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Sep 14, 2006
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City Council Stands Behind Cooper Village/Stuy Town Tenants
September 13, 2006

The City Council is standing beside some Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town residents as they work to save their homes from being sold.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Council Member Daniel Garodnick complained Wednesday that Met Life, is failing to recognize a Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town tenant organization as a legitimate bidder of the property.

About two-thirds of the residents have rent-stabilized apartments, so rent hikes are a concern. The council is trying to organize an investor group, backed by tenants to buy the property and support affordable housing.

"This was a property condemned by the city of New York in the 1940s and it was handed over to Met Life,” said Garodnick. “They enjoyed every public subsidy and tax abatement that exists to man. And now they are completely turning their back on the tenants and the City of New York and that is completely irresponsible."

In a statement an official with the company says, "MetLife is committed to an orderly process, consistent with real estate transactions of this kind, as it considers whether to sell its Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town properties. Over the past 60 years MetLife has been a responsible corporate citizen and owner of Peter Cooper/Stuyvesant Town and we will continue to act consistent with this tradition."