This is a freaking disgrace. I grew up in Peter cooper, when there were lots of kids. We lived in fear of having a dishwasher or washing machine. Hell, you were afraid to let handymen in your apt. for fear that they may see your build in bookcase-all against the rules. Yes, the rent was cheap, but was a white "project" with a million rules, "don't step on the grass" "don't ride a bicycle". That form of Nazism worked when tenents were paying $1,000 for a two bedroom, but this is plain nuts. I cannot believe that anyone would actually pay $4,600 a month for an apt that looks mostly out to other buildings, no gym, no doorman, and a sucky nearby public school. I hear there are tons of empty apts now, and we can only hope Tishman Speer loses everything due to their greed. Suckers.

What isn't a ripoff in this city's G*d-forsaken real estate market?

Who can ever afford to own (or even rent) in the city except trust fund-inheritance folks, old money, bankers/finance types (and their S.O.'s), celebrities, and 5 kids cramming into a place meant for two? Come to think of it, that's a lot of people.

Hell, I'd live in Manhattan again if I could afford to pay $2,500+/month on just rent without severely compromising my lifestyle but at some point, I need to think about the future...and I've got no big bonus coming. Although, if I could afford the prices bandied about here, PCV would not be my first choice.

I am paying $2,474 to live in 431 east 20th street in Peter Cooper. I'm on the 9th floor and I'm a building from st Ave. The just raised my rent to 2800!!! This is a RIP OFF!!! THE AREA SUCKS!!! I just found a great apt on Ave B and 9st for $1,900. Sure it;s smaller but I'll save close to a grand a month and be in an area that is 100 times better. If you need a subway don't move here! Who knows how much they will raise the rents next year. MET LIFE SUCKS! Peter Cooper is a total ripoff.

My wife and I moved from an illegal Stuy town unit with an incredible view paying 1500 a month to a renovated unit with a crappy view and paying 1950. We moved to do the right thing and not worry about being caught but now we are being screwed.

Our 1st renewal two years ago offered us a 1 year or two year both at REDUCED rates from our 1st year. we took the 2 year and our rent actually went down to 1875.

Here we are two years later and we just got our new renewal..$2300 Per month for one more year and 2700 for a two.

Needless to say we are looking for a new place to live. That is over a 20% increase and is rediculous. Pretty stupid also as we have now livedin the unit for three years and it no longer is as nice as it was when everything was new..

We feel tricked. We moved in last year to a two-bedroom and were told our lease would only go up a few percentage points. We are now facing a 21.5% increase, a nasty surprise especially after having a new baby.

Here is what my husband and I like and dislike about living in Stuyvesant Town:

Pros:

- Mostly quiet, well behaved rent-regulated neighbors.

- Larger than normal apartments (post war).

-Great playgrounds and open spaces.

- Decent service (but no doormen)

Cons:

- Poor access to transportation (A cross town bus that you can walk faster than and no subway access. Tough to get a cab.)

- Ongoing problems with vermin (roaches, etc.)

- Brown water in kitchen and bath.

- Sound travels too well (especially if your neighbors have no carpeting.)

- Strong armed security staff (Security almost ran our two-year old over last year driving a SUV on the sidewalks.

- Difficult to have guests due to limitations on building access (mandatory photo identity cards for our guests and nanny.)

We will likely move because of the rent increases and our growing family. Be warned it's not luxury as it is portrayed.

I can to get MSG, in 15 minutes, and I can walk there in 30 minutes which is what I usually do. Hey, as long as we are picking arbitrary destinations, I can walk to the east village in 5 minutes. I believe the Brooklyn Heights crowd has expressed plenty of snobbery in this discussion. Stuy Town was previously desirable for the cheap rent. I love the derogatory projects comments, not snobbish or classist at all. Yes, I grew up in this ugly middle class project, not Ritzy and as I said previously, lovely Brooklyn Heights. No we didn't have air conditioning until 1995. I will never admit that Brooklyn Heights is more convenient to Manhattan than my apartment on 20th and 1st. Yes, I am too poor to own my own home. Hey did you hear, Philadelphia is the new Brooklyn?

I like StuyTown/PCV but something I've always wondered is why a "middle class" project like this is considered desirable, while traditional low-income housing projects are usually described as soul-killing in their basic design. This despite the fact that they are aesthetically similar at the getgo; the only real difference is attitude and economic status. Anyone else have thoughts about this?

Robert Moses hard-on! Ha!

Hail Tim N.!

Tim N. is CORRECT! Hail Tim N.! Hail Tim N.!

I live in BH and work at MSG (not for MSG, just in the building). Door to door, 20 minutes. Swear to God. Do it every morning. Little more if the trains are funky. East side commutes are a little trickier because you have to walk to Boro Hall, but still no biggie. And my building doesn't look like a Robert Moses hard-on. And my 2br/1.5bath with a view of the harbor is under 2K/month (and that's mortgage and maintenace, folks, not rent).

We were in the West Village for the five years prior to our move to BH, we love downtown, hated to leave it, hope someday to move back, but sometimes snobbery is just flat dumb.

I tried to get a Sty Town apartment last spring. I was very skeptical about the place when I saw the ugly giant buildings but I somehow got tricked into going inside (responded to advertisement not knowing the ad was for the 'ugly giant buildings'). So I went inside and it turned out that the apartments were gorgeous - unbelievable in fact compared to others I saw in the city. They were brand new and HUGE!!! So I made an application. I didn't meet the rent criteria and my parents couldn't co-sign the lease since they are deceased. I faxed over papers from my lawyer and accountant showing that I have 4 million in a trust fund that makes 9k monthly payments. The rent on the place was $2900 for a two bedroom (They required a very large income, about 10k per month) . They wouldn't rent to me even after I offered to pay one years rent in advance... The women who helped me was a huge bitch -- not because she wouldn't rent to me, but because after showing her the income of my estate she yelled at me saying, "you gave me the tax return of a deceased person!" (the trust my deceased parents set up for me). Anyway, I suppose that I feel lucky now that i didn't rent, seeing that the prices are increasing.

I tried to get a Sty Town apartment last spring. I was very skeptical about the place when I saw the ugly giant buildings but I somehow got tricked into going inside (responded to advertisement not knowing the ad was for the 'ugly giant buildings'). So I went inside and it turned out that the apartments were gorgeous - unbelievable in fact compared to others I saw in the city. They were brand new and HUGE!!! So I made an application. I didn't meet the rent criteria and my parents couldn't co-sign the lease since they are deceased. I faxed over papers from my lawyer and accountant showing that I have 4 million in a trust fund that makes 9k monthly payments. The rent on the place was $2900 for a two bedroom (They required a very large income, more than 10k per month) . They wouldn't rent to me even after I offered to pay one years rent in advance... The women who helped me was a huge bitch. I feel lucky now that i didn't rent, seeing that the prices are increasing.

Brooklyn Heights is lovely. But, commute time isn’t just when the train leaves station A to when it arrives in station B. It includes the walk to the station, the wait time and the walk on the other end. Remember to calculate differently for rush hour and 1 am on Saturday. Stuy Town leaves a lot to be desired aesthetically, but I can stumble home from the lower east side drunk, while you wait for the train. And let's race to Corner Bistro.

But then I have a $1400 two bedroom, so I am clearly biased.

$775 in fab Flushing. Rent stabilized and I'm never moving till I hit Megamillions, which is what you have to play to afford anything in Manhattan. RE is out of control and something should be done to curb pricing, raise wages, or both.

Even $1500 a month for an apartment, no matter what borough, is crazy money.

www.forgotten-ny.com

I live in Stuytown and think that, for the most part, I have a pretty good deal. I live in a 2 bedroom and pay 2625. However, the paint on my ceiling is chipping and cracking, the plumbing has never worked properly, the elevator is constantly out of order and my laundry room has roaches. Stuytown/PCV really needs to address these problems before they can jack up the rent 25%. These hi-rises are spacious, but definitely not the luxury apts that they are advertising.

Talk about some hideously ugly buildings. I've seen better looking prisons.

I live in PCV and I have to agree with all of Sean's comments about it. Not nearly as bad a commute as some of these outer borough types would suggest. I find the area tranquil (you can describe it as desolate if you want) but lots of shade on green grass by the water is a nice escape from the city if you ask me. It's a very safe area and there are plenty of cabs as well if you need to get somewhere quick.

I moved in almost three years ago when they were still allowing people to convert 2BR, 2BA apts into a 3BR. Technically, we're not allowed to keep our place as a converted 3BR, but they don't really care. The rooms are all spacious (smallest bedroom is 16x10), the apartment was renovated right before we moved in, kitchen and bathrooms coated in marble, new appliances and new remote controlled air conditioners for every room (even the converted room). After two years of very modest rent increases, we pay roughly $3100/month including utilities. Quite cheap for three people. In fact, most people who come to our place think its one of the best apartments they've seen for that price. I'm just hoping they don't jack our rent this year.

Nick,

That makes no sense. I live in Stuy Town and it takes me 5 minutes to walk to the L, which gets me to every line. And the bus goes across 23rd St or up 1st or 3rd Avenue.

Brooklyn Heights is like half an hour away from Manhattan.

Jenna

*****

Brooklyn Heights is just a couple of minutes from Manhattan.

Jenna, when is the last time you've been to Brooklyn Heights? It's less than 5 minutes to LES, less than 10 to Village, 15 to Rock Center. I leave 20 minutes before i have to be places and i'm always 5 minutes early, barring some subway fuckup, probably caused by someone like you throwing their body in front of a train because they live in a converted project.

We signed a lease for a one bedroom last July in Stuy Town for around $2400/month. It's converted into a 2 bedroom. I love Stuy Town, but Our apartment is right at 14th and 1st ave, above the L train. Can anyone tell me what to expect in terms of rent increase?