The past few months have been quiet when it comes to Stuyvesant Town?relative to the recent history of the Great Debacle, anyway?but consider that silence shattered. You might recall that the temporary agreement that rolled back the rent on 4,400 market-rate apartments in the East Side megacomplex recently expired, and with various key issues from the landmark Stuy Town rent-stabilization lawsuit yet to be worked out, the new landlords began threatening some hefty rent increases. That time has come, Crain's reports. Soon Stuy Town will be sending out renewal notices to tenants whose leases expire in May. These new leases might include increases of $700 per month. Actually, because the Stuypocalypse makes little sense to anyone, the leases will include three rents!
With both sides due back in court for negotiations, there could be a whole new set of guidelines in place by the time those May leases kick in. And so, according to the tenants' lawyer, the renewal notices will list the predicted stabilized rent, what landlord CW Capital believes the rent should be, and what CW will actually charge. And if that's not confusing enough, the landlord has "pledged to work with tenants who say that can't afford it because if tenants prevail, the amount will go likely go lower." A landlord working with tenants to reduce the rent? Now we're really in crazyville.
But let's forget about the macro issues for a moment and focus on the micro, like the little Stuy Town controversy that could: CleanGate! Stuy Town watchdog blog Lux Living has been chronicling the outrage of a family of former renters who got hit with a $3,800 cleaning bill (their security deposit plus extra charges) despite hiring the complex's own cleaning service before moving out, and documenting the decent condition of the apartment in a detailed set of photos. Now Lux Living has posted the itemized four-page bill itself. $64 to clean a microwave? Good work if you can get it.
· Stuy Town Con Job: $3,863.84 to be Exact [Lux Living]
· Stuy-Town rent debate heads back to court [Crain's]
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