Offices and studios at 67 West Street were quiet, dark and empty on a Friday afternoon in early August. Motion-sensor lights in the long hallways flickered as feet clacked against the rough-and-ready, wooden floors. ‘For rent’ signs hawked cavernous spaces as people strolled along Greenpoint’s still bustling waterfront. Inside, dust accumulated in what was once a bustling space for creatives.
Darkened office spaces have become the norm in a city stricken by a pandemic. Companies…

I’m a tenant at Greendesk located in this building. They’ve been awful during this crisis and I’m looking to get out. They told us they were continuing to charge rent because they were an “essential business,” defending that by saying they had to receive mail. Meanwhile, they did not clean the building during the pandemic to cut their own costs. There’s also a notice on the door of NY State’s approval of their “reopening” which is dated in June. Why were they collecting rent for March/April/May then?
Oh my Lord, I understand all the guillotine jokes now. And I’m starting to suspect they were never really jokes.
So is paying more when times are good inflexibility by the tenant?
This whole article is a whinefest. Why wouldn’t they give me a low sale price and eat their costs?
City and state taxes remain constant, water, sewer, gas and electric continue to rise, fees and costs to the city didn’t disappear or lower.
Get a grip. Your survive isn’t more important than the next persons.
Get outta here Guttman
Grip — your defense of the brutal bottom line nature of capitalism is fine. That’s the kind of system you want, so defend away. But no need to deride this article as a “whinefest.” It’s the media’s job to bring attention to events happening in the areas it covers. While I can understand your point of view that even the super rich have to pay their bills, the article is informative about something that’s happening to a lot of people and small businesses in our community. Keep on with your defense of the crushing nature of the American way, we wouldn’t be here without it. But chill out on coming up with schoolyard nicknames for opinions you don’t like.
I’ve had an office space in the building for eight years. I tried four times to renegotiate my rent and they refused, but they’re lowering the rent for new tenants. Perverse incentive system that penalizes loyalty.
2023 and its “$10k back property tax bills time”, again.