Birdoff Charles & Company Real Estate

I’ve had the fortunate pleasure of renting from Charles Birdoff & Co for 6 consecutive years. Throughout that time, the office (specifically Gwen) was responsive, attentive and overwhelmingly easy to work with. A super is always available for same day attention, the building (I was on 75^th and 2^nd) was kept in great condition and we never had any issues with bugs, rodents, etc.
I recommend their organization with zero hesitation.

Just don’t… just… don’t.

5 stars based on Unilocal’s definition of it as «As good as it gets!» But since «as good as it gets» is vague and even ominous in the context of NYC renting, let me specify that I would rent with these guys again.
I rented at 2^nd Avenue and 75^th Street for 13 months and lived on the 5^th floor. I was holding my breath the entire year waiting for some typical New York renting nightmare to commence… but it never happened. The worst that happened was that I saw a roach on two occasions in the stairwell the first summer I was there, but no bugs at all the second summer — not to say there are no bugs in the building (that would be a miracle in NYC) but that it was kept well enough that I, with my obsessive bug radar, never saw one. I credit the super’s consistent cleaning of the place. I’ve got a huuuuuuge problem with roaches — they seriously make me freak out and run to my sister’s house — but I never once saw one in my apartment (I was pleasantly surprised by this). I also never saw rodents, although the people who lived in the unit before me said they had a mouse once and the super took care of it immediately. I’ll add that the super is the sweetest guy ever, who is very responsive and quick when help is needed.
Our heating worked well, and the whole unit was recently redone, so it was very clean and beautiful. Thankfully, our landlord-​tenant relationship was always smooth. Gwen, the landlady, was courteous and accomodating when we signed the lease. I wanted the place bug sprayed upon move-​in: done. I wanted a new lock: done. I wanted the ½ inch gap at the bottom of the main door to be filled to the floor: done. And at the end of the lease, there was no drama whatsoever and my deposit was fully refunded painlessly and promptly. I actually first got the unit with a guy who ended up being a bit psycho and made both me and his female subletter feel unsafe, but Gwen took our concerns very seriously and took measures that helped ease these concerns. She could have easily been dismissive, or have humored us or just not cared, but she went the extra mile to make us feel safe and better in the situation in whatever small ways she could.
Also, the rent increase was nominal. Between the guys who rented before me, and me, the rent went up only $ 25 per roommate ($ 50 total), which is absurd by Seattle standards (where I’m from), where it’s usual to have rent increases of $ 100 or more per year on rent that is way lower than NYC rent.
So, like I said, I’d rent from them again. I even recommended my friends to take over the place after my lease was up.

The apartment itself isn’t all that terrible, but the real problem with Charles Birdoff Company is the manager, GWEN BROWN. She is an absolute terror. She has no manners or social skills and enters every phone conversation by screaming until she has run out of words and then hanging up the phone, all without taking a breath. She is rude to employees and tenants alike and seems incapable of understanding simple concepts, such as heat and windows that close. On more than once occasion, she has entered our apartment unauthorized and left a downright mess behind her. Gwen is a rude, incompetent and generally nasty person, who guarantees a horrific experience renting from Charles Birdoff Company.

We rented a renovated 2 bedroom apartment on 65^th and 2^nd Ave in the summer. First couple of weeks, we saw roaches and mice.
In addition, The apt had no radiators and Gwen brown did not take action until end of winter to have two radiators installed in each bedroom after we notified 311 of the issue. On top of that, when we called to complain about the freezing apt, she accused us of opening windows in the winter and informed us that we will not be allowed to renew the lease just because we asked for a habitable apt. We tried to use security deposit for last months rent bc we were afraid they would not give us our security back and when we couldn’t use it guess what happened. After we moved out to a better apartment, Gwen informed us that we will not be getting the full amount back. No surprises there. Thanks A lot Gwen for providing us an inhabitable apt and breaching the Warranty of Inhabitability stated in our lease.

Worst place to rent! We don’t have any heat and have complained so many times even called 311. Still not much of a change. It’s always cold and there’s a lot of mice in the apartment! We’re clean people and don’t leave food out too. It’s disgusting and the super is extremely rude.

I’ve been renting from CB& Co for about a year now. Everything’s been good, but I haven’t had many issues. They’ve been re-​doing some of the tiling and paint in our building, so that’s nice. Whatever.
The reason I’m writing this review is because reporting a maintenance issue is one of the most infuriating things. First of all, I had to call the office, not the maintenance guy, which they never told me. Secondly, the lady at the office is absolutely horrible. She’s rude, curt, and I just called about the handle to our toilet breaking off and she bitched me out for calling at 4pm on a Friday, saying no one will come until Monday because it’s not an emergency.
OUR ONLY TOILET JUST BROKE. IT IS AN EMERGENCY. I need a drink.
Just a warning. They need to fire her.