261 Seaman Avenue,

Manhattan, NY 10034

Huge apartments with excellent kitchens. A lot of original details in the plaster walls. Nice enough renovations of an older building.

Some neighbors could be noisy and it's quite a hike being at the absolute upper tip of Manhattan

The building was quiet and I felt safe entering it late at night. There weren’t people hanging in the lobby. My apartment was pretty quiet. I had an apartment towards the back of the building. My kitchen, bathroom and living room windows faced the inner courtyard and the garbage dumpsters. My bedroom windows faced the back of the building and a gray stone wall. Unfortunately, it didn’t get a lot of sunlight, but it did get an excessive amount of heat. I was never cold in that apartment! I would leave the windows open throughout winter that’s how hot it was. My apartment was small but perfectly sized for me and my neighbors were generally quiet.

The only issue I had with my apartment was that I occasionally saw large roaches or water bugs in my apartment. I distinctly remember 3 separate occasions. They were always in or around my closets so I made sure to shake everything out. The first time I saw one I freaked out and could barely bring myself to enter my apartment because it was on the door of the foyer closet. The second time, it or one of its relatives, was in the closet between my bedroom and bathroom and I wasn’t fast enough to get it. The third time I saw one I was dead set on not being scared to live in my own apartment and I ripped my closet apart until I got that sucker. All in all, 3 times in about 4 years that I lived there is actually pretty good. I never saw small roaches in my kitchen. That would’ve been disgusting. I think my unfortunate apartment location overlooking the dumpster had something to do with the large roaches aka water bugs.

I left because the rent was just getting too high and I got a better offer closer to my job. Unfortunately, my new apartment was in a private house overlooking the Throgs Neck Bridge and it was always cold and the house owner was cheap with the heat. I regretted moving many, many times.

Keep maintaining the property well and get an exterminator regularly.

While the building is a little dated (our unit still has fuses and a flushometer) the elevator and basement access were a huge bonus when we moved in. Pet friendly without the fees and proximity to park are ideal for dog owners. Super is attentive and always available.

While the outdoor noise is avoidable, you can easily hear lower level neighbors television in hardwood areas. Invest in rugs. Construction scaffolding and netting in the courtyard has allegedly been up for years and the facade of the building really suffers from it. Electrical in the units are dated but functional. Seem to always be waiting for a response from the property owner for certain fixes (read: electrical).

Remove the scaffolding and netting to allow some of the greenery to return. Update electrical.

Super is amazing.

Property company sucks but you don’t have to deal with them a lot.

Update the building. It’s falling apart.