What led up to this
To clarify my motive for this blog, I'll just recap the 2022 elevator situation, going by my emails.
At some point, management stopped acknowledging the elevator outages via email, so this only covers what they have admitted to.
- 2/18: Received email on the 17th that elevator would be out of service for an hour the next morning
- 3/5: Received email on the 4th that elevator would be out of service two hours the next morning
- 3/17: Received email on the 16th that elevator would be out of service six hours the next morning through afternoon
- 3/18: Received email on the 17th that elevator would be out of service six hours the next morning through afternoon
- 3/18-3/21 (4 days): Received email on the 18th that elevator would be out of service all weekend through Monday
- 3/21-? (let's say 2 days to be generous, but 1 day to avoid double counting the 21st): After a joyous announcement that the elevator was fixed, a new email arrived announcing the short lived glory; I cannot remember when this round of issues was actually fixed
- 4/1-4/7 (7 days): An acknowledgment email that the elevator service has once again been down. Six days later, an email arrives confirming the elevator is back up and running.
- 4/8-Present (5 days and counting): The elevator is not working. Management has given up communicating this reality it seems.
I didn't keep track early on, but as the late March announcements started coming in, the outages generally were longer and longer. But I don't have an accurate timeline because initially I figured it was a short term issue.
If we ignore the single February inspection outage which felt more routine, we can say it's 38 days since 3/5. Tallying the above, it's at least 20 days the one elevator in the building was not working. This is greater than 52% of the time.
Residents, the goal for ownership is to provide an asset that will do well on the market and remain marketable. This means change and upgrades, while we try and hear everyone’s feedback and concern this is an apartment building features, upgrades, amenities and or staffing changes are not in the decisions of the residents. So, we ask that you understand that over time the building will have improvements and or changes and know that you may not like and or agree with them all. However, keep in mind that ownership is going to make the best decision for all the residents but also the growth of the assets.
— Greystar's Property Management Team in an email unrelated to the elevators
I will say this, I enjoy the building for the most part. I cannot speak for all tenants of course. I've certainly lived in worse buildings. But there has sadly been a shift in quality since Greystar acquired the building a couple years ago. The people working in the building itself are all cool, but sadly Greystar let a few of the longtime employees go a couple months back. The new employees seem friendly as well, it's just disappointing to see that happen.
This blog is focused mainly on keeping the elevator situation honest. In general I enjoy living here, and my worry is the building is going to slide into mediocrity when it was a really great value in the scheme of overpriced single yuppie and DINK Manhattan rental real estate back when I initially moved in. Inflation and post-COVID prices have not been kind to rents, but that is across the board sadly. If rents go up and quality goes down, that “I can't believe I found this place” gap begins to close.