fine building, responsive management
Pros
live in super is extremely responsive. management can be slow to respond to you but if your persistent they get the job done.
Cons
neighbors will block the entry way, ppl don’t seem to want to take care of the building but luckily the super will often step in when there are spills and garbage in the common area.
Do your research and avoid Friedman Management
Pros
There are some lovely people who live here and some have banded together to form a Tenants Association in hopes of improving conditions throughout the building and with Friedman Management. The building's got some history and you can still see some architectural details of what it once was. Sits right on top of the ACDB line for near-instant access to the subway. Neighborhood is great.
Cons
Visit Instagram @friendsof695stnicholas for Tenants Association info. The management company is unethical. They employ tactics against tenants that cause pain and suffering, living in fear. Super is a decent guy but is asked to do things he's not licensed to do and outside of his skill so he cuts corners, and that's if he remembers to do the work. Serious repairs can take months. Chronic lack of heat, chronic mice, chronic leaks with ceiling collapse, trash is a nightmare, the elevator is often out of service. Sometimes the elevator door opens to an empty elevator shaft. It's wildly unsafe. The bathtub from a 2nd-floor apartment has been leaking and slowly falling through the lobby ceiling since the 70s, causing regular leaks and ceiling collapse in the lobby. If you call 311 for chronic, unaddressed issues, management will immediately call you to harass you. It's a family operation that was once well-managed but now feels like the mob. There was a fire in the building in July 2022 that started on the 4th floor and was caused by an electrical outlet. The tenant had reported electrical issues multiple times, as had other tenants who experienced fires, and near-fires due to electrical outlets. The Tenants Assn. had been asking for fire alarms to be fixed via certified letters for 3 months prior to the fire, which they did not fix, so most people didn't know there was a fire until they'd been engulfed in smoke or saw firefighters out the window. They have ghosted on repairs for certain tenants, and have been intimidating and retaliating against tenants who've been fighting for conditions to improve. The Tenants Assn. and other tenants are currently in litigation (Oct 2022) with the landlord for repairs and harassment. Landlord has also been litigious against tenants, even trying to evict fire victims while they were waiting for the company to make their apartment livable again. There are also up to 25% of units operating as illegal single-room occupancy and some of those tenants are living with outrageous black mold. This whole building, sadly, is just decaying, and that's not even the worst part about living here.
Advice to the owners
Stop harassing tenants, admit that you've been doing a poor job, and work with the Tenants Association to make amends and improvements for all.
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