176 W 86 St,

Manhattan, NY 10024

The location is amazing.
The super is excellent.
The apartments are lofted and beautiful.
If you keep your head down and don’t need help from the board it can be pretty good.

It does not have a 24 hour doorman as listed. Prior to getting cameras in all common areas there was a 24 hour doorman but for a little over a year there is not. The listing is false.

The laundry is 4.50 per use for both the washer and dryer. That’s steep. And only if you can get a laundry card. The machine is often not stocked.

The HVACs always have issues. If you own here you’ll constantly be servicing your unit or replacing it because of debris in the water tower. There should be a better solution but it seems to be unimportant to the board.

The windows are big and beautiful but I believe they are original with the building. Therefore they don’t seal incredibly well so it can be drafty. If it’s hot there’s no way to screen the window. So if it’s open you will get all sorts of bugs in your apt.

The board is completely useless. If you have issues in the building theres a high chance that they will do nothing to help even if it’s a major issue. The current president is wildly ineffective, immature and irresponsible. Unfortunately there isn’t a way to vote him or the other usual suspects on the board out since they own multiple units and vote for themselves in a block. So the board will always be ineffective unless it benefits the board members who work in real estate. The board member who’s a realtor manages a number of units in the building and pushes people through for approval without proper review of their documents or recommendation letters. I have been told that a problem tenant forged his recommendation letter when he applied to live in the building. When the board was made aware of this they did absolutely nothing even though that tenant is a nuisance, is constantly calling the police to protect him from an old woman and often has his Doberman off leash in the building. This problem tenant is ever present. He is constantly loitering around the building, monitoring the hallways and butting into everyone’s business. This tenant is a renter. Not an owner. He is a nuisance for a number of owners but the board doesn’t care to do anything about it since it doesn’t affect them.

If you have any massive issues that require aid from the board you will not get help. Some board members are great but cannot do anything because they get vetoed by the ineffectual president or cut out by the members that only vote in their best personal interest.

Do all your renovations before moving in. Be prepared to spend to upkeep your HVCs. Have a good lawyer ready.