building at 300 East 54th Street

Suzanne, you need to research this.

I live across the street so I can only talk of the location. My wife and I find it extremely convenient with tons to do. Also the E/V is on 54th and 3rd and the 6 is on Lex, which pretty much means you can get to any part of Manhattan from there (except the UWS). Tons of restaurants and bars in the immediate area so you never have to travel far for a meal or a drink.

The negatives are that there are a lot of bars nearby, but on that side(east) of 2nd it is not as bad as on the west side of 2nd. And 2nd AVe can get noisy depending on what floor you are on and which direction you face. Additionally, it is a good walk to the closest park, if that is important.

Personally the positives far outweight the negatives for that area. I have always thought that this neighborhood has been undervalued when compared to other parts on Manhattan, which is why we could afford to buy there in the first place. From the outside the building is nice and has a nice lobby, I have never seen the pool though.

If good mass transit access and the availablity of restaurants etc is what you want then you will like the neighborhood. If you want dead silence and a park across the street, then its not.

midtown east is a fantastic location. being walking distance to the e/v, the 6 train, and grand central is great. also being on 2nd avenue in the high 40's low 50's, you are not really affected by the traffic patterns related to the queensboro and midtown tunnels. opt for a high floor, as the views, especially east facing can be great.

this buildins has reasonable maintenance (as opposed to some other buildings in the hood) but don't be fooled the one beds are actually quite small.

the pool is great with terrific views, but keep in mind this building is dates, so don't be expecting any stylish amenities.

I live in this building. It's nice, the maintenance is somewhat high but there are good amenities. The pool is pretty nice, it's on the roof which is cool. It's very dog-friendly. We face west and have a nice view of the Chrysler building. We can also see parts of Central Park. The residents are a mix of people who were renting here pre-conversion and people who bought in later. Many new residents are young families. A fair number of kids in the building these days. The person who states that it is dated is correct. It's not the prettiest place in the world but it's pretty cozy.

The neighborhood is fairly good. It gets more peaceful the closer you get to the river. There are several little mini-parks over on Sutton. There is a farmer's market down a few blocks at Dag Hammerskald Plaza on Wednesdays. The transportation here is excellent, though the EV6 station is very high traffic combining this neighborhood with much of midtown's traffic on weekdays. I would say the only bad thing about the building's location is that there can be a lot of traffic coming south off the bridge. The east facing apartments don't hear much of that, though. They have a beautiful view as well.

What is the sublet policy? There seems like a decent inventory in the building and listings did not move at close to asking price. Does anyone have any updates? How is the building staff and the co-op board?

It says no sublets. Is the second ave subway contraction gonna go through that area?

Building does not allow sublets and has a higher than average flip tax- I believe it is 10%.
2nd -Ave subway not planned to reach there until next phase. Will be many years away, if ever.

The next phase of the 2nd Avenue subway will be 96th Street & North. Probably be 15 or 20 years before it reaches 2nd Avenue below 59th Street.

I live in the building. It is great- well maintained, great amenities, great location. Staff (including the new resident manager) is pleasant and helpful. Note the flip tax is 2% (not 10% is indicated above)

I was told tht the flip tax is 3%, quite high.