101 West End Ave — Local services in New York

Fantastic location, great amenities, but problematic management and rampant racism among residents.

My partner and I lived in the building during 2023/24, and I’d like to offer some insights for those considering making it their new home.

Pros: The building location is fantastic and accessible to almost every part of the city yet it has a lovely neighborhood feel. We absolutely loved the area. The building has excellent amenities, which are well-maintained and regularly cleaned. The leasing staff are efficient, friendly, and flexible. Our lease agreement and move-in process were seamless. Some of the front desk and maintenance staff—like Anthony, Julio, and Chris—are truly hardworking and always went above and beyond to meet our requests. We’re incredibly grateful for their efforts. Thank you, guys! The building has a half basketball court and even organizes a league for residents. It’s a fun way to connect with neighbors and build a community. Many young professionals live here, providing opportunities to socialize and network without having to go out of our ways to attend events outside.

Cons: The air conditioning in most apartments are extremely noisy. Like EXTREMELY. It felt like living inside an airplane. As someone sensitive to white noise, I frequently experienced headaches from the constant sound. Additionally, the airflow is poorly designed, with unbalanced air blowing directly onto the height of the bed, making it difficult to regulate the temperature. I personally became sick several times due to the A/C issues and had to see a pulmonologist. In summer, the A/C emitted a musty, moldy odor. If you have respiratory concerns or small children, this is a critical issue to keep in mind. I’ve included a video of the A/C noise in our living room below. The building's manager, Brandy Zarle, was difficult to interact with—inefficient, rigid, and unfriendly. We raised several concerns with her, none of which were addressed. Eventually, she told us we would have to resolve them on our own. Some residents leave their doors open 24/7, causing the entire floor to be filled with cooking odors or the sounds of crying babies. Despite bringing this up with management several times, the issue persisted. It’s intrusive and feels like you’re unwillingly living in a reality TV show, constantly exposed to your neighbors’ private lives. Unfortunately, the most significant reason we chose not to renew our lease was the blatant racism we encountered multiple times. As an Asian couple, we frequently experienced racist remarks, hostile stares, and uncomfortable encounters in common areas. The worst incident involved a Russian woman on the fourth floor who verbally attacked me and my Asian friend by shouting, screaming, and name-calling us with unacceptable words in the elevator with hateful, racist comments for no reason. When we reported this to the front desk and management, we were told it wasn’t her first time harassing others—she had a history of mistreating residents and staff, particularly people of color. Despite having elevator footage and other evidence, the management admitted that their ability to take action was limited. While Laura, one of the management staff, was empathetic, it became clear that these limitations came from Dermot’s higher-ups. The company's priority seems to be profit over shared values, integrity or resident well-being. If you are a person of color, especially Asian or Black, be aware of this issue and consider it carefully when deciding whether to live here.

I hope this...

This is simply the best place to live in New York City! Sounds superlative, but it was oh so true for me. It was my first apartment in New York City. I moved here to live for a year to help my daughter with her children while she was in grad school. I chose a studio apartment in this building, because it was near where she was living. And every day that I walked in the sliding doors to the lobby at 101 I was so happy to be living here. Every employee in this building went out of their way to be helpful and friendly. I got to know the concierges, the porters, people in the office... And each one of them is my favorite! I am not exaggerating a bit when I say that I felt truly at home when I would walk in each evening. I was VERY happy here for the year that I was lucky enough to call it home. I was sad when my year was up and I returned to my home in another state. But it was a wonderful experience and delightful memory. 101 West End is close to so many wonderful things. Not only is it very near Lincoln Center, Juilliard, and Fordham University, but it is also walking distance to Central Park to the east. It is just a few blocks from Columbus Circle with great shopping and eating spots. The apartment building is only a block and a half from the Hudson which is a delightful place to be in the day or in the lovely lights of the evening. The 15th floor terrace was a favorite place to go and relax to read a book, or just to look out over the scenery of the upper west side. If you are at all social, there are gatherings and exercise groups enough to help everyone get acquainted in this delightful building. The floor to ceiling windows in my apartment let in so much natural light that it put you in a good mood just to wake up in the morning. I cannot say enough superlative things about the people and the building. I highly recommend these apartments to anyone looking for "their...

Not a great price/ value you can see they tried to update but the vinyl floor is already coming from underneath and make pay extra to use other amenities in the building. Besides that one of the elevators were broken 90% of the time we were there.

Maintenance and Management unfortunatley had a lot of excuses and no solutions, excuses that the building is 20 years old and they cant do anything.. holes in the windows warm/cold air comes out of holes so you have to run the AC more than usual.

Have an idea they are warehousing their apartment inventory (keeping them off the market to crank up the price for rents).

Small update about my time there: was also I felt like there were multiple apartments empty. One day on my way home from work, I pushed the wrong elevator button and got out on the floor below mine without realizing it. My door key wouldn’t fit the lock to what I had assumed was my door, so I turned the knob and stepped, to my astonishment, into a completely empty, totally untouched one-bedroom. I turned around and beelined to the elevator, worried that I’d get busted for trespassing, when I noticed strips of masking tape covering the door frames on all of the other (presumably empty) apartments...