227 East 50 Street,

Manhattan, NY 10022

- Amazing location! Very centrally located in Midtown East. So easy to get anywhere in Manhattan, and even other boroughs, in a reasonable amount of time. Traveling to more distant places will take some time via subway (30-40+ minutes) vs. a quick 5-15 minute drive, but this is more a general NYC thing to note for any newcomers.
- Live-in super is awesome! Very responsive and fixes things super quickly.
- Okay lunch/restaurant options nearby since it is a more business/corporate neighborhood.
- Good pest control in NYC, especially for a prewar building. Have seen maybe 1 small cockroach in our unit, a few tiny bugs, and no rats in our 1 year living here.
- Trash is taken out weekly, and common areas are mopped weekly as well. They do light package management by occasionally dropping off packages in front of people's apartments when the hallway starts getting crowded.
- Decent management company. The Landmark agents who handled our apartment showings were very professional and courteous.
- Big closet space for each bedroom!
- Virtual doorman adds a layer of security/peace of mind.

- No central AC, or vents. Will need to buy your own AC units, and install/uninstall them. You will need to open all your windows to get any sort of ventilation. Lack of central air was one of the biggest cons for us.
- Unfortunately, bad noise control, both from neighboring units and the hallway. Was surprised to encounter this in a prewar building, especially since we heard that older buildings are much better at blocking sound out. We can hear our neighbor's conversations, phone volume, TV, steps, and more – all pretty clearly. This occurs in our bedroom + hallway (next-door neighbor), plus our office (across hallway neighbors). We can also hear any and all noise/conversations from the hallway once people are out of their unit. This noise is especially loud and really bleeds into our living room. It sounds like they're in our place. There isn't really a single area of the unit where soundproofing is good, sadly.

If you live right above a unit with a private backyard, you will absolutely hear all their conversations/music if they use the patio. We've woken up at 2-3 am several times because the neighbors will be using their outdoor space. It's not their fault and they have a right to use that space at any time, but it is something to make note of.
- Odd layout/small rooms. We live in a 2-bedroom, but it feels much smaller than that because of how the space is arranged. Really thin hallway in our unit is a bit hard to navigate at times. The living room is small and not completely square (there is a corner part that's cut out), so furniture was hard to find. We could only fit a loveseat in the living room. The bathroom is also very small with a tiny sink. We use the kitchen sink to brush our teeth since we don't cook in the place due to bad ventilation, and because the bathroom truly cannot fit more than 1 person at a time. There is no storage in the bathroom either. The kitchen is dinky and feels more like a kitchenette, despite having a stove and oven. You'll need to purchase your own microwave. The bigger bedroom in our unit is nice, and while it's big for NYC, I find it pretty small compared to our last place. We can only fit a queen bed, nightstand, floor lamp, dresser + mirror, and hamper.
- Poorly renovated. There is virtually no built-in counter space, and it makes the small living room feel even tinier because it cuts into the free space. There are various cosmetic flaws in our bathroom (moldy caulking, tons of cracks in our sink, loose toilet paper holder that can't be tightened due to the way it was installed, misaligned tile with dirty grout, bathtub with stubborn stains that persist despite weekly deep-cleaning and scrubbing). The cabinets are old/outdated, and some hinges were pretty loose and couldn't fully close.
- Almost no built-in storage. If there is built-in storage, a lot of it is unusable because it is extremely dirty and not clean at all. It's not worth cleaning because it's the kind of dirt/grime that has been there for decades.
- Half of the units only face other brick walls. We moved from a state with lots of natural light, to living in a unit that felt like a depressing shoebox. When you open the curtains, your only view is other apartment windows that are in very close proximity, which can feel uncomfortable. We have a window that faces south, but gets no lighting at all because it is so, so close to the neighboring building. Our bedroom technically gets the most light, but because it's surrounded by multiple low-rise apartment buildings, it's an airshaft view that only gets sunlight from above the buildings (and only for a few hours of the day). If you get SAD in the winter or lighting has a big effect on your mental health, make sure to get a higher-level unit, or one that faces the street.
- Walk-up building with steep stairs.
- Pretty bad overhead lighting that has to be on all day because of the inherent lack of natural light in the unit. This can easily be fixed by changing bulbs, but we knew we would be only here for 1 year as soon as we moved in, and it was not worth the trouble.
- Cannot control heat since they use old radiators in the unit. They are dusty AF though, so recommend using a vacuum or duster to clean it more. Can get really unbearably hot in the winters.
- We did receive the unit in broom-clean condition, but it was honestly very dirty when we moved in. I was extremely upset about this initially and hired a deep cleaner immediately to get it into better shape. Because it's prewar, it just has this natural layer of filth and dirt that is honestly hard to get rid of.

Add a fan in the common areas, please! It can get pretty muggy, especially during humid summers. It would truly improve the place so much, and is a very inexpensive investment!

Super is extremely friendly and will help you within 24 hours at MOST, management is very responsive and organized.

Stairs are steep, and in my unit the heat did not work for a while but just in one room. Also not a lot of sunlight