Robert Malek

My unit is renovated with updated cabinets, a good gas stove, large fridge and nice wood floors. The apartment was painted fresh before I moved in. The apartment size is a really good - each bedroom can accommodate a queen size bed, desk area, and comes with a full proper closet. The ceilings are very high, allowing for ample upper closet space as well. These pre-war buildings are built with great room sizes as opposed to all of these new luxury buildings with tiny rooms. The unit not only has closets in each bedroom, but includes 2 hallway closets and a proper linen closet. Kitchen comes with a proper pantry too. The unit itself is really nice, even though there is no dishwasher or washer and dryer. For the price, it’s a great apartment, in a good neighborhood- very close to Prospect Park; as well as Walgreens, and numerous grocery stores and a handful of local businesses and shops. Although the building is on Clarkson Ave- the bedrooms face the back of the building, while the living room is in the front. It’s a great layout for a prewar apartment.
The people who live in the building vary- there’s young couples, older families, roommates, dogs, single folks, etc. Most people who live in the building are nice enough to say hello, hold the door or elevator for you, or help you if you’re carrying something heavy or unwieldy. It’s nice to have neighbors who are courteous.

Biggest con of the building is that the hallways are typically dirty as well as the elevator. The trash gets taken down in the passenger elevator and it can make it stinky and gross for days, or until it gets mopped. There are some neighbors who unfortunately leave food, drinks or junk in the hallways. On occasion someone is smoking pot in the hallway, or leaves a mess. Someone’s dog has peed in the hallway and it was left for a few days at one point. So it can definitely get pretty gross. The trash vestibules on each floor are also not the best. They can sometimes be very full and overflowing, until they are taken out. Signs of roaches are in the hallway for sure. It’s a large building with about 70 units- so there’s a lot of trash.
Another con is that the elevator can, on occasion, get stuck on certain floors because the door doesn’t close shut well.
Throughout my time living here we have had various issues with mail theft. There are times of year that are better than others, but typically around the holidays there’s a lot of package theft. If your package is delivered right to your unit / door, you should typically receive the package with no issue. However, if it’s left on the first floor by the mailboxes, if left for more than 5 minutes, there’s a 50/50 chance of it still being there.
Lastly, a con of any prewar building is having to deal with roaches and rodents. My unit has had both issues numerous times over the years. The management company does respond to these issues- and sends an exterminator when I report that we are having an issue. However it will take some diligence, and detective work on your end to really figure out where the vermin are entering from and how to stop it. In addition to the exterminators from management, I have caulked and sealed some of the areas around the sink, stove and radiators myself to help deal with this issue.

I wish the hallways and elevator were cleaned more frequently, it would help make the hallways of the building feel less gross. Additionally getting to the root cause of rodents or roaches would help, and focusing on more preventative matters in each unit would be helpful- making sure entry points are sealed.

-good garbage management
-neighbors are cool and look out for each other
-apartment was received in a nice, renovated, clean state
-have had pest issues a few times but have had help solving them (mice, roaches) - haven't seen a mouse in over a year.

-the elevator needs updating
-have had theft issues from lobby (management recently installed cameras but they're not a deterrent)
-super can be a bit slow to respond, though he always responds.

update the elevator

The apartments have a lot of space in them

Package theft was frequent

add more cameras for security

The super is very responsive. As soon as something goes wrong you can call/text and he is there to fix it.

The landlords never answer though. So when he is out of town it’s truly noticeable. Mold in bathrooms and kitchen. Leaks from upstairs apartment into first floor apartment. Package theft even when placed near cameras. No one checks. The super will sometimes hold onto a package and let us know because he knows people steal.

Maintain the building. Allow more assistance. Super should have a small team to help get all tasks done

A clean and relatively modern / renovated building, with a video intercom that can be operated via a phone app. Transport-wise, near the M14SBS stop. My apartment had okay leafy tree views.

Windows don't fully open (only a few inches) which made for limited airflow during summer. It was sometimes quite noisy (I was on FL3 overlooking the building entrance and could hear everything from the street). Also when guests would use the video intercom to buzz a resident repeatedly who wasn't answering the repetitive ringing noise was so shrill and weirdly disruptive and loud in that apartment. Bathroom sink stopped draining properly after my first few months. The building is super far from major supermarkets and subway lines

Neighbors are typically nice. Many people have lived here for a long time

Trash outside isn't well kept. Entry to building not well kept. Mail stolen often

Cameras needed for package stealing

Live-in super is pretty responsive, but due to the age of the building you may be calling him a lot. Lots of families but noise isn't really a problem. Generally on top of garbage management. Honestly fairly spacious apartments.

Heating can be iffy occasionally. Biggest issues that have arisen have been from old pipes leaking in the building.

Great location in the heart of Brooklyn, with easy access to shops, restaurants, museums, and entertainment. The excellent public transportation system can save you time and money.

Well, this building is great when it's clean. Unfortunately, 45 percent of the people living in the apartment are not careful with the cleanliness, and it's hard for the superintendent to keep it up.

should check a litle bit more neigthbors smoking weed close the building

Trash management and recycleables

No security cameras, loitering inside and out side main entrance by people smoking and drinking that do not reside in the building no working elevator, unusable courtyard for tenants, not enough sufficient heat provided, no energy efficient windows in the building, packages are often stolen because of lack of security and the absence of working cameras.

Stop running these apartments like low income housing or the projects. The rent is very expensive yet their are little to no services provided for tenants. Also a big ussye is no working cameras.

It had four walls and a roof. We were desperate because Covid had just started here and our old apt had a major leak.

I don’t even know where to begin. Neighbors using windows instead of garbage cans or bathrooms and feeding the rat colony. Packages getting stolen daily. People doing drugs in public. People smoking in the hallways and not even putting it out just dropping it on the floor. Noise SO MUCH NOISE.

The location is excellent.

Awful, awful management! We had leaks constantly. Construction would take place just outside of our window with no notice given. When we moved out, we had to send them extra mail to “officially leave the unit” - I don’t think this was legal but I just wanted these people to leave me alone so I acquiesced. The pipes were also terribly loud and we couldn’t control the heat.

Stop being cheap! Stop being cruel to your tenants!

It’s a co op

Neighbors are racist

Some neighbors are nice

People need to know where to put their garbage. Need to work

Must listen to the tenantas when they call with a complain. Needs to come and ck to see how ppl are maintaing the apt. Too much is going on horders etc.

They do have laundry in the building, but it's expensive and the machines always break.

Baby cockroach-infested throughout, although if you buy those cockroach poison traps, you may not see them in your unit, but they're all over the rest of the building. Walls are super thin and I, in particular, have an upstairs neighbor who is super noisy. He blasts his television/music sometimes as late as 3 AM, sometimes as early as 6 AM, and the property management team, "the board", does absolutely nothing about it. I've had to call the police on him to get them to intervene, since the apartment management team won't. Wish I knew all of this before moving in.

Respond to noise complaints promptly and actually DO something about it. Make there be REAL consequences to people who are way too noisy at unreasonable hours of the day.

It’s inexpensive and some of the apartments are pretty newly renovated. A lot of the tenants have been there for a long time and the sense of community is strong.

The elevator works maybe 55% of the time, and is always filthy because the super uses it to transport trash to the basement. There is often a massive pile of trash at the base of the main staircase collecting pests. Packages are almost always stolen, seriously I’ve lost so many packages I just have them sent to a friends house. Hallways are very dirty, walls gross and floors unswept. The lobby is pretty depressing. A houseless woman lives in the vestibule on cold days which is honestly fine but no one cleans up the space.

Get a super that does his job and cares about the building/older tenants. Do more to prevent package theft. Take a little pride in your property, it’s very historical but honestly it’s a total dump.

Apt is bright, high ceilings and very spacious

Elevator goes out constantly, the super barely responds to concerns and ongoing issues with hot water/pressure. Packages get stolen constantly! I don’t think they report bed bug issues to the city so be careful!

Large units
Ample heating
Garbage maintenance is decent

Super NEVER responds, even though he lives on site
Did not fully prepare unit for move-in
People steal packages here
Elevator smells HORRIBLE
Other tenants have complained of pest problems (personally, I have been lucky)

Get your super to respond. Install video cameras to see who is stealing packages.

Huge unit, never cold, mostly pretty quiet.

Super doesn’t answer phone or doorbell even though he is on-site, neighbors steal packages, water pressure is awful. I’ve heard from other neighbors that there’s a pest problem (although I haven’t experienced one).

The neighborhood (close to Prospect Park and subway), has an elevator, short stairs, good water pressure, decent heat during winter, and spacious rooms.

Building super is always unavailable, bathrooms got molding issues, mice-infested, lack of proper garbage maintenance, and cleanliness.

Reasonable rent in a fairly decent neighborhood

Super is incredibly slow to fix any issues. Literally had to threaten to sue for him to fix a leak in the bathroom. Took over a year to respond until the ceiling caved in. Very little to no upkeep to the apartment in the 10 years I’ve lived here…. A year later, the bathroom is slowly cracking again. Proof that the problem was patched up, but not fixed.

Fix small problems before they cause major damage