I stayed in Eric's apartment for 10 days in early December. His apt was warm, clean and very homey. What I appreciated a lot was Eric's responsiveness and flexibility as I couldn't check in at the prescribed time. Eric makes use of KeySafe, which does not require the two of you to meet in person, but you can simply pick up and drop off the key in a cafe a few blocks away.
The surrounding area of East Harlem is safe, has a few cheap shops and a supermarket closeby, which served the purpose. I did not eat out locally, so can't comment. But what I did appreciate was the proximity to Central Park. It was possible to walk from Eric's apt to the very center of Manhattan through the park in about an hour, which I did quite often. Eric's apt is only one flight of stairs up, so it did not make any difference that it's a walk up building with no elevator, and I also never met the neighbors during my stay.