HELLER REALTY

Old pre-war but decent building. However, building had old elevators that constantly broke. Management treated the doormen atrociously and as such the atmosphere in the building was bad (its an old building and the doormen operate the elevator.) The apartments were noisy due to lots of traffic below. Sometimes lots of noise from renovation of surrounding apartments too. Lots of Con Ed work on the street below too. Water occasionally broke. Lots of tenant turnover in the non-regulated units. Paid my rent early every month....and 6 weeks before the end of my lease they sent me an obnoxious lawyer letter falsely claiming that I had obstructed entrance to my apartment, and thus breached my lease. Had heard that this was standard for them as they used it as an excuse to later withhold security deposits. Basically, the rents they charge is only about 10% less than at better management companies like Stonehenge. The buildings are not as good as others (clean but generally decrepit), but at the end of the lease if you lose your security you don't save anything, and in fact lose relative to more expensive buildings. I have rented from slightly more upmarket Management Companies, and it seems at the end of the day they are actually cheaper and certainly have a nicer atmosphere.