This small basement apartment offered us a really cheap place to stay, that was a little way from Manhattan Island. It is located between two subway lines which offered frequent subway trains in to the city, after either a 9 or 12 minute walk . The trip from door to Manhattan usually took around 45 minutes. The area in which it is located, is quiet, friendly and attractive. With shops not too far away, offering a good range of services. Most importantly for us it offered good proximity to Riis Beach/Landing from where we went whale watching, and Brighton beach/Coney Island.
The main attraction to this particular AirBnB property was that fact it was cheap. This then allowed us to have a longer time in NY. Where if we had stayed in Manhattan itself we would of had a much shorter and more expensive stay. Therefore it was great valve for money. However...
The pictures do not offer the close up view of how rough this place is around the edges. The finish of the apartment, whilst generally clean, was cheaply unkempt with poorly fitted doors, rough plaster work in various places and a gas oven in the kitchen that always had a smell of leaking gas around it when it was not in use. The refrigerator motor was incredibly noisy, which kept me awake the first few nights. The main cupboard in the common area smelt so damp we never put over clothes in it for fear that they would end up smelling to.
The bed was very comfortable and the shower was magnificent, it was like standing under a warm waterfall. However being in the basement, whoever in the house above got up at around 4am every morning and walked about, you could hear every foot step. The people in the room above were not noisy per say, no loud music, talking or banging... but you can hear every footstep, and that happens right above the bed. This did not make for a pleasant nights sleep.
In the pictures you may have picked up on a small lattice work running across above the bed. This houses the heating pipes for what I guess is the houses heating system. Every time the heating came on the pipe would heat rapidly and make a rather loud ticking noises as, I assume, they expanded. Again, this, combined with the noisy fridge and footstep led to more loss of sleep.
The final and worst issue was COCKROACHES. We had several moments where we found some scuttling around the floor. With on one memorable and scary moment where one fell from the aforementioned lattice work on the the floor right by the bed. Needless to say this scared the wits out of my wife. I have no major issue with insects, but I did not appreciate having them in accommodation I had paid good money for and expected a certain degree of cleanliness and no pest infestations.
I have given 3 stars, as this apartment offered us a cheap and great base to explore NY from. Unfortunately it lacked horribly in several areas. Honestly? I won't be returning or recommending this place to friends.