The Pembroke at Fort Lee

This is truly one of the worst-managed buildings I’ve ever experienced. Management company after management company comes and goes — they can’t seem to keep one for longer than five months.

The board is made up of people who clearly have never worked a day in their lives, or don’t plan to again. Simple conveniences like deliveries on a Saturday? Not allowed. You can only receive anything larger than an Amazon package between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday. I have a full-time job —... how is that even reasonable?

Then there are the elevators. They tore out the beautiful mahogany panels and replaced them with cheap plastic. Even worse, they’re constantly out of service — at least two or three times a month, one elevator will be down for a full day or more. And forget about using the service elevator; while the main one’s broken, maintenance ties up the service car all day vacuuming hallway rugs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

And it’s not just that. The water gets shut off three to four times a month for “maintenance,” with reasons never clearly explained. To their credit, they’ve started giving us more than 24 hours’ notice — so I guess that’s progress.

Recently, they installed new washer-dryers that are smaller, more expensive, and already breaking down. Two are out of service as I write this. The setup process is confusing, and if you don’t have a smartphone, good luck figuring it out.

Despite all this, I want to be clear — I’ve loved living at The Pembrooke for many years. The doormen are wonderful, the views are fantastic, and the apartments themselves are beautiful. But it’s heartbreaking to see the building run into the ground by an incompetent board and revolving-door management team who care more about appearances and status than fixing real problems.

No guest parking. Scaffolding that’s been up for months with no sign of progress. Sky-high maintenance fees while water drips in the lobby all summer. Air conditioning that didn’t work until August because of pure neglect.

You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Read More