Daily Archives: April 14, 2017

Parents nuts about squirrel signs

A sign outside Peter Cooper Village’s Playground 2 (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel)

By Maya Rader

Last week, signs appeared on five of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village’s playgrounds telling residents not to feed squirrels within 50 feet of the playgrounds.

Since it was parents who’d been pushing for the signage, not surprisingly several parents T&V spoke with this week almost all agreed putting them up was a good idea.

At Playground 2 in Peter Cooper Village, parent Jay Smith said, “I think understanding that they’re not pets and they’re wild animals is probably the first thing.”

Neighbor Andy Ryan said he’s seen squirrels climb into strollers looking for food.

At the Stuy Town clock tower playground, parent Julie Lee said, “The squirrels here are very aggressive, so it makes sense (to have signs).”

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Former PCV resident returns through apartment lottery

Nichole Levin, holding a gift bag with slippers at home on Monday, is happy to be back in Peter Cooper Village. Photos by Sabina Mollot)

By Sabina Mollot

On Friday, March 31, Nichole Levin, an elementary school teacher and Peter Cooper Village native, got the phone call she’d been waiting for over a year. Her application to the Stuyvesant Town lottery for reduced rent apartments had been accepted. In fact, she was told, she could move in right away, and the apartment was in the same building in Peter Cooper Village as her mother’s home.

The news came as a happy ending to what was a somewhat stressful process, due to the wait — she’d even had to extend her current lease in Tudor City by a month while sorting out a paperwork issue.

Levin, 41, has since spoke with Town & Village about her experience, and has also since moved in (on Monday).

It was last March when the lottery opened for the first time, inviting those with incomes no higher than 165 percent of the area median income as well as those earning no more than 80 percent of the AMI to apply. Levin, who teaches English as a Second Language, had an income that made her eligible for apartments for renters in the upper income tier. Last March, this was $74,850-$99,825 for a single person seeking a studio or one-bedroom. It wasn’t until September, however, that she was contacted for a routine credit check.

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