Keycards: No Go

In a recent entry of the PropertGrunt it was reported that Peter Cooper Village was undergoing changes by installing key card locks that would have residents pictures on the cards much to the chagrin of the residents.

Their voices of protests must have been heard because according to the New York Post Peter Cooper Village has done an about face.

March 30, 2005 -- Residents of Peter Cooper Village don't need a card key with their picture on it to get into their apartments — yet.
A Manhattan judge yesterday signed an order assuring the 7,000 residents of the sprawling East Side complex can still get into their buildings even if they don't have a controversial photo-card key that landlord Metropolitan Life is trying to force them to use.

State Supreme Court Justice Rolando Acosta's order does allow MetLife to begin converting to the card-key system today, as planned, but bars the landlord from blocking entry to residents who don't have the cards.

"The court understands that access to the buildings within the complex shall not be denied," says the order, which will remain in effect until a full hearing on the matter scheduled for April 14.

Many tenants argue the electronic key system is violating their right to privacy.

But MetLife argues the changeover is necessary for security reasons within the complex.

The lawyers are working overtime on this one.