Normandie Court

Don't live here. There's been super intense drilling on the building for 6 weeks now (expected to continue for weeks more) and the management office refuses to offer any rent concession or alternative place to work during the day for those of us that WFH. It's so loud that I can't participate on Zoom calls and it's given me physical headaches. My rent also went up over 30% after my first year there. This management office doesn't care about their tenants.

I’ve lived here for almost a year and I can say that everyone’s pros and cons on here are pretty accurate. I’m very torn about whether or not to renew, because although I’m giving it only 2 stars now, it could easily be a 4 or even 5 star building if they pulled it together. It really COULD be a fantastic building – the bones are there (nice driveway and lobby, beautifully renovated apartments, big gym etc). The construction work on the 2^nd Ave subway drives me INSANE– but I do not blame Normandie for that.
For me to stay, here is what would need to change within the next few months:
1) ELEVATORS: okay nothing new here, but this is getting ridiculous. I live on a low floor so usually take the stairs (yes I pay $ 4300/​month to take the stairs), but I’ve still gotten stuck in the elevators TWICE despite how seldom I take them! Last time was only for 20 minutes, but the first time it was nearly 40 minutes.
2) GYM/​LOUNGE: nice gym and I don’t mind paying the membership fee. What I do mind is that despite paying for use of the gym AND the wifi lounge, the lounge is closed for 4 hour blocks almost every weekend because they rent it out for private parties. I didn’t mind when it was occasional, but it’s constant now. I PAY TO USE THE LOUNGE! It was a huge part of why I chose this building because I can’t ever get any work done in my own apartment. I’m not saying never rent it out, but maybe they should raise the prices for renting it out so it’s less of an issue. Again… I paid for it. Also, the gym and lounge should be open later! (8pm on Fridays and 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays? In NYC with working professionals? Are you kidding? And honestly the lounge – if not the gym too – should be ²⁴⁄₇)
3) LAUNDRY: Laundry is fine for the most part (once they restocked the laundry cards 3 months later) but there are only 2 «big» washer/​dryers (i.e. ones for bedding, towels, etc). I wish they’d get more, but not a deal breaker. What might be a dealbreaker is one of them has been broken for over 2 months and hasn’t been fixed! Half of Normandie sharing one dryer that can accommodate bedding? I can only get the working one when I do my laundry in the middle of the night.

Love living in this building. Great staff, beautiful building with gym on top floor and roof deck. Pool, maid service, concierge, and awesome views of the city!

My boyfriend and I love living here. We haven’t encountered any elevator problems as the renovation is complete. I have not seen one bug. No noise except for the 2^nd ave. subway construction which is not Normandie’s fault. The grounds are very clean and safe. The gym is adequate and has plenty of fitness classes. The building is very convenient to up and coming bars and restaurants on the UES. I had reservations about moving in after reading the bad reviews. I’m glad that I got over that.

When I look back at all the places my family has lived in the past 10 years this place is heaven. To address bug comment all you do is ask the maintenance for an extermination. For the smoke issue maintenance will seal all around your floorboards. This helps unless it comes from the exhaust vent.
When something needs repair you contact them and they repair it within twenty four hours.
They have email notifications of all activities, They invite you to free parties a couple times a year. The laundry room and package room are in the building. I’ve never had an issue with loss.
I’ve never seen homeless in the area. They have twenty four hour staff at the front desk. the security is twenty four hour and roams the grounds.
My family lives at Normandie and I’ve had friends live at Normandie in the past. You don’t pay a fee to find an apartment.
They decorate for holidays and keep the grounds full of flowers. The employees are all very friendly and family oriented.
The rent has gone up to the point where it makes it hard to remain living here. Yes, the 2^nd avenue subway construction keeps you up at night and disturbs your daily peace and quiet. Not Normandie’s fault.
Any place you rent you might get an a-​hole neighbor so that’s a given. All of the good points outweigh the bad in the end.
If my family could afford to stay they would, until they leave the city, or leave the State of New York altogether!
One last thing! the elevators are complete. The people always complaining are the very ones that could use the exercise taking the stairs. If you live on a high floor planning the extra time would have kept you from being late for work. And no one mentioned the management gave three month free gym membership during this time to be used any time this year. Also they let everyone that wanted to move break their lease penalty free during this renovation. Don’t forget all the free breakfast buffets too. Lots of yummy food!
What do these people want. They just need something to complain about. I’m upgrading to five stars!

I’ve lived at Normandie Court for 3 years in the 225 building and I’m very surprised by some if the terrible reviews.
Yes, the elevators have been the biggest problem but even when they’ve been bad I’ve never waited more than 5 minutes. Usually I only wait a minute.
Yes, the gym pool sundeck isn’t included. I’m no gym rat but it looks like they’ve got a lot of equipment. The pool is good and the sundecks are clean. Sometimes they hold free events fir the residents up there and they’re lame… but free.
No, there is not a bug problem. I saw one roach down in the otherwise immaculate laundry room in 3 years. The place is overall very clean and I am a clean freak.
No, I’ve never had a problem with management. Never even had to get involved.
No, there aren’t homeless people outside the door. There are huge plazas that are public, so you can’t control who comes in or out of them, but I’ve never felt unsafe.
No, the noise is not unbearable. I hear NO ONE unless they are in the halls. I face 96^th st and guess what… there’s traffic noise, but it’s nyc. Nights and sunday mornings are surprisingly quiet.
No cigarette smoke on my floor. Don’t smell any from the elevator either. We had one problem neighbor who must’ve smoked pot, which you might smell here and there very late at night, but they moved out or stopped bc there’s been no problem in 2 years.
Package room is clean and efficient. I get a lot of deliveries and haven’t lost anything.
Repair requests are completed same day and sometimes immediately, on evenings ire weekends too. Oncell the sink clogged at 9pm. They opened it by 930.
I order food 3 to 4x per week. Only once was it misdirected to the wrong apt.
Overall, I’ve been very happy here along with my fiancée — and I am not easily satisfied. 225 might be very different from the other towers, I don’t know, but 225 is a fine value.

Review edit: the doormen are amazing. They deserve to work for a better building. Everything else stands true.
What is good about Normandy court? Let me see? NOTHING. This is coming from a girl who lived in a walk up in Astoria for the last 3 years. Please, please, please DO NOT be like me and be naïve about the reviews! I feel so stupid! It’s been four of the worst months of my entire TEN years in NYC! The elevator WILL make you late to work! Have a dog?! Well great! Hope they never need to walk outside! I’ve seen more people move out of this building in four months then I’ve seen move in and there’s a reason! We’ve called management (FYI they don’t care) Have a health problem and live on the 28^th floor? guess what? Hope you die! Literally they will do nothing to address the over packed and over crammed elevators. I’ve seen old people w hip replacements screamed at by angry, half hour, waiting mobs and have to wait even longer outside the elevator. I have over 30 pictures on my phone of elevator lines –I’ve been waiting on for over a half hour. You are better off living in a 37 floor walk up! Don’t even get me started on the laundry room, all the broken gym equipment?! Seriously is this a joke?! I feel like it’s the most expensive joke ever. I lived in luxury when I lived for $ 700 in Astoria and had a roof top! This place sucks and they won’t and will not reduce rent. Also, our AC leaked and raised all the wood tiles and we were supposed have a brand new apartment! Oh yeah! Cockroaches! The biggest and ugliest I’ve ever seen and in your hallways. Seriously, I will call 311 every day until the day I move out (which sadly is 8 LONG months from now). Worst «luxury» apartment in NYC. I am embarrassed when my friends and family come over. I plan on telling EVERY person I see coming to rent in the elevator to stay FAR FAR away.

As of today, the «renovated» elevators are still not working. I am unable to leave my apartment as I don’t want to go down 30 floors.
Please don’t move here.

We recently moved out of Normandie Court after a 10-​month stay. Given the elevator issues (highlighted below), the management office allowed us to break our lease and move out. We honestly felt the management office should have informed us (before we moved in) that an elevator modernization project was set to begin 2 months after our move-​in date. Some pros and cons below:
Pros:
— The staff is courteous and friendly. We honestly miss some of them
— Contrary to some of the reviews below, we felt the management office was professional and was put in an impossible situation (elevators breaking down daily, irate tenants…). Given this, they are doing a decent job in our view
Cons:
— The noise level (we were facing 96^th street) was unbearable. This was probably a bigger issue for us than the elevator. Our infant son kept waking up from his nap every time a siren went by. With the FDR/​96^th Street entrance on the east end and a hospital nearby, there is a ridiculous amount of siren noise 24-​hours a day. Before you rent a unit there, I suggest you stand at the corner of 3^rd Ave/​96^th Street for 10 – 15 minutes and judge for yourself
— The elevator situation was unbearable. Although there are 3 elevators, with one under repair, another one in trouble, only one elevator was working most of the time (especially rush hour). You’re left thinking: «WTF are these people doing??? Why am I staying here???» We decide to take the pain of another move (and associated costs) and vote with our feet.
To conclude, once the elevator modernization project is complete, Ogden Cap will likely start to raise rent again and more people will flock in. Please keep in mind the noise level coming from 96^th Street and the mistreatment endured by the tenants for 12 – 18 months.

Sam in security was most helpful when our company accidentally sent a piece of furniture in the wrong color to one of their residents. He passed on the watch letting the other guards know we would have someone pick it up. Seems simple but he saved us thousands of dollars by being a good person. Thank you Sam you are the man!

I’ve been living here for 3 years now. The first 2 years were ok. This past year has been terrible. There is frequently only one elevator working for 34 floors of people due to the elevator «modernization» management implemented. I often have to wait 15 to 20 minutes in order to get onto a packed elevator whether I’m going up or down. It’s a horrible way to start your morning or to end your long day.
While the doormen and staff are incredibly nice, management has been nothing but inconsiderate and useless. Not one person from the management office has taken any responsibility for the elevator «modernization» disaster. Every time I write a rent check I feel like I’m being robbed. In addition to there not being consistently and properly running elevators, the washing machines (which also underwent a «modernization/​upgrade») break more than I think they should, as well as the machine to re-​fill your pre-​paid laundry cards. Also, I assume because of the 2^nd Avenue subway construction, there are frequently rats scurrying around outside where the Rite Aid is.
I believe that I’m over charged in rent even with an apartment that hasn’t been renovated in decades and elevators that are constantly broken. I can only imagine how much rent they will charge if and when the elevators are working properly. I really truly believe that you can find a better deal in Manhattan. This place is not worth it!!! If you’re looking for a full service building, there are ones further east (on York and 1^st Ave) that have fully functioning elevators and reasonable rents for Manhattan. I am fortunately moving out in 3 months and am counting down the days. If you are thinking of moving to Normandie, I recommend you visit during peak hours in the morning and evening to get a realistic feel of what it’s like to live here.
Oh and regarding the pool and gym, you have to pay the entire year’s worth of membership fees up front. You’re better off joining NYSC a few blocks away.

I just moved out of Normandie Court and I could NOT be happier!!! Below are just a few of the qualms I have with this building…
1) COSTLY — Don’t be fooled by the gym/​lounge room/​roof pictures– you will not be permitted in any of these areas unless you pay a significant amount of money in addition to your rent.
2) NOISEY — In addition to being next to a HOSPITAL and on the TRUCK ROUTE (so you’ll have ambulances and truck horns blaring all night) we dealt with issues ranging from: loud pipe banging (regardless of whether or not the heat was on), VERY thin walls (I lived on the top floor, and I kid you not, I could hear conversations on the sidewalk, a baby crying incessantly next door, conversations from the apt below, weights being thrown down in the gym (which is directly above the top floor– but even people on the floor below us complained about this noise– I had to sleep with earplugs every night), etc.
4) DOORMEN/​SECURITY — Some of the doormen are very nice (hence the 2 star review as opposed to 1) but they are just for show. 100s of people live in this building, and they have no idea who actually lives here and who doesn’t. All of my friends who stopped by my apt for the first time were NEVER stopped at the front desk.
5) BUGS — I lived on the top (34^th) floor, and despite keeping the place clean and hiring a cleaning lady who came twice/​month, we had COCKROACHES!!!
6) SMELL — Residents are allowed to smoke CIGARETTES in their apartments (according to the building contract) and our apartment constantly REEKED of cigarettes from neighbors on the floor. You’ll see similar complaints in comments below mine. Despite numerous calls to security and emails to management, this was never resolved.
7) ELEVATORS — Not only were the elevators completely out of service on many occasions (which meant doing 34 flights of stairs), but I often had to wait TEN MINUTES for an elevator. Craziness.
While the cost of living in this building is low (especially for NY) remember that this price translates into dated apartments, thin walls, roof/​gym/​lounge access which is NOT included in your rent, and malfunctioning elevators. In the end, I found that I’d rather pay more to live elsewhere and not have to deal with all of these issues on a consistent basis.
Then again, if you’re a heavy sleeper who won’t get awoken by trucks/​ambulances blaring their horns throughout the night, you don’t mind the permanent stench of secondhand smoke, and you aren’t sickened by the sight of cockroaches, then this apt may be perfect for you!

The doorman is so sweet! It’s a really nice building and it’s also a block from the liquor store WOO

Better off moving to a walk up! Elevators are constantly breaking down and I have waited up to 25 mins to get up to my apt. The building hasn’t been updated for 30 years which includes the elevators. Going under modernization now but it’s a nightmare. If you enjoy tacking on an extra 30 minutes to your commute, please enjoy! Only saving grace are the friendly doormen…

There really aren’t words to describe how much I hate living here. My next apartment will be a walk up. Also, I’d die happy if I never had to read a «more bad news but tough shit suckers» e-​mail from Kate Sullivan ever again. Ignore the well-​below-​market rent. Stay away from this complex at all costs!!!

Have lived here 3 years. First 2 were great. Happily referred many friends here. Last one has been disappointing. Pretty positive that we will not renew.
Cons:
–The rent is high for how north in Manhattan you are. I used to think it was a good value due to amenities and apartment condition, but given all the problems we’ve had and outlined below this year, plus the rent hikes that are becoming more common by management, the value is no longer there. It’s just overpriced.
–Love secondhand smoke? PERFECT, because entire floors of each building smell like cigarette smoke — literally in the hallway. Nope, you’re not in a basement of a club or a cigar lounge, you’re just walking to your apartment (or even riding the elevator or walking through the stairwell — it’s strongly detectable there too!!) and you will get a mouthful of someone else’s toxins.
Management will try to fix it but in the end it’s never fully fixed or enforced. It’s disgusting and can’t understand how this is allowed. It’s not acceptable for this building as expensive and tightly managed as it is. Even if you live on a separate floor, you will encounter it and it sometimes wafts up to other floors. It’s an unacceptable risk one takes when moving here.
–The modernization project makes it almost like you live in a walk up here. An entire elevator is out, and oftentimes one of the two break. We basically don’t use our elevator anymore. We signed a lease and management failed to explain this value would not be there for the year. Good luck if you’re living on a higher floor.
To their credit, the porters and maintenance staff are very kind, helpful, and understanding when this happens, even though it’s not their fault.
–Maintenance is good and available, but sometimes it takes multiple rounds and a lot of time to get very basic problems fixed.
–While it has lots of amenities, you have to pay for the gym and roof (it’s not cheap, either). Also, you can’t go at your leisure, you must stick to their hours. The gym hours are a bit weird — it closes early evening on Sundays and by 10 pm weekdays.
Pros:
–Clean, never have seen a single rat or roach. Really impeccable how clean it is.
–Apartments are generally nicely renovated with full size appliances.
–Apartments are very generous in size and spacious. GREAT storage space.
–Water is always warm.
–Laundry is fine, convenient and dry cleaning even delivered.
–Doormen are helpful and the building feels very safe. Package room is great and safe way to get packages delivered.
–As above, maintenance is generally available and helpful. Nice benefit of a full service building.
–Subway and buses are close.
–Office staff is generally helpful.
–Whenever the modern elevators are installed, they should be nice and alleviate a lot of the traffic.
–Neighbors are generally fine and respectful.
Don’t believe the Dormandie name — this is a totally different building now. The people are generally nice and quiet, lots of families and young professionals.
Getting moved in and stuff generally wasn’t an issue. Never really had trouble getting furniture delivered. The team has generally been very kind and helpful with that.

This building has the potential to be great if the elevators worked. At the end of the day, if you cannot safely leave or get home to your apartment then what does it matter if there’s a roof deck and a gym in the building? I would have preferred to be in a walk-​up building with no amenities then to live here.
When I first moved in, 3 elevators was barely enough to serve 900 apartments which are mostly converted into more bedrooms than the natural floor plan (aka more people that need to use the elevator). Within a few months of living here I was stuck in the elevator not once, but twice. One time for more than 20 minutes, the second time was brief but still frightening.
Since then there has been only 0 – 2 working elevators on/​off. Yes, there is times when an e-​mail is sent out that there are NO working elevators in the building. Because of the increased weight load (from everyone cramming into one elevator) in the other two elevators, the cables are breaking and they often need to be repaired as well (yikes!!). You can imagine rush hour mornings and Sunday evenings trying to return or get down from the 30^th+ floor with one or no elevator.
There has been no compensation for the frustration. Because I feel my safety is at risk, I have chosen to move out early and pay two rents for the remaining months of my lease (which is cheaper then terminating the actual lease with their fees).
I believe the management should give tenants a discounted rent or help with move out fees for the many tenants choosing to move out.

Elevator problem is so big that it doesn’t make up for anything else that is decent about the building.
There have been times when none of the elevators are working and good luck if you live above 10 floors.
You would have to wait 40 – 60 mins each time you decide to take elevators so imagine spending 2 – 4 hours of your day standing in long lines for elevator.
We are trapped in our apartments for too long and I wish I knew this before I moved here.

I have lived here for 6 months and am attempting to break my lease early. There is consistently only 1 elevator working for a building with 34 floors. The building management is slow to respond to breakdowns and provides tenants little details about the progress of the elevator fixes. You consistently need to wait 10+ minutes for elevators going down and up.
Definitely not worth it. The elevator situation is bad enough to nullify and negate the other positives of the building. I cannot describe in passionate enough words how frustrating it is.

I have lived here for just over a year and while the price and amenities make it seem like a steal, this place is not worth it.
The management is a combination of rude and useless. The staff members that you can reach claim to not know the answers to any problems and will not send you up the chain. Instead they will hang up on you or leave you on hold until you hang up.
The building routinely has only one elevator running for 34 floors and when asked about repairs, no one ever has answers. On a Friday at 6pm it took 1 hour and 5 minutes to get an elevator to be able to get to my apartment where I am now unable to leave because who knows how long it would take to get back.
Not worth living here.

I currently live here, but am moving out next month because my lease is up. Yes, they did hike up the rent, so even if I wanted to renew, the price would be over my budget.
I lived in a two bedroom, 1.5 bath that we converted into a 3 bedroom apartment. The living space was pretty small. my roommates and I wished that we could just make the bedrooms smaller for a bigger living space. My room was so big I had to purposely buy extra furniture to fill it up.
We lived on a very high floor, so I never really noticed the slow elevator. Some mornings, we did have to stop at every other floor but since I was the first to get on at the top, I always got on. I also went on the elevator around 8:15 — 8:30 am so maybe not during rush time?
The fact that we don’t have access to «Club Normandie» is ridiculous. There is a pool, lounge, gym, and sundeck that nobody uses. It’s sitting there because you have to pay an extra $ 600 or so more to have access to it. It should be included for sure.
The maintenance is probably the best part about the building. You can request for service through the building link iphone app and have someone be there that day or the next day. Never been more convenient.
Package room employees are also a treat– amazingly nice, they recognize you and are super efficient.
I’m only moving because I don’t love the location and I don’t want to pay higher rent. Everything I do. work play eat. is more downtown.