In response to recent events, the TA has issued the following statement:

As the Tenants Association of Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village, our mission is to represent and support ALL tenants of the complex. Since our inception, approximately 70 years ago, our support has come primarily in the form of fighting for tenants’ rights to affordable housing and advocating to management on behalf of tenants on quality of life issues.

As a tenants association, we want and need to reinforce that we represent and fight for every tenant. The Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association will not tolerate any acts of hate or violence directed toward any of our fellow tenants. We expect all community members to feel welcome and comfortable in their STPCV homes. 

As obvious as that sounds, unfortunately original owner MetLife’s history of discriminatory renting policies at Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village has put our community behind the times in being truly inclusive. In 1952, thanks to the Town and Village Tenants Committee to End Discrimination in Stuyvesant Town—the precursor to the current Tenants Association—the discriminatory renting policies of MetLife were “officially” overturned. However, MetLife’s rental exclusion persisted for several more decades. As a result, we are not nearly as diverse a community as we should be. It is an unfortunate part of the complex’s history. 

While we can’t change the past, we CAN change the present and future of the 80 acres of greenery we are all lucky to call home. To that end, the TA is opening a broader dialogue on what it means to be a resident of color in STPCV and the particular challenges that may come with it. Recent posts and comments on the TA Facebook page have given us a starting point and uncovered some enlightening, and sometimes disturbing, insights. We are committed to listening, learning, and changing, and have already begun talking to tenants of color about how we can grow as a truly inclusive organization and community. The TA looks forward to evolving our efforts, activities, and programs to make Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village the truly inclusive and welcoming community we know it can be. 

If you would like to contribute to these discussions, please contact us, through our Peter Stuyvesant Facebook Messenger account, via email at stpcvta.org/contact_us, or call us at 1-866-290-9036.

And finally, just to reiterate, we reject racism and hate in this unique community, and the TA will do everything in our power to fight it when we see it.

Your Tenants Association

7/7/2020