If the walls of Greenpoint’s famed The Astralbuilding could talk, they’d probably tell you that they’ve seen it all. Completed in 1883, the Astral was developed by oil baron Charles Pratt as housing for his workers. Unlike other worker lodging at the time, Pratt designed the Astral specifically for the purpose of enriching his workers’ lives – decidedly not a tenement, but rather, featured natural light, beautiful brick and terracotta touches, and indoor plumbing.…
Greenpoint’s Famed Astral Building Has Issues Beyond Super’s Alleged Behavior
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Oh, the Astral… where do I start?
It was the first building I lived in NYC, 2000 to 2006 – straight from the boat, with little knowledge of English and none of the tenant’s rights. My 1BR with stunning views of Manhattan costed $875. The situation was the same back then – but with rents this low, we were all expected to put up with squalid living conditions and an occasional crackhouse in the building (there was one two floors down from me.) I remember the omnipresent roaches the size of a small mouse and the unhelpful, rude Tommy Tamborski who made sure all complaints remained perpetually unaddressed. The managers at the Pistilli Realty were the worst I have ever dealt with for my over two decades of renting apartments in the Five Boroughs – and apparently, they were very well-known to the staff of the 311 complaint line. Yet, nobody was able to do anything about them. I thought things would change since Greenpoint is nothing like it used to be… Ugh. I am so sorry to hear people still have to deal with this crap. “Don’t live in the Astral” should probably land among pieces of wisdom shared with all NYC newcomers, along with “Don’t play 3-card Monty.”
I’m so grossed out to hear this. I lived in this building and it was a NIGHTMARE. Tommy the super would go into our apartment without our permission to do repairs while we were gone ALL THE TIME. I was always skeeved out by it and wanted to change our locks so he didn’t have a key, but that’s of course not allowed. Pistilli was the most shockingly awful and negligent landlord I’ve ever had. Learning that he was recording women makes me want to throw up because we’d always joke to look for a camera after he’d been in our place doing work. It was a really traumatic time for us.
Mae West never lived there. This rumor (linking the Astral & the Brooklyn bombshell) was due to a feature penned by a now-dead columnist for The Brooklyn Daily Eagle when it was a paper that rolled off a press. — The Mae West Blog [“come up sometime”] ― Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ―
lol I knew about that building from.the 1970,s being a kid all junkies section 8 people. heroin addicts then crack came along in the 80s that place was junkie heaven. you want a cheap apartment you pay the troll toll