Vernon Tower — Local services in New York

Response to Joseph’s Review:

I would first like to clarify a few points and address the misleading claims made in your review. To begin with, let’s get the timeline straight—I moved into this building five months ago, and from day one, I have felt unwelcome and judged by you and your partner. The passive-aggressive behavior and unwarranted accusations have created an unnecessarily hostile environment.

Smoking Accusations: Let’s be clear—I have never smoked inside or outside of my apartment. You continue to point fingers with absolutely no evidence. Multiple members of building management, including the superintendent, Michael, and the building exterminator, have inspected my unit unannounced on several occasions and found zero indication of smoking. If I were smoking inside, there would be an obvious odor in the apartment and hallway—yet none has ever been detected. You're the only neighbor who has made these allegations, which speaks volumes. Your repeated reports have led to the same conclusion every time: no wrongdoing.

Furthermore, the heat lamp on my balcony is not what you assume it is. I have a large Doberman who enjoys resting outside—even in colder months—so I installed a heat lamp for his comfort. Your assumptions are not only incorrect, but frankly, ridiculous.

Noise Complaints & Character Attacks: To claim we've had multiple interactions is simply untrue. You’ve approached my door only once, politely asked me to lower the volume, and I complied immediately out of respect. That’s the extent of our communication. As for the offensive accusations regarding underage women—those are entirely baseless, inappropriate, and slanderous. I expect any further remarks of this nature to be avoided, as they cross serious lines. You are running out of cards to play, so you make a desperate accusation.

Door Incident: No one attempted to open your door. After reviewing security footage, it’s clear that my dog momentarily bumped into your door while running in the hallway. Again, your narrative is exaggerated and misleading.

It’s worth pointing out the irony of your comments about “concerning smells,” when in reality, the only consistent and unpleasant odor in our hallway is the one emanating from your unit. This isn't a personal jab—it's simply the truth, and it has been noticed by others.

Let’s be honest—the real issue here is that you seem to believe your personal preferences should govern how others live in this building. We all pay rent, and none of us are beholden to your subjective standards or expectations, regardless of your partner’s sobriety or lifestyle choices. That’s your journey, and I respect that, but it doesn’t entitle you to impose your narrative on others.

To be clear: I have always complied with building rules, and management has been responsive and professional every step of the way. Just because their findings don’t support your claims does not mean they’re negligent—it simply means your complaints are unfounded.

We live in New York City. There are noises, smells, and people from all walks of life. If that’s an issue for you, maybe this isn’t the right place for you to live. But continuing to make false accusations isn’t the solution.

Let’s move forward with mutual respect and stop wasting everyone’s time with unnecessary drama. If you truly have an issue, you’re welcome to knock on my door and discuss it...

RENTERS BEWARE: this place is being managed so poorly that we are speaking to an attorney. My girlfriend and I have been tenants here for almost two years. The first year was more or less fine.

About three months ago, a neighbor moved in and we started having immediate problems, mostly around noise, parties, and large amounts of smoking happening in the building.

For context I work in property managment too, and we are not cry babies.

We have taken every reasonable step to resolve this including speaking to the neighbor, speaking to the super, speaking to the building manager, contacting the owners of the building, contacting the cops etc. nothing ever changes and nothing gets done.

My girlfriend is 5 years sober and on an almost nightly basis, our entire bedroom is filled with weed smoke. We have reported this to management at least 15 times.

I volunteer coach at a judo school in town, the weed smell is so strong that my gi smells like weed. It's very distressing that I, a non smoker, am having my clothes smell like marijuana.

When we have reported this to the manager, their typical response is no response. After several messages, they said they spoke to the tenant and the tenant denied smoking at all because he has to be sober for his job, this is an obvious lie but they clearly put zero effort into looking into this. They also claimed that buildings are strange and smoke could come from any source.

Again, we lived here for one year, no smoke issues in our living space. Tenant moves in, immediate issues.

The other night the smell and noise was so loud at 5:30 a.m. I knocked on the neighbors door til they answered, there appeared to be many underage women in the property which is even more concerning.

Last night, someone attempted to open our door.

This place is a time bomb. The building manager Michael Baird has displayed by his words and actions on many occasions that he does not take tenant conerns seriously.

More concerning, if you contact the company that owns this building (excel development group owned by Michael Heletz) it is an intentional rabbit hole. The phone goes to a call service that never calls you back. The emails are never replied to. I have probably called and emailed 20 times each.

That to me is a huge red flag.

I am only leaving this review here to warn others to stay away so they don't find themselves in a similar situation.

I also find it questionable how they reply to any negative review by claiming the reviewer didn't live in the property. Again another red flag

The weed odor and noise currently happen every night.

Its unfortunate because we used to love this place. Now it has added so much stress...

I've lived at this building for the last 2 years and am re-upping for another year. The views from the building are amazing. The entire complex and congregating areas are kept in great shape. I always see somebody cleaning or vacuuming. Garbage/recycling is always taken care of. The walls are pretty solid and you can't hear anything from the other apartments. Neighbors are great, everyone is for the most part a young professional or have young families. Never had any issues with anyone. Michael and Denys are two of the people who run the facility and over the past few years they are honestly some of the best people I've dealt with. You can always message them and they'll get back to you at a reasonable time. Requests are handled promptly. I've been locked out a few times or the garage is messed up and they always find a way to help out. Can't suggest this...