The Helena

I just move out from this luxury building locate by the river,
the traffic noise is costant in one year I do not remember having a really quite night, and I lived on one
of the higher floors of these high rise.
the noise from 57th street combines with the west side high way and the next avenue
to create a and constant rumbling of cars tracks and honking.
not to mention the near by TV studios and production companies that fill up often with crowds of screaming fans.
The building has a really bad ventilation, there was NO vent in the kitchen and for what ever reason when some one in another apartment cooks or smoke or worse smoke marijuana or cigars, the smell spreads to all other apartments and linger.
The building is located cross the street from one of the city garbage department depot, some thing I did not see
until after moving in.
There are several constructions going on around the building and that not only ads to the noise but the ammount of dust.
The building has what seems a large amount of low income renters they did effects the atmosphere of the building.
The building seem attractive from the outside and does offer an open view on most floors but when all of the above are combined with a rent of 3-4 K for a bedroom it is not a place I would recommend.
The place is also attracting a lot of foreigner some very nice while others have no idea of
what consideration is and you might find yourself with the neighbour from hell playing loud music or a rumbling home theater subwoofer, or in my case both.
The building staff is very nice and helpful, and there are laundry rooms on each floor, but they are only 2 machines per floor
and if you are in a hurry you might have to go to another floor to do your laundry.
The open view is also another plus but depending on where you are located in the building you might just face a factory or a car shop and few construction sites
Last the building is located by the river and what initially looks like a nice walk to the river soon becomes a tediously long waste of time and when it rains or snow it is plain hell, a trip to the local supermarket or the closest subway station will take a good 15 minutes each way.
The building offers a free shuttle service in the morning and afternoon every 20-30 minutes, but no such luck in the evening or week ends when it might be needed the most.

Last updated: 8/11/2008

Recommended: NO Overall Rating

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