaints in Stuy Town and Peter Cooper. His office has not received a response to the letter.

Dear Mr. MacArthur:

I write to you to alert you to the significant number of complaints my office has received this winter regarding heat in Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. The new automated system for a time reduced the number of complaints that my office received, but this year appears to be leaving more residents in that cold than usual.

As you know, New York City requires residential building owners to hear tenants’ apartments at a minimum of 68 degrees Fahrenheit between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. when outdoor temperatures fall below 55 degrees. Between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., building owners are required to maintain an indoor temperature of 55 degrees when outdoor temperatures fall below 40 degrees. While I understand that your engineers likely program the temperatures to be higher than the bare minimum, the complaints this year have gone up considerably and it deserves your attention.

Please investigate any changes that have been made this year compared to years previous in order to identify what may be causing this problem. I would appreciate learning the results of your inquiry.

Above all, I ask that you please urgently take all necessary steps to ensure that apartments are getting the proper level of hear. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

City Councilmember Daniel R. Garodnick

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