Do not live here.
Pros
It's... a place to live. The outside is nice. The heat is fine.
Cons
I lived here for six months before giving up. I wasn't even broke, just wanted a place on the UWS near my work. Let's start with the building: When you walk up, it looks like it's going to be amazing. The neighbors are all wealthy single-family brownstones. Why would this one be different? You get inside, and there's a massive hole in the ceiling patched over with a piece of blue plyboard. There's water leaking from a pipe that they've tried to fix two times (and counting) but are too cheap to replace. The bannisters aren't connected to the stairs in a lot of places, and the stairs are covered with dust and trash, because the landlord doesn't bother to clean regularly or to send someone to do it. Neither he nor the building manager, who's the rudest guy I've ever met, live in the building. There are weird smells like sewage that penetrate the building every few weeks. The guy living below me once came up to ask if I had done something different with the plumping recently because there was sewage dripping into his apartment. To the apartment: There are literally no amenities - I got a tiny fridge and a plug-in two-burner cooktop. No oven, no microwave, nothing else. I bought my own small countertop oven, and when I moved out, the manager claimed that it was now apartment property and demanded that I leave it for the next tenant or he would charge it to my security deposit. The water pressure is super weird: The water from the sink will occasionally turn boiling hot for a few minutes, and there's nothing you can do but wait. The cold water pressure is horrible. I got used to waiting 30+ seconds to fill my water bottle because the cold water is just a trickle. The same boiling water thing happens with the shower, and if you try to make it colder, the water pressure drops dramatically. You just have to wait until it comes back, which can take 5-10 minutes. Told this to the landlord and he basically said there's nothing he can do about it. The landlord and the manager are scammers. When I moved out, they raised the rent of the apartment by $300. Advertised it as south exposure when it's north-facing. Never available, never answer texts, slimy people. Save yourself the trouble and live in Inwood.
Nice experience with big trade-offs
Pros
Nice furnished apartments, high ceiling with a unique loft design and beautiful bay window Neighbors really friendly and love leaving used furniture and books outside (perfect for the stoopers)
Cons
Pretty much everything is broken or looks like they are about to break. A lot of rats in the garbage area
Advice to the owners
Renovate the building please!