Nice neighbors and area, terrible management
Pros
The people who live in the building are nice! The location is very convenient, very close to 2 grocery stores and the 1 line 110th station.
Cons
The units are below market price for a reason, I think it's reasonable for the price but I wasn't aware of the issues before signing my lease. The building itermittently did not have hot water throughout the winter which was a massive issue (we probably had cold showers once a week for months). The super kept telling us they would fix the boiler and never gave a straight answer. The building did not have gas for months so we could not use the oven or stove. The heat is from electric baseboards so it is not covered in the rent. We were told heat was covered (the lease has a small asterisk excluding electric heat) and were shocked by the Con ed bill ($300 a month). To keep the Con ed bill down we tried to use the heat as little as possible and the apartment was very cold throughout winter. Although the rent is affordable compared to other units in the neighborhood you should factor in the cost of electric heat when considering your budget.
The most disgusting building I’ve ever live in
Pros
Good neighborhood. Literally nothing else.
Cons
Right off the bat, we were told heat and hot water was included in our rent but come winter we started getting charged for heat. Management said (despite our lease) we were responsible for heat. From the day we moved in we had pest problems. Rats scurrying in the walls, dozens of flies, spiders, and ROACHES. The entire apartment is infested with German roaches. We also had mold that was ignored by management. It took several months for management to take any of our concerns seriously and when they finally replied to us they refused to take responsibility for the issues and would not help us. We moved in at the end of April and I ended up leaving the apartment in December to stay with my family because the apartment was uninhabitable. The landlord offered to let us break the lease at that point but were unwilling to return our security deposit so we said no. Then a couple weeks later the Department of Buildings responded to a complaint we filed and after surveying the apartment the determined it was “perilous to life” and we were told to vacate the apartment. The landlord is letting us break the lease and is returning our deposit. NO ONE SHOULD LIVE HERE.
Advice to the owners
Take the health and safety of your tenants seriously.