By Mariel Clark
DNAInfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Hundreds of tenants from Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village rallied Sunday to demand that their sprawling East Side complex remain affordable.
The residents, along with Sen. Charles Schumer, pressured lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mostly government-owned organizations that now control much of the property's multi-billion-dollar mortgage, to keep rents moderate.
"This would seem like chaos, but there's a silver lining on this cloud," Schumer told the Daily News.
Tishman Speyer and BlackRock Realty bought the 56-building complex in 2006 for a record-breaking $5.4 billion. Last month the partnership was unable to make the payments and turned the properties over to creditors. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac took over much of the $3 billion mortgage.
Tenants attempted to buy the 80-acre property themselves a few years ago, and many still express an interest in ownership.
At the very least, residents want some say in how any deals move forward.
"We're the ones paying the rent," City Councilman and Stuy Town resident Dan Garodnick told NY1. "It's everyone who wants our cooperation. So we will make sure that our goals and principles are achieved here."
