Here’s a supreme article about the declining fortunes of one of the families of real estate barons here in New York City.
Clash of the Utopias
The TISHMAN-SPEYER corporation purchased the Stuyvesant Town – Peter Cooper Village from Metropolitan Life back in 2006. When the value of real estate tumbled because of the bubble being broken, their fortune took a direct punch in the mouth. It’s just deserts for them too. New York City is controlled by a tiny group of families that own the majority of the land we use.
One of the first “so called” improvements the TISHMAN-SPEYER developers started to do after their purchase was to plant trees all over the open lawn spaces. The longtime tenants and residents hated this change because it removed the sight lines from the interior courtyard that had existed previously. Didn’t we just have a discussion regarding the benefits of design when considering high rise developments?
The open lawn area at Stuy Town is perfect for picnics during the summer and other outdoor activities all year around. The reason that Stuy Town works as a high rise development modeled after Le CORBUSIER’s master architectural plans is because of the core values of the residents. Even during the KOCH Administration, New York City’s lowest period for economics and morality, the Stuyvesant Town – Peter Cooper Village remained a haven for its residents.
It wasn’t because Black folks weren’t allowed in either. It remained safe because poor people weren’t allowed in. Poor people are devalued and disenfranchised and this causes them to devalue the things they come into contact with. Poor people are disproportionately accosted by the police. This makes poor people angry and volatile. Poor people were barred from entering this community because of all the ways that they are marginalized and mistreated and the residents of Stuy Town didn’t want to live that way either.
Peep the aerial photo of Stuy Town. The buildings layout forms an almost castle like barricade from the rest of the city. The ills of the East Village didn’t penetrate Stuy Town.
It remains to be seen if the TISHMAN SPEYER family will be able to continue to manage this crucial property in Manhattan. The developers have been converting many of the buildings into dormitories because the kids that go to New York University generally have parents that can foot the bill for their children’s living expenses. You all know how kids treat dormitory rooms right? These buildings could look like shit within the decade. The economic downturn could force the developers to admit tenants into the housing complex that have serious economic challenges. Like Section 8 users. That is when Stuyvesant Town becomes Co-Op City.
Co-Op City is the world’s largest cooperative residential housing development. Co-Op City is 4x the size of Stuyvesant Town – Peter Cooper Village(see voided area in image below). Co-Op City fell the fuck off when they were forced to accept poor tenants into the development. The poor tenants mixed with those who had middle-class aspirations and they made the two groups unidentifiable. Now everyone that lives in Co-Op City is considered working class (read: poor). The economy is about to make all of working class. When that happens there won’t be any residential development that will be safe.
