The roaring generator on India Street in Greenpoint sounded like a jet engine, even from an apartment hundreds of feet above the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
For more than a month, the machinery powered an entire 40-story building known as The Greenpoint after a Sept. 6 electrical fire forced management to disconnect the complex from the power grid.<\/p>\n
The constant drone disturbed Carola Fuchser, a tech sales manager who lives on the 25th floor. But she said she was lucky compared to tenants on lower floors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt literally feels like a helicopter is landing on top of their apartment 24\/7,\u201d she said over the din from her balcony.<\/p>\n
Building manager Rose Associates finally reconnected the electrical system and shut off the generator late in the day on Oct. 7, just over a month after the building lost power. But residents say the fire, and the company’s response, sparked anger and exposed deeper problems in what is marketed as a high-end residence completed eight years ago.<\/p>\n
Fuchser, one of the leaders of a new building tenant association, cited a lack of safety alerts, routine hot water outages and insufficient communication from management about what is happening in the building.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aI think we all understand that sometimes incidents like a fire can happen, and there can certainly be significant impact to building infrastructure,\u201d she said. \u201cBut for the amount that me and many other residents are paying here \u2026 the basic building infrastructure seems to be lacking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fuchser pays $5,800 a month for her one-bedroom perch, which boasts sweeping views of Manhattan across the river, Long Island City to the north and miles east into Brooklyn. Rents for other apartment in the building reach $12,000-a-month<\/a> and some condos have been listed for nearly $3 million.<\/a><\/p>\n The high prices haven\u2019t bought peace of mind.<\/p>\n A fire in an eighth-floor electrical closet prompted building management to disconnect from the city\u2019s power grid.<\/p>\n David Brand<\/p>\n Residents have filed 272 complaints for frequent hot water and power outages in the 463-unit complex over the past two years, including 191 since the Sept. 6 fire. The city\u2019s Department of Housing Preservation and Development has issued 38 violations against the building since the blaze. And one tenant, who has helped organize dozens of neighbors, sued the building owner, 19 India Fee Owner LLC, in housing court last week.<\/p>\n Building management referred questions to spokesperson Richard Shea, who said staff \u201cworked with urgency to remove the building from generator power, which has successfully maintained all building services and functionality.\u201d<\/p>\n Shea said an \u201celectrical malfunction\u201d in a building riser affected some of the mechanical systems, but that management followed all city rules to restore power.<\/p>\n \u201cEmergency generator power supported these mechanical systems for several weeks as repairs were completed to facilitate the building’s transition back to grid power,\u201d he said. \u201cThis transition is now complete and the generator has been turned off.\u201d<\/p>\n Sculptures by the artist Kaws stand near the entrance to The Greenpoint.<\/p>\n David Brand<\/p>\n The Greenpoint is just one of a dozen high-rises that have come to dominate the neighborhood’s waterfront in recent years. The building features sweeping views of Manhattan across the East River and an array of amenities, including a basketball court, pool hall and Peloton bikes. Two sculptures by the artist Kaws stand outside the riverside entrance.<\/p>\n But many of the new complexes have also faced their share of problems, including flooding and brown, murky water flowing from the taps.<\/p>\n A March analysis<\/a> by Gothamist found that around 10% of roughly 1,600 residential buildings that opened since 2016 had at least one housing code violation per apartment \u2013 higher than the citywide rate of 0.8 violations per unit. The review covered buildings that had received a property tax break through the state\u2019s 421a abatement program.<\/p>\n Ingrid Manevitz, a real estate attorney who handles construction defect litigation, said problems in so-called luxury buildings touch a nerve with residents.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople feel very ripped off if you\u2019ve paid top dollar for your apartment,\u201d Manevitz said. \u201cEven the very, very high-end apartments have issues.\u201d<\/p>\n The Greenpoint was constructed in 2018 through a partnership with Mack Real Estate, Palin Enterprises and Urban Development Partners. In 2019, the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System purchased a 50% stake in the building\u2019s rental operation, The Real Deal reported<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n The September fire galvanized tenants.<\/p>\n Fuchser said she first realized there was a problem when she saw dozens of fire trucks parked on the surrounding streets, then watched firefighters head for her building. A friend with the Citizen app received an alert saying the fire had started on the eighth floor. Fuchser said she decided to flee down the stairs.<\/p>\n \u201cIt got pretty scary when on the 15th floor, we started running into smoke in the stairwell,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She said smoke alarms never activated, and that building management did not notify residents about the cause of the fire until the next day. An email reviewed by Gothamist explained that the small blaze began in an electrical closet. An FDNY spokesperson said firefighters extinguished the fire just over an hour after receiving an emergency call around 8 p.m.<\/p>\n Luxury building, tenant organizers<\/p>\n