322 West 14 Street,

Manhattan, NY 10014

Nice apartments themselves, friendly neighbors

No amenities, poor management

The location is the only reason for which we thought we’d ever want to extend our lease here. Other than that, our unit had a balcony and the kitchen appliances are nice but the pros end there.

Where do I begin? I guess with the worst:
- Extremely noisy neighbors on the ground level floor. Our unit was two floors above them, making their bi-weekly patio parties feel like they take place in our living room. The worst part? Apparently the ground level apartment’s lease is continuously passed on between groups of friends. Meaning that the five 20-something year old guys who lived there during our time in the building would pass it on to a similar group of friends in the near future. Their apartment is literally a party space; they own huge, loud speakers that shake the entire building; drunk, loud people go in and out of the building throughout the day when they throw their parties; and whenever they take their party to their outside patio, which is often, the noise extend to the neighboring buildings too. Are you into frat-style parties that happen every other weekend? This is the building for you. We used to get noise from other neighbors too, but the parties taking place on the ground level floor really dwarf any other case of noise pollution we experienced.
- The building is dirty. No surprises there, especially since the ground floor is literally a frat house. A cleaning person would come and vacuum the carpeted floor in the hallway occasionally but they wouldn’t stand a chance against the dirt and filth that some of the neighbors leave behind. Inevitably, it often smells bad too.
- The in-building washer and dryer situation is a fraud. They often break and even when they work they do a lousy job. Dryer doesn’t dry clothes. Had to pay using a laundromat often.
- Mice. We found/trapped/killed 8 of them during our lease. We saw some in the dryer-washer basement of the building too. Nuff said here.
- The landlord and super are not really there to help you. Honestly, if they’re willing to let 5 young men rent out a unit in order to have space for loud parties, that says it all about their priorities.
- Heating is not amazing. A few times in the dead of the winter we felt an unbearable draft, forcing us to walk around the apartment wrapped up in blankets. When we asked the super to fix the problem he said that he can’t do much and that we’re feeling the cold because the windows in the unit are big hence not fully isolated. Yep, he actually said that.
- 14th street is not a street to live on. Yes, it’s central and you get access to every subway line, but the centrality of it makes it a hub of noise, dirt and sketchy folks.
- Given all of the above, rates here are not worth it. We enjoyed a nice pandemic deal, but honestly, a person who pays the regular-times rent for units in this building is a fool.

Get rid of the frat house on the ground level. Upgrade the cleanliness game.