Kings & Queens Apartments

This is the follow up email after I have moved in to live in this building:
Neighbors pay couple hundred or less, with rent control.
You will pay like $$$$ and more, also they rise their rent every year.
Lock your door, because their will try to open you lock. I was home when they did that.
Crazy people ring your door bell and keep knocking on your door at 8 am on Saturday & Sunday.
After you open the door they realize it is the wrong apartment.
Rerouted all your package to store pickup. Once leave the package at your door it will be stolen.
Please don’t expect help to get it back, they will tell you they deserve it, as I’ve learned.
The building is very loud and rude people, disgusting, terrible smells, and poor maintenance.
Be prepare to have no water at 8 am till 4 pm and no elevator for a whole week.
Building door are never lock, there are couple of them. Very easy for strangers to get in and out. This is why mail box will be broken and stolen credit cards.
Bed Bug yes you will get it! Prepare to throw away lot of stuff.
After getting rid of almost everything, I saw them back.
Neighbors just quietly throw away mattress without a word.
This lead to all bed bugs dropping everywhere.
Cockroach will be all over your kitchen, living room, bath room, wall, cabbage and more.
Not just one, you are talking about seeing 20+ at one time on your kitchen desk.
Don’t believe me? Wake up at 2 am on the way to bathroom, go check out your kitchen.
Alcohol spray and stay super clean does not work because they come from your neighbors.
Cockroach are everywhere in the building, hall way, wall enz.
These apartments are nothing like the picture. They painted couple of apartments and call them luxury.
You will realize the true when u see the apartment yourself. Good luck !

It’s freezing cold during winters in their building in Rego Park (California building). They said that’s how it is and will be, 55 °F is in compliance with NY law. Don’t rent there, go to nearby Aero, Argo, Sycamore, etc management, where it’s much warmer.

I just moved in to the California building with all the excitement about new nice apartment which turned out to be a freezer. I think the management is showing its sarcasm towards the tenants by naming it California, as it is not as warm as it sounds. So, just STAY AWAY from Kings and Queens Properties (Le Frak). They keep the temperature at bare minimum allowed by NYC HPD Department, which is 68 during the day and 55 at night. I do not know about you guys, but for me it is too cold and not what I expect for paying the rent of more than 2K a month. The management does not care, they just want to save up on their costs. Even if you complain, they comply by law, so you do not have a way out of it as to buy heaters and pay extra for electricity. So my advice, do not fall for nice location and no fee apartment advertising, you do not want to freeze to death at night.

I currently live in the HOllywood building in Sheepshead Bay. Love our apartment except for the cold in the winter. 3 years now and every winter is the same thing. Everyone in the building complains and nothing gets done. It’s too cold. If you want to wear a hoody and sweatpants all winter long in ur apartment then live here. My wife and I were soooooooo close to moving last year but didn’t want the hassle. We should have moved. This cold is ridiculous. We’ve called 311 numerous times.

My building used to be under a better management. Living here for 20+ years. As soon as Kings and Queens came in, we had trouble with renewing our rent-​stabilized lease. Now they are harrassing us to try to get us out. They are ruining our peace and quiet because they want to get $ 600 a month more for this apartment. Greedy bastards… let them rot in hell.

I live in one of their buildings. I moved to The Cambridge in Long Island City, and though the space that I paid for is nice, the rest of the building is composed of a variety of odd odors. The laundry room and service room smells like it’s rotting, the stairs smell like marijuana and one of the residents on my floor cooks food that can be smelled throughout the entire floor (the smell is not always the good kind). The people downstairs and the neighbors blast music frequently. My biggest issue perhaps is with the representatives for King and Queens themselves. I’ve called in regards to an inquiry regarding my mail and the person who answered didn’t even give me the opportunity to explain what my call was about, provided me with a phone number that wasn’t correct and failed to direct me to the correct representative. On top of that, when I did manage to get my hands on the correct representative, they hanged up on me as soon as the call was picked up. The people who run this company and the people they employ do a mediocre job. Also, my contract strictly specified that dogs are not allowed in the building. Literally every person in that building owns a dog. I find it rather amusing that King and Queens is not monitoring their buildings and ensuring that their residents are following the rules of their contract. Honestly, avoid these big corporate companies. I will not be renewing my contract with them.

Bed bugs. Do not rent here! We were looking for a no fee apartment in sheepshead bay, but this is discusting. Terrible smells, poor maintenance. I considered my brief visit there a nightmare.

So many of the apartments are scams. Someone who states they are poor with English and then Bam they speak perfect English in their emails stating they are «out of the country» and can’t show you the place but it’s yours in you find their bank account.

Do not rent from Kings and Queens unless you want to get ripped off. They are a joke of a management company, don’t return phone calls or emails and could care less about the tenants. The building we live in is supposed to be ‘luxury’, but after we signed for the second year they took away the 24 hour door man. We live in Queens, but pay Manhattan prices for no amenities. This has been the biggest nightmare and we can not wait to move. Run do not rent from here. If I could give them a ZERO I would.

I lived at the Birch building for 10 years and didn’t have any problems until I made a transfer to another one of their buildings last month. They took hundreds of dollars from my security deposit for handing my keys a few days late. Although, it was a last minute transfer and I was told by their leasing department that it would be ok. I spoke to billing and they said that I needed to speak to a Simon who at the billing office. I tried calling him and leaving messages but no response. I even sent him a certified letter in the mail. Apparently he doesn’t respond to those neither. The communication with this company is horrible, once they have your money they just don’t care!
I now live at the Kansas building and I had to purchase two portable heaters to keep the apartment warm. I complained to management various times but they said that there is nothing that can be done in this matter. The portable heaters have blown at least five fuses within the last month. You would think that they would realize that they should fix this problem but unfortunately not. Now I hear that they are working on not including electricity in the rent. If that is the case it wouldn’t be worth all the trouble living in one of their buidings.

I wouldn’t bother leasing from this company under any circumstance. Housing is probably your largest single expense and I just assume give that money to someone that deserves it. I am in the process of moving out after only 4 – 5 months.
I moved into The Tulane (Flushing) in September 2014 and after the heat was turned on for the season I noticed issues and reported it repeatedly to the super (Ramon). The problems are partially with the radiator itself but mostly with the windows and A/​C unit that allow air to pour in if anything greater than a mild wind exists. I’ve owned/​remodeled numerous homes so I am knowledgeable in things of this nature.
Ramon replaced some valves and when that didn’t work, he told me that is just the way it is. I pointed out the gale force winds blowing in around the A/​C unit (they just threw it in the sleeve with no insulation) as well air from the window frames/​sills and the windows themselves and suggested some simple/​cheap caulking and got a bizarre explanation of how it couldn’t be done. I reminded him how this is illegal per NYC law and that the lease is now breached since they are not upholding their end of the contract (i.e. provide a habitable apt for me to live in and I provide rent in return).To Ramon’s credit, I think he is limited in what he can do and he/​mgmt always seem to contradict each other and not get along all that well.
Fast forward to the end of December and this is when it got really bad and continues to this day. To be fair, so long as it is not too cold or windy the place is bearable but that doesn’t mean much on days like today or yesterday where I find myself freezing. After being patient and not having calls/​emails /​texts returned, I called/​emailed the leasing office around New Years to inform them I was moving out and wasn’t paying any additional rent. I learned you have to deal with a bunch of different people/​companies but I finally got a call from Mark Pollack (the building manager). The same guy I had already called before but never returned calls or answered the phone. Once he called me, he acted apologetic, like this was a priority for him but then I didn’t hear anything for about 2 weeks. I was amused when he provided me his phone number after I already had it and he had ignored all my other calls/messages…really dumb! He and the super said they are going to do something (replace the radiator) with a bigger one but that has not happened and it won’t actually fix the core of the problem anyway. The super even says so. The «repair» so far is some tacky duct taped plastic on my double windows which starting coming off almost immediately.
I have asked for a credit for my trouble (that fell on deaf ears) and even offered to move to another unit/​building and even pay higher rent, but was given a weird reason that I need to be here a year first. I figured they would want to continue taking my money each month but I guess it’s better for them if I give my money to someone else each month. Plus, why move me when the other units have the same problems.
More stuff: This unit was renovated before I moved in and looked great but they installed a refrigerator way to big for the kitchen so much so that the dishwasher would not open and I needed to perform acrobatic maneuvers to load/​unload dishes. The super had no solution so I took it upon myself to re-​install the dishwasher pushing it deeper into opening. It sort of opens now if you force the door down against the refrigerator door – at least it’s serviceable. The dishwasher was leaking too, and I fixed that after some failed attempts by the super. I made him think he fixed it as that was much easier than explaining to him what needed to be done. The toilet was replaced but it doesn’t flush well and I see things come back up all the time (cloudy water which I can’t explain and tissues) but 3 – 4 flushes usually does the trick. For some reason, they didn’t replace the toilet seat and that was really gross so I bought a replacement on my own as I am not interested in catching a disease. I am usually woken up around 3am with the neighbors laughing, carrying on, having sex (thank god that only takes 5 minutes) or fighting and I mean fighting.
One bright spot is Jesse at the leasing office. Nice and always responsive although she is in sales so I suppose that’s normal. The process to rent is quick/​easy but I see why now given the types of places that are being rented. It also means they rent to anyone so your neighbors can be questionable. In all my years in NYC, I’ve never had to deal with a huge puddle of pee in the elevator or dropped food in the entry that sits there forever.
Based on the demographics in my building, I think they cater to those that don’t speak English, simply don’t know better, are afraid to complain or simply have no other options as they have no $ or can’t pass a coop/​condo review process. Fortunately, I don’t fall into any of those categories.

Yes, EEEK. I live in one of their buildings. Don’t bother reading the reviews where they give such a shining representation, because those are written by employees. No heat for weeks. Our apartment wasn’t even BUILT correctly! Nothing was lined up properly — sink and vanity were askew. I have pictures of it all. We are definitely getting out of here. I would suggest anyone looking to rent from them stay away from whatever they call themselves, Lefrak, Kings and Queens or maybe charlatan is a better name!?!

Horrible management horrible apartments its not luxury and nothing like the pictures people in the office are so rude and I actually reported them to better business bureaus its a scam every building smells like piss and there are roaches and rats all over

Bed Bugs! Need I say more? In the Cadillac building for 5 years and this is the second time I have to go through this HELL! I’ve been told that several apartments in this building are infested and they continue to raise the rent outrageously high. Once my lease is up, I’m out of here. I just pray none of these super bugs, follow me.

To be fair, my problem was not with Kings and Queens. The real issue is the management company. I would just say do not rent from them because the buildings are disgusting and the people that live there are worse. But I wont review it here because it is not Kings and Queens responsibility to keep the building clean and up to par. But check out this page for my real review

Unbelievable incompetent and arrogant about it too. They will not see or cop to the numerous accounting mistakes they made. They cost me thousands in legal fees just to rectify charges that were quite obvious erronious and clearly their error. By the way who «they» is unclear since you will be dealing with a plethora of holding companies, LLCs and law offices. Enjoy.

Terrible company, rent at your own risk. I am not going to get into it now, as I am still battling with them over their stupidity, but will write a full review when it is resolved. All in all, I highly recommend staying away.

They are the scum of the earth. There are mice in the building. I got taken to court for a bookkeeping mistake they made in 2011 and never explained though I called for months and they assured me they would take it off my bill. I’ve seen them yelling at the staff several times when staff does a great job, just to be total assholes because they could.

I currently live in one of their Brooklyn buildings. I worked with Robert Madrid and Erin in the Brooklyn leasing office and he was outstanding to work with. His team was effective and hands on. The application process was swift and no nonsense. They were extremely diligent and took great care with my privacy concerns regarding my data.
The process of apartment hunting is very stressful and even more so when you are a single parent. During the process I was turned away just for the fact that I was a single mother. Even though I am capable financially and have a history responsible ownership with past homes, I had a very difficult time even getting past the first round on many apartments in Brooklyn. Not once was I ever questioned by Robert and his team. He treated me with respect and it was refreshing to be treated well.
Me and my young boys are really enjoying the apartment. The Superintendent and his staff are tentative and enjoy having the kids in the building. They really treat us like family.
So far the building is well kept. The washer and dryers are new, clean and efficient with card access which makes it easier. The elevator is always functional. They provide extermination services. There is even a storage facility in the basement of the building, for a fee. When I need something fixed I have several modes of communication available. I can email, call or leave a message with the guard.
My move in experience was great except for a neighbor who didn’t appreciate the proximity of the moving van to his driveway. The staff provided dollies to my movers.
Given its a new apartment, I have a steady stream of deliveries and the staff ensures their safety if/​when I’m not there to receive them.
The price of the apartment so far is well worth it. The neighborhood is very safe and it great proximity to public transportation. The NYC public school system is great as well and my boys are zoned for a great elementary school.
All in all, I highly recommend Robert and his team as well as this leasing company. They appear to take pride in their buildings.

I live in one of their buildings. Location is really good, 2 blocks away from a local subway stop and only a 10 minute walk to an express subway stop, very close to local delicacies. For the amount of rent we used to pay, it was a really good deal. Now that they decided to raise the rent by more than $ 100 and stop including electricity in the rent, it’s no longer a good deal, just an OK deal.
They are renovating the building to make it look nicer, so plus point there. But honestly, I don’t need all that crap just so they can raise the rent. Really.
I do have a problem with the heating system in the winter. It still need an additional portable heater because the central heater isn’t warming up the room enough.
There’s no direct deposit system for rent payment or bank wire transfer. They are still living in the stone age with physical paper bill and the only way to pay rent is by writing a check and then put it inside of an envelope with NO POSTAGE (WTF, Kings and Queens, WTF?!) and then pray that the mailman will deliver it in time before they start charging you late fee.