723 St Nicholas Avenue,

Manhattan, NY 10031

Nice neighbors
Close to subway

Where to start... this building was on a list of worst managed/landlord NYC buildings when I moved in yet both realtor and landlord kept that a secret! Wish there’d been somewhere like this to check a couple of years ago. It quickly became apparent what a disaster we’d signed up for however. Here’s just a few recent things:-

1) Bedbug infestations in 4 apartments this year alone. No other tenants in building informed or warned, and no preventative treatment carried out to stop the spread - we only found out by noticing 4 people in hazmat suits completely emptying an apartment. They would not disclose their reason for being in building (and during covid too!), then ‘Management’ ignored repeated enquiries on the matter, and to this date have never responded with either information or a plan of action. Ultimately the affected tenants warned their neighbors, and yet landlord has still not informed us directly, nor ever provided a bedbug report, nor pre-treated the 32 adjoining apartments that legally should have been treated.
2) Major fly, later maggot, infestation as a result of a deceased tenant that we (and others) reported concerns about for weeks. Management rep informed us tenant was staying with his daughter, that was an untruth, he was not nor would the rep have likely known if he was, seems to have been said to silence the numerous neighbors reporting worries. By the time the rep finally checked the poor gentleman had been deceased for some weeks. Apartment still taped off by NYPD 5 months on. This was one of the last remaining rent controlled tenants, so another apt for them to de-stabilize.
3) No live in nor local super for 2 years, which makes everything worse. They even removed security from the building so nobody had to come out if, say, the (now removed) roof alarm is set off. As a result tenants have been burglarized via roof access, and non-residents have accessed the building to sleep (and defecate) on the roof and stairs leading up to it.
4) For 10 months we had no gas.
5) Heat and hot is utterly unreliable, and there are constant leaks in the building which go ignored unless you report to 311 (and sometimes even then). This heat season we have been without heat over 50% of the time, and the city has issued multiple serious violations about the boiler. No updates from management, and no work seems to have been carried out to fix the reported problems.
6) In last couple of years alone there has been a major fire caused by poor electrical work within the wall of a flipped “renovated” apartment which the city then had to force vacate, and its tenants had to move overnight - landlords did not house them elsewhere or provide any funds to assist, some literally had to stay on the sofa of neighbors they did not know well. Then those tenants even had to fight to get their deposits back for new places (!) which were allegedly only given once they signed a waiver not to sue landlord.
7) Subsequent to major fire, multiple other adjacent apartments also damaged and affected. A second household moved out as landlords would not fix the major water damaged apartment. Turned out this apartment was an illegal conversion anyway, and not allowed = more violations.
8) Mice and roaches endless. Mice literally pop up in bathtubs to play around. We are supposed to have a monthly visit from an exterminator, but they often don’t show up. If they do it’s reliant on you being in your apartment the exact minute they knock, as they won’t wait and won’t walk back if they’ve moved onto the next door as you open yours. They can sometimes not arrive until after 8pm and, regardless, the service was entirely cancelled by the landlord during the first few months of covid without any alternative support for tenants. If you have to go out to work, you’re basically never going to get this service.
9) Recurrent problem with yellow water.
10) Scaffolding has been left up, with no work occurring, for around a year. Has created a party spot under the eaves, which is causing neighbors on South and East sides significant noise issues.
11) Building has only 1 elevator that frequently isn’t working. Many tenants have got stuck in it and had to be rescued by FDNY, including a young Mom with 2 infants recently.
12) As we have little to no security, and the code to the door is widely known locally, there are endless package thefts.
13) Frequent construction (flipping apartments) on a continual basis so constant issues with noise, dust, dirt and debris.

All I can advise is RUN! When you inevitable suffer one of the many recurring problems (no heat, yellow water, rodents, broken elevator, leaks etc) you will then enter a new hell of spending half your life chasing chasing chasing management company (Guardian Realty) to try to get issues resolved, and they will simply ignore you. Check HPD to see the endless open violations going back years. the landlord does nothing about them and continues to get away with it.

Provide basic services to tenants, at the very least.

Good, responsive super, big units, lots of light, great neighborhood

management co hard to reach sometimes, old building so water goes out a lot, cockroaches