how is the building
Queens Central Forums » Idle Chatter
gerard towers
(40 posts)-
louisp
Member
( me)Posted 2 years ago # -
Tue78
Member
( me)I've been living at The Gerard one year this month.
I can't even begin to tell you how much I love living here.
It's like living in a 5 star Hotel. It's a true luxury building with a great outdoor pool, 24 / 7 doorman, porters, fed ex package room (where all your deliveries are signed for), gym,and valet parking garage.
I just call down to the valet when I need my car and when I get off the evelvator to the garage my car is waiting for me.
Not one complaint. Hot water and heart always without fail. Central A/C in the summer. Clean. An efficient staff of people running the place making sure everything is running smoothly.
I am never moving.
Posted 2 years ago # -
judy
Member
( me)I've been living in Gerard for close to 2 years and I have to echo what Tue78 says. We don't want to live anywhere else either, we're here to stay.
We enjoy all of the amenities that Tue describes. Aside from that, there is a Party/Room/Library, where the number of bookshelves just keep growing and growing. Shareholders bring down overflow books they don't want anymore, anyone can take out a book on the honor system, and bring it back. The number of books down there is exploding--I rarely buy books anymore, it's my Lending Library. I love the fact that in the worst of weather, we have a gym and/or a Library to go to.
Can you tell that we love it here?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Tue78
Member
( me)Ride outside of the library are candy, soda and ice cream vending machines!
I'm tellin' ya - It's heaven :-)
Posted 2 years ago # -
jellystone
Member
( me)I like it too, except there are a TON of *coughcough* elderly people here who sometimes aren't so pleasant. Other than that, it's great. All that's missing is room service.
The board is kind of difficult though.Posted 2 years ago # -
BillF
Member
( me)I thought Gerard was close to the LIRR and the noise from the trains passing by was bad. I was recently reading posts about that here.
Posted 2 years ago # -
judy
Member
( me)It was bad for a short while, BillF, when they were blowing their loud horns while construction was going on, but that has stopped. My window faces the railroad and I normally barely hear it and it's quite inobtrusive.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Tue78
Member
( me)Judy is right - It was due to the construction work.
It has now stopped and I never notice any sound.
I too face the LIRR side and I love to see the trains outside my window as they pass by with the old beautiful Tennis Stadium in the background.
It's like a moving painting.
Posted 2 years ago # -
yellowstone
Member
( me)I have been looking at apartments in Gerard, but I can't get myself to commit to one that doesn't have a terrace. Do you guys have apartments with or without terraces?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Tue78
Member
( me)I have an apartment without a terrace.
It's a small place but I love it.
I am a rare breed that doesn't like more space than I actually need.
The place has everything I do need and nothing that I don't.
yellowstone, looking to buy?
Have you seen any apartments at the Gerard with terraces that you like?
It would be great to have you in the building!
Posted 2 years ago # -
aj023
Member
( me)If you want decent living in Queens, there are only a few locations for highrise towers as the selection is not that great for good areas for affordable co-ops.
Forest Hills fills a unique void because it is only 20 minutes from midtown with full express bus and all subway lines running. Of the buildings with gym and pool with central air and gym, the buildings range in age from mid 60s to newer and prices are more affordable than Manhattan.
Posted 2 years ago # -
aj023
Member
( me)For Forest Hills and moderately priced co-op highrise housing, Gerard Towers happens to be an excellent location and an excellent co-operative. People at nextdoor Parker Towers are always complaining yet they are staying and like the location and rent prices are more modest.
Posted 2 years ago # -
yellowstone
Member
( me)Tue78 we are most likely putting off our search for a few months. We weren't able to find anything we were in love with. We just renewed our lease for 1 more year but our landlord is friendly and would allow us to break it, if we found something.
Posted 2 years ago # -
judy
Member
( me)We have a terrace at Gerard, yellowstone, and love having it.
We did have to screen it in, though...too many pigeons, pigeon poop all over it, we even had a few lay eggs there. Now that it's screened in, it's great. In mild weather, when we open the terrace door, it's like having the outside come right into the apartment. Of course, it's lovely to sit out there read the paper and watch the passing parade on Austin Street.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Tue78
Member
( me)I actually suggested to my real estate agent at the time to show me The Gerard (We were looking in Birchwood Towers).
He had about 5 apartments to show me in GT - The first place we saw was the place I'm in now. It was move in condition and I knew that's exactly what I wanted.
I was in Gerard Towers about 15 years ago on a job assignment and was in an apartment with the exact same layout.
I really loved the place and dreamed I would find a place like that someday (which I did).After my mom passed away, she left me enough money that I was able to buy my place outright.
My suggestion would be yellowstone to make sure that the place you choose is the right one for you and that you love it when you see it.
You could see yourself living there and being very happy.You'll instinctively know when you come across it like I did.
Posted 2 years ago # -
jellystone
Member
( me)Luxury co-ops like Gerard are great, however I have no idea how young people, single or married, would be able to buy here without a special circumstance. We had a special situation where we came into some money for the down payment, but never would have been able to do it otherwise. We needed about $100,000, including the down payment, and to show we had additional funds in the bank, and the board still wasn't too pleased with that. And our apartment is on the low end of the Gerard spectrum. Unless you are amazing money savers or get funds from family, it's a difficult road. The upside is that, because 25% is put down for the down payment, the monthly mortgage is very manageable. But don't forget about the monthly maintenance on top of that.
Posted 2 years ago # -
yellowstone
Member
( me)Jellystone how much did they want you to still have in the bank?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Tue78
Member
( me)Jellystone - did the board say something to you about being displeased about your finances?
I thank God for my inheritance, my 401k and the fact that I've been with the same job for 28 years.
Posted 2 years ago # -
jellystone
Member
( me)Well, we had about $20,000 extra, and they gave us a really hard time, really grilled us. But we were accepted.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Tue78
Member
( me)I remember right after I put a bid on my place, the seller's broker immediately wanted to see my W2 forms.
The seller, who was now living in Manhattan, just had his previous buyer rejected by the board and was carrying 2 mortgages for close to a year.
They had me into the seller agent's office and made absolutely certain I was a sure thing about getting in. They could not afford to waste more time or money getting another rejection.
Margaret Brady (what a sweetheart) was the seller's agent and she also has an apartment in the Gerard. She helped convert GT into a co-op in the 80's and knew how the board operated.
I sat in her office preparing the application with her to make sure every i was dotted and t crossed.
It was a very tense 5 months for all concerned of getting things just perfect until I was approved.
Posted 2 years ago # -
KGCritter
Member
( me)Out of curiosity (I'm not moving anywhere) what's the price range of the apts at the Gerard?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Tue78
Member
( me)One of the assets I had listed on my co-op application were 32k in savings bonds.
Even without them my assets were in decent shape.
About a week before my board interview, I got a call from the Gerard management office stating that the co-op board requested that I make photocopies of all of the bonds for them.
I asked if I could just bring the originals to the interview but they insisted on copies for each of them.
These bonds were in denominations of $50 and $100.00!
It took me over 6 hours to copy them!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Tue78
Member
( me)Forgot to mention the in-house mailboxes in the lobby right off the elevators.
You never have to leave the building to mail a letter :-)
Posted 2 years ago # -
jkny321
Member
( me)"I asked if I could just bring the originals to the interview but they insisted on copies for each of them.
These bonds were in denominations of $50 and $100.00!
It took me over 6 hours to copy them! "
Sometimes I think boards have nothing better to do lol
Posted 2 years ago # -
KGResident
Member
( me)I also think that at times they are just too intrusive and quite nosey. If you demonstrate a high credit score, money left over in the bank and solid work history, what else. This ain't a fancy 5th Avenue Coop folks, they should be happy to get solid middle class people in. It's hard enough to save for 20% down payment which depending on the price is a chunk o'money. come on ...
It'll be interesting to see if the City Council get the bill passed that forces coops to disclose why someone was rejected. I bet you'll start seeing a lot more acceptances as they are not going to want to divulge their real reasons for rejecting someone! It could potentially open them up to all sorts of lawsuits, i.e. discrmination, etc.
Posted 2 years ago # -
biker
Member
( me)Is there another way to prove that you actually have these bonds besides showing them? If not, I do understand why they wanted copies. The Board is there to try and protect the finances of the building. Also, I thought that Coop disclosure bill was dead. Haven't heard much about that in quite a while.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Talbotbuyer
Member
( me)I totally agree that coop boards go way overboard in there "powers" and make some ridiculous demands and drags out the buy/sell process. If you have enough cash after the 20% down and have a good job why would you make some make copies of their savings bonds.
My own experience with my coop, station square inn has been very negative, enough for me to look only at condos and houses going forward.
I would love for the city council to force coops to disclose why someone was rejected.
At my building, my friend was "not allowed" to sell on their own because the qualified buyers were all rejected unless it happend to come from the mangement of the building who is also a broker and refuses to list on MLS but charges a 6% comission. Tell me that is not a conflict of interest.
In fact his friend who is a broker in the FH hills area told him he would show the apt for him but was afraid to that his buyers would be rejected in the end after the interviews because he generally tried to avoid the building.Enough of my rants.
On the flip side, my cousin's building in Kew Gardens is pretty much hassle free so I guess it all depends on the building mgmt and board.
Posted 2 years ago # -
KGResident
Member
( me)Coops in Kew Gardens I think are much easier than FH. Good credit, sufficient job, some cash after the downpayment in the bank and be fairly well washed at the interview should get you a nice apartment.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Tue78
Member
( me)It's sorta like they want to wipe people like us (or me anyway) in the middle class out of the American dream. In Forest Hills anyway.
Like someone else mentioned on this board, how on earth are young people expected to set out on their own in this day and age?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Talbotbuyer
Member
( me)i wouldn't say they are trying to keep folks like us out but it just seems that some folks get a huge power trip and are too greedy. I mean there are SOME benefits to coops... such as weathering mtg defaults because everyone is screened better but there has to be a line drawn as to what is beneficial to the building versus abusing the by-laws of the coop and using the fact that they do not have to disclose reasons for rejections to their own benefit.
Posted 2 years ago #
Reply »
You must log in to post.