135 East 50 Street,

Manhattan, NY 10022

The doormen, handymen and super are really sweet and unfortunately, probably very underpaid. The apartments themselves have “character” and aren’t cookie cutter. Real hardwood floors. Fairly convenient location and access to the subway.

1. Filthy building. I don’t see much, if any cleaning going on of any area other than the lobby. Stairways, laundry room, hallways, garbage rooms, etc. are disgusting. I am obsessively clean and have had a mice infestation where I had to kill 7 or 8 mice on my own. I have to leave sticky traps out to catch all of the cockroaches, spiders, and black carpet beetle larvae. You’ll be amazed the amount of dirt and dust that accumulates in your apartment. Much of it will come from the street through the thin windows, which the building never cleans from the outside to the point that they are black. You will need to buy air purifiers for each room and vacuum with HEPA filters. Everything is old. Layers and layers of paint on the walls will eventually crack and break off or leave powdery dust behind. Cabinet baseboards are rotted from frequent leaks. The paint bleeds a brownish orange color that will require washing.
2. Leasing agency is unreasonable. No leniency during COVID period even for tenants who didn’t live in their apartment during 2020! Rent hikes are a given each year without anything in return - no basic maintenance of apartment for renewing tenants.
3. Plumbing issues galore. Old pipes mean that the water quality is terrible. Bath water will randomly run brown and leave sediment behind. Must install your own shower head with a water filter. Can’t drink or cook with tap water. Frequent boiler issues mean no hot water quite often. I have averaged one flood a year (not originating from my apartment). Sewer line burst. Leaking ceilings and falling ceiling plaster. Rocks fall from the hot water pipe in my bathroom. The fire department has had to come mitigate. I’ve had to clean up this mess on my own more than once. Bathroom is gross. The finish on the tub is paint and will eventually peel off. The floor and tile grout has mold and mildew.
4. High Utilities - Building is old and hasn’t been well kept. The official Energy Efficiency rating for the building is a D. Expect expensive utilities bills even when you aren’t living in the apartment. Old school could radiators are filthy and make a loud banging noise regardless of if you turn them on in your unit. No central air means window units are a must in each room. Windows are thin and allow cool air and/or warm air to escape quickly. Kitchen appliances are junk. My fridge doesn’t have a light and half of the contents ice over while the other half spoil.
5. No sunlight. When I first moved in, there was a lot of natural light. My apartment faces south (50th Street). I would expect low light for the apartments that face the interior brick walls, but with 7 good sized windows, I still need to turn all of my lights on in my apartment to see. It’s very depressing. Blinds aren’t included in the units so you will need to install something for privacy.
6. Safety has been a concern. The building and the police have allowed for platform scaffolding, construction worker protests, homeless and migrant workers to live and riot outside of the building. The door to the basement is often left wide open. The doormen are part time. The chain lock they provide for your apartment is so flimsy that mine kept breaking. I finally went out and purchased and installed my own quality chain lock.
7. There is no package / delivery system. Packages are often left in the main lobby. The doormen sign for them when they can and lock them in a package room. You have to know that you have a package or ask if you have a package. Sending outgoing mail and packages is also difficult, but there’s a post office a few blocks away.
8. Laundry room is a ripoff and machines will ruin your clothing. Very expensive to use the handful of commercial washers and dryers. They don’t fit much and I only use them for my bedding and towels, which still manage to come out discolored, fried, or still soaking wet. Limited laundry room hours mean peak times are crazy and people will take out your laundry if you aren’t there when your machine times out.
9. Elevator takes forever and is sometimes broken. It doesn’t automatically return to the first floor, so you will always be waiting. I once was unable to get off of it and rode up and down 10 floors until it finally opened at the top of the building leaving me to walk down every flight.
10. Lots of noise. The endless construction seems to have finally stopped. It started with the demolition of a parking garage across the street and the construction of a high rise residential building. There was the tear-down of the sushi restaurant below that was converted to a coffee shop. The bodega in the middle of the apartment building was turned into a barber shop. The hotels and restaurants are constantly turning over and there are a lot of tourists when the city is up and running and a lot of jet setting business people and local workers whose offices are in the area. The police and fire station are a block or 2 away. A lot of sirens all the time.

Act like business people or service industry / hospitality professionals! Give tenants a reason to want to renew their lease and if they do renew, make them feel appreciated and take care of any issues, upgrades or maintenance work at that time. When tenants move out, don’t just slap a coat of paint on the walls, install a new toilet seat and call it a day. These apartments need major renovations to be worth the price. You can get a lot more for your money, newer construction, and more amenities in Midtown East and throughout the city. Chill out with your annual rate hikes and reward your longstanding tenants with the same upgrades other apartments receive and/or with fair rent prices. Don’t make them haggle with you every year. Wash the building’s windows at least once a year! Fix the plumbing issues for good, insulate the windows, improve the heating system and upgrade bathroom and kitchen fixtures. Set up a modern day package delivery system. Pay to have a doorman available throughout at least working and rush hours.

Great location; amazing doorman staff

Subpar laundry facilities; issues with pet hair in laundry facilities