Replace Appliances?

Hi, everyone. I live in a rent-stabilized apartment in Manhattan. It’s just a little studio, but I know I’m extremely lucky. One drawback, though, is that the refrigerator and stove in my apartment are incredibly old. Toward the end of summer, 2016 I started thinking about whether or not I could replace the stove and refrigerator on my own dime. I reached out to the building manager to get his... [more]

Hi, everyone. I live in a rent-stabilized apartment in Manhattan. It’s just a little studio, but I know I’m extremely lucky. One drawback, though, is that the refrigerator and stove in my apartment are incredibly old. Toward the end of summer, 2016 I started thinking about whether or not I could replace the stove and refrigerator on my own dime. I reached out to the building manager to get his permission. He said that I couldn’t purchase my own appliances, but management would be willing to buy the appliances and calculate it into a rent increase. Because of the size of the building, the rent increase would have been 1/60 of the cost of the appliances. It was a small amount of money, so I agreed to the rent increase and informed the building manager the models I wanted. This was back in November, 2016. Since that time - nothing. No rent increase, and no new appliances. I’ve followed up with the building manager more than once, but he doesn’t respond. What do you think I can do at this stage? Is my only option to keep pestering him? Since he doesn’t respond, can I just go ahead with the original plan and buy my own appliances? Please give me your thoughts. I appreciate it. [less]