Hey, guess what? According to the Pistilli Development Group, Astoria is a utopia where garbage doesn't stink and you'll never step in dog crap:Pistilli Riverview
Here's an old article from the Queens Gazette about the complex:
Riverview Apartments To Open
Here are some select comments from the message board, Astorians.com:
I saw 1 bedroom penthouse with 2 walk-in closets...big enough to be a small... bedroom... but because there are no windows, you can't really use it as such... perhaps an office. Whoever did the design put way too much emphasis on closet space and the living room area....I don't know why since there is a shared storage space in every floor. We say a layout of a two bedroom where the smaller of the two bedroom is probably not big enough to fit a twin bed...the same apartment has a huge living room...all they had to do was move the wall between the living room and the smaller bedroom to make the decent size bedroom...oh well. I do like the layout of some of the duplex loft. Oh and that loft with a bedroom that has a column in the middle of it...what an eyesore...the loft itself is ok...but passing on that bedroom as a bedroom is a stretch....I don't know maybe you can make it a kids bedroom and add a smaller loft space inside of it.
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can i just say I haven't stopped laughing for the last 10 mins looking at those floor plans and reading that write up about astoria....
oh Pistilli... good luck!
..."the salami is always fresh...". ROFL.
wow.
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OMG!
The neighborhood description is absolutely ridiculous!!
I need to say again, they really did a disastrous job on that building!
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i doubt they hired a PR person. This all sounds like classic pistilli.
ugh.
i have friends that have seen some of the units and say that in some of the kitchens you can't even open the fridge and stove at the same time due to space contraints.
its just sad that this is the state of new developments in astoria.
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This whole thing is a shame. The website is an embarrassment. It's a great location and was a terrific building with a lot of opportunities. The finishes are terrible. You can literrally punch a whole through the exterior with your fist and then peel off the stryofoam and fake stucco. (I am not recommending it ) I don't think the building is as ugly as some people do but it took crazy long and has cheap finishes. That would make me nervous to buy. And their inside sales force and now this website... It's all just very weird to me. All the new condos in LIC use either Corcoran or Elliman. Feelings about brokers aside, the use of a professional agency with a reputation for luxury units does matter. I'm sure there are a lot of people who find this more than a little odd - and walk away from the property. I! t's not like they're the Trumps. Who has heard of Pistilli outside of Astoria? I hope for the sake of the neighborhood that every unit sells and that nice people come into the neighborhood who enjoy the location and add some life to the immediate area. But the odds are not good. It may take as long to fill as it did to finish. And that means it will be 2010 before people live there! The Sterns building seems to have all the same issues.
People are laughing at you, Mr. Developer.
Photo from the Queens Gazette
32 comments:
If they are laughing at a developer in Astoria that is pretty sad.
It seems only the community board, politicians, and local newspaper takes this seriously.
Thats ok. Step by step the credibility gap widens.
Love to be in that place when the power goes out next summer.
Memo to: Joe Pistelli
From: Copy Ed
Add Chinese to the Greek & Italian ("The Pistilli Riveriew")
Insert between "fish are fresh" and "salami real", "politicians are morons"
Revise wording to " Replace your landlord with a mental ward nurse and come home to a piece of crap with Pisserilli Development Group"
STOP LAUGHING AT THIS! I love this beautiful building! Don't we all aspire to live in a cheaply renovated piece of garbage that looks like a prison with a big brown triangle painted on it?
That's always been my dream, ok.. so y'll can just SHUT UP!
i also walked past the other day and you can already actually see the cheap stucco falling off the front of the building. a disgrace at any price.
If I was Pistilli, I'd fire whoever wrote the ad copy on that one. It's full of misspellings and not grammatically correct. Yuppies and hipsters moved into Astoria but aren't gentrifying the neighborhood? That's a laugh!
Notice how they don't include any photos of the building? I can't blame them. You see what it looks like from the photo in the Gazette article. Who would want to live there?
Almost forgot to mention this:
Pistilli Campaign Contributions
Delis quotes starting to make more sense....
"Midtown is two subway stops away."...!?!?...Hey Cuomo, Hey Duck-down Brown, earn your keep!
Ok, Ok .. let's not lose total
perspective. The emphasis here
is supposedly on PRESERVATION.
If you're expecting a Williamsburg
(as in Colonial) approach to
development, you ain't gonna
find it. They're not building
many Victorian-style homes anymore,
anywhere. We're trying to save
the one's we still have, kopish?
I say let the guy have his say
about allure. At least he's not
knockin' the joint. If the
customers come, maybe he'll make
a buck. I just don't see the
problem in that location. As for
style, you tell me what it should
have looked like.
No, the focus here is on overdevelopment. And monstrous complexes containing too-small rooms used to warehouse exiled Manhattanites contributes to overdevelopment in my book.
P.S. The correct word is "capisci."
How can it be that a developer can purchase two huge, aging, former industrial buildings and simultaneouly convert them to residential use . . .
AND at the same time carry (I assume) mortgages, construction costs, taxes, insurance, etc. for both . . .
AND take how many year to complete -- 3, 4, 5 years? . . .
AND not pre-sell any of the units as it seems other developers do.
Takes a lotta cash I think.
And can I add: I HATE stucco. Please make it stop!
Stucco: The aluminium siding for today's generation.
I really had to look twice at the picture because this building looked like a municipal parking lot to me!
Russ
You should get a gander at the "Pistilli Buiding" (headquarters?) in College Point (off the service road of the Whitestone Expwy! This is located not too far from the New York Times printing plant! Gag me with a spoon!
another posting on astorians ...
"The building, its layout, its amenities, and its promotion, does exactly what it sets out to do.
They are not looking for professionals from the East Side to cross the river to live.
The are looking for local investors to buy up the units, then run them as dormitories.
Sort of like the run down second or third story three bedroom unit with a kitchenette and 6 cab drivers/students/whatever of the 80s theme developed to its ultimate conclusion.
That building, that location, what a waste. It is so so sad...."
FROM MY POINT OF VIEW THIS CONSTRUCTION WILL HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON ASTORIA AND IT'S COMMUNITY. IT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO LIVE A HOP SKIP AND JUMP AWAY FROM THE CITY WITH THE LUXURY OF NOT HAVING TO PAY SKY ROCKET PRICES OF MANHATTAN. WHILE LIVING IN THE CULTURAL MELTING POT OF ASTORIA.
AS THEY SAY BEAUTY IS IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER AND THAT'S HOW ONE SHOULD APPROACH THE CURRENT CONSTRUCTION TAKING PLACE AT THIS BUILDING.
THIS DEVELOPMENT COMPANY IS DEVELOPING IN THERE OWN HOMEBASE OF ASTORIA WHICH SHOWS THEY CARE ABOUT ASTORIA, ITS PEOPLE, AND THE PROSPERITY OF THIS COMMUNITY. DOESN'T THAT COUNT FOR SOMETHING IN THEIR FAVOR?
AS FOR THE SPEED OF CONSTRUCTION MAYBE ITS TAKEN LONGER THAN OTHER PROJECTS IN ASTORIA.. SOMETIMES SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE.
I DO FEEL BY FAR CREDIT SHOULD BE GIVENTO THIS COMPANY BECAUSE THEY ARE OFFERING AN URBAN RENEWAL TO ASTORIA
Memo to the previous poster:
"One man's Mede is another man's Persian."
You the kind of person who would drain a wetlands for a chemical plant.
That 'improves' things, too.
>You the kind of person who would drain a wetlands for a chemical plant.
This is a pretty harsh judgment/comparison. I doubt if the poster wants a chemical plant in Astoria. As for Pistilli, you have to give them credit for taking what was an abandoned, rat-infested building into something people can live in. I mean it was an eye sore...certainly anything is better than what was there....and Pistilli was the only one who stepped up to the plate.
I've been looking around for something to buy in the area, and quite frankly, there are apartments in this building that are way better and more affordable than what is being built in Astoria. One of the biggest assets of the property is the fact that it is a step away from Astoria park. It has tons of storage for tenants both common and inside the apartments. I read a posting about parking issues...there will be parking available inside the building...and if you ever been at that neighborhood, you'll know that there are tons of parking outside. There was also a post about power concerns...this used to be a factory....duh! The con ed plant is less than a mile away.
Look, all I am saying is that before making judgments on the building based on photos, blogs, and hearsay from other people's post who have never set foot in the building, go and visit the building and see what it looks like inside. I have, and I was pleasantly surprise that most of the apartments looks really good. They are real size apartments...not like most apartments that I've seen in other construction. Granted, there are some that could've been better designed.
I don't know what is taking so long with the construction...maybe because there are 180 units and that it used to be a factory. Perhaps clean up and regulatory inspections were necessary before further construction can take place. I wished the managers would be more upfront with their schedule. I've read that the building was suppose to be ready for occupation by March...I called and they said that its now going to be for mid-April....the last hurdle is to connect to Con Ed...which is planned for the end of March.
As far as the cheap appliances are concerned...I wish they never put any in...It would've been better if they simply left them out and have the tenants get their own. If it was me, I would replace the appliance with something better.
Follow this thread on Astorians.com if you believe anyting else can be added to this increasingly tired topic:
http://www.astorians.com/index.php?topic=2538.0
The point is that building could have been used as a non-profit center or artists lofts, bringing in a whole new energy into the communtiy -- and an opportunity to break out of your Greek cafes, 99 cent stores, Mexican groceries and Bengladeshi takeout.
With a little imagination Astoria could be Hoboken. Instead the local talents opts for Elmhurst.
Time to move on.
I'm a resident near this site (a few blocks away)for 30 years. This rennovation has bought back safety to neighborhood. For all the previous posters who talk so negatively it makes me really wonder are you even from ASTORIA?..For everyone's information ..Before Pistilli came in ,this eyesore of a dilapated building was a dwelling for drugs, a lovers lane, and a hangout at all hours of nite. This construction has made it possible for us to enjoy our Astoria Park again.
Let me be the first to say Thakyou Mr. Pistilli for recognizing the problem of that building. You have bought back safety to our community. & to all future buyers of this property Welcome to Astoria!
Gag!
Hey bright bulb, it could have been a hell of a lot of different things besides what he did to it. But imagination seems to run at a premium in Astoria these days, doesn’t it?
Looking forward to parking in your neighborhood after it opens!
Keep your fingers crossed now that the 800 pound gorilla is on your block's power grid.
Looking forward to some nice summer evenings when the residents of that human warehouse disgorge out into the community, and well, you will see . . .!
I assure you that you will continue to use the words 'God' and 'Pistilli' (oh, excuse me, let me remove my hat, MISTER Pistilli) in the same sentence although perhaps not in the order you have provided us.
As far as the previous poster who speaks about the grid,the developer, building and parking.. maybe we should blame the the developer for the economy of the United States and everything that goes with it. What did he do? He took a warehouse and made it functinlable after a decade of corrosion & decay. As far as I can see, the exisitng building for your information still exists .The developer only added 2 extensions. If you didn't like the orginal building a decade ago than what are you trying to preserve?..Or are you about the destruction of property in our community. I'm not for or aganist the developer. I just know what i lived next to .
Im fine with what we have today.
"As far as the previous poster who speaks about the grid,the developer, building and parking.. maybe we should blame the the developer for the economy of the United States and everything that goes with it."
No, the blame lies with elected officials who allow manufacturing properties to be converted into multiple dwellings without first mandating improvements in infrastructure to handle the additional strain. This is not about whether or not this building looks good or about preservation. It's about our ability to absorb hundreds more people in an area that is already overcrowded.
Have fun this summer with no power (again).
Hmmm...smells like a whole lot of sour grapes here. Wake up, people. You do not get brick walls, stainless steel appliances, tons of windows and light in a huge "artist loft" space for $300k. That doesn't exist anywhere in the city- not even with the market cooling. You either pay through the nose for that type of living or you make some aesthetic sacrifices to live a place that's not quite so luxurious, but more affordable. And I have looked at a lot of buildings in Astoria and I know what is out there. This place has way more space in a better location than any other development in Astoria. So go ahead and keep grousing. While you do that, the residents of the building will be hanging out in the park this summer, enjoying their new homes.
"Wake up, people. You do not get brick walls, stainless steel appliances, tons of windows and light in a huge "artist loft" space for $300k."
Who in Queens ever expects to live in a place like that? That's marketing toward Manhattanites who got large bonuses last year. In Queens, you hope to buy a one-family house for $300K, not a condo on the river.
Its marketing to a speculator that will fill the apartments as a dormatory each with perhaps a half dozen filipino nurses, middle eastern cab drivers, corn fresh students from Wisconsin. In no time that building will no longer look fresh and be worn out. Look at the crumbling exterior already! It is the 'Gotham Court' of Astoria.
No one with real options is interested in being plunked down in the middle of nowhere, a hike from transportation, no parking, cheap appliances and what passes for 'culture' in Astoria.
This is NYC man, YOU get on with the program. There are a dozen neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn that make what you have to offer sorry-ass.
The building looks like a grounded Love Boat upper deck that someone power sprayed in flesh colored stucco. I'm surprised there aren't concrete lions on all the balconies.
I once worked on a crazy home re-decorating show (Katie Brown's show-not to name names or anything) and she went into some poor unsuspecting person's house in NJ and painted their countertops with latex paint in an attempt to brighten up the room. I'm thinking that maybe she's the decorator behind this devolopment what with the contact paper "wood" flooring that's peeling up in 1' sections, and the soap dishes glued onto the bathroom tile.
It sure looks like this developer, or should I more appropriately say, over-developer has certainly paid off the local politicians from this link here. These are the same people that wanted to hand over Socrates Park to a millionaire who wanted to cram as many 40 story apartment buildings as possible there a few years ago but fortunately was stopped by the community and NY State and the land declared a state park, thank goodness!
Too bad the Eagle Electric and Stern's factories were handed over on a silver platter to this greedy corporation. They are nothing but amateur-designed and built eyesores amongst 1 and 2 family homes. They have absolutely no business being in a neighborhood like Astoria. None of the residents had wanted these. I know, I was at the meetings. Everyone voiced dissent, everyone except Pistilli and the local politicians. MMMmmm...
The Eagle Electric factory had a wonderful old character to it that would have been fine the way it was in its existing footprint and then converted to affordable and loft-like housing for the neighborhood, but no, greed won sway and they crammed as many cubicles as they could have in there. That added on structure, which was the old loading dock, could have been a wonderful open plaza with TREES so people could enjoy the outdoors and would not have encroached on the historic character of the neighborhood. Now they are slated for banks. Don't buy the line that parking spaces were created for residents so additional cars will not cram the streets. Yeah, who in their right mind is going to pay for a spot when they could park on the street? That same line was fed to the Vernon Jackson residents before the first Citi Lights building (otherwise known as ("Nanny-ville") went up almost 10 years ago and that parking garage that was for residents is now a municipal garage and cars with out of town plates line the streets, displacing spots for the long term residents, including my Aunt & Uncle.
What is it with these people that they have to take a piece of old New York and add 10 stories on top and to the side and in the front as well as the back of it and turn it into Disneyland? What a shame that these eyesores will be crumbling before our eyes in the next few years because no one in their right minds would spend their hard earned money for them.
I have heard from several people that have taken a look at the apartments have all said that the construction looks as if no thought what so ever had gone into it and everything would have to be gutted and redone by the buyer. Walls so thin you could hear your neighbor snore next to you. Great! Can you say "corporate tax rightoffs"?
This is what Pistilli told the neighborhood on September 27, 2000 in order to get his way:
http://www.qgazette.com/News/2000/0927/Front_page.html">http://www.qgazette.com/News/2000/0927/Front_page.html
1) "The retail stores will be set back about 50 feet from 21st Street."
- The reality IS: they are 10 feet from the curb. I measured.
2) Riga said she and others in her group agreed with Pistilli that the proposed development will "improve property values in the neighborhood" and provide good housing for the children of people who worked in the former Eagle Electric building.
- The children of the people who worked for Eagle Electric left Queens many, many years ago, because of crap like this. I know, I grew up with some of them.
On another Pistilli fiasco in Astoria:
3) Pistilli Realty recently acquired the landmark Long Island Savings Bank building at 35-01 30th Ave., Astoria, and is renovating and expanding it, but retaining its landmark architectural design.
- They added 4 stories on top, designed and executed absolutely nothing like the "landmarked" original building below. Another Pistilli Queens eyesore if ther ever was one, beginning the scourge of Pistilli Queens eyesores that have run amuck in our midsts. So much for 'landmark status" in Queens. Slapping bargain basement Home Depot marble flooring on the facades of buildings and charging ridiculous amounts of rent is repulsive!!!
As of December, 2006, the story changes:
http://www.therealdeal.net/issues/DECEMBER_2006/1164919559.php
Because the building is a co-op, an unusual move in today's condo-dominated development market, Pistilli is selling the 188 units at pre-finished prices ranging from $300,000 to $1.2 million, for 900- to 2,500-square-foot one- to three-bedrooms.
- Now tell me, diod anyone who voted for these monstrosities in our neighborhoods think that this wasn't going to happen? How dumb do they think residents are? Vote these people OUT OF OFFICE ONCE AND FOR ALL! Special interests scum, all of them.
I don't know ANY Astoria resident, born and raised here or otherwise, that has 1.2 million burning a hole in their pocket...
Lies, lies and more lies, and our local politicians let this happen. The real estate lobbyists in New York must be stopped before ANY MORE NATIVE NEW YORKERS LEAVE THIS CITY BECAUSE THEY CAN NO LONGER AFFORD IT. New York must be preserved NOT given away to millionaires so we then see our taxes rise to pay for these deals, our basements flooded because there is no more open land and backyards and gardens for rain run-off due to the overwhelming amount of concrete destroying our neighborhoods, and our streets clogged with more and more SUV's, destroying our air.
Thanks God the real estate bubble has burst now, that's alll I have to say. Hopefully this scourge on our neighborhoods will stop once and for all or at least for a few years.
People with no values cannot see the point of people or objects that DO have value. Therefore, they will be doomed to fail in every aspect of their lives.
If my power goes out one more time because of bullshit like this, I will personally have Vallone Jr., Delis, Giannaris and Onorato sued. It's bad enough that we find out that they have been taking money from this Pistilli clan. When it affects our neighborhood, that's when people will finally wake up.
This property is a trap for buyers. With an outstanding debt of $25 million due on 2012 and a yearly expenditure of $3 million, whoever buys more than likely will loose the apartment and end up with a bad credit.
Pistilli builds crap.
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