Brian Elgart In Eagle

Brooklyn Heights Has Many Enhanced Nooks & Crannies
How much value do prospective renters or purchasers put on light and air – access to some sunshine to keep the back of a building from feeling cave-like and breezes to reduce the need for air-conditioning, at least a little?
This is a question with even deeper meaning when asked in Brooklyn Heights, a neighborhood of historic – and supremely pricey – real estate, and a center of high contrasts on the subject.
The Heights attracts die-hard preservationists who want to protect every sliver of light and air and maintain the 19th Century scale that prevails in much of the neighborhood, which in 1965 was the first in the city to receive a Historic District designation. Because of stratospheric property values, the Heights also attracts die-hard developers who want to build out to the fullest extent allowed by law – finding opportunities are easiest to seize on blocks outside the land-marked district.
When the moment comes for money to change hands, will the Brooklyn Heights renter or buyer pay more if additional light and air are part of the deal?
“You can't put a number on it,” landlord Brian Elgart said of the bird's-eye view that the back-of-the building flats at 148 Willow St. have of somebody else's private garden. “But it's an easier sell when you're renting these apartments.”
The garden, which belongs to co-op building 1 Pierrepont St., is a grassy expanse with shade trees that stretches to Columbia Heights and is visible from that street behind a fence and shrubs.
Brooklyn Heights rentals are in hot demand with or without a garden view – but for prospective tenants of 148 Willow, “if it's a choice between an apartment in my building or another apartment, it's mine first,” Elgart told Eye on Real Estate.
“We have light – light is what it's all about,” he said. “For the rear apartments it gives tenants a better quality of life than staring at the backs of buildings.”
All the rear apartments in the five-floor walk-up have access to a deck or a balcony, he said.
When Elgart was in the market to purchase property in 1999, the 1 Pierrepont garden was a factor in his deciding to buy 148 Willow.
“I was impressed by it,” he said of the grassy refuge. “It's very rare to have something like this. It's pretty special.”

To read more please see:
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/what-price-light-air-neighboring-lot-2013-07-24-120000

Brian Elgart's tenants are animals

I received an email from one of Brian Elgart's this week. The tenant lives on the top floor of Brian Elgart's building. They said they have gotten severe water damage in their apartment due to the roof above them. Apparently tenants in the building keep going on the roof and having parties and leaving a huge mess which causes the roof drains to clog and destroy their apartments ceiling.

These actions have led to Brian Elgart having to install an entirely new roof on the building. The tenant said not even a few days of completing the new roof which must have cost a fortune the tenants were back up there causing the same problems only this time they decided to bring up several barbeques which caused a small fire on the roof. Brian Elgart was told and he immediately called the police. He also posted signs that no one is to be on the roof which is a violation of their lease and has now installed security cameras up there. They wanted to make it clear that Brian Elgart has done everything to make they're building a safe place to live but some crappy tenants in the building are making life miserable!

RENT CONTROLLED TENANT MAKING LIFE MISERABLE FOR OTHER TENANTS AND BRIAN ELGART

Now that I have started this blog. Many of Brian Elgart's Tenants have been emailing me they're stories about Brian Elgart and living in his buildings. I will try to get on as many as I can.
This one came to me the other night. The tenant has lived in Brian Elgart's building for about a year now. He lives on the top floor and pays over 3K in rent. He says he loves the building but doesn't think he can renew due to the rent controlled tenant that lives across from him, he says the tenant is absolutely nuts and does nothing but cause problems for everyone in the building, complaining about everyone in the building as well as Brian Elgart. The kicker is the tenant pays $325 dollars a month for an apartment that would rent for over 3K. Here is what he wrote to Brian Elgart:

" I know this may seem minute but after last nights debacle with our neighbor John, I figured it would be best to let you know. As for last night, John thought it would be best to call the New York Fire Department since he heard "explosives" from the roof top. Well, to be exact , those "explosives" were sparklers and lasted for a grand total of 10 seconds. John proceeded to knock on my door and inform me that I was in jeopardy of setting the building on fire. He told the NYFD that he heard explosives, which was clearly a lie. As they arrived they knocked on my door, they were upset to find that there was absolutely no danger what so ever and that the call was unnecessary. They actually sided with me and the dispatcher was demanding the name of the individual who called them for this facetious matter.

 Anyways, long story short, John has been complaining since we moved in day one and I have yet to find a real reason to bring it up - however, as the landlord this is something you should be aware of. He complains about you, the building, all of the tenants, and any other crap he can formulate as he sits in his apartment all day waiting for more things to complain about.

Regardless, we are fine and will be ignoring John as long as we our tenants. This is primarily the reason we will be not renewing the lease. John is a nuisance to any landlord as he will find any reason to intrude on his fellow neighbors . I've yet to have any issues with you as a landlord and thanks again for fixing all maintenance/repair issues as needed".

I don't understand how this allowed to go on in New York. How can people get away with paying close to nothing and on top of it be the worst tenant/ neighbor without any recourse. Basically in the eyes of new York they own their apartment without paying a dime for it. So New York is basically a communist state. Enough is enough, do away with rent control and make them all rent stabilized apartments and if the entire building feels the tenant is a nuisance they should be able to band together and kick them out.  

Brian Elgart's tenant almost destroys building

I received an email from one of Brian Elgart's tenants telling me about how the tenant above them almost destroyed the building. They have been living in the building for a couple of years now, when they moved in the apartment was newly renovated. They said they love the building and the location. After about a year they noticed there was some water coming down in they're bathroom but didn't think much of it. Then it started getting worse. They called Brian Elgart and told him about this and he sent out his maintenance company to check it out. Apparently the leak was coming from the tenant living above them. The maintenance company said they have been trying to get in but the tenant above them wouldn't let them in. The tenant themselves went up to tell the tenant that they were having a problem with water leaking and if she could please let the maintenance company please come in to fix it, she refused. The tenant apparently is an older woman who is rent controlled and she actually hasn't paid rent for over a year. They are the best tenants. They said she was clearly not all there.
Finally this past weekend the water started pouring out of the ceiling and caused paint to fall off the ceiling. The tenant thought the whole ceiling was going to fall down. Finally they had enough and told Brian Elgart that this was an absolute emergency and that they couldn't even go to the bathroom because water was pouring down and flooding they're bathroom. The maintenance company again came and the tenant again refused entry. At this point there was no way they couldn't fix the problem. They called HPD as well as the police and finally gained access. Below are pictures of what they found. Probably one of the most disgusting sites I have ever seen. I don't know how these tenants are allowed to pay nothing in rent, basically being supported by landlords like Brian Elgart and are free to get away with whatever they want as if they own the place. We need to get rid of the rent control system. I'm not talking about rent stabilized, I'm talking about rent controlled.

Brian Elgart Gets A Terriable Tenant

Brian Elgart just rented an apartment in the new building he just built. The new tenant took over for a tenant who has been living in the apartment for one year. There was no one else who had previously lived in the apartment before them and I have attached pictures of the way they left the apartment before they moved out. This goes to show how not all of us tenants out there are great and anything someone says about Brian Elgart should be looked into before making a decision on him. The tenant even tried telling the new tenant that the walls and damage wasn't caused by them. Hello, no one lived in the apartment before them. I guess they didn't realize that before making statements that were pretty obviously a lie. I also attached some pictures of what the place looked like after Brian Elgart had someone come in and restore it to livable condition.

I just read a comment on the other site from Theresa. We'll I actually rented the apartment to Theresa and her 3 other young friends. They are very nice people. However, they decided to move out and I started showing the apartment to my clients. I noticed the bathroom window had been broken and there were pictures everywhere and large scuffs on the wall. I reminded them they should make sure to fix everything so they get their security deposit back but after checking in with renter who I rented the apartment was rented to they told me they had to have Brian's contracter come in to pull out the nails in the walls and paint them as well as the other places that had scuff mark and replace a window. So the nice girls decided to do nothing and expected Brian to do all the work and not charge them.
I really don't understand what people are thinking. I myself feel like when I rent an apartment it is my home. I'm of the mindset that I like to make my home nice. If I see something on the floor I pick it up. If I need something done I get it fixed and when I cant do it myself I email Brian and he tells me who to call to get it fixed. When I want to move to a new home I make sure to make the apartment is nice for the next person because this was my home and I want the next person to feel the same way as I do. It seems more and more the clients I have don't share the same mindset. Everything is me me me. And everything should be the way they want it and should be waited on 24/7.
I hope this starts to change!

Brian Elgart Is A Great Landlord

I had to write this because I got really pissed off at the tenant that lives in my building. She approached me about writing bad things online about my landlord Brian Elgart. I asked her why what did he do? She said  "the building gets really hot in the winter because the roof is painted black and I asked him to paint the roof a different color and he said no." I said so that's why you want to bad things about him? She said no not just that, the dryer in the basement didn't work for a couple of weeks and the repair men keep coming back and it still doesn't work. I said but he's been trying to fix it and probably paying for the repair men to keep coming back so why are you getting mad at him? At that point she said whatever and stormed away. Then I looked online and found all this other crap saying he's horrible.
I tried posting my stories and encounters with him. Which were positive and they were deleted a day latter. So that is when I decided to make this blog.
A little back story I have been living and renting from Brian Elgart for about 8 years now and I also work as a NYC real estate agent in NYC for over 10 years. I have dealt with renting Brian's apartments for many years and I can tell you I know some of the people that write these worst landlord in nyc comments. Let me say they are completely wrong.