The worst apartment I’ve ever lived in (life-long ny-er)
Pros
High ceilings (that will leak)
Cons
I lived in rented NYC apartments for 34 years (my whole life) and this was by far the worst experience I’ve ever had. I am flabbergasted by how little the owners care about maintaining the property - their only concern is collecting money. They use a ticket system for repairs and while they normally respond and have someone take a look, they never follow through if it will cost them. Our basement flooded nearly a dozen times AND our ceiling leaked and they did nothing. I’m sure they painted over some of the damage but that building is riddled with mold. House was also in disrepair upon move in and all of the problems we raised still existed upon move-out. Despite these problems, they still raised our rent over $400 each year - that place is not appreciating, let me tell you that. Not to mention, the house is so tilted that it will leave you with back pain. I can’t believe I lived there as long as I did. The walls are paper thin and the other tenants (except for two women who are the best) are insanely loud. I’m talking upstairs neighbor playing bongos at 4am without a carpet bad. I talked to these offenders head on several times but they think that because it’s Brooklyn anything goes (one even had the nerve to tell me that if I didn’t like the noise, I should move out of NY - not that it matter but I’m from here and they are not). Aside for the building tenants, the block is one of the worst in Brooklyn. I know bushwick has gentrified but the only thing gentrified on this block is the criminal rent. There may or may not be an operation on the block that leads a lot of strung out people basically dying on the sidewalk - the cops don’t even want to deal with it. The noise also ever stops from outside - both in front and in the back of the building
Advice to the owners
Treat your tenants like people and take care of your building. If you’re not going to maintain the place for your tenants, at least do it so that your house doesn’t collapse. Also, keep in mind how terrible the block is before you try to jack up the rent. Dispicable.