Dumbo NYC

Holy crap, that place is ugly. Thank God it's not in Dumbo proper.

The contrast in construction between J-Condo and Bridgeview Tower is enormous. J-Condo is very well built using reinforced poured concrete with the outer walls constructed with on site bricks. This is a much stronger, though costlier method of construction with the result being a stable and quiet interior. In contrast, Bridgeview Tower was built using steel girders that had thin prefabricated walls bolted to the sides.

Bridgeview Tower is on the wrong side of the tracks, since it is isolated from Dumbo and the subway by the BQE. To get to Dumbo from Bridge View Tower, you must walk at least 7 blocks through a desolate industrial area. J-Condo is almost in the center of Dumbo.

The choice of outer materials for Bridgeview tower was wrong. The pink color will fade and very quickly become dirty from the trucks and cars going on to the Manhattan Bridge. Dirt will cling to the course cement sides. In a few years, Bridgeview tower will look warn out.

The only positive thing that I can think of with Bridge View Towers is that the developer is using high quality Kitchen appliances, but the way it is designed, looks out of place.

I think that it will be hard to resell the apartments at Bridge View Tower, since there is very little when it comes to quality shopping or social activities there. It is hard to imagine anyone paying so much to live in Bridge View Tower. A big white elephant!

Nancy, same for the comparison with Beacon Tower. Both in terms of quality of construction and materials, J Condo appeared far superior during the construction phase. The results will be tested in April/May when J Condo move in dates are set to begin. I believe Beacon residents were told they would expect move-in dates to begin on September of last year. The building has been a disappointment.

Bridge View Tower is too far from the subway and it is not the type of area that you want to walk around it at night. No stores, no pubs, no coffee shops. Overpriced. You can do better by buying in manhattan.

a woman handed me a flier for the building this morning. the ceilings look low and the building looks like it's waiting for an earthquake.

their website doesn't even have an email address!!! and there's a typo in the page title.

lol did this nancy person just say that concrete is stronger than steel or am i delusional?

not only delusional but slow.

DO NOT BUY OR RENT AT BRIDGEVIEW TOWER BEFORE EMAILING ME AT:LEONSAPLUS@GMAIL.COM

I WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO MOVE IN THE BUILDING
I HAVE ALOT OF VALUBLE INFO.

DOES BVT MANAGMENT WANT TO PLAY HARDBALL?

THE INTERNET IS A FREE FORUM FOR ALL TYPES OF INFO.

oh please tell us the juicy details..

no hot water 5 times since november, no heat 3 times. building has gone rental(red flag for investors and the bank) developer is charging 512.00 per month to maintain the building but actually does nothing at all to deserve this amount. gym equipment wobbles and is dangerous to use. by the way guys, why offer free coffee in the morning and use powdered milk? we are living in vinegar hill trying to reflect the future of downtown BK! do you think we use powdered milk? too cheap to serve coffee the right way?

well, can understand the heat and hot water but jeez buy your own milk for your coffee.

Also, anyone who researched the area whould know bridgeview was a bad buy. bad location, bad surroundings and bad construction. It will even be hard to rent out...

In a building of 59 units with 40 units occupied, Leon is the “ONLY” person who has any form of complaint. His complaints are, for the most part, petty and/or irrational. Has the building endured some growing pains? Yes. But I assure you no other building serves its residents with the attention to detail and personal service that Bridge View Tower offers.

In response to your comment on this “free forum for all types of info.,” your common charge (not maintenance fee) is $510.95/month. This common charge fee includes the cost for the electricity for all the common areas (hallways, lobby, mechanical rooms, etc.), the salary for the front desk persons, the gas and electricity fees to run the boiler for the heat, the gas and electricity fees to run the heaters for the hot water, the electricity fees to run the pumps to circulate the water for the building and for the heat, the costs for the water and sewer charges, the costs to run the morning car service to the train stations and the salary for the staff who cleans out your trash, recycle and cleans the hallways, the costs to purchase building insurance and the costs to maintain the elevators and to provide 24 hour emergency service, etc! For the men who clean the hallways, you should not be judging based upon appearances of people. FYI, none of our employees are Mexican and who are you to classify a person looking to be as if they were from Riker’s (why would you know?)! So because you wear a black sweatshirt hoody and physically attack an employee, you should be judged by your appearance and actions and be classified as a criminal……from Rikers?

In addition, you are a CONDO owner, therefore you own the apartment. So for the items that are not common (basically everything in your apartment except for the heat and hot water) you are responsible for anything that needs repair or maintenance. When you did your final walk through and closed on the unit, the unit is now yours, just as if you were buying a house. If you had a problem with a house you bought, would you contact the previous owner for constant repairs or maintenance? NO! Although the building is not responsible, we have been very cooperative with you. Whenever you had an issue, it was attended to ASAP. When you complained about the drainage in the tub not flowing properly, we even went in to clean out the long hair that was all caught up in the drain (which is not our responsibility) two times in a row, at no charge.

In addition, I apologize if you are not happy with your finishes. From day 1, you knew what you were buying into as you had seen when you visited the unit constantly while it was under construction.

Correction to your comments: The water heaters shut down on their own 3 times over the past 3 weeks. This was caused, as it was repeatedly stated to you, by a faulty part from the manufacturer, as you will see from all the service receipts we received from AO Smith authorized service technicians. Once our heaters shut down we got someone down here ASAP and got the heaters back up and running within 2 hours. Our water heaters installed are the largest water heaters that AO Smith manufactures. So please get your facts straight before you start blogging. In regards to the heat, the problems had been in mid-October and as explained to you, the boilers for heat run off of temperature sensors which automatically turn the boilers on when it is cold outside. We have not had any heat problems since then. We also have surveys from every resident in the building, all of whom have noted that they have no problem with their heat, which I welcome you to come see.

Yes, we have gone rental. And YES, our rentals are “Rentals with an option to buy” please see the link below of our NY TIMES article. This “motto” of ours is not a “ploy” and is indeed a FACT!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/realestate/07...

In regards to the Kohler fixtures, how do you install a faucet incorrectly? Since you are always complaining about water pressure, the reason why the water splashes out of the sink is because the water is coming out of the faucet head at too high of a pressure hitting the bottom of the sink too hard and therefore splashing out. You are an owner, you know, so why don't you buy an attachable spout for your faucet to control the pressure flow of the water.

We wish you luck and speed in selling your apartment!

To the readers of this blog, please feel free to contact us directly if you have any questions regarding these concerns or would like any clarification.

Bridge View Tower
bridgeviewtower@yahoo.com
718.237.4360

PS:

You were not the first to move into the building.

Quote Leon “by the way guys, why offer free coffee in the morning and use powdered milk?” If you bothered to look, besides the powder milk, we offer french vanilla creamers as another option, (which does not come out of your common charge). The coffee and the little snacks are served complimentary. Just as we give gifts for the holidays to our residents and throw barbeque parties for the residents (which you never attended, I wonder why), we throw these little extra things in as a thought of appreciation to our residents.

ok defense is good, maybe you will like my blog:

www.bridgeviewower.blogspot.com

catchy name isnt it?

if you insist on calling the things you promised
"petty" i will continue. at one point you need to sit back and think about which battles are wise for you to enter,which party has more to lose? litigations between developers and condo owners does not create a good atmosphere for sales(which i think is your goal)the attorney generals realestate division is also not a great place to have your name. After 10 months of empty promises i only wanted what was fair, you initiated the comment about lawyers so if this is what you want no problem. you may want to think about the "petty" things i want.

Don't you think it is sad that management and condo owner are arguing about issues on a blog? Airing out your dirty laundry on an internet public board/forum won't accomplish anything, and will probably only hinder any objective of either party. It seems that, while some of your complaints are valid, you need to learn to pick and choose your battles. It seems based on the blog created that the management of the building did try and resolve the issues for you, however your expectations of their requirement to you seem dillusional.

As a tenant in the building as well, I find that some of the things you are complaining about a little unjustified.

How much time do you spend in the hallways really that you care how they look? You come off the elevator to a clean hallway, with fresh white paint, slate floors, a mirror and nice table. What else more do you really want that you need to complain about in a blog?

The patio, while it isn't a chinese garden that you say you were promised, is a nice sized patio for yours and everyone else's use, with a grill and can be used for private use with notice for no fee. I don't think that is a bad thing to have, and really what would you do, how would you use a chinese garden?

Shuttle service, I agree a ride back from the subway at night would be nice to have as well, the less than 10 minute walk isn't that bad, I have done it in bad weather and really isn't that big a deal. In terms of being promised an acutal van/bus, we were too and hopefully when the owners/management have the funds, they will provide this service to all tenants. I have not been to a building that offers any type of service of this nature.

The building is ALWAYS clean, the hallway floors are cleaned on a daily basis, as well the elevators, and lobby. This is part of that $500+ fee we pay each month.

Cold Water, yes we had a hot water issue and I did take a cold shower or two, but it seems that the management did try and make right and prove to you they were having issues and trying to fix the system, however it seems you were accusing them of cutting the hot water to save money. Don't forget that the owner of the building and his family all live here, so why would they do that to themselves as well. This to me seems a false accusation, the issue has since been resolved and have not had any issues since Novemeber.

Heat, our unit seems to be fine, however that seems to be a personal issue with your unit. I am sorry that you are having that problem.

We are happy with our unit and choice to live here. It is a nice building, close to two great neighborhoods and priced extremely competitive to those two. We spent time in DUMBO looking and also Brooklyn Heights. Brooklyn Heights didn't have anything at the time that could match these ammenities for the money, and was even more expensive for some pretty crappy spaces. DUMBO is an awesome area with some beautiful buildings and a ton of conveniences. However, the 5-8 minute walk into DUMBO will save me over $12,000 in rental money this year alone as compared to living there. Not to mention I have parking in the building at a great price. J Condo's was a beautiful building, but what they had available was on the bridge side and at over $400 more per month in rent, the noise everytime the train went by turned me off, as did the $6000 up front additional fee's. 70 Washington is a beautiful building with beautiful units, I was not in this buidling until we had already signed the papers for Bridgeview. This building is quite nice with a lot of nice features, but also more expensive.

Overall I am glad we are in Bridgeview, it is our first experience with living in Brooklyn. If I could do it again I would, and have no regrets moving here. I think it is a shame to read that there have been issues of these nature and to the point that the police had to get involved. We all know there are 3 sides to every story, and unfortunately each party has felt the need to bring it to this level. Mr Leon it is sad and reflects poorly upon you that you are stooping this low, and it is simply bad press for bridgeview tower to even be responding publicly on an internet forum, stooping to your level. It seems that this may be the first building the owner has taken on of this nature and the management seems to have some, but limited experience in operating a building like this. Having a professional management team come in may be the best thing for this building, and in my eyes would be a welcome change. This is not to say we are unhappy with our personal experiences with them, but a professional team would have never even responded to these postings.

If there is anyone out there looking into renting our purchasing a unit in this area, it is worth a 15-30 minute look at this place. It is definitely comparable to the places listed above, at prices lower than both.

Happy Holidays

Still is a bad location. Bothered, smart that you are renting and didnt not buy there but most people wouldn't even want to rent there. I assume you are paying atleast 2,500 for a 1 bed in no mans land.

bothered neighbor,

I agree with you that it is sad that it has gotten to this level, a real company would never have responded on a blog. what amazes me is how defensive crystal become and the way she turned this thing into a personal attack, if you read any of my posts i always refered to them as a company. Crystal has used my name and called me a criminal, my problems with her go back to march before my closing when they failed there inspection 3 times and in result crystal had to pay the extension so we could keep our rate, this is when the hate started towards us. she has been waiting for an excuse to unleash all her resentment, the bottom line is im glad someone else see's how unprofesional her company is and how low her personal comments are. I do have to say that all people are different and what is important to one person may not be to another, you seem to be very passive in the area of gardens and hallways but i think there may be alot of things in life that your aggresive where im passive. also you are only here for 2 months and did not go through what we did with these people, why should we care if they dont have money for a shuttle bus? do you think they would care if you were unable to pay the rent? no!!! way!!! its all business and things were promised 10 months ago, have you tried the stair master? do you think its a good gym? its easy to be so passive about these things when there is an option to buy but you may be thinking differently if you shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars and arent getting what you were promised? by the way here is a small list of some things that went wrong with our apartment the first 5 months: broken sub zero(faulty install by the developer)
broken heat/ac unit in bedroom
broken washer/dryer
clogged tub(3 times)
a defect in wood on the floor(stain 10 inches in diameter)
kitchen cabinets broke 3 times
dishwasher wouldnt work properly(installed crooked and caused 3 dishes valued at 40 dollars each to break)
intercom was installed after we set up our closet where they needed to run wires in and we had to take a container store elfa unit apart(lovely experience)
living room heating /ac unit wasnt installed properly(crystal came in with a wrench,real pro)

let crystal try to deny any of this and tell me im dilusional now.

as far as your passive view on things, a famous person once said"the rational man adapts to his enviorment, an irational man expects his enviorment to adapt to him, therefore all human progress is made by the irational man."

Leon 4C

Leon,

While if I were in your shoes I can imagine your frustrations with some of the issues, I think it is fair to say that your issues seem to lie solely with you and your apartment. I think it is unfortunate to find them not only here, but on a blog you created as well. I am not saying whether you are right or wrong, I am just saying it sucks you felt the need to come to this, instead of handling privately through an attorney or at the least privately with Crystal, as you say you did. Your next step should be to try and get out of this place if it is so bad. I would be willing to bet that you are probably one of the only persons in the building that has these complaints. Maybe in some ways I am a passive person, but things like decorations of the hallways and whether the lift to the subway is in a corolla or a "bus". I'll go ahead worrying about the bigger things in life.

As a matter of fact I have used the stairmaster in the gym, and it wobbles and the batteries died on me last time I tried to use it. I also pay for a full service gym, and see the gym in the building as a convenience when I need to get a quick 30-45 minute workout in.

Lastly your quote makes no sense, to say I am passive about what most would be viewed as the most minor issues. I am not passive, I saw what I was buying before signing, you bought on promises, there is the difference plain and simple. You claim you haven't received what is promised, and I saw what I was getting in real life when I made my decision.

Like I said it sucks its come to this, I don't agree with the decisions management has made to even respond to you publicly, 100% unprofessional. I am sorry you feel the way you feel and I do hope things improve for you, but if not remember no one has a gun to your head telling you to stay. Yes you made an investment, sometimes in life you make bad investments and have to learn from them to not make the same mistake twice.

Best of luck to you, I sincerely do hope things get better for you here, and the management can make you feel whole, as of right now it obviously isn't the case.

Merry Christmas!!!

holy crap, this makes my condo look like heaven in comparison (85 adams)

bothered neighbor,

thanks for the holiday wishes, hope you had a good christmas. lets agree to disagree, we obviously have very different views about this building i hope things stay pleasant for you and your girlfreind.

p.s. there is another couple in the building that seems to share your optimism, there is a lovely picture of them on curbed.com(smiling and happy) you know what they say"one persons nightmare is anothers dream come true."

i forgot,

since crystal has not offered to resolve my complaints i will be filling out my office of the attorney generals complaint form in the morning, i will list all my complaints and hopefully they will conduct a personal walk thru of the building. im sure they will find other things. hey, i hoped it wouldnt come to this but obviously crystal feels her closet has no skeletons in it. time will tell.

Leon....I actually bought a unit in the buidling and have had minor problems. One of the knobs broke off of my stove but was replaced right away. One of my electrical outlets was not working and BVT had an electrician in the next day. I am quite pleased with the attentiveness of BVT management. It seems as though your unit is just PROBLEMATIC.
Granted that the building was not fully occupied when you moved in quite a few of the amenities were not put in place. Now that the building is 80% filled I hope that BVT management will live up to their end of the bargain.
I was actually going into contract with ORO (located on Gold street) and pulled out last minute. Since this was a big investment I wanted to make the right decision. For what is worth I do not have any regrets. If you look at ORO the building is empty. The funny thing is that seller was actually bad mouthing Bridgeview but at least they were able to find tenants.

Yes, I would like to have a shuttle van instead of a Toyota car. I do agree with you that the hours for the shuttle bus do need to be extended to evening hours for the working individual. Yes, I would like to see a door man.
These things take time but will eventually happen.

You complained about the Mexican worker that cleans the hallways. Are you discriminating against Mexicans?? Whether it's a black, White or Asian worker who cares.....as long as the place is being kept clean. I have no problems with the hallways. You also have to keep in mind that people are still moving into the building. This may cause the walls to get scuffed or the floor to get dirty. I feel like your expectations for Bridgeview are far fetched.

What I can't understand is that if you had a problem with Crystal before March why even move into the building?? I would have saved myself the headache and moved elsewhere. There are so many other developments in the area.

I am so sorry that you are DISAPPOINTED with BridgeView. I wish you the best of luck in selling your place.

Signed,

Content Resident of Bridgeview

Finishing move on Leon, "Content Resident of BridgeView"?
I vote Nudality!

discriminating against mexicans? playing the race card is very old, i call it like i see it, when you see the guy im talking about that wears the banadanna on his head have a conversation with him and ask him where he's from. maybe he's from honduras, is that all you get from my post? you asked why did i move in if i was having problems since march? the answer is "faith in people" and "trust in promises" i really think crystal is asking people to help her or your not really getting the big picture, if you bought an apartment then you can do your own research and find out that crystal is screwing all the people in the building with her "rent with option to buy" www.brownstoner.com lists our building as "developer and owner's worst nightmare, unsold units have gone rental" why do you think they say that? because anyone will tell you that when a condo building goes rental it highly affects investment and value of the said building. dont listen to crystals option to buy for the renters, its b.s. and ill tell you why, a girl from the 4th floor recently moved out of the building and had absolutly no recourse or issues with breaking her so called "rent with option to buy contract" the developer does this when they dont want to admit they cant sell units and runs out of money. ask your bank if its good for your investment if your building has gone more then 60 percent rental? dont listen to me just ask someone who is a pro in the field. you seem very optimistic but trust me you dont know the mentality of these penny pinchers, i deal with it everday and they wont change"penny wise,dollar dumb" thats what they are. the building is made of cheap and tacky material, gold and stainless? uh,, your clashing bridgeview! cheap gym equipment that wobbles when you use it, revolving door instead of a door man? you are all being lied to stop accepting there cheap bottles of booze and fake smiles, you all see what a dirty mouth crystal the owner of the building has. check out my blog:

www.bridgeviewtower.blogspot.com

Crystal has nothing better to do with her time

since i park my car in the parking lot in the basement crystal finds a need to harass me and my fiance at 9 pm on a weekday, she has the concierge ring us on the intercom and tells us that crystal says we need to move our car further up. just to let you know there are no other cars nor is there anything next to our car, so if we are parked within the yellow lines they have painted on the ground why would she tell us to move the car? what are we in the way of? the answer is nothing! she is just mad because other people saw my posts on www.dumbonyc.com and she actually replied to them under the name bridgeviewtower, people commented on how unprofessional that was of her and she is really pissed. i haven't posted anything since 12/22/08 and i thought crystal would wise'n up, i guess she didn't and insists on continuing the game. oh well the game continues i guess? they are renting one bedroom apartments for 2600.00 per month, i wonder how much ill get for my 2 bedroom? another interesting thing my lawyer told me is i could hang out in the lobby on Saturdays and Sundays when they have the open house and start conversations with people and tell them about my blog, being that this is considered a common area crystal would not be able to do jack! imagine people coming in for the first time and walking in the lobby and here i am passing out flyer's? i think crystal would get a real kick out of that, don't you?

This blog is for Dumbo, take your little bitch fest somewhere else. Stop wasting internet juice on your stupid crap. I'm sick of hearing about your trailer in the sky.

Leon,
I'm sorry you're not happy with your apartment. Based on other comments, your discontent with the building seems to be with your particular unit or maybe your expectations of a new construction condo is not aligned with reality. No building is going to be perfect. The disagreements seem to be personal between you and the building management. Would it not be the best for you and the management to resolve the issues in person and not on a blog?

i enjoy a good bitch fest and some internet juice

stop biting my handle Says:
"i enjoy a good bitch fest and some internet juice",
Ha, like we don't have enough corn holing in Dumbo without worrying about these dog piles.

Leon,

FYI, your primary residence is not suppose to be an investment. Anyone with a little investment sense will agree with that. You made a poor personal decision as did many others in these pre-construction purchase agreements. I think it's very immature for you to take your battle with management out on a blog.

www.bridgeviewtower.blogspot.com please visit the blog there are alot of interesting things on there.

Leon, Cheap materials? Gold and stainless trims? I'm sure you saw the place before you closed and moved in. I guess you figured the "gold and stainless" wasn't too bad, you must've had faith in that and hoped it will grow on you..just like that faith in the people you have. I don't think made a bad call, gotta keep the faith.
So what did you load up on last summer? C @ $20 or GM @ $10?

Jeez with the money these people make you would think they could hire a competent architect.

What loser is impersonating me?

Create logins for this site already!
I want to be known for my own snarky comments, not some _other_ dumbass's.