We spent 3 weeks at Ryan's while on an extended visit in NYC.

The positives: Ryan responded quickly to emails and was generally easy to communicate with. The building is in a convenient location - close to the subway, restaurants & grocery stores, neighborhood is quiet for Brooklyn. We were travelling with two kids, and Ryan made sure there was adequate sleeping arrangements (crib & kids mattress) even offering an AC unit for their bedroom during the heatwave. A leak from the upstairs tenants' bathroom created a decent-sized hole over the shower; Ryan arranged to have a plumber come out and correct the problem, although the hole itself wasn't covered while we were there, at least there wasn't more water leaking down.

The downside: AC in the listing means AC in the living room. (and in our second week a floor-standing one for the kids' room) The bedroom has a fan; ideally we would have slept with the door open for cross-ventilation, but the shared stairwell made that a little awkward..

Until I saw the layout of the building I didn't fully comprehend the "shared stairwell" - the doors of both bedrooms, the bathroom, and the kitchen/living room open into this stairwell. Going from bedroom to bathroom means going through the shared hallway. Not sure how many people live on the upper floors, but at least 6 different people were around while I was there. You're definitely aware of being in a shared house; it's not a self-contained apartment.

The neighbors were generally quiet - the noisiest one in the building was our youngest, who was teething at the time. Sorry to the folks upstairs - he doesn't normally yell like that!

As Ryan mentions in the ad, the building is in the process of being renovated, so there are tools in the hallway upstairs, a stack of flooring in the bedroom, and other signs of work.

Overall, I think this place is a good fit for folks who are looking for no-frills accommodation and don't mind a slightly-less private arrangement than your average apartment.