The Modern — Local services in Fort Lee

This place isn't terrible at all. The front desk and shuttle staff members are some of the friendliest people you'll meet. This place is great for running- you can cross the GW Bridge as a pedestrian and access the trail along the Hudson River, run over to the county park in Teaneck, or run up into the Englewood Cliffs neighborhood. The view from the windows (floor to ceiling) is also great. They offered a free shuttle across GW every weekday morning and back every weeknight night, which was awesome. I didn't appreciate how stingy the place was. Mechanics repairing my windshield disposed of my parking pass but no sympathy, still hit with a $75 replacement charge. Paying $200/month for parking when your rent is in the $3,000+/month neighborhood is ridiculous- there's space all around Fort Lee. Also, no adjustment on amenity fees despite them being closed for months due to the pandemic- a complete and total rip off. Overnight traffic noise in apartments by the GW Bridge tollbooth was a huge downside. When I moved in I saw there were significant amounts of apartments on every floor that were at this point of the building available. I saw the apartment before moving in and didn't notice anything unusual so I took it, but when I tried sleeping in it, it was next to impossible, even being on a floor more than 20 floors up. Cars and trucks honk throughout the night and because the apartment faces it and it's a busy area, you hear it almost round the clock in the bedroom. I tried a lot of different things like earplugs, white noise, music and even moving my mattress into the closet at one point because I wasn't getting any sleep for weeks before I discovered that running a box fan on low speed every night worked like a charm. Another sleep challenge is that there are no real shades- just solar shades. So, if you're in an apt facing GW Bridge, you get sunlight at the crack of dawn in your bedroom; this was a bigger issue on summer weekends. Another downside is the challenge it is to get back to the apartment from NYC late at night. NJ transit busses stop running around 1-2 am and the GWB Bridge walkway is closed from midnight-6am. So, on several occasions with a late night LGA/JFK flight, my options were a $150-$200 Uber or riding the subway for an hour and a half and a $50 Uber over a 2-mile bridge- not fun. What was really a downer about this place was the office staff. For example, when I first moved in, I was assigned a parking space with a piece of paper clearly delineating it. Late one weekend night, I get back to find another car parked there. The front desk tells me a place to park in the interim, where I park when it happens a few more times. About two months later, I get the below email:

"I hope all is well, I see that you have been parking in various different spots, please note that we have now registered you at spot number x-xxx. Please park there moving forward, thank you!"

My response was, "Really?" You assigned me the spot when I moved in! I replied sending a copy of the paper the same agent had given to me when I moved in and never heard back.

When I reached out for pandemic-related early lease termination, it took a total of 47 days to get a resolution and I had to re-follow up on 3 occasions. The initial response was tone deaf- even though it took almost a month to reply to my initial email, the 4/22 response for a lease expiring 8/15 was that I'd have to give the standard-issue 60-day notice and pay a 2-month penalty fee after that- so this would actually have meant I was paying more money than I would have to just complete the lease! To their credit, they ended up being more flexible in the separation penalty; I am greatly appreciative. However, the effort it took to get responses to get it resolved was excessive (and further aggravated when they sent 2 follow up emails about the status of the remaining payment owed by 6/30 before 6/30, showing they communicate when their self-interests are at stake but that it isn't much of a priority when...

We have moved out of your establishment at The Modern in Fort Lee 800 building after a year. it was truly the most stressful most horrifying experience of our lives. my husband and I lived in fort lee 30 years ago in a co-op and never ever saw the things that go on in your building. we raised our children in a beautiful town nearby and never once in a town with 9000 People did we ever see nor hear nor experience What we had experienced the one year at The Modern. You people should be very ashamed of yourselves I wasn’t going to write this letter but since you came to me with the survey you need to know how many people are living there under false identity as well as drug busts are rampant in the building, women walking around with everything hanging out at the pool it was the most unsafe environment I have ever encountered in my life. for the money that we spent monthly to live there I never ever would’ve thought that we would be amongst the kind of people that live there. We were taken in by the amenities and once that was gone we had nothing but stress. in particular one of your doorman his name is Trevon almost ran my husband and I over in the garage because he was speeding to get out of there after work as well as watching women as recently in June having a cocktail party in the lobby without social distancing there is no regard for safety or well-being in this building. I had met with Barbara who I must say was really trying to clean things up there however there was no security presence in the building people were robbed in the garage more than once I know this to be a fact. Your biggest mistake was letting go of John the evening doorman who actually cared for the residents and looked out for our well-being but you can’t keep a head of these people that constantly are flowing into the building. The doormen have been threatened and were afraid to call police on people that would let’s say for instance make a parking lot out of the circle that is a fire zone. your own partner who is a partner at the restaurant with his bright blue Mercedes would park in the fire lane all day because he thought he could -complete lack of respect for the safety of the tenants. If there was a fire the fire engines would not be able to get into the circle because it was Constantly overloaded with cars. On July 4th 2019 after we just moved in , and you can confirm this with the building I was not present but I was told by a very prominent resident there that he witnessed a fistfight because the barbecue area was overbooked accidentally instead of being normal people like my husband and I would’ve said just join us they were fighting with each other physically fighting with each other do you know how embarrassing it was to bring friends to that environment? Also our first time at the pool someone was being arrested by the Fort Lee Police why don’t you put yourselves in our shoes for just a moment for just one minute and think that you’re living in this beautiful building only to find out that you’re living in a college dorm or worse than that because these people are not college age I can go on with more stories then I care to remember I wanted to move on from this environment and not think twice about the past year but again since you came to me with the survey you need to know what’s happening I spoke with Sjp Propertied as I had them in my apartment the first couple of months that we were there with all my concerns and guess what it gradually got worse so good luck to you and your fancy building we are just glad that we are no...

This review is long overdue. I lived at the Modern 800 from 2021-2024. Sadly, I had to move out of state and that was the reason our family left the Modern. From the moment I moved in until I moved out, the Modern was a dream to live in. I had seen several apartment complexes in the area and the Modern surpassed them all by quality, luxury and warmth. I lived on both the South and North facing sides as I moved once within the building during my time there. The south side definitely got more sun, but had the most stunning views of the sunset. The north side had a beautiful view of the GW bridge and beyond. I loved the floor to ceiling windows. The dishwasher was so quiet, so you forget that it's running. Keep in mind that because the drier is electric, you need to leave the door to the hamper area open, or else, your clothes won't dry well. The apartments are well-insulated, I didn't need to bump up the heat much during the winters. The walls were thick, so you hardly heard your neighbors. The property was excellently maintained by the cleaning crew at the Modern who were always pleasant and nice whenever we saw them. The gym was fantastic and again, clean and well-maintained. I loved the pilates reformer there. The fifth floor amenities are excellent. I've used the sauna, massage room, the massage chair rooms and the outside. The outside; however, was being overrun with the spotted lantern flies in the summer months, sadly. The cheerful and welcoming front desk and package room guys went out of their way to help. The package room guys -Chris and Matteo were so sweet and would bring my packages up when I was pregnant. Really sweet guys. There were issues with some of the tenants leaving their trash in the trash room (like food on the floors), or tenants smoking marijuana/cigarettes that impacted multiple tenants' apartments, but the leasing office took measures to take care of and resolve them as much as possible. Speaking of the leasing office, I want to thank Karen, Shawn and Joe for their help, professionalism, kindness and friendship over the years. They are truly the A team that makes the Modern run so smoothly. They took any of our concerns seriously and acted with urgency. I miss them very much. When anyone asks me where to live in Fort Lee, I always point them to the Modern first. Its location is so convenient for that area as well. I walked to my pilates classes and restaurants. I have made several friends at the Modern as most of the tenants are really nice and classy. I largely attributed my being happy in Fort Lee to the Modern. Thank...