It’s fine. This is a condo building.
Pros
The unit itself is quiet in that I don’t hear people walking upstairs, but I do hear hallway activity and cars outside. It is a spacious studio and there are ceiling lights and central air when it works. It fits a king bed and has space for a large couch and 6 seat dining table. I installed custom closets from Container Store—you are welcome. The building has 24h door men and a key fob system for added security measure in the evenings. You can get Fios and the building does not discriminate against dog breeds or size. Some of the doormen have treats at their desk and will give your dog one every time you come back home.
Cons
The building has been bandaid repaired over the years so there are always heating/cooling system repairs during shoulder seasons, which leaves weeks of extreme heat in late summer or cold in late winter. The elevators are always breaking. There is technically a shared common space with a small gym that has the basics. No roof. The unit itself is managed by CFA management, which is a joke of a company. Carole Ferrara, the manager/owner, does not email back for weeks at a time, disregards rental laws, and is quite frankly just dumb. She raised the rent above 5% twice without giving 90 days notice. The first time was resolved 4 months after (and the increase ended up netting out to the price I wanted to negotiate for because of her delay) and the second time was not resolved because I decided to move. I sent her an email asking for 90 days and she said “it’s a free market thing” and subsequently ignored all of my other emails/concerns. When I decided to move out, she emailed back accusing me of “pulling a stunt” and a bunch of other rude and incorrect statements. She is an unfunny joke and it’s a better use of your time finding another unit than to deal with her. There is zero sunlight in the apartment—it is about 10 feet from an office building so you can watch people at work. There is a primitive dishwasher that is directly under the sink and the refrigerator is an ice box—it is the size of a large mini fridge with no temperature and air filters so your food doesn’t last long. No one changes the air filter; I guess you do it yourself because it’s a condo—or maybe it’s another testament to how crappy CFA is at her job.
Advice to the owners
Hire a new management company
Nice building, great staff
Pros
Super friendly doormen and porters. Right above the subway, close to Whole Foods. Gym is well maintained, though a bit small
Cons
Studio apartments are not well insulated because of the giant bay windows - cold in winter, hot in summer. There's a hospital, a police station, and two fire stations within a 10 block radius so there can be a lot of sirens, especially at night.
/-73.983012,40.767098,14/640x640@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1Ijoib3BlbmlnbG9vIiwiYSI6ImNsYjNmMjVwdzBjeHgzd21wYmJmZDB0eGYifQ.XZvZCOh51yXuDBE-I3Bg0A)
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