Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village

Have known a lot of people who live in Stuyvesant Town- Peter Cooper Village over the years...

One of the first sights you notice as you get close to this sprawling complex is its tight security.

To quote Wikipedia:

"The complex has its own public safety force, most of whom are sworn peace officers. While they are not permitted to carry firearms, they do carry batons, pepper spray, and handcuffs. As peace officers, they have full law enforcement powers, and they patrol the property in specialized vehicles.^[23]

As of late March 2009, security cameras have been installed and activated in all Stuyvesant Town buildings. In addition, sensors have been installed on the roof doors to prevent unauthorized access. The requirement of photo ID card-keys was introduced in 2008. The parking garages along Avenue C, 20th Street and 14th Street have also implemented a key-card access system and installed security cameras.^"

Home to some 25,000 people, the complex was sold to a private company in 2006 by its original developer and owner, the Metropolitan Life Insurance company ( since its beginnings in the 1940's).

Endless lawsuits have followed since then about rents and city rent laws etc.

In the early 90's, Met Life replaced all the windows in the place to "energy saving" ones. Trouble was, they had a tendency to implode violently, showering residents with glass fragments. Windows have to be redone and big lawsuit arose over whether Met Life could pass all the costs on to the tenants...

One of the main differences between Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town was then that Peter Cooper was wired for air conditioning and the larger "Stuy Town" was not.

One woman told me about her husband ( she was a resident of Peter Cooper and her formerly of Stuy Town was that "he married me for my air-conditioning."

Until the 1990's the complex had a huge waiting list as rents were so low. There were supposed to be rules about income etc. but these were often flouted-- many people got their apartments through some kind of political or other "inside" influence.