Waterside Plaza

I honestly have no idea why there are so many negative ratings for Waterside Plaza. People are just hating! I’ve lived here for 6 months and I have had absolutely zero problems and I am in love with the place. The reason I signed a lease here is because the rooms ARE HUGE and appliances are nice and new. The apts are very inexpensive for what you get in NYC! Laundry in building is a huge plus for me and there are plenty so they are always available. The doormen are so nice and are awesome. Fast elevators — I live in an apt on one of the top floors and it takes me a minute in the mornings to get down to lobby to go to work. Nice neighbors and thick walls — I’ve never heard any other apts in my unit. Gym, nail salon, café and grocery store are all in the complex and are very convenient! I had a light go out in a room once and maintenance came up in less than 10 min to replace it. Cross town bus picks up on the property right outside. Honestly — I’ll probably live here as long as I live in NYC. I have zero complaints except for the leasing lady we had was pretty unfriendly and difficult when we were first deciding on moving in or not.

I’m not a tenant, but what a awful experience! I have been in hundreds of buildings in the city and never had to go through so much hustle.
Let’s talk about the tenants for a second (my customers), this couple have been tortured by the management for two years, and obviously escaped from the building as early as they could. Yes the view from their apt is amazing but how crazy can the management be!!! The tenants told me that when they moved in, the movers were needed additional 15 min to take some more parts upstairs but the building manager didn’t let them finish the job.
They couldn’t have their boxes and some furniture which they receive only a week after… unbelievable.
One of the tenant use the service elevator by accident and I could hear the security guy literally yelling at him! R u real man?!? Nobody here taught you how to say things politely?
I would never recommend nobody to move into this horrible incompetent management.

The people who work at the front door are very nice, but definitely not the leasing office.

Moved here from Texas a few months ago. The view from the apt is simply breathtaking facing north. I also like the fact that the complex is located in a relatively quiet neighborhood. A big plus when living in the city. I don’t need ear plugs to sleep. I am very surprised to read the negative reviews here. Josefa was very friendly and helpful in trying to process my application within a very short time so I don’t have to pay the exorbitant rates at the hotel when I first moved here. So far, all the administrative staff and maintenance folks I delt with were very friendly and understanding.
Our bldg front desk security is great. Carlos, in particular is very friendly and very accommodating, making coming back to my Apt after a long day at work a pleasant one.
Talk to Josefa, she will treat you well.

My review is pretty much in line with the rest of the people here. Leasing/​Management office are difficult. They lock you out of the website once your lease is ending, a nice touch. No moving on weekends is the rule, but be prepared to live there and see the elevators being used for moving during the weekends anyway.
I agree with most of the other negative comments here as well

Do not move here. It looks really nice from the outside because it’s by the water, but the leasing/​management is horrible and your apartment will be freezing because the cold draft will be coming into your apartment through the windows and even outlets. Not to mention your heating bill will be hundreds of dollars each month (like $ 600. seriously.)
I lived here for about 10 months. The woman whose name starts with a «J» in the leasing office is totally incompetent. I’m still so angry about all the trouble (plus time/​money) she put me through in the beginning because she didn’t know anything. Management is also incompetent and lazy. Some of the doormen are nice though and maintenance staff can be too (but the latter are inconsistent — they fixed my toilet quickly but my roommate had to wait days to get her shower fixed. But if I ever ran into anyone in the lobby they were pleasant.).

I have nothing but wonderful things to say about my experience at Waterside Plaza. It is Manhattan’s hidden gem and the people who work here go out of their way to take care of any issues that may arise. I found everyone very accommodating and the views and apartment sizes cannot be beat — GO SEE IT! Ask for Joseffa or Lucy, really anyone. You can’t lose.

Beautiful view, but by far the worst management i have ever experienced. Aside from being absurdly unhelpful, they are rude and never understand or explain or can answer any questions. I have lived here for 4 years and not one person from management has ever smiled, said hi or even acted the slightest bit friendly. Apartments nicely renovated, but i think their management staff needs quite the serious renovation as well.

Scam.
The worst management office.
I just don’t understand why they are so mean. They do not take responsible what they say at all.
Always slow to respond and they don’t know the attitude.
First. Pay back my security deposit!
I paid the estimated electricity before the lease began.
And all of my actual electricity was deducted from the security deposit. So the estimated electric I paid already should be paid back to me.
I am asking to make sure but the lady in charge, she doesn’t reply. Are they so that busy? She needs a month to email me back? She replied me once with such a «good» manner with no point. I’m still fighting.
Second. The lease office is weird too.
I was asked to pay the whole year rent to move in.
It was not that easy. So I made sure, from the second year, if I can pay the rent monthly or I need to pay the year rent again. And they said I could do monthly payment.
Since this is a big difference to me, I made sure and they said «Yes, you can do monthly».
Oh yes, then they asked me the year rent when my lease was about to expire. They told me they never said yes to monthly payment.
I mean, if that’s the rule, it’s ok. If they told me so, I prepared for the year rent. I don’t see the point why they lie or say Yes/​No to the very important question without taking any responsible.
Third. They have a strict (mean) rule for the elevator.
The tenants are not allowed to use the elevator for moving on Sat and Sundays. But the end of the month I moved out, was Sat and Sunday unfortunately. They asked me to move out on Friday whic was 2days earlier. I asked if I could move out on Monday morning and they said they would charge the one day rent for that. It’s stupid. I am forced to move out 2days eariler and not getting «2 day rent back».
So I decided to move the furniture out on Friday
and take small things with me on Sunday night. Thank my new apartment is kind and flexible. Ok, Sunday night, I was carrying suitcases and small boxes. I did use the elevator back and forth for a couple of time. But it was Sunday late night. Nobody was there. The security guy came to me and took the cart I was using for carrying out the small stuff. For what??? For the security reason? What are they protecting?
Strange. I do have good memories too. But I forgot them all by these annoying experiences.

The building was comfortable to live, and a doorman in daytime was very friendly and attentive.
But the management was the worst.
Our last day was Sunday, but they don’t accept to move out Saturday and Sunday.
There is no exceptional.
They also ban to move stuff by our car, taxi, über.
Actually we moved some stuff by ourselves, but they banned using an elevator and a cart.
No one was using the elevator on Sunday night.
Now we’ve been asking about our bill of the last electric payment for two month, but we haven’t received an answer yet.
They aren’t nice to people who moved out at all.
They don’t try to give back our money.

HORRIBLE HORRIBLE PEOPLE AT THE LEASING OFFICE.
We stayed at waterside plaza for one year, the first time around when we signed the lease it was all good and went smoothly. Next year, we wanted to move to another apartment next year and they gave us a horrible time. JOSEFFA AND ANGELO ARE THE WORST. Lucy was the one we talked to last time, but this year we ended up with these two lunatics. They are rude and hostile, and have no sense of formality and respect.
Angelo being a man talking to 3 girls way younger than him, still showed no sign of respect when talking, he was shouting and threatening us to take away our apartment, inspite of the fact that we had paid the security deposit and were going to pay the whole years rent at once.
Also, both of them tried to force us into paying for 6 days extra! did not allow us to MOVE OUT, though the rent was already pre-​paid for the whole year. and we were going to pay for the next year too, ALL BECAUSE THEY DID NOT HAVE AN ELEVATOR RESERVATION. how is that our fault?
then we asked if we could have both the apartments at the same time, while paying for 1 year rent for both and the extra six days, they just said no In Angelo’s own words «i cant give you both the places. period end of conversation.» my obvious question was why. and their answer for that was «cant give you both the places. period end of conversation» «you ask too many whys and thats not ok» I asked if they had an official document that states that i can’t hold two apartments at the same time, they didn’t even acknowledge it, even though i reiterated it 4 – 5 times.
They are a joke to be honest. Living here was pleasant but dealing with these two horrible horrible human beings who have no respect for their tenants or someone who wants to move in, being in the public relations business, i am sure they are not doing a very good job at all.
I feel like I have been taken advantage of because of my age and i think that is unfair and totally wrong. They need a change of staff immediately, if you read all the reviews on Unilocal almost all of them complain about how rude the workers are and there are tons of complains against Josefa, who in my opinion is incompetent to do this job.

We have lived here for a number of years and recently moved to a new unit. The construction was very shabby (for example, the paint falls off almost immediately except where it was sloppily painted on the door knobs, window frames, etc.). The materials are quite cheap. The doormen in particular have always been very good; however, after our walk through we were unable to get most of the things fixed in our apartment and/​or we needed to have the maintenance people come back numerous times. We’ve been told «they are done» even though we still need many repairs. We will have to do it ourselves (?). At the prices we pay, that seems insane. There are many things I like about Waterside but I would not recommend it now based on this experience.

This is another one of the «secret places» that I enjoy going to. You would most likely not know about this plaza if you did not live here. This area is beautiful and encompasses a large area next to the East River around 23^rd street. It is situated near the Asser Levy Recreation Center and park. There is also a jogging path around. On a given day, you’ll most likely see a lot of children in the plaza playing with their parents, and other people chilling around. I was surprised when I read the other reviews about living here, I guess the high price tag makes sense because of the one-​of-​a-​kind views that you will have — as well as the plethora of places around for your daily needs and the location. While I’ll take away one star because I wouldn’t want to live here since it’s expensive and I trust the other reviewers who say they’ve had subpar experiences, I’ll give Waterside Plaza four stars because it’s such a nice place to go to for the view, sereneness, and appearance. Check it out if you’re around the area, you don’t have to live here to explore the plaza.

Apartment complex with a lot of amenities in Manhattan.

Where do I start. My partner and I are currently resident at waterside.
Positive
— Waterside is a great place if you’re looking to live in Manhattan away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
— Movies/​Events in the plaza.
— Gym is clean and decent.
Negative
— Waterside isn’t luxury by any means, the workers here are very rude and aggressive, and
— The grocery store is over priced.
— The stationary store charged my credit card 10 times before I finally found out and when I confronted the owner she banned me from ever using my Credit Card in the store again with no refund.
— A number of time the door man refused to receive/​sign for me package.
— The plaza area are packed with kids I had a kid throw chips over the landing on me once.
— The electricity waterside uses isn’t ConEd and the electricity here is outrageously expensive.
— Food in the area isn’t great.
I would definitely not recommend anyone to move to waterside.

PROS–
Great security and doormen
Nice views
Spacious rooms
Nice laundry rooms
Maintenance quick for repairs
CONS–
Too expensive
Tenants have to pay for expensive air conditioning and heat
Air conditioner of apt above me leaks into my apt when I have window open
Small elevators — my couch almost didn’t fit
Maintenancet never offered to paint my apt in 15 years
Bad plumbing
No place for my guests to lock up their bikes
Guests have to get access passes when they visit you
Guest access passes only work at the doorman entrance — why bother?
Only one bus and it stops running after 1 a.m.
On site grocery store is too expensive

I’ll start my review with the positives:
— Waterside Plaza is secluded and quiet. Manhattan can be loud, obnoxious, and crowded and coming home to a serene and spacious plaza is really wonderful most nights.
— The outdoor space on the plaza is amazing. You can sit outside with food, drinks, and friends when the weather is willing to cooperate.
— The doormen are the best.
— Apartments are very spacious and you will not pay an arm and a leg for rent like neighboring PC & Sty Town.
— Views are unbelievable
— Close proximity to the East River Ferry and the East River running path
— The M34A stops right downstairs. You barely have to leave your apartment to get on the bus. M15 and M23 bus lines are also just a block or so away.
— There is a Gristedes on the plaza. I would never actually grocery shop there due to the quality of the produce and meat (and the high price tags!) but if you are in a pinch it’s nice to know that you have a quick option right downstairs.
— There is also a dry cleaner on the plaza who will deliver your items straight to the doorman of your building. The staff there are super nice and helpful.
Downside:
— MANAGEMENT. Every single time I have contacted the office about something I speak with the absolute rudest people who take no ownership of anything and try to shove you off on someone else. Problem with laundry? Not us! Call Hercules. Problem with electricity? Not us! Call Elemco. Problem with anything? Not our problem! You truly feel like you mean absolutely nothing (outside of paying rent every month) to these people. It’s a shame because Waterside is such a community. You would think management would want to foster that community environment… but you’ll learn quickly that they don’t want to be bothered with the residents.
— Security. They look nice at their posts on the pedestrian bridge and downstairs but that is pretty much the extent of their «power.» Just hope to God that your neighbors don’t throw loud parties or leave garbage all over the trash room because you’ll be told there is nothing security can do. I’m not sure what the point of the lease terms are if they are completely unenforceable by Waterside staff.
— It is far from the subway but that should be pretty apparent before you sign a lease…

I don’t live here. I just have a few friends that do. This place looks really nice with a common area between the buildings and fountains. What I love most is the benches they have facing East River. The view is gorgeous if you can catch it at the right time. Many of the UN workers live here because of its proximity to the UN school.
There is a Gristedes on location which is convenient if you need to pick something up in a hurry but really, who wants to shop at that overpriced scamhouse?
The only downside is that it’s all the way across the FDR which makes it a little difficult to get to. You have to cross a pedestrian bridge every time you leave and it’s nowhere close to a subway station.
The apartments are pretty nice and quite spacious and new. If the location weren’t so remote, I’d consider living here.

This complex is horribly, HORRIBLY managed. Starting with Faith Jacobs, she does not know how to talk to a existing tenant. The building is not timely managed. The main building manager Peter Davis is a cocky guy who send out emails and doesn’t bother to help the building in any way shape or form. They put areas of the building out of service at the worst times such as shutting down the ramp over the FDR and the pool in the dead heat of the summer.
Get ready because from 5pm-​6pm when people are coming home from work and it’s rush hour… 1 of the elevators is out of service because they take out the garbage at that time. Two elevators don’t go all the way down to the main level. So good luck waiting on an elevator line. The patio has a curfew at night 11pm and you literally get kicked out.
Security guards are absolutely rude and unorganized. They have a chip on there shoulder and treat everyone (you and your visitors) very poorly. It was embarrassing to have people over with the treatment they showed toward everyone.
The leasing office — Josepha along with the rest of the leasing office is a poor excuse for a realtor. They will help you get in, but they won’t help you when you move out or with security deposits. Hallways and elevators are not air conditioned during the hottest times of the year. Laundry room is not taken care of when machines go down.
Garbage rooms are gross. Go take out your garbage and you’ll feel like you just opened up a portal onto Staten Island.
The gym is not free, it’s dirty. I live in a building now on the west side that is so much nicer and the gym is triple the size and free.
This location is so far out of the way, I don’t know why I lived here. Being an out of towner really hurt my judgement. But after one year… You won’t walk, you will run away from this building.
Here are the good things. Don’t blink:
Doormen are the most friendliest people I’ve met.
Health club manager knows how to treat her members. Very fair and understanding.
Supermarket people are very nice, but super slow workers.
And this building is on the east river running path. So if you run… There is a plus.
My opinion? Move someplace that actually makes you feel like you live in NYC. Living in waterside is like having your pinky toe in the city.

Moved here was told electric bill for a 2 bedroom would be about 1200.00 a year. Bill this month, after keeping all the lights off when Not in the room and thermostat at 68 on all heaters, $ 600.00