501 East 74th Street — Local services in New York

Don't rent here. Aside from the high prices for small spaces, the management is the problem. This is their first "luxury" building and its clear that they either do not know what they are doing, or make bad choices or both. While your rent money will be gone from your checking account before you even wake up on the first of the month, they do not want to spend money on things like having the windows (including the balcony windows which are impossible to wash by oneself) washed once a year. The building was shoddily constructed and it is beginning to show. A few weeks ago the lobby ceiling began falling down because the builders decided it was a good idea to glue wooden flooring to it without reinforcement. Of course, since it happened on a weekend, no one from management bothered to even take a look at it. The poor doormen were terrified that pieces would fall on them. There are a lot of problems the appliances (the dryer works only on one setting, the dishwasher doesn't actually clean dishes, the ice maker makes ice that tastes terrible, the lightbulb in the fridge tends to cook things, the oven lets out so much heat that it burns anything on the stove, etc.) but management does not send actual repair people. They have very nice handymen who do their best with what they have to work with. Often times you see them swapping equipment from one apt. to another as the "fix" for a tenant's problems. The building manager is overworked perhaps, but he is not responsive most of the time. Even for simple requests, he claims he did not get them and only answers questions when I happened to bump into him.

Overall, the doormen and maintenance men in the building are very nice and hard working. They do not have the level of professionalism that you might see in some other buildings however. Once night at 10 pm I watched the doorman leave the desk to help a tenant upstairs with her packages. While that was very nice for the tenant, the lobby was left completely unattended. Often times the doormen/handymen are playing pool (sometimes with their friends ironically). One doorman was even drinking with tenants one evening. Aside from this last doorman, they are all very nice, helpful and willing to go out of their way to do what they can to make the tenants' lives more pleasant.

While management has little to no interest in the actual problems in the building, they seem to spend a lot of time looking at the security camera footage. Warning - don't do anything you wouldn't want them to see while in the elevator. And while it is theoretically a kid friendly building, they seem to subscribe to the theory that kids should not be seen or heard. My teenage daughter was literally harassed the few times she tried to bring her friends into the public spaces. Don't let the playroom fool you, kids will not feel welcome.

Many tenants express the same problems and concerns as I have here, if not bigger ones. A tenant on 19 told me about his rodent infestation (he moved out). The tenant in the $16,000 a month penthouse with the 30 foot windows moved in to find (besides dirty windows) that there were no shades on the windows. It took several weeks of her living there before they were installed. Every tenant with whom I have spoken is disgusted by the windows and many have told me that they have inquired/requested that they be cleaned. We all agree that the dishwashers do not work.

This building has a lot of turnover which is no surprise. There are new people practically everyday which puts a bit of a damper on the sense of community (if you care about that). This is likely not going to change though unless management changes...

My wife and I lived at the Rose Modern for 2 years and loved our experience in the building.

The staff is attentive, warm and eager to help with absolutely anything - there is an authentic sense that they care about the residents and the building at large.

Finding new construction in Yorkville is very difficult and the open, light-flooded design of the apartment was a rare but extremely welcome find in the neighborhood.

The building facilities are top notch (fireplace in the lobby, fantastic business center - even Peloton in the fitness room!). The emphasis on outdoor space throughout was a big bonus too - the rooftop has incredible brows across the East River.

Building management does a great job fostering a sense of community and we especially appreciated all the family friendly events they hosted (Halloween costume parties, rooftop bbq’s, etc.).

We will always have great memories...

#1 Building in New York City

Having lived all over Manhattan, I can tell you that 501 East 74th is the most phenomenal rental building in town. The service is like that of a white-glove park avenue condo building. Everything is immaculate and maintenance requests are taken care of practically instantly. Big shout out to Joe the amazing super and his entire team and also Andy and the wonderful folks at Sky Management. I can not recommend this building enough. You have to live there to experience the difference compared to your typical Manhattan building.

I can't...