1 University Place,

Manhattan, NY 10003

Great location, relatively well maintained

Doormen and staff do not seem to care much about residents. Hate having to come downstairs for all packages and all food deliveries.

Building is in a great location and the units are nice - high ceilings, large windows, and lots of space for this area of town.

Kitchens are small and the laundry room can get dirty / crowded.

No need to raise rent on tenants in good standing who have lived in the building for many years.

The apartment itself was nice and in working order. The light and pre-war features are positives. The super and the handymen are all kind and responsive when issues arise or things need repair. Packages are usually received and organized fairly well, although in an unsightly way in the middle of the lobby. Sometimes packages randomly go in to a room in the basement (never got an explanation as to why) that is locked on weekends and can be generally difficult to access when someone isn’t around to unlock it for you. Elevators almost always worked even if they are slow. Laundry room has enough washers and dryers but basement is not kept in good shape in general. Water temperature and water pressure are good here. Neighbor-related noise disruption is uncommon.

Management, Denise in particular, can be incredibly slow to respond, condescending, unhelpful, and overall antagonistic. It is a pain to contact them for anything. Construction work on the building’s facade has been ongoing for two years and causes a lot of noise and disruption. If you have an outdoor space, prepare for it to be unusable for several months due to the construction with no communication from management or adjustment in rent. They have threatened to sue tenants who use their outdoor spaces while construction is ongoing, even if these tenants are paying full rent and have not been advised by management that using their outdoor spaces is prohibited. If you work from home, definitely don’t sign a lease while construction is ongoing. It was not uncommon to see cockroaches in the building, sometimes alive, sometimes dead. I had cockroaches show up in my apartment more than a handful of times, though they usually died immediately so the pest control in the building is doing something to mitigate their spread. Organizing moving in, moving out, and getting furniture delivered is like pulling teeth. Super outdated and overly strict policies. Lobby desperately needs a refresh. Most of the doormen are nice and helpful, but there are a couple who are unfriendly.

The location is the best, and they actually do a good job with the finishings in a way that keeps the charm of the building. A few nice neighbors, but nothing you can't find somewhere else.

Specific members of the tenured team on-site were the worst and ruined my experience! Not all of them, but about 2 ruin it for all.
The lack of flexibility is outdated and inconvenient.
Also, the elevators never work and are really hot.
The basement is really dirty and gross. Terrible going down there, and a shame when you pay so much money...

Replace the staff with pretentious attitudes, replace elevators and refresh the hallways and basement.

The people who work in the building are friendly & helpful. The apartment was in great shape.

The landlord is horrible. They gave us no notice or rent reduction when they erected the scaffolding and took away access to our private balcony. They threaten us with legal action/evict us when we were suffering from COVID & were a few days late in paying rent. They lied, told us scaffolding would only last a few months but it’s still up 2 years later.
Working from home is difficult, you can hear when they are renovating other apartments that are floors below you & won’t give you notice of when work is being done so you can make other arrangements.
There are roaches everywhere, had to get the exterminator in every month.

Treat your renters better

Location, location, location .. that is how this building rents out their units

- super is very unresponsive
- elevators are small
- no air conditioning in building (must install window unit in your apartment)
- rude management

Invest in making improvements to the building

Can’t beat the location. Staff is great - front desk employees are happy to help and maintenance very responsive. My unit was unique and high quality with good light, large rooms and closets.

Common areas are dated, lobby and corridors could use a refresh. Building has 4 elevators, only 2 of which are for tenants which can lead to some waiting at peak hours - opening up a third would make a huge difference. Laundry closes after hours and on holidays which makes no sense since it is not attended. Why has scaffolding been up for over a year?!

Most doorman are friendly/amazing location/great prewar features/friendly neighbours.

Overly strict insurance policy for workmen/movers/handymen. Woman who works for management company can be rude.

Deliver mail/packages to individual units

Location, location, location

Bugs, no bike storage, roof is closed

Allow food delivery. Open roof.