I've lived in Frank 57 West for a year now, I'm not renewing and would NOT recommend living here…read more
Leasing experience
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Quite as terrible as can be. Durst owns and manages these buildings, and reviews about absurd bureaucracy and move-out inspections that try to scr*w over tenants are not hard to find. Got a taste of the former as well.
Initially applied for an apt in the Via building next door, by email in the evening. The response in the morning was that the rental terms had suddenly changed that following day. While they effectively already only offered 18 month leases, now it was increased to 24 months, and about $200+ added to the rent. The leasing staff explained these were all set by main office and nothing could be changed whatsoever. Ridiculous. Being turned off by the new terms, as alternative, I was made aware of an available apt in the Frank building. The Via apt I applied for was still on the market when I checked 9 months later (make it make sense).
After viewing a more spacious unit in Frank (somehow available unit could not be shown), I decided to apply. The process was halted after a week or so, due to my employer not having a website. They claimed this was required as part of their way of verifying my income and employer are real. The fact I work for a subsidiary of one of the worlds largest investment fund (parent does have a website) didn't matter to them, nor that they have a linkedin presence, nor that my income went far beyond the 40x. I spent multiple days offering a slew of solutions (public sources mentioning company, form demonstrating parent-subsidiary relationship, HR letters, communication from office head, pay full year ahead etc) - nothing could be accepted. They instead indicated the only way forward was to get a guarantor, and recommended to use the theguarantors.com service. Insanity. In my 12 years in NYC have I not seen this type of requirement, nor had a guarantor for that matter. With my hands tied and time limited, I decided to proceed, being forced to pay close to pay 4K for this guarantor service. I would not be surprised at all if they somehow have a stake in this guarantor service business.
Move-in
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At move-in day I was immediately greeted with a slew of issues in the apartment. Other reviews describe how Durst loves to charge tenants at move-out for the smallest of issues or damages. The fact they delivered this apt in the state they did speaks volumes:
1. AC did not work, which took over 4 repair guy visits and 1-2 weeks to fix (it was middle of the summer)
2. Kitchen sink was leaking in the space below
3. Toilet bowl was leaking gas (i.e. and intense smell of rotting feces would come and go. Which repair guy told me can be harmful to a persons health.)
4. Dryer would stop working and show error code (still has not been resolved. I gave up after having repair guys come over several times and not actually fixing it)
5. Thermostat had a bug where it would crash
6. Large window wouldn't completely close leaving a gap where air and noise would come through (this was eventually plugged with foam as it was labelled a "structural" problem which "would be taken care off". Never heard anything about it again.)
7. Intercom not working (after 8 months and numerous repair guys I was finally informed these things don't even work and are essentially for show)
8. Light switch covers cracked
9. Shower sink not draining water well (still the case)
Apartment experience
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Not terrible, not good. If you're looking for a luxury building experience don't go here.
1. Lots of things are made from cheap imitation materials. E.g. the wall in the kitchen are all plastic tiles, mimicing stone. Similarly, all tiles in bathroom (both entire floor and walls) are the same plastic, which does nothing but promote mold growth. Not even sure if the general flooring is made from actual wood, as it has a strange plastic feel to it as well.
2. Combination oven: if you like to cook and actually need an oven, forget about it. You can't even heat a pizza properly in this thing.
3. Outside noise: both 58th and 11th avenue are extremely busy with traffic all the time. 58th st is an exit of the highway, while 11th ave has a constant flow of highspeed trucks and other traffic driving on it. Given that NYC paves streets like they would in Afghanistan, these trucks hit a dozen or so potholes 24/7 in the intersection giving off loud noises. This all aside from the trash trucks that are going at it all night.
4. Neighbors: seemingly lots of musical types in this building who constantly feel the need to make noise through singing (i.e. screeching) and loudly playing their instruments in absurd ways.
5. Gym: ok, minimal. For over a week a plague of insects were crawling about and dying, which did not seem to be taken care of promptly.
6. Good things: building is very well insulated. Ren