Excellent building, staff, and location
Pros
Great location, one block away from the park and near major commerce. The building staff is top notch, and will go out of their way to aid the residents. Finally, the building is very tastefully decorated, with wood paneling in the lobby/elevators and marble entrance floors.
Cons
Building garden is largely unusable - loud AC vents make it too noisy to use in the summer, too cold in the winter. The building’s location on the corner of Columbus Avenue also attracts some noise, mainly ambulances and truck driving down the street.
Hostile Superintendent / Clueless Management
Pros
The neighborhood is great, and Jane Street is very pretty. The vast majority of tenants here are very friendly and super nice people.
Cons
Scott the superintendent is the worst thing about living here. He is openly hostile towards many of the tenants, he hung out in the lobby of the building without a mask throughout most of lockdown, and he’ll lie to your face. Second worst is AKAM, the realty management company. Tony Disilva and Samantha DiMartino are inept, unresponsive, uninformed, and never take any responsibility for their numerous screw-ups. Third worst is Anthony the porter and occasional doorman—under Scott’s apprenticeship I’ve watched him go from a polite young man to a rude, aggressive guy who thinks it’s funny to pull his mask down and burp out loud when you’re entering your apartment. He also murmurs and mumbles under his breath once you’ve walked by. It’s like being in a really bad high school movie.
Advice to the owners
The building needs to incorporate better coordination and communication between the co-op board of directors and management company. It is so frustrating trying to get anything done, like a minor renovation or listing an apartment for sale. This is because the board seems unaware of what AKAM management is communicating to residents, and vice a versa. There are two sets of rules and restrictions around even the simplest of building procedures, and trying to get a clear answer about how to proceed with subletting, redoing a floor, or selling your apartment is a mind-numbing experience. Scott Casazza the superintendent has literally yelled at tenants over the most minor and meaningless things. I am tempted to post video I have of one of his meltdowns on YouTube but I’m resisting.
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