At the very top of Carnegie Hill sits one of the finest rental buildings in the neighborhood. It is a well designed building and if first impressions are important to you, then this may be the Carnegie Hill rental building for you. Built by the Rockwell Group, it is modern elegance from the minute you set foot inside its front doors.

The lobby alone is worth a visit for its rosewood walls, floating vaulted ceiling and marble floors. This type of detail extends to the apartments. Most aren’t large on space but they are large on design with walls of windows, compact upscale kitchens, and lots of marble in the bathrooms. The top of the building contains the 18,000 square foot residents’ club, and it is impressive. The lounge looks like a contemporary upscale hotel facility, and the pool is skylit and a fifty footer. Of course, there’s a health club too.

On top of all of this, they’ve provided extras like a bike storage room, and even a children’s playroom, which shows you that it is family friendly. And it is such a great neighborhood for children that this stands to reason, and it is a popular building for families.

Beyond The Usual Amenities

One Carnegie Hill rentals come with an assortment of services that even the most independent of New Yorker’s can come to rely on. There’s a personal assistant service, which acts as a concierge for making arrangements or can come help you organize your closets. Some of the services are complimentary while others do require a fee, but if you are short on time, they can be of huge benefit too. The Hi-Tech home service is also a big bonus. It is a system of packaging all the latest internet access services, cable and satellite in any configuration that you want it. The building was pre-wired for all this, and the options in detailing is fantastic.

Reaching out via the internet is popular at One Carnegie HIll. They have an active online resident-only message board where the topics range from questions about everyday things to postings about social events both within and outside the building.

One Carnegie Hill Deals

While the attractive deals that were often found during the worst of the economic downturn are rapidly disappearing, this complex does offer a few deals. One is being able to save on the security deposit but having your rent automatically withdrawn from your bank account. You save 50% that way. A great deal. The other big bonus is for referrals. The building prides itself on having great tenants, and if you recommend someone who becomes a tenant, you’ll get a check for $1000. This offer can’t last forever, but it is still in the works as of now.

One hears few complaints – if any – about this building. Yes, it is expensive with studio prices starting at $2500 and big three bedrooms in the area of $5800, but if you add up all that you get and the location, the rents are in line with the other upscale areas of NYC.

When Andrew Carnegie first built his Carnegie Hill home, he envisioned a type of village and for many years, the neighborhood was just that. Then, like the rest of the city, it grew and grew and grew but even in 2011, it will still seem much like a smaller village surrounded by the greatness of Manhattan. The new additions to the NYC apartment market, Carnegie Hill Place - are enormous apartment complexes, but continue that village-feel traditions – in a modern way.

Carnegie Hill Place is located on Lexington between 96th and 97th, and both parts are huge, modern complexes.

A Modern Enclave In An Old Village

These are both large buildings with well over two hundred units in each of them, and because they are new, they offer all the possible amenities. They are sleek architecture both inside and out. You’ll find them finished out much like condominiums with granite kitchens, halogen lighting, and huge windows. Some have amazing views! Whether it is out across rooftops or of Manhattan’s bridges, the sense of space is well worth the trip uptown when looking at New York City apartment rentals.

Of course, there’s a great gym. In this case, they are actually TechnoGyms, which require an extra monthly fee, but you are already at home in your own building. There’s an outdoor roof deck for summer sun bathing, and basement storage facilities are also available. This is handy for those with bicycles and other items that require more storage than the normal apartment offers.

Carnegie Hill Place does not come at bargain basement prices. Studios start at around $2500 and two bedrooms go for $5500 and up. It’s a case where price brings luxury amenities, and a fantastic location.

Overall Success With Tenants

In the half dozen years that Carnegie Hill Place has been around, there are few negative reviews from tenants. Most are extremely positive about the lifestyle and apartments that it offers and consider that their monthly investment offers them a great NYC apartment.

The two original buildings have now be joined by 1510 Lexington – just up the street – and it has just as many amenities and the average apartment seeker will find more options there because, unlike the others, it has not been fully rented yet. It is one of the city’s first totally non-smoking buildings, and that’s a very popular aspect for many renters.

This whole development harkens back to Carnegie’s original dream of a village, but this one soars to the sky in a way he could never have foreseen. If you know Carnegie Hill already, you already know what a great neighborhood it is. If you don’t and you’re looking, these are excellent options on the New York rental market.

For years, a Carnegie Hill apartment was thought to be the pinnacle of prestigious addresses, and while it still ranks very high, other areas of Manhattan like SoHo, Chelsea and others downtown have made it more attainable for the average apartment hunter.

It is a neighborhood with history, with tree lined streets, with brownstones and high rises and is always considered one of the safest areas of the city.

About Carnegie Hill

This neighborhood runs from Fifth Avenue to Third Avenue and from 86th Street up to 96th. Because the Lexington Avenue subway line sits square in the middle, one is never too far from mass transit, and there are buses on the avenues. The area is named afer Andrew Carnegie, who once built a huge mansion at 91st and Fifth. Today, it is the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, and it is just one of the famous cultural institutions that reside within Carnegie Hill.

Along the side streets, one finds mostly brownstones and townhouses, some of which have been sectioned into apartments and can be rented. The avenues are chock a block full of bigger Carnegie Hill apartment buildings, and range from very posh on Fifth to affordable on Third. The northern most section of he neighborhood was considered less fashionable for years, but is now esteemed for its range of restaurants and diversity.

The area does include a hill. A rather large one at that. When one walks uptown and through Carnegie Hill, it is very apparent that it has some elevation to it. Prior to the time ( early 1830s) that Andrew Carnegie built his mansion, the area had been first an Indian village and then farms. It wasn’t until after World War I that the numerous luxury apartment buildings began to sprout from the hill. And even with its growth, history has been protected and that is precisely why the area remains so lovely today.

The Convenience Of Carnegie Hill

You’ll hear a few people moan about the lack of some services and shops in Carnegie Hill, but generally that means they are lazy. There are fantastic grocers and other stores for necessities just outside boundaries of the neighborhood, and once settled into a Carnegie Hill rental, it just takes a little effort to find The Gourmet Garage and other high end shops.

What Carnegie Hill offers are good, small stores and because there are few huge chain stores, the area is overall much quieter and more residential. Most feel that the trade off is a good one too. You can bike or jog to Central Park on safe streets, or go over to the East River for dog runs and the walkway along the river. You’ve got easy access to museums and to movie theaters, and within walking distance is some of the best shopping in the world on Madison Avenue.

Carnegie Hill is worth calling home if you’ve had it with noisier, busier sections of Manhattan, and are ready to move on up to the East Side!

Trump Village is located on Ocean Parkway at the edge of Brighton Beach. It is a huge complex of seven buildings, five of which are co-ops and two of which are rental buildings. The co-op building always has a wait list of those who wish to buy into the development, but the two rental buildings contain some of the finest Brighton Beach apartments to be found and there are almost always units available.

Trump Village is both famous and infamous. Famous for being a great complex, and infamous for the co-op portion tenants, who are all older Russians. These Brighton Beach rental buildings are very different in their complexion.

Not Your Usual Donald Trump Rental

The buildings pre-date Donald Trump’s great development years. They were built in the early 1960’s, and the way the development is laid out today is vastly different than it originally was. The two rental buildings, referred to as Buildings 1 & 2, are separate and are renovated quite often. The average rental for a one bed-room unit is $1500 and go up according to space and to views.
The renovations are in Trump style, however. Good designers have been used and the kitchens are now sparkling granite or ceramic countertops, fashionable wood floors and most bathrooms are completely updated. The apartments are large and some even boast terraces.

Expect all the amenities plus some. There’s 24 hour security and maintenance plus all utilities except electricity are included. There’s a pool but who needs it with the ocean a short walk away. The two rental buildings have a good sense of community even with the big mix of older Russians and young two-income professional couples. It’s like family – in a huge complex.

What Neighbors And Tenants Say

Overall, Trump Village gets good reviews and is thought to provide a good value for the rents charged. And, the ocean views and access to the beach always make the ratings even higher. The neighborhood is vibrant, and while it doesn’t have the nightlife or five star restaurants that other areas have, it has the Russian culture which is interesting and diverse. Coney Island’s amusement area nearby is closed for renovations, but when reopened will be a boon to the nightlife once again.

Parking isn’t free, except on the street, and that can present a problem unless you are willing to pay a couple of hundred dollars a month to park in a lot, and most residents opt for this. Public transportation is good, but for local shopping and errands, most want to own a car.

If you want to live on the ocean, have fresh sea air and be around plenty of trees, this is an excellent. A Brighton Beach apartment in Trump Village makes a commute to the city easy, and in the afternoons you come home to not only views of the ocean, but plenty of time to enjoy the beach and the boardwalk.

The SoHo that New Yorker’s know and love today is relatively new. It all stems from the late 1960s, when artists started to take over old lofts. Since then, it has become the hippest and most expensive place to live in Manhattan.

Prior to the 1960s, there were few New York City apartments in the area that weren’t slums. It was a derelict area full of sweatshops, small factories and largely deserted at night.

The Early Days

The area was such a wasteland that it didn’t even have a neighborhood name. Some referred to it as the cast iron district, but that wasn’t a very well known name for it either.
In its very early years it was an area of bars and brothels but that was in the late 1800s.
These establishments were elaborate and for the masses and were the favorites for young men of every class. But the city began to grow toward uptown and when it did, the bars and brothels spread out across the city and were no longer centralized. Then small factories moved in and the blight began.

It sat grey, grimy and ugly until artists starting moving into the old loft spaces – often illegally – and making them in to work and living accommodations.

It was the artists, who when trying to define the area for identifying their area came up with the term SoHo or South of Houston. Even today, the area is strongly associated with the arts even though many artists have been priced out of living in the area. Architecturally and for large spaces with plenty of light, there is no area that comes close to SoHo.

SoHo Currently

The area is now too expensive for many other than well-known artists and even many of the galleries have relocated to nearby Chelsea, but SoHo has so much appeal that it is the destination of celebrities and many live in both the older buildings as well as some of the hottest new architecture in the world. The boutiques run the range from fun to wildly expensive within a few blocks and some of the top restaurants in Manhattan are found here.

The average rental can easily run into the high four figures and five figures easily. After all, SoHo’s rentals are in the top ten most expensive in the country. That’s competing with some ritzy areas! For those who can afford the neighborhood, not enough good can be said about it. It is blocks from Chinatown and Canal Street, it has everything shopping wise and restaurant wise that one could want, and it is easy to get anywhere in the city easily by subway. And, yes, the people who can afford to live in SoHo do take the subway at times.

If you are after eclectic, arty, upscale, amazing and architecturally relevant, this is the neighborhood for you. Just have a fat checkbook!