Normandie Court — Local services in New York

Where to even begin with Normandie Court? Short version is save your time, money, and energy by finding another apartment to live in on the Upper East Side. The headaches are not worth the amenities that entice prospective renters.

To begin, the apartments are nice at first glance. Some units are updated while others remain somewhat dated. Either way, the issues become apparent when you actually move in. Our windows never properly shut so during the colder months, the apartment was freezing cold as the air would seep through. When the handyman came by, he put in foam pieces that didn't actually help the problem. Pray this isn't your main bedroom!

The radiator at some point gave off a high pitch ringing that would persist for about an hour or two, stop for maybe 30 minutes, and then start back up again. We played tag with maintenance for who knows how long since they would take their time showing up turning daily life into an unnecessary headache.

This brings us to the construction going on outside the building. The drilling would be so loud, it was as if they were working directly inside the unit. The days it happened were random and their solution was to offer a room to work in. The issue with that is not everyone has a portable laptop to take, but also with how much you pay for rent, we should be able to use our home without relocating. Do not listen when they tell you how long construction will continue for because they will straight up make up a number.

Next up are the facilities. Starting with the elevators, while there are 3 for use, there is always at least 1 not working and with so many units, you can wait up to 20 minutes for a free elevator. Walking down the stairs was the better option at times, but good luck if you live high up or have some physical issues that keeps you from doing that. It's also unfortunate there are irresponsible dog owners that will let their dog relieve themselves in the elevator and walk away without cleaning it up. With so many tenants in the building, people will do nasty things with the mindset of "not my problem." Not a building issue, but something to keep in mind if you're considering renting.

Laundry room is a hot mess since half the machines are broken. The card system they use won't always work and getting in touch with that company is another headache you have to worry about. People are also filthy and throw in items that have no place being in the machines.

The staff are pretty hit and miss. The package room is your best bet for friendly building employees especially considering just how many packages they have to sort. The doormen range from friendly to straight up rude. They get friendly during winter time (aka holiday tip season), and then go back to being sour once the new year passes. One guy literally grunted at me in the elevator when I said hi.

Security is a hot mess. They actually had to "change" companies when there was a major incident in the building. Someone was murdered when security let up the wrong person, but the craziest part is no one in the building was notified. Had to find this out via the internet. And what did changing security do? Absolutely nothing. They still will let up people who look like they live in the building, stopping only delivery people. Pretty alarming for what's considered a higher end apartment complex.

Let's talk about rent. Initial price may seem reasonable depending, but when it's time to renew your lease, expect for rent to increase to an insane amount. We were paying around $3800 for a 2 bedroom and the price increase asked us to pay $4250. They say feel free to email and discuss, but they are not only impossible to get a hold of, but also it makes 0 difference since they use a program to determine rent increase and will never budge. The tennants are simply numbers to them, so save your time and energy.

If you've made it this far, hopefully this has saved you from bothering with this place. What might seem nice at first glance will eventually turn into frustration...

TLDR- Do not move in. Find any other building not run by Ogden Cap.

In 10 years of living in New York City, I have never lived in a building, more poorly managed than by that of Ogden Cap.

As you’ll see in many of the recent reviews, elevator shutdowns continue to plague the building. Management will not give you any incentive such as a rent abatement or even a free month at the gym for the inconvenience. They read off of a script and will tell you that elevators in this building are actually not “native to NYC or the east coast” (yes that is an actual response I was given) and that they have to wait for the elevator vendor to ship the part from CA. They also take no-fault in the fact that although they are not in charge of shipping said “west coast elevator part”, (the item that they need in order to fix the elevators) that they are poor relationship managers with the vendor, as they could’ve easily indicated to the vendor that the part should be overnight shipped as it is necessary given the delays it takes tenants (it takes me sometimes with zero exaggeration 22 minutes to exit my door wait for an elevator and get to the lobby of the building) to get up and down. Had this not been potentially what I think is the seventh or eighth time elevators have gone down since living here in less than two years, I would not have taken to this forum to complain.

I also was one the fortunate few who lost access to gas -meaning no stove or oven for four weeks . Management agreed to pay ~$200 so that I could purchase a hot plate and a plug-in oven - a far cry from your standard cooking appliances in the middle of the winter.

As many others mention, local law 11 continues to also plague the building. My first few months of living here, my unit was near uninhabitable due to the noise during 9-4 hours. They will respond back to me here and say that they provide a suite in another building with Wi-Fi access for those of us who require it, but what they don’t realize is that we pay to be in our own physical apartments, not a shared space with others and we were ripped of that right. It was communicated during signing that local law should end by the summer when we moved in and it completed an estimated 13 months after that. Don’t be fooled. They will put nothing in writing so that they have a leg to stand on when you complain. They will ask you to sign a rider that just states you were aware of local law 11 and that it is happening but nothing about the inhumane levels of noise that contain your apartment to the point of uninhabitable levels. The cherry on top of this cake is that the Work is now moving to the gym where it will require shut down during working hours during weekdays and they will provide no discount whatsoever for club members even with the 70% decrease in service while the building still requires the 100% demand that it does.

Important to note that a lot of the staff that work in this building, are some of the nicest kindest people you will ever meet and I would be remiss not to note that in...

Don’t do it.

My main issues are security, management, and noise.

Noise: As others have mentioned, the construction in the building is brutal if you’re home between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. It’s nonstop pounding. While the work may be necessary, it’s incredibly disruptive.

Security: Security is a joke. It’s contracted out to people who have no idea who lives in the building. As long as you don’t look sketchy or aren’t clearly a delivery person, they’ll let you in without question. I’ve had so many visitors just walk right in. I reported it to management and was completely gaslit by their responses.

One time, I took my dog out at 3 a.m. and found the security guard asleep. I couldn’t get back inside and had to walk to another building to find someone to let me in. A slight pro there if you’re concerned for security, con as well as it was cold.

Management: They stop caring the second you sign your lease. I sent multiple emails and made several phone calls regarding dog attacks, and they did absolutely nothing. A dog in my building attacked a human—there was a lot of blood. We told security and contacted management. Their response? “That’s a police issue.”

We weren’t asking for much—just that the dog be removed or, at the very least, wear a muzzle. Later, that same dog attacked another dog. I called management again. They said after reviewing the security footage, they’d require a muzzle. That lasted maybe a week. Then I saw the dog without one again. Personally i think something was off with the owner.

My own dog was attacked by a Pit Bull, which is actually prohibited by the lease. I reported it, and management told me there was nothing they could do because the owner claimed it was a service dog. It wasn’t and they were aware. But if you do have a Pit Bull, apparently you’ll have no issue living here—rules don’t apply.

Other notes: • Washing machines are constantly broken. • Package room is a 10/10 – best staff by far. • I did receive my security...