The Montenegro of Astoria

Note: As of June 2014 there is an active construction site directly next to the Montenegro of Astoria building. Work begins each morning around 715 a.m. and sometimes occurs on Saturdays starting around 800 a.m. If you were to take an apartment in the Northern end of the MoA building and the apartment also faces Manhattan, you will be able to hear the construction even with your windows closed.
At the (slow) rate they are going, I would imagine the construction will be continuing at least through the Summer of 2015.
Also note that while the building is ‘rent stabilized’, that that term is a bit misleading. Rent stabilized does not necessarily mean you are getting a good deal. The rules around rent-​stabil are also (purposefully?) confusing. If I have it right (and you can google to find more info), ‘rent-​stabil’ simply means that the bldg owner can not raise the rent above the % allowed by the City Rental Board (or whatever it’s called) in any given year. Right now the 1BRs in this bldg. rent for approx. $ 2350 – 2600 depending on the floor the apartment is on and which side it faces (which all determines the kind of view you have) with some apts costing more than that if they have a private terrace.
This past year, for rent-​stabil. buildings, I think the City said the owners of such buildings could ‘only’ ask tenants for a 4.00% increase for a 1-​year lease renewal, or 7.75% for a two-​year lease renewal. If your rent is currently $ 2400, even renewing for just one year at 4%, that means your monthly rent will increase by about $ 100/​month. I wouldn’t exactly jump for joy over that ‘low increase’, and keep in mind each year such buildings are going to want to raise the rent, and that $ 100/​month increase for this year will likely be $ 120 the next year, $ 140 the next, and so on (since the increases are a PERCENTAGE of your current rent and not a flat $ amount increase).
Also, a nice little secret they don’t come out and tell you is that (and again you can google this as I found it very confusing)…once the rent hits $ 2500 for any particular unit, as soon as the current tenant moves out, that unit is no longer rent-​stabilized and the bldg owner can now charge whatever they please.
If you’ve done your research about the going rates for similar luxury rental buildings in Astoria, and the fact that Astoria is becoming an extension of the LIC waterfront, you can see where rents in this building are headed. So you’d need to think hard about whether you are ok with the writing on the wall.