The Octagon at 888 East Main Street,

Manhattan, NY 10044

Building the clean and well maintained. Lots of amenities, management is quick in response to repair requests.

Price hike after pandemic - 12%-30% yearly increase forced out tenants. not an NON-SMOKING building so there is nothing you can do about second hand smoke. Close to an church converted event space, music can be loud all day-night.

Keep the increase resonable and revert back to non-smoking policy

Clean, isolated, helpful staff, rub smoothly

Loud neighbors/babies/dogs, one elevator usually out if service, dark hallways

Install brighter lights in the hallways

Building was clean and things worked.

To save energy the hallway lights would turn off so it was a bit creepy

N/a

Excellent staff. People from maintenance to concierge is very responsive and kind.
No rats, bed bugs, etc.
Amenities are very good.

My last experience regarding lease extension was terrible. The management company proposed an unrealistic raise and didn't want to even listen to a counterproposal. Let's see for 2024 as the management has changed.
The gym maintenance requires more attention. Some machines are broken for long time.

A more flexible posture when negotiating renewals.

Clean building. Good maintainance.

Since I lived in this building, I have heard about 2 crimes. One room was broken into while residents were traveling. Another neighbor left the door open, and someone grabbed her purse and ran away in the day time. Both times, the management and front desk did not do anything. The room had no sign for broken lock. Some suspect that it is an internal job.

If you ever wanted a home away from home at home, The Octagon is the place to be. It's a little slice of heaven in the middle of the city. It's relatively quiet and peaceful, with a beautiful view of Manhattan. Staff is wonderful, helpful, responsive, and friendly. It just changed ownership, so not sure what to expect, but hoping it is more of the same.

Minimal, very few roaches, but it is still NYC.
The water pressure could be better, particularly since the bathroom sinks are very large but the water pressure does not permit any significant use. I'm someone who will often rewet my hair in the sink, but I cannot do that here.

My only truly significant complaint is that the beautiful floor to ceiling windows are a bit drafty. When your are paying for central A/C and heat, that becomes a problem.

Reframe the windows so no loss of energy (and $$) happens.

Family friendly, clean, quite & lots of out door space

Far from public transport- tram/subway.

Great lobby and pleasant surroundings

Real pain to get off the island from this building.

Get a ferry stop on the island’s northern end

Maintenance team is always quick at response. The building is very clean.

Some management and concierge staff can be quite racist. You can always smell smoking and weed through the vent. The smell will come into your room and stay for a long time. The building is supposed to be smoke free, but management can’t to much is your neighbor is smoking. Every two years, they try to get rid of the old tenants by increasing your rent by 20-30%, and the rent is usually non-negotiable. Some bad reviews on Google map or Twitter will disappear/ deleted by the owner.

Everything! This is a great place

It can get very expensive

Great building management, very responsive to maintenance concerns, clean amenities. Shout out to front desk staff for creating a welcoming and homey atmosphere. Free transportation to and from the subway stop. Couldnt have asked for a better place to be stranded and finishing school during peak pandemic.

Honestly, no complaints. It's a bit of a walk from MTA if the buses aren't running on time. Definitely not affordable, but they dont claim to be. Sometimes feels more like a hotel than homey. I just like a little more liveliness to a neighborhood, but that's just personal preference. Neighborhood is not very diverse.

1. Newish building
2. Great concierge staff & maintenance staff. Got to know a handful the day I moved in
3. Amenities are a great selling point

Nothing really with the building. The only inconvenience is the travel to the F train or tram. Sometimes its a hassle having to take the shuttle or free island bus.

NA, been great thus far

The polite and helpful staff, the gorgeous amenities and responsiveness.

I literally have nothing bad to say about the Octagon

Good neighbors. But it's not rent stabilized!

Proximity to a celebratory event venue - the Sanctuary - makes the 2nd floor too noisy

Please talk to the Sanctuary

chill environment and large windows with nice view

noisy sometimes in the morning or late at night

too expensive and not worth it at all

Clean, well-maintained building, with friendly and responsive building staff. Any issues we had typically got solved on the same day. Large apartments by NYC standards, with great views (depending on which way you’re facing). Solid amenities (pool, gym with free weights and a squat rack).

Our front door was oddly thin and let in a lot of noise from the hallway. Our side of the building had 2 elevators, but one was constantly in use by building staff or someone moving in / out, so elevator wait times could be frustrating. Other residents would occupy equipment in the gym for extended periods and take phone breaks in between sets.

The elevator situation was our biggest pain point. Other than that we loved the building (even though Roosevelt Island wasn’t the right fit for us in the end).

The Octagon is a lovely building with great amenities, particularly the outdoor space. The maintenance team is super friendly and helpful. We moved from across the country and it was great to get a no-fee apartment with an in-house leasing team. Move-in was also a breeze since you can reserve an elevator and the concierge directs the movers. The concierge staff learned our names very quickly.

The building is fairly expensive but given the quality and the care of the concierge and maintenance staff, I think it's worth it. But the transportation on Roosevelt Island can be extremely disappointing. When the F train isn't running or only one tram car is operating, it's difficult to get on and off. We also had an emergency with our dog and it was very stressful to rent a Zipcar to drive over to a vet ER in Manhattan. Also, on the 4th of July, NYC police weren't letting cars onto the island which required us to get out of an Uber with our sick dog in Queens and walk across the bridge and to the apartment in the heat.

While there is a weekend shuttle and The Octagon Express red bus, the transportation to and from the island is a headache. I think The Octagon should do more to keep residents informed of known transportation issues, closures, or work, using the resident app so we're not left stranded trying to get home.

amenities , service , cleanliness

heating, electricity, price

Location, amenities, red bus

Far from everywhere actually

Concegerie staff is great, wonderful amenities, apartments are fairly updated (we had a new fridge and oven when we moved in), central air, good views

Neighbors can be loud and entitled, not a great sense of community, far from the train