I stayed in the St John's Apartments for 3 years. I'm not from the NJ area, so it was a bit of an adjustment.

The building must be 40 years old. For starters, we only had one telephone line, retro-fit some time after the telephone was invented, and it was in the second bedroom; we had an extension cable dragged out into the living room for the entire stay. The heating is a centralized steam-driven thing, and about twice a year it will just get all messed up and spill water all over the place. The rest of the time, you either get heat or cool, and you get to select Lots or a Little; no thermostats here. Because there are too many old people in the building, too, it's only switched to A/C for 3 months out of the year. Don't plan on buying an A/C either: you're forbidden from removing the screens or having any kind of heater/cooler in the units.

They provide W/D in a basement room, and in the late summer, it seems that the smoke from that skunkweed-smoking bastard up on 8 who comes down to fill the laundry room with his turkish death gas every day is the only thing to keep the waves of 3-inch roaches from spilling out from under the electrical room door. No, I never saw a roach in the apartment, but I'm not Totally Convinced they stayed in the basement.

During our stay in the building, the outside was being refinished, and, as is the case for any 6-month construction project in NJ, the job took 18 months: cranes workingall damned day, the most annoying mini-jackhammer making its grinding/thudding noise on the walls, please do not try working from home or sleeping in sick if the buildings are being resurfaced. I was used to the rest of the rather loud ambient noise from the central HVAC building on the back of the parking lot, so it was only a minor bother.

The shower has reasonable pressure. The NJ water supply needs a brita filter. The power grid in the area is Largely stable. Verizon cannot run either DSL or voice service to save their own lives (and I know better).

When you move in, take some polaroids of EVERYTHING you possibly notice in the place in the first month, get them developed, and mail them to yourself (US post) in a sealed envelope which you will not then open until you're moving out and the landlord tries to stiff you for the horrendous scuffmarks that you didn't cause, or the burn-like marks on the tiles that are caused by the prison-detail (think: chain gang) that they employ to repaint apartments. Go down tot he laundry room and snap a few shots of roach carcasses, too, so you can send it to your friends. The landloard isn't a bad guy, but he needs to be reminded that you're not a vandal at times.

The complex has one tiny weight room, access to which requiring more credentials than some top-secret military complexes, stocked with about 6 treadmills and derivatives, one nautilus unit and 2-3 other contraptions. get a membership at bally's.

The pool is open about 3 months out of the year (the same months when the roaches are in the laundry rooms and when the HVAC is switched to 'somewhat cool') and costs about 100-200 dollars for the 'year' of membership. Just don't plan on using it.

The complex is rather conveniently close to the Journal Square PATH line; about 5-10 minute walk past the White Castle, a decent bakery and pizza joint as well, and so commuting to The City is possible. Trians run every half hour, usually, and seem to leave the station exactly as you've almost arrived there to catch one. Just plan on waiting 30 minutes!

The building intercom system is a relic, it costs too much to fix, and so they employ a doorman to announce callers and delivery men. About 40 hours a week they also employ a postal droid to accept Fedex for you - but just ask the doorman to grab anything important, and tip him well, and you'll get your stuff far more easily - no, Abe Lincoln isn't a tip.

The security is one fat kid who doesn't speak english. There was one person robbed ont he grounds each year, on average, just walking from their car. If you choose to pay the near extortion fees of renting a parking space, don't leave anything in your car, don't even leave change in the tray, or losers from the low-rent next door will break a window to get it. Yes, everyone has a car alarm, and yes, they all ring, once each per night, so don't plan on hearing yours and somehow getting down to street level in time to prevent a theft. The only blessing is that the parking gates cannot be opened from the inside OR outside without the keyfob, so your car isn't in great risk of being stolen. Oh, yeah: there's a 3-month waiting list for a parking spot, no matter how often they raise the rates (and they do).

In all, though, if you have a really good job in The City, don't have a car that you need to park and are lucky enough to get an apartment that faces OUT on the 12th floor or above (avoid the leaky 16th floor apts) so you have a view, it's an acceptable place to live.

But maybe get a few competitive quotes in the area so that you can compare.

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