Teh One Who Knocks
02-12-2019, 11:48 AM
By Michael Kaplan - The New York Post
https://i.imgur.com/E5pR52l.jpg
Tommaso Kraji, 38, pictured with his son, lives at The Azure, a residential building in Brooklyn that has allowed
college students to move in.
High-paying residents of an amenity-loaded doorman building in Downtown Brooklyn are unhappily getting schooled.
Tenants of The Azure tell The Post they’re angry their pricey digs are being used as a de facto dorm for students of The King’s College in lower Manhattan.
“They marketed it as being a luxury building with families,” said Tommaso Kralj, a 38-year-old stay-at-home dad who lives at The Azure with his wife and 10-month-old son.
But then The Azure — which is currently advertising a 628-square-foot two-bedroom pad for $3,950 a month — struck a deal to rent some 30 percent of its 150 units to the school, according to Diana A. Ortiz, who works for the building’s management firm.
Now residents are resentful about sharing fancy amenities and common spaces with the students, some of them topless or clad in pajamas, who moved in last August.
“The students take over the gym,” said one female tenant. “They’re wearing earbuds and yelling to hear each other. It’s not where you want to be as an adult.”
Another bone of contention has been the 29th-floor roof terrace, which boasts Statue of Liberty views as well as gas grills and lounge chairs. “We bought into the luxury experience of the nice rooftop,” said the female tenant. “We didn’t expect it to be packed with 18-year-olds.” She added that, in warmer months, the roof was clogged with large groups of students and their guests from the outside.
https://i.imgur.com/NFwoqi8.jpg
The entrance to The King’s College in the Financial District.
“There were girls sunbathing topless up there,” said a tenant with a young child. “My wife was like, ‘WTF?!’ There are a lot of families [here].”
Angry residents also claim the students are causing the elevators to crawl — sometimes, Kralj said, to the point of breaking down — by constantly going between floors to visit each other.
“You never know how long it will take to get down [to the lobby],” complained the female tenant. “You can’t even order an Uber and expect to be downstairs in five minutes. It’s added 10 minutes to my morning commute.”
Older residents are taking their anger out on building employees.
During the students’ move-in day, “I was being cursed out right to my face [by an older tenant]. Somebody called me a bitch,” said Ortiz. “There is a war between college students and tenants, but they are all people and they all pay rent.”
According to two students, through The King’s College, groups of four pay a combined $6,000 per month to live in two-bedroom units. The Azure opened to renters in early 2018, but, three months in, “we had one-quarter of the building rented,” said Justin Fried, who oversees the building for Smart Management. Renting to the students “sounded like a good opportunity.” Most of them, he said, inked two-year leases.
The students, meanwhile, feel they’re getting an unfair rep.
“We’re not allowed to drink, we’re not allowed to be loud,” said one about the religious school’s rules. “And now we can’t wear pajamas on the third floor [of The Azure] — which is a rec room.”
Students were notified via e-mail of the no-PJs rule after complaints about them roaming the halls in sleepwear. But that didn’t stop some from trying to throw a public slumber party last week.
“We had people planning to sleep in the lounge,” admitted Ortiz. “They brought blankets and pillows. The doorman told them that it’s not allowed.”
Another student, who lives at The Azure independently, said her next-door neighbors — a group of students who attend a school other than King’s — are the real problem.
“They smoke pot and party loud,” she said. “I called 311. The police came, walked down the hall and left without doing anything.”
Kralj and his family are moving out next month and made sure to quiz potential new landlords about more than just amenities.
“We asked about whether or not there are a lot of college students living in the building,” he said. “Once burned, twice shy.”
https://i.imgur.com/E5pR52l.jpg
Tommaso Kraji, 38, pictured with his son, lives at The Azure, a residential building in Brooklyn that has allowed
college students to move in.
High-paying residents of an amenity-loaded doorman building in Downtown Brooklyn are unhappily getting schooled.
Tenants of The Azure tell The Post they’re angry their pricey digs are being used as a de facto dorm for students of The King’s College in lower Manhattan.
“They marketed it as being a luxury building with families,” said Tommaso Kralj, a 38-year-old stay-at-home dad who lives at The Azure with his wife and 10-month-old son.
But then The Azure — which is currently advertising a 628-square-foot two-bedroom pad for $3,950 a month — struck a deal to rent some 30 percent of its 150 units to the school, according to Diana A. Ortiz, who works for the building’s management firm.
Now residents are resentful about sharing fancy amenities and common spaces with the students, some of them topless or clad in pajamas, who moved in last August.
“The students take over the gym,” said one female tenant. “They’re wearing earbuds and yelling to hear each other. It’s not where you want to be as an adult.”
Another bone of contention has been the 29th-floor roof terrace, which boasts Statue of Liberty views as well as gas grills and lounge chairs. “We bought into the luxury experience of the nice rooftop,” said the female tenant. “We didn’t expect it to be packed with 18-year-olds.” She added that, in warmer months, the roof was clogged with large groups of students and their guests from the outside.
https://i.imgur.com/NFwoqi8.jpg
The entrance to The King’s College in the Financial District.
“There were girls sunbathing topless up there,” said a tenant with a young child. “My wife was like, ‘WTF?!’ There are a lot of families [here].”
Angry residents also claim the students are causing the elevators to crawl — sometimes, Kralj said, to the point of breaking down — by constantly going between floors to visit each other.
“You never know how long it will take to get down [to the lobby],” complained the female tenant. “You can’t even order an Uber and expect to be downstairs in five minutes. It’s added 10 minutes to my morning commute.”
Older residents are taking their anger out on building employees.
During the students’ move-in day, “I was being cursed out right to my face [by an older tenant]. Somebody called me a bitch,” said Ortiz. “There is a war between college students and tenants, but they are all people and they all pay rent.”
According to two students, through The King’s College, groups of four pay a combined $6,000 per month to live in two-bedroom units. The Azure opened to renters in early 2018, but, three months in, “we had one-quarter of the building rented,” said Justin Fried, who oversees the building for Smart Management. Renting to the students “sounded like a good opportunity.” Most of them, he said, inked two-year leases.
The students, meanwhile, feel they’re getting an unfair rep.
“We’re not allowed to drink, we’re not allowed to be loud,” said one about the religious school’s rules. “And now we can’t wear pajamas on the third floor [of The Azure] — which is a rec room.”
Students were notified via e-mail of the no-PJs rule after complaints about them roaming the halls in sleepwear. But that didn’t stop some from trying to throw a public slumber party last week.
“We had people planning to sleep in the lounge,” admitted Ortiz. “They brought blankets and pillows. The doorman told them that it’s not allowed.”
Another student, who lives at The Azure independently, said her next-door neighbors — a group of students who attend a school other than King’s — are the real problem.
“They smoke pot and party loud,” she said. “I called 311. The police came, walked down the hall and left without doing anything.”
Kralj and his family are moving out next month and made sure to quiz potential new landlords about more than just amenities.
“We asked about whether or not there are a lot of college students living in the building,” he said. “Once burned, twice shy.”