Our stay with Jae was good! He was a bit slow on the responses and getting back to me but it all worked out in the end.
Some things we saw in the reviews that worried us were the noise level and there only being one A/C unit (window until in the bedroom). Well, I’m happy to say that the apartment was surprisingly quiet. Only noises were occasional sirens and loud motorcycles. Not much honking or people noises. As for the A/C, a second unit has been added in the main room (kitchen, living room, entrance). Both work very well and keep the place super cold.
The place has a blow dryer but it kind of worked intermittently (would work fine for a few seconds and then go at 1/4 power). This was a bit annoying so I would recommend bringing your own if you plan on using it.
In terms of parking, there was free street parking available in the few blocks surrounding the apartment. We came mid-august and had no trouble finding parking within a 5 min walk from the place. Only thing is that you can’t park in the spots either Tuesday/Friday or Monday/Thursday for an hour and a half in the morning. So, you will have to move your car once or twice during your stay. Not too annoying or difficult and definitely worth doing to save a ton of money for garage or lot parking.
The area was good with plenty of 24/7 grocery/corner stores, bars, restaurants (sit down and take out). Some of our favourite places were Graham street bar for a chill local bar (1 min walk), the Barcade for cheap drinks and arcade games (15 min walk), Union Pool for a nice open air but also indoor bar with fairy lights, picnic tables, and a reasonably priced Mexican food truck (15 min walk), Duff’s for a cheap metal music bar (15 min walk). The food at Faith’s Food (Chinese) was super cheap and steps away from the apartment.
In terms of getting into Manhattan, you can get basically anywhere in the city (not including places more uptown than central park) with the subway in 30 minutes or so.
We would stay here again.