I moved to Gateway Plaza at the end of January to be closer to work. I got a decent deal, including 1 month free, lower monthly rent and a complimentary gym membership in addition to a move-in date almost 2 months after lease signing.
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I am in a 700 sq. ft. corner alcove studio on a high floor with beautiful views of the Statue of Liberty, Hudson River and the financial district. My unit is gut-renovated with parquet wood floors, brand new stainless steel kitchen appliances, marble countertops and ceramic tile. Bathroom fixtures are brand new. They also installed blinds, however, the windows are single pane and somewhat drafty. This is to be expected in an older building, but I will go into why it is a problem later.
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Move-in was a breeze, they allocate a 3 hour window where you have exclusive access to the loading dock and freight elevator. Getting the keys were annoying because the Super has to let you in initially and then change your lock after you move in. It took several hours for this to be done, prior to which I couldn't lock my door. The next day, I had a large furniture delivery come in ahead of schedule, and management called to notify me, and tell me next time I have to book the loading dock. They let me authorize delivery over the phone and the Super helped get everything into my apartment since I was still at work.
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Here's where it gets interesting. I have 2 giant cooling/heating units. The first three days I spent in my apartment, I had my heater on only at night (high) and was still cold--especially when I was more than a few feet away from the source. It sounded and felt like I was using a blow-dryer for heat. Then, I get my first electricity bill...for $82. If it costs that much for THREE DAYS, then imagine what it would be for a month! I consulted a friend who also lives in Gateway. The bill for his 2-bedroom is $500 per month. After speaking with management, he discovered that the units are not designed for heating and they are indeed like inefficient blow-dryers. After that, I did not use heat for the entire month of February and my electricity bill came out to $35. I've gotten used to the temperature in my apartment being 55 degrees.
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That aside, I'm pretty happy with this place. Compared to the 3 apartments I've had in Midtown, Gateway is definitely cleaner, nicer and much more serene. Gateway also allows pets of all sizes, which is RARE in NYC. My commute to work @ WFC is 5 minutes door to door. While there is a shortage of food in the area, I've managed to find a few good spots and Delivery.com does the rest. I also signed up for a Primecard for 10% off at all Gristedes, which makes the prices not so outrageous.
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Hope this helps you make your decision about Gateway Plaza.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/21/2009
Is this building rent stabilized? Or not? What is the legal guideline for new leases? I understand that the rent stabilization laws will likely be extended for a couple of years. What will that mean to people at Gateway?
From: hellomouse	Date: 03/21/2009
It's rent stabilized for many existing tenants, but my apartment was at market and I'm guessing most new leases are going to be the same. Given the state of the economy, I don't expect rents to be increasing by much if at all for the next few years. Rent stabilized apartments will most likely see a higher percentage increase than non-stabilized (e.g. 4.5% vs 0%).
From: Piet_M	Date: 03/21/2009
This reviewer is a real estate agent at a company that makes money from renting apartments at Gateway Plaza (read her review!). She is certainly not going to tell you the truth which is that gateway plaza is not a nice place to live. What a conflict of interest for her to write a review on this site.
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/25/2009
..You don't need a broker to rent a place in Gateway. Although the rental office itself (!) tried to take a fee from a friend who yelled at them so they decided not to charge a finder's fee in the end (i.e. not to steal money from her). But they certainly tried..
From: ChewableC	Date: 03/26/2009
I have been here for quite awhile, and the excuses for why the heating bills are so expensive and apartments so drafty never cease to amaze me: this is the first time I have heard that the heating units were not made to heat, though! One thing I encourage new tenants to do is weatherproof their windows, heating units and doors. I was amazed at how much cold air leaks through unseen cracks. Since management will not do it, take it upon yourself to fill gaps with insulating foam, weatherstrip your front door, and plug holes via caulking or sealing areas with a sheet of plastic. Cold air even comes in around the baseboards! Once fully sealed, my apartment stayed warm enough to not necessitate using the heat most of the time. All of this would be unnecessary if Gateway would simply seal all gaps from the OUTSIDE while they are doing all of the mandated concrete patching. On the other hand, this would decrease the profit from high heating bills...
From: cestlavie99	Date: 03/29/2009
I have lived in Gateway for 3 years. Also have problem with the heating system there. The unit is working at all (meaning, it's on but not warm at all) so the electricity bill is high but you still feel cold. so, I bought two portable heater but still not enough but at least it's quieter. The management has changed the unit for me but they only replaced by a refurbished unit so it only gets slightly better. so, even though the overall rent is lower than those in Manhattan but we have to pay for the heat which is very expensive and still feel cold. so, when you add up the bill, it's not cheaper. so, i decide to move out this summer when my lease is up. It's renter's market right now.
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/05/2009
Some of these reponses make no sense. Why would the leasing office try to charge someone a fee and then offer them 1 or 2 months free rent!! I think that the person who wrote that response made that up...or at least his/her friend made that up. I am starting to not believe a lot of these posts.
From: huck9771	Date: 05/09/2009
My gf and I turned on the heat in our apartment ONCE this winter - and it was a cold winter. our Elec bills were about $50 a month. not bad. but maybe we are from hardier stock.

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