45 8 Avenue,

Manhattan, NY 10014

During our first several years here, our rear-facing apartment was the West Village Dream: A pindrop-silent prewar walkup, surrounded by cute bars and restaurants. A well laid out apartment: a cozy and welcoming space, which might easily have felt claustrophobic if judged only by the square footage. My impression is that the vibe varies heavily by unit, but ours was sun-drenched and well-heated, with nice details: high beamed ceilings and accented window and door frames. Front-facing apartments can expect much more noise from Eighth Ave.

The garbage is offloaded to the hallway of the building next door, which is great for us but it makes me feel sorry for that building. Pests are very rare, but not unheard of - A handful of large roaches, maybe five total in several years here. One mouse the first week we lived here, never again since. All things considered, not too bad for NYC. Things have degraded a bit since COVID started. Though the heat was steady and strong in years past, it was essentially shut off for all of winter 2020; we wore jackets inside (2021 has been significantly better). Package thefts became expected to the point of ridiculousness; although they aren't nearly as common anymore, we still run down the steps as soon as the buzzer rings. In the midst of such challenging circumstances, our management company grew increasingly unresponsive. The super is abrasive, and has no email address (only reachable by phone). We face an interior between several buildings, which isolates the noise from Eighth Ave. Though our unit was once silent, some rude neighbors have since moved into one of the other buildings; late-night parties (well past midnight) and loud banter have ruined more than one night's sleep.