All 43 tenant reviews.

“Unit 5G Pros: Not a single thing - way too much money for bed bugs and roach infestation Cons: Management withheld my security deposit for MONTHS after moving out. Spent 1.5 years living with roaches infestation. Last 6 months were spent fighting with management to get help on bed bugs. Advice to landlord: Tear it down!”

“Pros: Not much good Cons: Mice and roaches in the unit, rats everywhere outside, everything is in disrepair, and it is way too expensive for the tiny apartments. There are really high entrance fees for tenants. Do not rent here Advice to landlord: Fix the place up”

“Unit 2E Pros: The apt is very lovely and up-to-date and the owner is terrific. Cons: The building has a rat and roach problem. Even my best effort to keep food away brings a few roaches every month. Advice to landlord: Please address the rat and roach problem”

“Unit 5G Pros: When I first moved in back in 2022, the rent was by far the cheapest on the market for a three-bedroom, 800-square-foot unit at $2,600. My portion was $850 for the first year. However, the rent was raised by $200 to $2,700 without prior notice. Despite this, we decided to stay, and my share went up to just under $900. The following year, it increased again to $2,900—with no improvements to the unit—making it officially not worth the cost, though it was relatively affordable for a while. EDIT: I just checked and as of 11 days ago the unit was relisted for $2600 Some of the workers are pleasant—some not so much—but there were a few who would greet you with a smile when you passed by, provided you recognized each other. Lastly, at the start of the second year, they did install a gate system with keyless entry for the outside gate and building door. This system allowed you to buzz people in through a phone app, showing a live feed or taking a picture of whoever was at the door. Cons: Where to begin? Let’s start with the basics. I lived on the top floor of a walk-up, and the stairs were rarely cleaned, constantly smelled of cigarettes, had gaps between steps, and featured a wobbly railing. Just inside the building, there was an endless rotation of random items (grocery carts, children’s scooters, bikes, etc.). Packages left inside the building were often stolen if not retrieved immediately. Management did nothing to deter package theft, and at time the doors were propped open by one of the works, allowing anyone to enter. Structural and Upkeep Issues: The entire foundation of the building is unlevel. Spills in my apartment would trickle from one end of a room to the other. The landscaping work (cutting shrubs, blowing leaves) was done at unreasonably early hours. About 5-6 months ago, they put up scaffolding, but no work has been done since. It seems like one of those instances where the first steps are done just for show, with no real intention of finishing the job. Because it’s a “cond-op,” some units are independently owned and tend to receive more maintenance, taking priority over other units. Landlord/ managing agent: My unit was part of the co-op, and our managing agent was Sophia Yan. Despite the numerous issues with the building, she was undoubtedly the worst part of living here. She was non-responsive unless money was involved and in general was a disingenuous and dishonest person. It took weeks of unacknowledged emails, phone calls, texts, and random drop-ins to the front office just to get enough keys for all the tenants in my apartment. When we finally caught her in person—about a month after we’d already moved in and paid rent for the second month—she acted as if she didn’t know who we were or where we lived, despite all of the unanswered correspondence. This became her usual MO—whether it was a faulty doorknob that left us WITHOUT A DOORKNOB for months, a bedbug and ROACH INFESTATION (3+ months for the bedbugs, the roaches were there the entire time we lived in the apartment), getting a new tenant, obtaining a lease for the new year, or resolving MULTI_STORY LEAKS. The response was always the same: complete silence. Not even a generic “I’ll see what I can do.” We were left doing laundry constantly to fight the BEDBUGS in the terrible washers/dryers that, though advertised as “in-building,” were actually about halfway down the block. These machines often failed to spin out clothes properly and would frequently eat the money loaded onto our laundry cards. We resorted to buying roach traps, raid sprays, glue traps for mice, and fly traps for the constant swarm of flies in the hallways. Cooking, something I love, became a necessary evil, navigating through ROACH carcasses and MOUSE droppings just to make a meal. To top it all off, the oven only partially worked, and only when it was set on the broil setting—baking anything required leaving it in at max temperature for about three times longer than normal. Back to Ms. Yan—when we did manage to confront her in person, she would lie straight to our faces, pretending the issues we’d been emailing her about for weeks were new to her. She’d promise to send someone or to make efforts to resolve the issue within a week, only to disappear again. When it came time to move out, we gave her one month’s notice and asked her to inspect the apartment for any necessary repairs so we could get our security deposit back. Instead, two weeks after we’d already moved into a new apartment and returned our keys, she demanded more pictures of the unit. It’s now been almost a month since we moved out, and we still haven’t received our security deposit. We spackled, repainted, and deep-cleaned every room and took photos of everything and sent them to hed. When I reached out to her to simply to get a timeline for its return, she essentially told us it was too early and that there was not point of contacting her for because there were “no updates” between now and the end of the two week period as she would return it on time. Of course, that time has come and gone, with no sign of our deposit. EDIT: it has now been over a month since moving out - no security deposit or any further communication from Ms. Yan . Sophia Yan does not care about her tenants’ well-being, quality of living, or respect for their time and money. I witnessed her being extremely rude to tenants struggling with a language barrier and to other tenants simply asking for keys to the apartment they lived in. She is a rude, careless, and lazy woman whom I wouldn’t trust to run a lemonade stand, much less a multi-unit co-op in a giant 16-building cooperative. One final note regarding the bed bug issue- we did finally receive a visit from the exterminator about 3 months in - they came and did the usually spraying, but they seemed confused as to why we were having such a persistent issue. We told them that the bedbugs could be coming from neighboring units- I don’t believe these units were ever contacted or given bed bug inspections while we were there, and upon our move out there was also no bed bug notice in the building or any kind of transparency about the buildings history with bed bugs.”

“Pros: The location. Familiarity. Cons: Pests (Roaches, Mice, Rats). Frequently no heat during the winter. Mold and Leaks. Lack of Improvements (they start working on something and just abandon it halfway through. ex: Buildings were repainted only up to the second floor, then they gave up).”

“Unit 1H Pros: Good neighbors rally around how shitty it is Cons: Pests, bed bugs, terrible water hammer”

“Pros: great location, courtyard with trees, spacious units Cons: rats, mice, roaches, noisy neighbors, neighbors leave garbage in hallway, poor management response, dead rats in basement leaving odor, litter in courtyard bedbugs, leaking pipes Advice to landlord: so much opportunity”

“Unit 5H Pros: Good location, building does have laundry access, they’ve made upgrades over the course of my time living there Cons: The complex fell into disrepair with former management that is only slowly being addressed. We’ve had multiple leaks, loss of heat and hot water, and the rat problem in the summer can get pretty bad. Something things get resolved quickly, others take months. Advice to landlord: Fix the roof!”

“Unit 5C Pros: I loved being here but I moved for a reason, there aren't many pros to this complex Cons: Management kept changing Would not take care of black mold infestation Constant leaks Little to no heat Horrible trash management”

“Pros: Nothing. Dont move here. Seriously, do yourself a favor & save your money & most importantly, your peace of mind. Cons: Where to start? There’s bedbugs. Infestation of roaches. It is a nightmare of a building. The exterminators that work for the building dont do much. They come monthly, still got roaches.. still got bedbugs.”

“Pros: Apartment layout was cute Excellent location Cons: Rats all over the sidewalk There was a whole police raid for my downstairs neighbors who were selling narcotics who then continued to live there Very poor management, nothing ever got fixed Advice to landlord: Don’t own a building if you dont want to take care of it”

“Pros: Great location. Close to train Cons: No gas in apartment= no working stove or oven for almost 2 years because the landlord is the worst. Appliances were mostly refurbished and/or didn’t work well. Building needs maintenance; Courtyard needs lots of TLC Landlord was garbage and rude”

“Unit 4G Pros: 1. Neighbors are reasonable with sound. Met quite a few nice neighbors here. 2. Without the location, there would be nothing good to say about it. Ditmars is great. Cons: Incompetence at every level, unfortunately. 1. Security is non-existent. Laundry rooms gets full of outsiders(you can easily tell) and you are sometimes unable to use it. A neighbor also told me there was a squatter that sneaks onto the roof and goes into empty apartments through the fire escape, they also stole a package..can't confirm but I do hear strange clanging sounds that wake me up sometimes. 2. Non-responsive superintendent. Me and several other neighbors had a roof leak a few months ago when the historic rains hit us. The roof is moldy and part of the roof is drooping. We haven't received any updates or response about it getting fixed. 3. Apartment was not received clean, I spent a week and over a dozen paper towel rolls getting dust off. The "renovations" done to the apartment are complete slop-jobs: painted over mold and very old worn out wood. The wood floor has no finish so it gets dirty very easily, the owner clearly does not care about the apartment.”

“Unit 3A Pros: Nothing. There’s a reason units in this building are always on the market. Cons: Horrendous super awful management the building is disgusting and falling apparent. Infested with rats and roaches. The building is falling apart and they refuse to fix anything and dodge your calls. Whenever you call the super his catch phrase is so what do you want me to do about. Never rent or buy in this shithole. Advice to landlord: Sell.”

“Pros: The only pros I can think of are a short walk to the N/W Cons: Heat went out multiple times in December AND January. If you have a problem the super/ management doesn’t care. You can contact them as many times as you like but your issue won’t be resolved.”

“Unit 4H Pros: The location is perfect, and the renovations in the unit were nice. Cons: Rats everywhere, and roaches in the building. The garbage was absolutely not maintained well. Management was not responsive to issues. Advice to landlord: Listen to your tenets!”

“Pros: Location is prime Cons: Management is very poor. They do not fix anything. Just a shame, letting the buildings go to waste. It needs a lot of work. They have a rat infestion on lower levels. No heat and hot water on any given day. Advice to landlord: Just follow up and do the upkeep. Invest money which you are getting from the HOA fees back into your properties.”

“Unit 4H Pros: The apartment was nice and big and spacious Cons: The upstairs neighbor was hell, they kept banging on the ceiling and would play music loudly 24/7. They would keep complaining we were making too much noise when we literally lived under them which made no sense. Also, the landlord was irresponsible when you needed the super they would take forever to come and sometimes they would just not pick up. The bathroom had a leak every month where the water would drip from the ceiling and the light fixture. There was mold on the walls and despite telling the landlord they just painted the walls and it just comes back next month. Advice to landlord: They need to serious fix the leaking problem and mold in the bathroom and not just mask the issue”

“Unit 3C Pros: It looks very charming and is very close to transportation and the very busy Ditmars restaurant scene. Cons: From my kitchen window, I can see about eight rats at a time. I spent a year walking around the block to approach from the other way because huge rats will run right over your feet. It’s kind of scary. Roaches appeared in the summer and I had to bomb our apartment. The buildings are very old and while some are kind of renovated, we had a mouse in our oven twice because there are still gaps and cracks in the wall despite us sealing things up. The water pressure is laughable during some weekends when everyone in this 600+ apartment complex is home. If I had to do it all again, I would not live in the Acropolis. Advice to landlord: Fix the courtyard’s rat holes and figure out a way to better maintain the trash.”

“Pros: I lived here 7 years ago, but my experience for the 6 years I lived here were essentially positive due to the responsive super and his lovely family. Cons: It’s an old building and not soundproof Advice to landlord: Location, neighbors and opportunities for a better apartment in the building”

“Unit 2B Pros: Very close to all restaurants/bars and only steps away from the train station Cons: The building is infested with rats. You’ll almost always see a rat running around the courtyard or the sidewalk. Also we had a big roach problem when we first moved in and now it’s just mild but still they pop up constantly. The place overall smells when you first walk in Advice to landlord: Clean up the courtyard. Figure out the rat issue and maintain the building better where it doesn’t look so dirty.”

“Pros: It’s quiet, management is neglectful, doesn’t respond Cons: Roaches, rats, poor cleaning of buildings and in garden area. Management is rude & disrespectful. Very neglectful management doesn’t respond to request. Advice to landlord: Get better staff!”

“Pros: Great location, nice high ceilings Cons: Absolutely horrible management. Rats scurrying around the trash area at all times. Avoid at all costs”

“Unit 5E Pros: Location was good. Rent was cheap Cons: Rats. Roaches. Hot water that was unreliable and never got hot or ran out after 3 minutes. Garbage everywhere. Managers do nothing. Owners do nothing. Some apartments had no heat. Nightmare Advice to landlord: It is unethical to rent these apartments”

“Pros: Neighbors are super nice, they don’t mind if you have kids or make a little noise. Kids play in the area outside together all the time, especially during the summer months Cons: There is a big rat infestation in the garbage disposal area Advice to landlord: Bring back the stray cats!”

“Pros: The surrounding neighborhood is super nice. Easy access to food, transport, and multiple services. There's always something to do around here if you don't want to commute to the city. Also Astoria Park is nice! Cons: Management of the building has really fallen apart lately. Rats are running rampart even during winter months in the waste area. Cockroaches are pretty bad as well in the warmer months. Extermination doesn't really do much than what we could've done ourselves. Still many issues not fixed in a couple apartments I've noticed. The building people are very nice, but usually they're slow on the response or really backed up which is a shame. Advice to landlord: Hire more people or contractors to help fix any issues. Get rid of all the pests in the area. Fix the lights in the complex so it's more bright and not flickering or broken. You have a great area and this complex can be so much more!”

“Pros: Court yard, security on site, laundry on site, Cons: So many bugs, dog poop, and security doesn’t really do much. Advice to landlord: Be more considerate of the changes made since you bought the place”

“Pros: Apartment was nicely renovated on the surface level, Allowed pets Not noisy Decent laundry room, and they kept the stairs clean. Cons: Specifically about management company: Management company was nowhere to be found after moving in. Poorly renovated, looked good in pictures but things fell apart easily. Absurd rent increases. Theres no heater in the main living space. Terrible experience with management company overall, ignored calls and wouldn’t respond to emails or messages. Had to harass them for the safety deposit back. Building specific: Rats everywhere. Terrible garbage maintenance Advice to landlord: Listen to your tenants. Fix the issues, do better.”

“Pros: Cheap rent, good location Cons: Bugs, rats, broken things everywhere”

“Pros: Good location, well kept Cons: Individual unit owner was awful, not responsive to necessary maintenance, stole gas. Advice to landlord: Vet condo owners”

“Pros: Cheap prices, nice location Cons: No monthly pest control, you have to go through so many people to get simple treatment”

“Pros: Convenience to transportation and restaurants Cons: Property owner literally will not respond to you. Building management is better, but can't do everything for you, is hard to reach, and often requires a three-way communication with the owner, which as I said earlier is next to impossible. Advice to landlord: Respond to your tenants like you're supposed to”

“Pros: Close to everything Cons: Pest control was horrible. We kept the apartment clean but still we had roaches and mice!! The hot water was out very often. The landlord was responsive to the problems but honestly the problems just kept happening. It was annoying to keep having them over to fix things and nothing really got fixed (ig there were holes behind our oven, the landlord covered it and it broke again a few weeks later and then we got so many roaches and two mice).”

“Pros: Heat works well. Affordable. Good location. Cons: Landlord won’t fix a bad leak for 3 months now, still waiting. Landlord is 2 months late providing electronic lease as 1 tenant is abroad and is attempting to charge late fees. Advice to landlord: Have respect for yourself as a professional and treat others accordingly. Take pride in your work. Be an adult.”

“Unit 4g Pros: Affordable, great location in Astoria Cons: Non-responsive, incompetent, apathetic management. Repair requests go ignored for months. When a response finally is given, it’s usually an order to contact someone else and wait around some more until *that* person says to contact *another* person and the cycle continues until you wanna just jump out a window trying to just get a damn buzzer fixed. Hallway/stairwells are disgusting, cleaned maybe once a month but definitely haven’t been deep cleaned for years. Stains on the hallway walls, floors, broken windows. And if you’re planning to move in, don’t expect the unit to be cleaned at all. Apartment itself is really nice, but this level of mismanagement and blatant negligence is infuriating. UPDATE 7.16.22: we have not had GAS SERVICE for SIX MONTHS and management has been useless in fixing it or coming up with a solution besides giving us a POS hot plate meant for heating up instant ramen in a college dorm. And the worst part? They are STILL TRYING TO RENT THESE UNITS TO PEOPLE!!! Advice to landlord: Burn it down, sage the remains, start over.”

“Pros: Location, that’s all. Cons: -Don’t take the trash out after dark. Rats. Guaranteed every time they will bother you. -Hire your own exterminator as the building provided one doesn’t do anything for the wide array of roaches/rats/mice running around in and out of apt. -the courtyard will get noisy at nights with fights. -security shack is just that. False sense of security. They are never around and can never be found if you need them for anything. -really a shame this building is the way it is. Has so much potential but have heard (from neighboring buildings) and experienced nothing but problems since moving in. Advice to landlord: Individually owned apartments, so landlord was good but building was not.”

“Pros: Amazing neighborhood, close to the subway, newly renovated units Cons: The unit wasn’t cleaned out before I moved in and I moved in a day late. There were used toothbrushes in the bathroom, garbage left under the couch and nothing had been swept or cleaned. In fact the previous tenant was still moving out while I was trying to move in. I didn’t have access to the fire escape the entire year living there. I asked multiple times to have a different window put in that would allow access and nothing was ever done. I didn’t have heat or a working oven for 2 weeks in October/November and when I asked the landlord what was going on there was no response. Finally days later when I got an answer I was told to just wait and not answer the door for anyone I didn’t know??? I was given a toaster oven as a replacement for the oven after two weeks of not having a way to make food. The landlord and plumber would say they had been calling me multiple times to fix issues in the apartment and that I just never picked up. However, that was always a straight up lie. They constantly ignored my complaints and didn’t fix issues that needed to be fixed. The landlord lied again when he told the realtor that I was behind on rent and hadn’t repaid my security deposit that went towards rent when I lost my job during Covid. The realtor then threatened me with possible legal action. I immediately called my landlord and he told me he never said anything like that and acted all confused. I saw the management office open maybe once the entire time I lived there. My roommate lost her keys and couldn’t get a new set for 3 weeks because “management was closed”. What management company is closed for 3 weeks? The realtor wanting to show our apt was somehow able to get a copy in 3 days meanwhile my roommate lost her keys early December and couldn’t get new ones until January. Overall this management company and landlord were horrible to work with. I had zero communication with the management company as they were closed every time we tried to speak with them. The landlord was incredibly rude, a liar and acted like it was a problem to do his job. Advice to landlord: Management should be open and available and easy to communicate with 24/7. Communicate with your tenants. If there isn’t going to be heat or gas for an extended amount of time you should let people paying you thousands of dollars know what’s going on. Communicate nicely as well. When we asked you a simple question like “why don’t we have heat?” you shouldn’t respond with “well you guys still owe security deposit Idk what you want me to do”. Stop lying??? Keep track of rent payments. Accusing someone of not paying when they did and threatening possible legal action might make you feel cool and powerful but that can do seriously damage to someone’s well-being. Overall do better and stop being terrible at your job. Thank you!”

“Pros: The location is great and the courtyard is nice. Cons: The landlord, lot of rats by the garbage Advice to landlord: The landlord needs to do a better job of everything.”

“Pros: Decent sized kitchen All pets allowed Rent increase not awful Cons: Dirty hallway No control over heat Lack of response from landlord Advice to landlord: Get someone to clean the hallways”

“Pros: Onsite maintenance and security folks, gas appliances, laundry room (down the block, not in the building), close to Ditmars Blvd restaurants, shops, and subway Cons: Terrible pest problem: multiple sightings of rodents and cockroaches, non-responsive landlord (never met him/her/them), occasional domestic disturbances throughout the night, small bedrooms/closets, building-controlled heating was on at odd times throughout the year, water pressure was non-existent Advice to landlord: Be more responsive to your tenants, clean up the units before re-leasing them, get a better handle on the pest problems, and re-think rent pricing.”