326 West 45 Street,

Manhattan, NY 10036

free laundry and wifi

only 1 washing machine for the whole building

The building itself is pretty good (and very small, if that’s what you’re into)! The location provides access to major public transport just within a few blocks (Times Square 42nd St, 49th St, Port Authority) and has a couple amenities that make it more interesting than some other properties in the area— there’s free laundry in the basement and a small enclosed patio in the rear. The bathrooms are also updated along with the appliances in the kitchen, which includes a dishwasher! For the price we got it, it was really good, but unfortunately with rent going (WAY) up here (and many other places in the neighborhood), we have to leave at the end of our lease.

Ok. So the dock I’ve given on heat is because come winter, the apartment is a veritable sauna. I had to have my window open in 23 degree weather this past winter, as that was really the only way I could cool down my room (there’s no internal controls for temperature in individual apartments, I don’t think). I was told by friends that this is seemingly a universal NYC experience, but I have to pray it isn’t. Anyways, moving on from that is noise levels. Now, my bedroom was not facing the street, so my opinion is a bit more skewed, but my roommates have said there’s yelling practically all hours of the night. This is understandable only to the extent that there’s a relatively busy bar a couple doors down and the property is on the same block as a major Broadway show. But sometimes the noise level was a bit much, especially in the bedrooms with street-facing windows. Sometimes it would be midnight, literally 12 am, and there would be loud music blaring on the street below. Onto some things I only docked a single star from— neighbors, cleanliness, pest control, garbage management. I’m a little sad I’m moving because it would have been nice to see the other tenants more often, but most of us keep to ourselves, save the occasional run in doing laundry. Laundry was a big gripe for myself and my roommates, as there’s only one set of machines, and they take FOREVER to do what they need to. So if you decide to do laundry and someone’s already using the washer, you can plan on adding another hour or two onto your laundry plans, as the run cycles for these machines take over an hour for a normal cycle. I’m unsure whether these folks moved away or just haven’t crossed paths with us in a while, but there used to be people who would consistently take out laundry from the dryer (still damp, mind you) and leave it in a heap on top of the machine. So I docked a star for that rudeness, anyways. But otherwise the people in the building are pretty nice when we’ve had to interact with them. Overall, the building could be cleaner— I recall once or twice seeing a ticket on the front door from the city for litter being present in the entryway, and the back patio, while lovely, is also a bit dingy. Both pest control and garbage management were pretty good, aside from the occasional pile up downstairs (see also: lack of recycling?? Isn’t that illegal? ANYWAYS.) and there were very rarely any pests both in the basement and in our apartment itself, save a few roaches in the basement/entryway and a single mouse in my room that never made an appearance after the first one, even after setting a trap. So on that front, they’re fine. My biggest complaint is that there’s no one on site who can help you out, management-wise. It’s usually a waiting game over text with the overtenant of the building. We had several issues regarding lights burning out/bathroom leaks that only got addressed after they became full building-wide problems. Even now, those lights are still out (and have been for months, they’re only just now getting to it I’m thinking because they need to rent the place to new people again). The only times there would be a moderately fast response was when we were talking money. Which is unfortunate. I just wish they cared a little more about the quality of life for their tenants. General advice: please stand up for yourself and DON’T feel annoying for asking for what you need here. Make good use of the patio in the summer/early fall and spring. And make sure to get lots of cookies at Schmackary’s!😉 Best of luck to the folks who will next inhabit this space.

Please take more care in listening to the needs of your tenants! They are the ones paying you, and, perhaps more importantly, LIVING in the space you’re renting out to them!!