Verbally abusive, micro-managing landlords
Pros
Great location, apartments get lots of natural light
Cons
Landlords have a long history of verbal abuse, illegal surveillance, and harassment of tenants, something many current and former tenants can attest to. Landlords are Trump supporters, and have harassed people of color in the past according to one tenant. Security cameras were installed above all the apartment doors for "security purposes", but the landlords have admitted to multiple tenants that they watch the footage every morning to "see what we are up to". Tenants are told that they can't bring girlfriends/boyfriends/partners to stay overnight, and no overnight guests ever -- will sometimes come yell at tenants if they see a "stranger" (guest) entering the building on the camera footage. History of rodent and roach infestations, landlords refuse to hire professionals and insist on solving the problem using cheap products. Have often seen roaches in the hallway/stairs, and roaches in the apartments are extremely common in the summer months. History of serious leaks from the ceiling (according to neighbor), electrical wiring that hasn't been updated since building was built and has caused multiple, dangerous short circuits. Poorly updated appliances. No access to circuit breaker. Both front doors lock shut, so you have to go downstairs to receive packages. Landlords once threatened to call ICE on a house guest of mine. Have received all kinds of threats from them despite keeping the apartment beautiful, clean, and always paying rent on time. Rent history not reported to the city since '89, but is supposedly rent stabilized. According to multiple tenants, there is a problem with the heat almost every year. Landlords raised rent in the middle of the pandemic.
Advice to the owners
Property is not up to code, but the main issue here is the extremely condesending and intimidating way they communicate with tenants, often verbally harassing them by showing up without an appointment and yelling at tenants for having guests visit -- leading to most of the tenants in 277 being too scared of the landlords to report issues in the apartment.