building at 430 West 34th Street

I have a friend you moved into that building after living in a beautiful pad in San Francisco. He LOVES the building and the neighborhood, however he suggests you take an apartment on the back of the building. There is a tunnel (can't remember the name) which comes out directly in front of 430 w 34th. There are huge signs telling people not to honk, but I don't think they are very effective. He bought his studio, a very nice one, 4 years ago at an incredibly low price. He says the building is very well maintained and the financials are excellent. And it's close to Macy's!!!!!!!!!!!!

My first apt was in 433 W 34, across the street from 430. That "tunnel", BTW, would be the Lincoln Tunnel which empties onto Dyer Ave and runs perpendicular into 34th St and right into 430. That said, I agree with Riccardo that you do NOT want anything facing the front of the building although I do not know what hidden annoyances the other exposures harbor. The neighborhood itself is hard to "love" albeit that is very subjective. As for transportation, you're not that far from subways although the long blocks from the building to any of the 34th St stop will leave you drenched whenever it rains.

It's a little "non-neighborhood" very near some highly desirable neighborhoods. Big advantage is proximity and prices that are 20%-40%+ less than Chelsea, WV, UWS, Flatiron, etc for comparable units (700-750psf!). Those of us who have lived there or still live there love it. And its so quiet over there after 8pm most nights it's practically suburban. Lots of cabs on 9th and 10th all the time.

Be forewarned that there are a few Javitz events each year that make you want to leave for vacation - the auto show, comic-con, a "culture" thingy that turns the block into 125th St. south for a few days (thump thump da dump), etc

430 has a great new roof deck.

Dear West 34: Agreed 100%. I saw an apartment for sale a year or so ago, studio with a large set back terrace. It was absolutely gorgeous and, i believe, under $300K. I couldn't believe that I didn't jump on it, but was/am stil living in San Francisco about to relocate to your MAGNIFICENT city within one month, then will be on the search for the perfect alcove studio!!!!!! Wish me luck. New York City is the only city in the world for me, and I've lived in Italy, Amsterdam, London, Munich, and a few others. The studio I was talking about was, I belive, on the FRONT of the building, so I guess you would be sitting on your terrace watching all the cars coming off the tunnel -- not very pleasant.

Riccazrdo - traffic and noise on that block is really no better or worse than a hundred other bloacks in the city. Hang out around 14th and 5th for a while, or anywhere near columbus circle, or broadway in Soho. Same stuff -just tune it out. And you're not looking at cars from those terraces - they have great 180 degree midtown skyline views. I think 34th between 9th and 10th may turn out to be one of the great real estate bargain opportunites when people look back 10 years from now. The city is even considering limiting the Dyer ave tunnel access to enhance the block.

Yet more major residential development coming to the dimishingly industrial far west side -
From Curbed:
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/05/02/related_and_leyva_team_up_for_more_residential_near_high_line.php#more

The Related Companies has yet another residential plan in the works along the northern stretch of the High Line, their latest at 539 West 29th Street. It's just down the block from the 33-story tower of Related residentials getting ready to rise at 500 West 30th Street, said to designed by Robert A.M. Stern. The new plan at 539 is for 15 floors with 126 units and, once again, Related's architect of record is Ismael Leyva. The new building application hasn't been approved yet; at the end of April the plan exam by the Department of Buildings resulted in a thumbs down. And some zoning issues are still pending. But given the numbers found on the Schedule A, this one could be boxy, in the mode of +Art a block to the south at 540 West 28th Street.

This new plan is part of the development land rush in the vicinity of NYC's newest neighborhood at Hudson Yards, Related's mega-project covering 26 acres where 5.5 million square feet of commercial and residential buildings will go in, all encircled by the last stretch of the High Line. Rising across the street from 539 West 29th will be the block-busting Avalon West Chelsea, where the big dig out for 700+ new residential units is on-going. Towering above Related's newest project, where an old garage stood until it was demo'ed last summer, is the big white slab of nightlife fun, better known as Ohm. Proximity to the High Line is proving to be the economic boon foreseen by the Bloomberg administration when this area was re-zoned back in 2005, a plan that just might be the only NYC re-zoning scheme that can be called "award winning."

I am familiar with the bldg., and I find the traffic there to be pretty mundane. I personally think the traffic is far less bothersome than the traffic in the areas adjacent to the Midtown Tunnel or Queensboro Bridge.

Also, the area has improved tremendously in the last few years. I think it has a lot to do with younger, perhaps wealthier people spreading toward the far West Side (the same, by the way, happened around 42nd Street toward 10th-11th Ave.).

I would however stay away from this bldg. because it has all the unfortunate features of the 1960s bldgs., which make me feel as though I were in a nursing home...