The Helux

Update 01/​31/​2016: I am docking one star off due to the HIGHLY INEFFICIENT AC/​heating unit. I literally am not using this unit anymore, despite the freezing winter temperatures. I used to get bills from Con Edison averaging $ 300-​$ 400 in ONE month for a ONE bedroom apartment!!! I got them to come out to make sure the meter was working properly and it sure was. I used to heat an entire 4,000 sqft home for that amount. I wish they’d have better disclosure of this issue or installed more energy efficient units. RENTER BEWARE!

I recently moved into this apartment and couldn’t be happier! With all that can go wrong with finding real-​estate in NYC, I’m so glad I moved into the Helux. The location is great, the front desk staff have been amazing! They have been very helpful with all of my packages– especially heavy ones, since I’m still getting settled in. The staff here is top notch, they keep the common area very clean and are so friendly when you come home. After walking through Midtown during rush hour, you want nothing more than to be greeted but friendly faces. My dog and I walk around outside at 6 in the morning or 11 at night and I’ve felt safe– especially since there are so many other pet friendly buildings in the area. Plus they have rests for her at the desk!
The leasing process was smooth and efficient– it was all done electronically and the management (Vincent and Marie) were prompt and helpful. The gym is nice and clean– terrific amenities for the price. Maintenance requests are taken care of on the same day and can all be done online.
Ok here it is: I found a 2 cockroaches in my kitchen area a couple of days ago, not what I was expecting in my luxury apartment but fret not, the front desk man let me know that the exterminator comes every week to the buildings in the are and they immediately took care of it. It’s New York people, even if you live in a Penthouse suite, you’ll get roaches.
The other reviews that talk about the guest policy etc. Really? You have an issue with letting security know in advance when you have long term guests. As a fellow resident, I wouldn’t want random guests walking in and out or around the hallways without the security staff being aware of who it was. You can always accompany guests into the building whenever you want! If another secured, luxury building just let in people, I would question why I was paying so much to live there. It really seems like first world problems if you can’t manage your guest planning.
Another note, there is construction a couple of buildings away as well as the firehouse next door– there is minimal noise in both and my apartment faces the street. Plus, I’m gone during work hours so noise has not been an issue except for what you’ll hear on avg anywhere else in the city.
Overall, LOVE living here– I can’t anticipate any problems! Tenants should manage their expectations, buildings go through maintenance and have policys in place to remain efficient for all guests! I can’t speak for irregular charges or payment discrepancies but will update if my opinion changes.
Thanks Helix staff for staying top notch.

Wow, where to begin. The Community Manager is a loser, she actually told me I was not allowed to tip the staff unless it was Christmas… yes, she said that, and actually still owes me $ 114.00, hopefully she will give it to the staff… she was supposedly giving it back to me in October… it is now September, nothing… shocking. I am sure she is getting paid more than what she deserves… she stinks. You can tell she is unprofessional, and no knowledge of Building Management. Do not get fooled, these people Rose Management,
, are evil, ruthless, and quite frankly nasty! The building maintenance staff is great, Glen is a great super! This place will not make you feel like home. They tried to evict me after 3 months over music (unsuccessfully, because this is Manhattan and you hear a fire truck coming out of the building all night, come on music… get a life). My section 8 neighbor who has lived here since the building opened (and I have heard previous building management (Old Gotham) tried getting rid of him). Yes, one of those. Complained my tv was too loud. He should worry about his outstanding $ 400 electricity bill and not be in everyone’s business. Anyways after refusing my check for 3 months, then agreed to cash all my same checks I gave them for each month originally. Then because no one at Rose speaks, I receive another notice that I owed 6k plus (which they had already cashed)…believe it or not, people like me stand up for principal. I signed a year lease and lived out my lease. Kim… nice try. So after they realized it was an error on their end, i.e.The Building Management wasn’t accepting my check, but the corporate office thought I wasn’t paying. I truthfully feel they did this on purpose. My question would be to Rose… why are we wasting 100k plus for nothing?! Who authorized these unsuccessful attempts to evict me?! So in the end they took away my preferential amount and tripled my rent… thank you Kim, best thing that has happened to me in 12 months… So I will be leaving. Funny thing is, when I called and spoke to the new girl Marie (had no clue what Kim’s plan was for me), I asked if my rent can triple, she interrupted me and said, «no that must be an error, that is impossible. Let me speak to Vincent the leasing agent and Kim the Community Manager and we will get this fixed, I’ll call you back». Next day I called and she said, Kim said this is right. Too funny!!! Just want you to all request your rent history information, i.e. contact Division of Housing and ask them to notarize it. Trust the building will scramble as they try to take advantage of the rent stabilization when it suits them. If you get a notarized letter from when the building opened (I have all this information for my own apartment and let’s just say, I will be following up on this review to tell you the outcome.) If you haven’t noticed they are raising rent to about 60% of the current/​past residents to get them out and renovate and add 16 to 20% to a new leasee. Not bitter here, promise. Just being 100% honest and accurate. If anything, I hope this helps and take my advice getting your rent sent for free from Division of Housing Community Renewal (718) 739‑6400 or even walk to many other very nice, actual LUXURIOUS apartments. If you get the history, you will actually see they have been illegally raising rent left and right… it is illegal. Rose… get rid of your Community Manager! As a Building Manager and knowing the business and sub-contractors…I will ensure this advantage of blatant Machiavelli transactional style still doesn’t works. Stay away from 2 °F… the neighbor next door Vincent is a nosey pain in the a$$!!! Found out my apartment was renovated and only added $ 250 more a month. More to come and will keep you posted! I did forget to mention previously that on 2 different occasions I saw mice on the 2^nd floor.

I’m coming up to my year anniversary with living in New York and figured that it was about time that I reviewed the place I call home.
For starters, when I began my search for my apartment I looked at upwards to 30 places with a broker and on my own. The Helux was the 4^th place that I looked at and I put my deposit in that morning with Vinnie to secure my spot. I remember thinking «It can’t be that easy» so I continued to look at every type of apartment on the West side to make sure I was making the right decision.
From the moment I stepped foot in my apartment I knew it was home. You just get a feeling with some places, and more importantly some people. I had seen three other apartment buildings the day before, all with leasing agents who only wanted my money. Vincent was different, he was interested in me, my life, my reasons for moving from New York, and he never bull-​shitted me on anything. A year later and he still hasn’t. He knows who I am when I see him in the lobby, he asks about my family and my vacations and he is still interested. Having a person like that on the management team is important because it makes you feel more at home when you live in a city of 8 million. I’ve only dealt with the other management staff via e-​mail, but it has always been prompt and reasonable.
The maintenance staff are great and always willing to help, no matter what time of day/​night or how silly a question I may have. They take care of everything and I have never had to ask more than once.
My favorite people in this building are the doormen. Unlike some residents who use the side door, I try to talk to them every time I see them and it’s paid off because they’re all the nicest people and will do everything they can to help you out when you need them to. Some past reviews have complained about not being able to leave their keys at the front desk, and while yes that would be convenient, it is also a liability for the building and for other residents. I like knowing that my building isn’t doing any Air BnB rooms, and that it’s a safe building. That extra security of not giving out keys means that the residents are extra safe.
I’ve never had an issue with the gym, lounge, or laundry room and find all common areas to always be clean and up to date, which I appreciate.
Overall I’m happy that I renewed my lease because I know that I couldn’t find a better place in this city to call home.

My roommates and I are continuing on to our fourth year at the Helux because our experience there has been so easy, accommodating and simply comfortable. The complete staff in this building from the doormen to the management are so kind and helpful with absolutely everything. Anything we need or any problem we might have they are right on top of it and with a smile. They truly have made the Helux feel like home. There are constant updates being made to the building and they really stay on top of bringing fun events and perks to the residents. The location is perfect to get anywhere in the city and your right by the tunnel so it’s even easy to get out. For a beautiful apartment in an up and coming area the Helux is a great find and a great community to be apart of! Highly recommend!

Our move went as smooth as it possibly could and the staff was exceptionally helpful. The front desk men remain at the top of the list in customer service and make it enjoyable to have stayed at The Helux. A great change since my first review and more than worthy of 5 stars. Sometimes we base all our opinions off individual interactions without taking into consideration other factors. The gym improvements have started and the equipment is getting nicer wth plans to soon replace even more equipment. The hallways, though quite dated lookin at the moment, are in line for renovations soon and I’m excited to see what’s coming.

My lease is about to be up… what to do? As much as I would like a 4 bedroom Penthouse with floor to ceiling river views, a garden terrace, and a private lap pool, the HeLux wins! I moved in almost 2 years ago from a very suburban environment and the HeLux and our diverse mix of residents and management has become my NYC family! I’ve lived in many places and no situation is ever perfect (unless it’s FREE ;)) but I have found the management of the HeLux– from Kim Sarrantonio and the entire leasing staff, to the building Superintendent, Glenn and his staff of super heroes, to the Front Desk staff, to the parking garage attendants-​all amazing. They are attentive to my needs as a resident and respond quickly and efficiently to any issues or concerns. I have a dog and a young child and we feel safe and sound living at the HeLux and my older daughters love coming home from college to visit us here. All that said, I’ve renewed my lease at the HeLux and won’t be going anywhere else anytime soon!
Resident, R. Ewing

I have so enjoyed living in the building. The staff is amazing and so helpful to me. I love that when i need any assistance it is always provided. The entire staff is great. I was dealing with Kim Sarrantonio and she is wonderful. Thank you Kim. To her and the entire staff. Thank you

«Luxury» building in self proclaimed name only. The building manager/​leasing agent/​community manager are rude on a good day and non-​response on most days.
Look at the Unilocal timeline of reviews regarding the need to fix the TVs in the gym and that tells you everything you need to know about this building. In March 2015, building management responded on Unilocal thanking a reviewer for letting them know that since the end of 2014, the TVs in the gym were not working and that building management would quickly have the gym TVs fixed. 3 months after building management promised a speedy resolution, the gym TVs still do not work …
The building’s cheap management, combined with shoddy construction, is a bad combination. For at least the past month, the building has had at least monthly shut offs of all water in the building for «scheduled» emergency maintenance (8 hours of no water at a pop). During this time, the hot water heater has also unexplainable stopped working at least twice which forced residents to take ice cold showers before heading to work.
To save costs I presume, the building does not heat the gym in the winter and does not turn on the AC in the summer. Both conditions make using the gym unbearable since its the same temperature inside the gym as it is outside.
As a positive, the front desk and maintenance staff are friendly and say hello. I pity the front desk staff because they bare the brunt of resident complaints even though there hands are tied when it comes to fixing anything.
⁷⁄₁ Update
As of late, the building either fixed or turned on the air conditioning in the gym. They also fixed 1 of 11 TVs in the gym so at least that one TV now works. Also one of the individuals in the building management office stopped (I am not sure why) working in the building. Now if only the building brought in fresh blood for the other 2 individuals then the building service levels would hopefully increase. The front desk staff continues to be very courteous and are by far the building’s best asset.

Apparently, I under-​estimated the situation. The absence of stove AND oven lasts more than a week!

I’ve lived in the building almost 6 years and used to love it. Moved into a 2bedroom converted to three (wall was already up) with two roommates. Great cost of apt. After two year lease was up, rent went up to a decent amount AND we were told the wall had to come down b/​c the building was rezoned. That created a huge increase but stayed b/​c the staff was great and good location, etc.
Next increase in rent was up 18%(!) mo but we were able to negotiate down to 11% Since then new ownership has come along and the place has gotten very difficult.
Several have mentioned the absurd guest policy. Part of the benefit of a doorman is for them to let someone in if you aren’t home (such as cleaning person or guest from out of town) but that isn’t allowed anymore.
They have redone the entryway, fitness area, and several apartments (after they are vacated). That sounds nice but it has meant constant construction, having to use the service entrance for months on end, and having the fitness center being closed for weeks and/​or days at a time with very little notice and no refund or break in payment from residents. Could you imagine a gym shutting down for two weeks and still making you pay for it?
Very disappointed with new owners. Recently got a new lease option and the increase for a 2 year lease is almost 25% increase.
They have also refused to replace any appliances in the last two plus years and we’ve been told on the side from the guys working there they aren’t allowed to replace them on «older» apartments. As a result our dishwasher hardly works.

I felt the need to write a review that was positive because I’ve yet to have a negative experience here. The staff is friendly and willing to go out of their way to help you. The building is kept clean and nice. They are responsive to questions or concerns. It’s possible to have a bad experience anywhere but overall, The Helux is great.

As others have mentioned, the guest policy is absolutely ridiculous. I can’t have people crash with me for the night unless they get approval 48 hours ahead of time? I can’t offer hospitality to friends who live farther away simply because? The policy makes no sense and it’s incredibly inconvenient — makes you feel like you don’t own your own space. I also have guests get stopped every time they enter the building and I have to be called in order for them to be let up, even if they’re not overnight and even if I’m in my apartment. Again, ridiculous, and makes it impossible to entertain here or host guests in my home. The colors in the hallways are also rather drab and could be brightened up; gives the building the ambiance of an old motel. The apartments themselves are fine, but bureaucracy and inability to use my apartment for anything except sleeping makes it not worth the high price I’m paying. Run far, far away — you can find a better place for much less that you can actually live and socialize in.

Updating review because management did go out of their way to work with me after this public complaint, and I do generally enjoy living in the building.
Now if we can fix the TVs in the gym!

This building is the very same as «New Gotham» (see
reviews which seem real and I can attest to many of the issues) but under new management and branding. The management office is staffed with the rudest women. Just joined Unilocal specifically to write this review after speaking to a group of angry residents who were gathered in the lobby, complaining to the very nice front desk staff. One resident said she has referred her interactions with the management office to her husband’s real estate law firm
A small compendium of complaints:
i) rude management, whose disdain for residents is apparent in every interaction, other than getting you to sign a lease
ii) arrogance in informing tenants that their work requests need to be approved by management, not the maintenance staff and then being given restrictive times/​rules to comply.
iii) staff being given directives to do less and less — latest: don’t accept keys for friends to stay so friends can’t arrive when you are at work
iv) latest example of arrogance when dealing with residents — giving a few days notice, management shut down the gym and lounge for a few weeks; then refused to credit back the amenities’ fees citing terms & conditions that do not require them to. Who does that?
v) cockroaches — infestation in both the gym’s bathroom and in apartments
This place cannot be worse.
EDIT (¹⁰⁄₂₅): More nonsense from this awful place. A friend in the building (I blame her for me moving into this building :)) says you now have to provide identification for any and all guests staying overnight. Passport numbers or driver’s license numbers. So if I bring a guy home, I have to get a copy of his license for their file (my mother would be happy I guess, but I moved out of home for a reason!) Run away from this place.