New (belated post) on new (belated) stuff: floor waxing, rodent extermination and more…

Floor Waxing

Those who are out and about in the evenings will notice that Victor, the Viridian’s full-time (but not live-in) super, has been in the building until late waxing the lobby’s floors. Slightly inconvenient for some on the East side of the A block who had to travel to the other elevators, but everything looks so pretty and shiny, don’t you agree?

As a result of all the movement, some of the unused furniture in the indoor garden has made its way to the lobby. While they are a stylistic contrast, they do serve a purpose for people waiting for cabs and things.

Poop Bin!

A new poop bin has found its way to Manhattan avenue. It works if people use it. While we’ve seen less poop in bags around the block (literally the worst thing ever – POOP IN BAGS WON’T DEGRADE, PEOPLE!) there’s still somewhat of a poop problem in the area. We’re not sure how to report street poop bag droppers – ideas, anyone?

Extermination

Following some comments about rodents, exterminators did enter the building at some point in the last few weeks, but we weren’t told about it until something was posted on the message boards the day before. There were also exterminators that came through last week, but we were told by those on the first floor that they didn’t hear about it because the signs were only posted in the elevator (the message board by the A block mailboxes was moved while the floor was being waxed). Did an exterminator visit you? Let us know in the comments.

As always, if you have a gripe, email us at viridiangripes@gmail.com and we’ll do our best collectively to try to resolve it. Or at least gripe about it until we feel better.

Electric Bills

Something that’s been raised via e-mail and in the comments is how our electric bills are calculated. Those who were here last year might remember receiving a $10,000+ bill from ConEdison in the mail noting that if electricity wasn’t paid, it would be switched off. (alarm bells) This was curious as QLC is officially the utility supplier for the building, and as we all know, our charge is added on to our monthly rent. But this opens up the question about how exactly it’s being metered:

The lease specifically states that we are to get our own conEd account. Our submetered electric bill ranged from $80 to $270 throughout the year. We very rarely ran the AC in the summer and never ran the heat in the winter. As a comparison, our last apartment that had all electric appliances ran $30-$50/month. I complained to Simon and eventually got him to send a technician from QLC to inspect. They never came back with the results. We researched this a bit, and it’s actually illegal for them to submeter without telling us, and having to pay QLC’s service charge.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments.

Update: another such bill from ConEd was distributed among residents a few days ago, noting that the landlord would be instructed to cut off electricity if it was not paid. This implies that the management company, 110 Green Street Apartments LLC, is in debt to ConEd. We did not follow up on the issue, but if anyone did, please feel free to let us know what you may have found out.

Washer/Dryer Issue

This is a gripe that’s common among residents. See below:

When we were shown the apartment initially, it had the combo washer/dryer installed in the laundry closet. When we received our keys and moved-in, the machine had been removed without explanation. It took 2 months of constant complaining to Simon and Michelle to finally give us a machine from another apartment that was moving out. Once we received our machine, we learned how absolutely terrible it was at washing and drying. After about 4 months the dryer cycle completely stopped working and we were forced to line dry or send out our laundry for cleaning. We found brand new separate washer and dryers in the basement. After harassing Simon and Michelle for 2 months they finally gave us one. Both Simon and Michelle told us to give them our laundry receipts for reimbursement. When we gave them the receipts they refused to pay for 2/3 of the charges. We are still fighting them on this.

Have you received a washer and dryer? Let us know in the comments.

Responses

Hi Viridian Residents,

No doubt you’re here because you received a card under your door. Unfortunately, gripes have already started filling our inbox. So, in the meantime, we thought we’d explain a little more about what we’re trying to achieve and how this site will work.

Our intention is to provide an open forum and put the issues that residents of the Viridian Apartments in Greenpoint, Brooklyn have had on public record. The desired result is that by doing so, the management will realize that they must listen to complaints thoroughly and act with due diligence. Since complaints will be a matter of public record, prospective tenants will be well armed to decide whether or not they want to become residents and if they do, the issues they may be faced with.

How this site works

You may email your gripes to us at viridiangripes@gmail.com. REST ASSURED THAT WE WILL NOT PUBLICALLY PRINT YOUR NAME OR APARTMENT NUMBER. Instead, if your gripe is new, we will post it here with a comments thread allowing you to respond. Please do not use your real name when responding to comments – we would like gripes to remain as anonymous as possible.

If your gripe has already been established, we will point you to a previous thread or try to accommodate it.

We understand that there will situations with more than one gripe. In this case, we’ll most likely separate the gripe into parts to give it it’s due course of action.

The most important issue here is that we must show the management that they HAVE to begin to address the gripes, otherwise residents will leave in droves – and there will be nobody to take our place. We are highly paying customers and we must get what we deserve. We love living in an apartment building full of amenities, in an area that we love – we deserve to do so without gripes.

Got something to say? Do it in the comments

Rental increases for residents?

Our first issue here on viridiangripes is a matter that’s come to our attention – many users are receiving large rental increases in their most recent lease renewal (we’ve confirmed from 8% to 12%). We all understand that since the apartments are not rent stabilized, 110 Green Street LLC can do what they wish. However since many promised amenities have still not been delivered, is this fair?

UPDATE: we should also point out that the rental increases mentioned here are ABOVE what empty apartments are being advertised for. Why should current residents be charged more than new residents just for the convenience of remaining in their homes?

Let us know if you agree by adding your gripes to the discussion in the comments here.