971 Madison Street,

Brooklyn, NY 11221

The owner is very responsive and will attend to you ASAP, plus he minds his own business and does not contact or pester you unless it’s for the necessary things. The apartment is very nice, no structural issues. Noise levels depend on which part of the house you stay at, if you’re staying in the back that’s not facing the street, it’s as quiet as it can be. Sometimes someone in the neighborhood may throw a loud party on a Friday or Saturday, but come on, it’s the weekend. I’ll cut them some slack. If you’re staying in the front, you can hear the noise that the next door neighbors are making because they’re playing dice on the street and getting rowdy. However, it usually ends before 10 pm. I don’t mind it. The common area such as the stairs could use some TLC in terms of sweeping and mopping, but not much else. All in all, the building is good and well-maintained.

Alas, I would have stayed in this apartment if it weren’t for the neighborhood, and I understand that’s out of the landlord’s control. The neighbors are fine, the businesses around are fine, but there’s something about Broadway that attracts a bunch of very unstable and dangerous people. The reason I’m moving out is because I was followed home at night by a guy on his bike as he said very crude and explicit sexual things to me. I thought I was going to get raped that night. Ever since then I never felt safe. There was another time where I was walking home and the street was closed off because a shooting happened right at the corner of where the building is located! The cherry on top was when I woke up one Sunday and the Citizen app reported 14 (!!) incidents that happened the night before which included mugging, shooting, stabbing, hit-and-run, and people carrying weapons. I feel like walking around this neighborhood at night is a death wish.

As for accessibility, this building does not have an elevator. To enter the building you have to go up 3 steps of stairs, and the sidewalks are not well-maintained.