97 Grand Avenue Bk LLC

Great building - completely insane management

Management is unresponsive and clueless. Built a locked package room and haven’t given tenants access for weeks.

Communicate the bare minimum

None. The previous managment was great, once Brighton Management took over, this building went downhill fast.

Blerina Cakoni and Besa Myftari are quite possibly to most horrible people I have ever had to deal with as a renter. Lies, Lies and more lies, avoidance and ignorance is how these two operate. Blerina Cakoni in particular is the an absoluetely heinous individual who lacking any basic knowledge, communication skills, or any skills that are related to tenants, Blerina Cakoni should be in jail for violating tenants rights and complete incompentance as a human. Do yourself a favor and avoid and boycott any property owned by Brighton Management.

pack it in.

Never had a pest issue while living here, our prior management/owner maintained the building well so it is in decent condition for a 20 year old building that was clearly built as cheaply as possible.

The current owner of this building, Brighton Management, is awful and has destroyed the homes/livelihoods of the people living here. They rarely clean the building and trash removal is irregular. They do not maintain the elevator or fire safety measures. They do not address the routine break-ins in this building where bikes and packages are regularly stolen. They installed a virtual doorman that regularly breaks, leaving the entire building locked out with no other way for tenants to enter, so we have to prop the building door open for a week at a time. They have told us we are “not allowed” to contact our super directly, but immediately close maintenance requests submitted online. Blerina Cakoni in particular is a horrible woman who is extremely comfortable violating tenant’s rights.

Brighton Management is intentionally pushing long term tenants out through these bad management practices, because the building’s rent stabilization status ends in June 2026. They also illegally let their subcontractors into my unit for non-emergency facade inspection- without any notification. When I saw a man rappelling down my windows from the roof, and onto my balcony, I confronted him and told him to leave immediately, as I was getting dressed for work and had no notification of this inspection. He then argued with me and refused to leave, citing the owners instructions. I had to get fully dressed and go back out onto the balcony and threaten to call the police to get him out of my unit. All Brighton had to do was notify me at least 24 hours in advance, about an inspection scheduled weeks in advance, to obtain legal access to my unit. This is consistent with the illegal weekend work they conduct for as long as 12 hours a day (drywall, electrical, plumbing, etc). They want to bother you in your home. They want high turnover so they can jack up prices.

The building is poorly insulated, electric bills are unusually high. I’ve dealt with major leaks and have had to have my refrigerator replaced 4 times. In unit W/D typically takes 4-6 hours per load. Hot water heater in my unit is so small that I cannot have warm water in my shower for more than 10 minutes. Several of my electrical outlets simply don’t work. Outdoor spaces are not maintained, and often trashed by tenants in warmer months. There are usually many college students living in the building, and unfortunately most I’ve encountered here are not respectful tenants/guests. I’ve specifically dealt with issues like smoking inside, large parties, screaming/yelling in the hallways, misuse of the refuse room, loud music, domestic disputes, and police/EMS visits related to the students living here. I also had several college students trespass into my (private) outdoor space in the middle of the night. The mature neighbors are typically respectful, kind people that keep to themselves.

This building is also located 2 blocks from the largest migrant shelter in the city, which opened in summer 2023. I have watched the poor management of this shelter turn the block that 96 Steuben is on from a quiet light industrial block, to a block openly used as a restroom, openly used to solicit sex work, and constantly littered with an overwhelming amount of trash. The desperation of shelter residents has increased theft, crime, and harassment on this block from 0 to 100. It is just not a safe block anymore.

If you’ve read this whole review, you probably know this building is not inexpensive. You will receive higher quality of life at any other similarly priced building in the neighborhood.

New building and units. No vermin problems. Hallways, elevator, mail room kept very clean. Updated appliances. Super was very responsive. Trash chute was a bonus. Lived very comfortably there.

Wish the outdoor areas were more prioritized. When there was furniture placed there, it was low quality and would break easily. Wish neighbors were more outgoing. Everyone kept to themselves. Immediate block is very industrial, but not a far walk from lots of amenities.

A little more energy into the outdoor spaces would go a long way!

Huge living room and bedroom. Crazy how big these are for one bedroom units

Management is horrible. The super didn’t know how to fix anything. W/D in unit almost never worked

Hire a better super and clean the building more frequently