Pros:
- Pretty cheap: my roommate and I pay 2750 total for a three bedroom one bathroom. We’re students going to school in Downtown Brooklyn so this has been great for us.
- Heating and hot water is provided which saves on bills
- My apartment had all new appliances and was newly renovated when I moved in August 2021. The dishwasher couldn’t fit, so they provided a new one for me at no cost.
- TONS of nearby parking. Often available on the street if you get there early enough (before six or so, more available on the weekends), but the parking areas under the 278 never actually gets cleaned, so you never get a ticket for parking there. Hell, some cars have been sitting there totaled for what looks like years. Be careful though - there is a very long section of several garages and lots (as well as some space in between them) on the right side of the street where you can’t park Mon-Fri 4A-7P, even though sections of it are not clearly marked at all. Also be careful of the school up the street, got a $115 fine for parking in front during a school day.
- Deli immediately downstairs open very early for people who work in the morning
- Lots of natural light as it sits right on a corner on Flushing Ave. Also as a fun bonus the radio tower a few blocks away lights up blue at night, looks pretty cool if you’re ever sitting on your fire escape smoking or something. Like a mini Eiffel Tower lol.
- Pretty good neighborhood, Fort Greene is literally right up the street so there are brown stones maybe 200-300 feet away from this building.
- Close proximity to Myrtle Avenue which has lots of shops and restaurants and Atlantic Avenue a little further out. Fort Greene Park is maybe a ten minute walk away.
- Easy access to the highway, 278 goes right over a street nearby.
- Building seems to be mostly families and everybody seems pretty nice. You probably will see your neighbors fairly often but everybody is respectful.
Cons:
- Stairs are VERY steep, thin, and hard to carry things up. Getting groceries can become a day long process, forget about laundry (nearest laundromat is like ten-fifteen minutes away).
- Very limited transit options. Nearest stations are Jay St and Dekalb Ave, both are maybe a fifteen-twenty minute walk on a good day. There is a bus stop a few blocks away for the B57 and B69. Not much experience with the B69 but I will say that the B57 can be very unreliable and you will sometimes wait as much as an hour, especially later in the day, for a bus. The B62 and I think the B54 are also available on Myrtle Ave, but it’s a bit of a walk as well.
- It’s an old building. Water pressure, water heat, and regular central heating can all be spotty sometimes. But considering I don’t pay for any of them, they are still pretty good.
- No central AC. Moved in in the summer and my first month was brutal. Incredibly hot in this building during the summer and can get very cold in the winter, as the radiator seems to come on primarily at night. Get a space heater and window ACs before you move in.
- The old management was very unresponsive and I would sometimes wait days or even weeks for responses to issues. This was an issue particularly because it’s an old building, so things like a leaky radiator could potentially cause damage before we even heard a response. With that said though, it’s recently under new management as of April 2022, and they seem to be a lot more on top of things.
Advice to owner:
See cons pls!