This is a hostel with an interesting set up. Each floor is made up of multiple, tiny private rooms ('cabins), but the walls that separate all of them only go maybe halfway to the ceiling. So all the rooms share a common ceiling area where both air and noise travels freely between cabins. For this reason, the cabins themselves are 24 hr quiet areas - no conversation with roommates or over phone, no TV or music unless you have head phones, etc. There are nice common areas including a lounge with TV and a really pleasant rooftop garden area where you can talk on phone, sit down to eat, etc.
24 hour front desk staff were extremely nice and frequently asked if I needed help with anything, especially getting transportation or finding my way around the city. Whole building seemed very clean and well kept. Bed was decently comfortable, the building was kept pretty nice and toasty (I visited in winter, brrr!). I stayed from Wednesday night thru Sat morning, and the only time there was anyone making noise at night was Friday. Staff were pretty good at doing some rounds and telling people to quiet down. But people did continue to come in at all hours of the night and just due to the setup, you hear everything, including guests who obviously enjoyed the NYC nightlife. I would say honestly this is expected for a hostel, and it was still quiet enough that my sleep wasn't too disrupted. The do provide a pair of earplugs in each room along with a bottle of water.
Location was super convenient to multiple subway stops including the J train (goes to JFK), F train to Brooklyn, and the 6, which can be used to get to go all the way to upper East side, and connects to almost all the other Manhattan lines at different stops. Locally, you are in easy walking distance to Chinatown, Little Italy, SoHo, and lower East side. Plenty of food, bars, and shopping in easy walking distance. The street the hostel itself is on seems a tiny bit shady, but I never felt genuinely scared or unsafe or anything, and I am not from a big city so that could also be my bias.
My only real issue staying here was that the water temp in the shower flipped from burning hot to freezing cold repeatedly even during my short shower. So, you know, just be prepared for that if you stay here, and take fast showers.