Somewhat decent “beginner’s” apt
Pros
The location is good. I loved living on the cusp of LES/East Village and the apartment was good for my first place out of college with a roommate. There were some pros: a kitchen that felt somewhat separate, bedrooms that weren’t sharing a wall and both had good windows, and a well-lit living room.
Cons
The heat stopped working in the apartment at the beginning of winter and never worked again. That was only the beginning of what seemed like a long string of unfortunate events including an oven that apparently had a gas leak and had to be replaced, our gas being completely broken for a while (no kitchen appliances worked for several months), electricity issues, and plumbing issues which were never resolved promptly. Management was responsive but didn’t really solve any problems. They brought us things like an electric stovetop (the kind you bring camping) and portable heaters, which were very much appreciated, but made our living conditions feel very subpar. Granted, they let us break our lease early. I felt bad complaining so often when it really felt like they were working to fix the issues, but living without heat in NYC winter is really unbearable. It’s nice that the street is a cul-de-sac, yet I would still wake up daily to obnoxious street noise – both from people laying on their horns at the corner of Houston and from the auto shop next door. It also took around six months to get our security deposit back.
Advice to the owners
I saw a previous reviewer comment on the trash situation – it definitely wasn’t ideal to have to walk out of the building, into another building, around the back to throw away our trash. Something that also seems relatively easy to fix would be the front door to the building. It would literally shake my room sometimes with how loud it is – I still hear the sound of that thing banging shut in my nightmares. Some sort of “gentle close” door mechanism would make a world of difference.
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