Dampened spirits
but denies giving Desrosiers the run around.
“One apartment experienced a small leak upon very heavy rain and, months later, an unrelated but more substantial leak due to an upstairs neighbor leaving a faucet running,” a representative for Brookfield said in a statement. “The experience of our tenants is our top priority, and, in addition to addressing the issue immediately, we have provided the impacted tenant with a series of accommodations based on extenuating circumstances, including hotel stays, free rent in a new apartment, and free amenities. While leaks do happen from time to time due to proximate residents leaving faucets running, the original issue thankfully affected only one apartment.”
However, at least three other residents who contacted The Post, and who all asked to remain anonymous for fear of chilling their relationship with their landlord, said that they have also witnessed issues at Two Blue Slip.
“In the winter, I was terrified,” one of those residents, who is eager to exit the building, said. “When the wind would blow across the water, I swear to God, the windows would literally shiver. Sometimes you get no hot water at all. And you know what their answer is? ‘It’s a large building and the tenants have used all the water up.’ I have lived in some of the best buildings in NYC. You’re telling me that your building is different than everyone else’s? It’s new construction. It should be better.”
On three separate occasions, the same tenant told The Post that they witnessed residents experiencing issues with their apartments “flipping out in the lobby.”
But Two Blue Slip isn’t the only luxury building accused
of creating a water world for its residents.
This spring, the superrich owners of condos in 432 Park Ave., one of the most expensive buildings in the world, told the New York Times about leaks and other construction issues that were plaguing the supertall tower.
Brokers said that new construction buildings are particularly vulnerable to leaks and that residents of new buildings — no matter how expensive — have to expect “growing pains.”
“Something almost always happens, even in the best buildings,” said Lindsay Barton Barrett, a broker with Douglas Elliman. ”You are the first person to test out everything. Even with developers with the best reputations, there are no slam dunks.”
It’s a lesson Desrosiers just learned first hand.
“Personally, I just want a place to live and work that doesn’t flood — and more generally I would like to put this in the public record so that next schmuck they try to bully doesn’t feel like they are a crazy person,” he said. “It was a lot of effort to find and hire a lawyer … and handle negotiations. If the situation hadn’t been so extreme, if it hadn’t happened four times in such a short time frame, I might have just let them walk all over me.”