The Ritz Plaza — Local services in New York

This used to be my dream building but Stonehenge Management is absolutely terrible.

1- The security is lax. Almost anyone can walk in and walk out of the building without being questioned. Normally this isn't a big issue except that we're in the middle of Times Square and you have tons of shady characters walking around. My biggest fear was running into a thief or a criminal or a homeless person in the hallways. With the high rents they charge, the least they can do is be a bit more strict on visitors and unfamiliar faces walking right past security. I could never imagine feeling safe in that building with children and a family.

2- They used the wrong paint in the bathroom when I moved in which resulted in severe green mold and water spots all over the bathroom. After a month of going back and forth, they finally repainted the bathroom with appropriate paint which solved the problem. They refused to compensate me for the inconvenience and the potential health hazards of using a moldy bathroom for a month. They didn't even apologize once they realized it was their fault for using the wrong paint.

3- The apartment next door is being used as a commercial office with 4 computer monitors and office workers going in and out all day, peeking through my kitchen window and balcony. You simply shouldn't be allowed to run a company with 4 full time employees in a luxury residential building. I alerted Management and they didn't care that 4 men from this apartment were not living there and these men were watching my wife through the kitchen windows while taking their cigarette breaks. Management didn't give two hoots about that. Disgusting and scary that Stonehenge would allow this type of behavior to continue. They even renewed the lease of this apartment essentially condoning this behavior.

4- The building is used as a hotel in conjunction with Marriott so you tend to have noisy inconsiderate and sometimes drunk tourists in the lobby and the elevator. Why are they using a luxury apartment building as a hotel?

5- The residents lounge is always filthy. Enough said.

6- The lease renewal process is super unfriendly. It's strictly business and Stonehenge is all about the money.

7- I had to shuffle my calendar around because the building didn't have the freight elevators available on the days I requested. On the day and time I ended up booking the elevator, I was promised the elevator to myself for a couple of hours during my move. The move took triple the time I planned for because the freight elevator was triple booked. What's the point of giving me such a hard time with not giving me move-out dates of my choice only to triple book the elevator at the time I booked costing me hundreds of dollars extra in overtime mover fees.

8- I've had issues with 2 of the 4 elevators shaking violently while moving in between floors. Once my wife was stuck in that same elevator. I did some research online and as per the NYC Department of Buildings website, these elevators have had active unresolved violations since April 2013. Normally I feel safe in elevators but considering these elevators have active existing unresolved safety violations and considering my next point #9, it is my opinion that these elevators need to get fixed asap before someone gets stuck in them again.

9- There was a murder in the building where a small child was brutally tortured in the apartment and the balcony all night and nobody in security seemed to notice the screams.

10- I've concluded Stonehenge is an uncaring, money hungry company that is unfit to be a landlord of a luxury high rise building, let alone any building. But don't take my word for it. Google "Stonehenge balcony fall" and make your own judgement if you would ever feel safe living in a Stonehenge building.

I would avoid Ritz Plaza like the plague. Stay as far away from Ritz Plaza and Stonehenge as you possibly can. The worst apartment decision you can ever possibly make is moving to The Ritz Plaza. There are hundreds of other luxury apartment buildings in NYC more deserving of...

If you're considering moving into the Ritz Plaza (under Stonehenge Management) and are hoping to understand what it's like to live there, then look no further! I have lived in this building for 17 years and am happy to fill you in on all parts of my experience. And don't get me wrong--I am very familiar with TONS of high-rise buildings in midtown and other areas in Manhattan because I've done my share of touring and viewing apartments out of curiosity to compare, but I have never wanted to leave the Ritz. Within these 17 years, I did actually move once, but it was within the building! I absolutely love being a tenant here for so many reasons:

First and foremost is the staff-- their kindness, efficiency, and desire to make you feel at home is unmatched. You will be treated like gold by all of them. Geraldine, the leasing manager, is incredible! She is extremely responsive, warm, and helpful-- she makes all leasing/renewal processes seamless and stress-free. She truly values her tenants and it is apparent through every interaction you'll have with her. The concierge staff is absolutely fantastic (Special shout outs to Anthony! Rob! Tony! Roland! Robert! - and all the rest-- they're all amazing). They will learn who you are quickly, greet you with huge smiles, and will make the effort to genuinely get to know you. They also are extremely careful about letting individuals in, and they keep the building extremely safe and protected. The maintenance staff is also equally amazing. Any time I put in a work order, it is corrected almost immediately (I've had them knock on my door literally 5 minutes after submitting it). They're so friendly and eager to help with anything you need to make your home more comfortable.

Besides the people being amazing, the building itself is a dream. It's extremely clean and kept up very well. The laundry room is bright and big- I've never had to wait for a machine. If you choose to join the gym & lounge membership, you'll be using great equipment and have some fun spaces to spend time outside of your apartment. The apartments are spacious and modern, the closet space is better than most I've seen in NYC, the views are terrific, and we have beautiful BALCONIES- that is almost unheard of in Manhattan!

Finally, the location is just unbeatable. If you're someone who loves New York, who loves convenience, or who just wants to be in the center of everything, this is the best place you can possibly imagine. Broadway theaters are literally attached to the building. Hell's Kitchen is full of adorable bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and outdoor areas to hang. The river is a 10 minute walk, and almost all major subway lines are within a 3 minute walk. You can get every kind of food or grocery delivered to you 24 hours a day. Basically, you walk outside your apartment door into the heart of Manhattan. It's surreal, and even after 17 years, I still can't believe how lucky I am to live here.

Please feel free to find me on Facebook if you have any questions- I'm happy to share more since I've had such a positive experience living here and hope you will...

Jan 2021 - After having maintenance look at our intercom phone multiple times, we were informed by other building staff that the intercom does not work reliably. This was a feature we were advertised during tour and we were never told that they’d no longer be using it.

August 2020 - Many apartments are vacant. (See photo) I’ve heard that there may even be an entire floor that is vacant. Management offered us a mutual lease termination due to our neighbors harassing us and then did not honor it when we asked to set the move out date.

July 2020 - Construction has started again while we’re working from home during the covid pandemic.

The Ritz Plaza - COCKROACHES. I am a current resident and saw a roach in the hallway of the Ritz Plaza on September 28, 2019.

On April 13, 2020, Staff member Glenn admitted he left without dealing with my emergency late night noise complaint issues.

Flex walls requite DOB permits and are illegal to install without them.

There is currently renovation (recaplitalizarion) happening on many floors and many units that will take years. Construction is supposed to continue on many floors then on the roof, gym, lobby. I have asked management for a schedule of construction since I work/study from home but they have not provided one and it has had a detrimental impact to my quality of life.

The construction crew leaves nails and debris in the hall way. They allow doors to slam shut. They've been caught doing construction outside of posted hours multiple times. Construction crews have been cited by DOB for illegal construction without permits twice in the past few months.

There are consistent elevator outages or holds causing traffic which management has been informed of and not addressed. Now we are going to have hot water and laundry room outages. The major signs of construction disappear on weekends and reappear on Monday morning.

The roof is inexplicably locked some times with no signage and not outside of it's accessible hours.

There was laundry valet service but two companies have stoped servicing this building so it's no longer an amenity.

My key fob for the gym didn't work for months. If someone was available to fix it, the the problem would occur again the next visit. We now have a gym...