The Epic

I work in real estate and I recently rented with my clients an apartment at The Epic, a rental building at 125 W 31^st Street in Manhattan. Not only the building is AMAZING with views, amenities and renovations, but the staff at the rental office was THE BEST. Helpful, patient and respectful. In particular Susan Lo Giudice, who was incredibly kind and smiley, and worked afterhours just to fit our needs. And she did all this despite the fact that the renter was a foreign student, really, did not seem like «ideal» client. She was wonderful. The secretary, Rosalyn Vargas, was also wonderful. And Rosie, the office manager, changed the whole lease in 5 minutes at lease signing because of a small issue that made it more convenient for us. I just wished the standard was always like this when renting in Manhattan, what a treat at The Epic!

The Epic (125 W. 31^st St.) is a great high rise luxury apartment building located within a block of Penn Station, the NQR and BDFM lines, and the PATH. The apartments are spacious (as compared to most other high rises in this price range), they all have a washer/​dryer in the unit, the gym (including ½ basketball court) and lounge/​terraces are well maintained, and the views are great. I know I have neighbors because I’ve seen them in the hallways, but once I step into my apartment, I can’t hear a thing. Even the noise from room to room isn’t bad, especially if there’s a fan on. It gets pretty warm in the summer because of the floor to ceiling windows, but I’ve never needed the heater in the winter because the window seals are great.
Most of the doormen are very friendly and consciencious and even make an effort to get to know your name (despite the daunting task of remembering names of residents in a 59 story building). Maintenance is great – I’ve hardly had any problems, they’re always addressed quickly (ranging from an hour to about 12 hours, depending on the time of day the problem occurs), and it’s easy to request help through the building website. Management (managed by Durst Fetner) even goes out of its way to be accommodating – there are building wide parties twice a year, resident contests, multi-​building events, and they pay attention to suggestions (evidence: recent addition of a coffee machine in the lounge – although the other reviewer may be interested to know that the coffee machine was in place of the continental breakfast, which frankly, I liked better).
The big negative is the price, which is expensive, but seems to be about comparable to other high rises offering similar amenities. The other potential negatives are the elevators (there are 4 and they’re pretty quick, but sometimes you get a queue of people in the lobby during rush hours), the lounge closes at 11, and there’s no view from the lounge. I’ll agree with the other reviewer that the trash rooms aren’t fantastic, but it’s not like I want to hang out by the trash chute… And I’ve never had a problem with the finger print machines – if it doesn’t work, all that needs to happen is to get rescanned. My only other complaint is that there aren’t really any grocery stores in the area – Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are within walking distance, but if you’re going to shop there on a regular basis you’ll probably need a cart. On the plus side, the front desk takes refrigerated deliveries, so Fresh Direct is a good option. On the whole though, the negatives are so minor they’re hardly worth mentioning.
And if all of that isn’t enough for you, they recently met the LEED gold standard for being a green building!
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I stand behind the review that I posted several months ago. BUT I recently moved out of the Epic (relocated out of the city), and I have to add a caveat. The Epic is very very stingy with the security deposit. I maintained the hardwood floor by hand, so I was well acquainted with every bump and scratch – and I can say unequivocally how many were damaged during my occupancy. Unfortunately for me, I failed to take a picture of every tile when I moved in, and the Epic replaces every imperfect tile – so I was charged for FIVE TIMES the number of tiles I actually damaged. I highly recommend if you are moving to this building that you take the time to examine and account for any imperfection upon move in, and maybe consider documenting it, because the Epic apparently doesn’t know (or care) what the definition of wear and tear is, so you don’t want to have to pay for what was there before you in addition…