8 Spruce — Local services in New York

My move out review after 4 years.

Ah the The Gehry, a luxury high-rise in the heart of New York City. Where do I even begin with this (actual) architectural masterpiece of overpriced rental absurdity? It's like a monument to delusion, a middle finger to anyone with a modicum of sanity left in their bank account.

First of all, let's talk about the price tag. I mean, did they use unicorn tears to build this place? You'd think for the cost of a small country's GDP, they'd throw in a lifetime supply of avocado toast. But no, you just get the privilege of paying through the nose for a glorified shoebox in the sky.

The management here is a real treat, too. They're like characters straight out of a Dickens novel, if Dickens had written about 21st-century New York real estate vampires. Their idea of customer service is allowing you to use the freight elevator without a reservations and act like its a favor to you. When you dare to ask for something as trivial as a working elevator, they look at you like you've just asked for a live T-Rex as a house pet. The previous management may have been more mom and pop, but they actually tried to help, Beam Management took over and has basked in their glory of finally getting residents working elevator key fobs, however they refuse to work with residents on actual serious issues, their answer for everything is “managements new policy.” You can’t ask the doormen to pass on or hold a key, there is a $75 lockout fee. The driveway smells like dog piss every day and they wont do anything about it. They won’t allow lease transfers to qualified persons or early termination like they used to. They will not negotiate rent at all even though they are way out of step with the market. They constantly defer to their only two bargaining chips… the name and the view. I was injured recently and called the office to ask them if it would be possible to bring up a box I really needed, first and only time ever I’ve asked this, “against management policy” lucky I had a neighbor do me the favor. Immediately after finding a 44th Fl deal in another building I gave notice that I would not be renewing, the tone, nastiness in emails & phone calls started immediately after.

Let’s talk the actual apartments, after living there for a few years I thought I would look at upgrading to a two bedroom, the apartment was 73T and it was $12,700 per month and let me say that the view was glorious! You know what else wasn’t so great... THE VIEW!!!! You look directly into other people’s apartments!!!! Which means when you wake up in your underwear you see your neighbor (yes from the master bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen) and they see you! Also, for $13,000 a month it's small & you pay an ENOURMOUS premium just for a partially awesome view. I'll add a photo of this insanity. Now, let's talk amenities. For the low, low price of a kidney donation, you too can access the communal 7th floor out door space overlooking the roof of Pace University. That's right, you and a bunch of other sardines can bask in the glory of three potted plants and a fake grass carpet. And don't even get me started on the so-called "indoor pool." It's more like a glorified bathtub with a view, and you'll have to book your dip three years in advance. Oh, but the pièce de résistance has to be the "exclusive" access to the building's resident-only yoga studio. It's about as spacious as a closet and smells like someone stored their yoga mat in a cheese locker. In the end, living in The Gehry is like paying for a first-class ticket on the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. You get a front-row seat to the sinking ship that is your bank account, all while being serenaded by the sweet sounds of management's delusions of grandeur. So, if you're looking for a way to empty your pockets faster than you can say "sky-high mortgage," The Gehry is the place for you. Just don't be surprised when you wake up one morning and realize you've become the proud owner of a closet with a view, and nothing more. Cheers to the madness of the NYC real...

I lived here for two years and was so happy to move out. The building management is awful, check out the many bad reviews on Yelp.

The building itself isn't great. It has some nice features like the covered driveway, but these are outweighed by things like a bad layout inside. For example, the common spaces are all tucked away upstairs because they had to work around the school on the lower floors of the building. Then they spread them across three floors in a badly organized jumble. This is a big building with 900+ apartments, and these common areas are comparatively small. The result is that you have to make a special trip from your apartment to use these spaces, and you get down there only to find that it's occupied, you go back to your apartment, and you've just wasted 10 minutes.

The construction quality is also poor. The ventilation system in my unit was filthy and there was black mold growing in the bathroom. I always felt sick in my apartment. Walls and floors are uneven, and the finishes are cheap.

Aesthetically, this is just my opinion, but the exterior design is unresolved. The famed ripples and folds in the facade are clever, but they don't address the setbacks well. It ends up looking like separate boxes stacked on top of each other, instead of a single unit. The structure of the base completely ignores the rest of the building as well.

What a shame, this could have been a beautiful building and a wonderful place to live, but I couldn't leave fast enough. Whenever I see it now, I do my best to pretend...

My three stars are ONLY for the doormen who deserve 20 stars. If you live here, live here because the doormen are wonderful, not because the management is any good. I feel I need to share that since new management took over, the building declined enough for us to move out. The last straw for me was when my AirPods Max were stolen from the gym (that you have to pay for) and according to Find my Friends, were somehow transported to Queens, NY. I asked lost and found and searched everywhere and was told they were never seen and that cameras would be checked. I never received updates on the cameras so I filed a police report. Magically once the police were involved, the security manager at the gym said they checked lost and found again and found them and gave them back to me. Meaning they likely saw someone at the building steal them on camera, failed to share that with me despite me seeing they were in Queens, and then figured I was dumb enough to not notice they were lying to me. Crazy. Another instance is when my husband was verbally tormented by the egregious people that run the VERY LOUD KIDS SCHOOL DOWNSTAIRS that no one tells you about when you sign the lease. Management made it my husbands fault and that really rubbed us the wrong way. I would not live here as long as the management company remains. But god bless the doormen...