Rental at 505 W. 54th Street - DON'T!

I came across this review on Apartment Ratings.com "I have to say that this is one of the most poorly managed and maintained buildings I have encountered in New York. Security is lax, the appliances are outdated and in poor repair. I had hoped that the change in ownership would make the situation better but it continues to deteriorate. I will definitely not be renewing my lease in this building."... [more]

I came across this review on Apartment Ratings.com "I have to say that this is one of the most poorly managed and maintained buildings I have encountered in New York. Security is lax, the appliances are outdated and in poor repair. I had hoped that the change in ownership would make the situation better but it continues to deteriorate. I will definitely not be renewing my lease in this building." Which made me decide to state my opinions about my experience here, as well. This apartment building is disgusting. I am moving out. One year was one too many. I live in "Building 1" which is the 6 story building on 55th Street between 10th and 11th avenues. Archstone West 54th has two buildings. The bigger building which has about 12 floors and the smaller building with 6. Building 2 has a doorman and a gym. Building 1 does not. There is a courtyard at Building 1 that has stairs that leads you up to the bigger building. This is how you access the gym. Building 1 had broken front doors and a broken security intercom system for 99% of residence here. No security whatsoever in Building 1. The apartments in both buildings are the same abundantly overpriced messes. Two apartment buildings that are in a completely different "setting" should not cost the same amount of money just because they are the same "community". Their pricing explanations are pathetic. They come close to not even making human sense. This is an example "Well, the apartment right below you is $1,000 a month less because you're on the 9th floor, and they are on the 8th". What? Let's move on to the apartments themselves. The year built: 2000. The year the apartments look: 1990. I have never seen something built so semi new with such old, cheap, and unkept appliances, floors, kitchens, and bathrooms. Archstone didn't build the building. They did own it, though. They never updated it. Now Equity owns it. There are no plans in the near future to renovate and update these buildings. I did the entire apartment search tour in the neighborhood and didn't see one building that was disgusting as this one. It's dirty. It's disgusting. It's old. It's overpriced. It's horribly managed. I don't have one positive thing to say about my experience living at this building. Don't rent here. It's not worth your money. This is what I wish had been different. Equity Residential, listen carefully. *Apartments gutted. The Victory on 42nd/10th avenue was built in 2002, built with very nice features. It's now 2013 and they have just updated their apartments. Do you see the problem here? These apartments need brand new granite stainless steel, new bathrooms, new floors, new everything. Oh, and NEW CEILINGS! Popcorn went out a long time ago. The victory also had popcorn ceilings. They are gone now. *Hallways. Who picked these colors? Who hasn't painted my hallway in probably 10 years? They are asylum yellow/white and with light blue doors. Disgusting. *Elevators. Do you show these apartments with a straight face? You bring potential tenants into those elevators? Do you try to distract them from looking around too hard? Disgusting. *Put a doorman and doorman station in Building 1. You charge for that feature. Give the feature that you charge for. There's no reason besides being cheap that Building 1 shouldn't have it's own doorman. Really, it's very simple. *Replace the disgusting floors throughout the building. *When the elevator takes 10 minutes and I decide to use the stairwell. What a beautiful sight that is. Graffiti, black marks all over the walls, holes in the wall, roaches on the floor. Disgusting. I just spent ten minutes of my life that I can't get back writing this so I am going to stop now. Equity, read carefully. I'm leaving but trust me, I don't know how many people voice their opinions but I will tell you that anyone and everyone that I have spoken to agrees with every word that I just stated. [less]