Jeez, you know. I didn't realize just how BAD it really is until I looked at these close-ups. There's some major work to be done to keep the place from deteriorating further, even if it is over 100 years old. That leak going behind the stone. . . and what's with the downspout having water come out *just so it can run down into the basement*!!!!?????!!!! Who's idea was that? Not to mention that the entire front stonework needs a good power-washing, and EVERYTHING needs a paint job!
The neighborhood is great -- upper west 70's, half a block down from Central Park, you can see the trees if you lean out the window. No doubt, I can't complain about that. :-) But it's an eyesore compared to many of the other buildings on the block, which have had owners/superintendents who kept up with repairs and maintenance little by little over time: my mom had some 70-going-on-Crypt-Keeper-year-old cussing drunken Italian guy whose English seems to be limited to "You no worry, I fix, I fix!" And then he'd steal new boiler parts from one building to put into his other buildings. Mom never checked the basement herself, which has asbestos around the pipes which HAS to go ASAP, and a 100 year old sewer drain that's backing up instead of flowing out because the iron pipes have settled over 30 years and are no longer pitched correctly.
The stuff in the pics is really just cosmetic -- except for the leak that going behind the stone facade and likely separating it from the main structure. I'm hoping that with a new, younger, energetic, and HONEST management company, these things will be taken care of on an on-going basis before they hit crisis level.
Mostly it all just looks unkempt and uncared for, when really a good paint job and some TLC would make it look like an antique brownstone. Mom didn't like "fuss" or disruption, so she kept putting things off and making do. Kind of like "How many Jewish grandmothers does it take to change a lightbulb? None. 'Don't bother, I'll just sit here in the dark.'"
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-06-16 04:50 pm (UTC)Not to mention that the entire front stonework needs a good power-washing, and EVERYTHING needs a paint job!
sigh
(pulls covers over head)
(twitch)
(twitch)
(twitch)
no subject
Date: 2005-06-16 06:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-16 06:49 pm (UTC)The stuff in the pics is really just cosmetic -- except for the leak that going behind the stone facade and likely separating it from the main structure. I'm hoping that with a new, younger, energetic, and HONEST management company, these things will be taken care of on an on-going basis before they hit crisis level.
Mostly it all just looks unkempt and uncared for, when really a good paint job and some TLC would make it look like an antique brownstone. Mom didn't like "fuss" or disruption, so she kept putting things off and making do. Kind of like "How many Jewish grandmothers does it take to change a lightbulb? None. 'Don't bother, I'll just sit here in the dark.'"
no subject
Date: 2005-06-16 06:43 pm (UTC)