Avalon Midtown West

The building management lies and withholds information from residents. Last year, the elevators were out of of order for nearly 12 months and the building refused to explain what was happening or when it would be resolved. This year, the water turned brown and has had strange particles in it every since, and the building refused to provide any information about why... the concierge staff have told us that the building managers are often lying when they do bother to communicate anything to residents. For instance, they recently closed the laundry room "for repairs" but actually they were increasing the prices on all machines AND decreasing the cycle time.

We have been living at the Avalon for the last 1.5 years and it has been the worst experience we have so far in any building we have lived so far. The only thing good about this building is the concierge staff - they are amazing!!! First, almost all the appliances in the unit are very very old and of extremely poor quality. They break down often and its like banging your head against a wall making the building fix these. Second, the building's elevator breaks down often and for long periods. The building had 2-3 operational elevators (out of the the 5) almost all of last summer. Residents had to que up for 15-20 mins during rush hours to get into an elevator. We heard from the residents who have been living in the building for a longer time that this is an ongoing issue with the elevator. Third, we have been dealing with incompetency of the building in giving us a functional dishwasher for 5 months now. We started seeing particles on the dishes and reported it to the building. However, instead of investigating and fixing it, we received a very condescending email from a General Manager who explained in her email how we should be loading the dishwasher. The building finally acknowledged the issues and replaced the dishwasher but we still have the same issues indicating we are getting dirty water with particles in it. When we pointed it out, the maintenance staff said he does not know what else he can do.

The biggest mistake I made was moving into this building. The second biggest was trusting that the new building manager had made a difference and renewing our lease. I have lived here now for 18 months and am counting the days to be able to move out. Things constantly break down in this building because appliances in the units are 15-20 years old. However, you have to fight with the building management to get anything replaced. After months of "inspections" by the maintenance staff who agree with you in person and then close out the online request without doing anything, a building super or the building manager will come to make sure you are correctly using the appliance. This has happened more than 3 times: our blinds broke, and rather than replacing them, they insisted on showing us how to pull the cord "correctly." Our A/C broke, and they came to show us how to press the on/off button, claiming we weren't using it right... Our dishwasher broke, and they came to show us how to properly rinse and load dishes instead of replacing the faulty machine. We have had had to persist and escalate problems to higher levels to get anything done, as the modis operandi of this building is to ignore problems, hoping the tenant gives up or moves out. Sadly, these three examples are only that - examples. So many things are wrong with this building and with the management thereof.

The management of this building is non-responsive and won't fix problems. Elevators have been out for weeks (one for months) and they won't both to have it fixed.

I've been here a while and feel obligated to alert folks that broken elevators are a consistent, serious issue in the building. The building was recently overhauled which included new elevator cars, but they are noticeably less reliable and broken down more often that previously. Most recently a good friend in the building was trapped in the elevator for over 35 minutes, while they waited for the elevator company. During the Covid era, with many folks vacating the building and some moving in to take advantage of lower rates, it has been a circus, and not the good kind. Today even the service elevator was broken and only 2 of the 6 resident elevators were running. 2 of 6. And everyone moving in and out today had no other option but to use these elevators. The building has over 500 units, so you can imagine the wait times to get on an elevator. Today it was 15 minutes waiting in the hall before a car was available. Sadly, management for the building offers no feedback or apology for these very frequent malfunctions.

After living in the West Village, in a six floor walk-up, for over 50 years, my knees told me it was time to move on. Giving up a large, rent controlled apartment, on a charming, tree-lined street, in a building that was over 100 years old was not easy and certainly NY rents made moving almost an impossibility. However, I learned of Affordable Housing, applied and was accepted. I now have my choice of six high-speed elevators and have arranged my new apartment so that almost all activities can be conducted from my couch! The only downside is I have gained 20 pounds!