Stratus on Hudson, Yonkers NY

Been living here for 2 years and the building has had its ups and downs. Initially everything was amazing—the incredible Palisades + Hudson river view from our corner unit, responsive super and property manager, and awesome rooftop. Things went downhill when staffing changed about a year into our stay. Suddenly it became near impossible to get in touch with the property manager, and when we did she was incredibly unhelpful. There was a flood in the building over Christmas and while it did not affect any of the upper floor units, it was evident that many tenants were inconvenienced for an unacceptably long time, likely due to the incompetence of the new manager. A few months ago, we were notified that this property manager has been fired and since then we have had no issues communicating with the administrative staff, and they’ve been prompt in addressing any of our problems. Hopefully GDC has hired better property managers, as it would be a shame to let such a beautiful apartment go to waste.

We haven't been living here long but are already questioning the decision. Everything looks nice on a quick tour, but after a while you start to see the issues. One of the 2 elevators was out for weeks. Most of the lights on the roof are out. They're always out of coffee supplies (yes, I understand it's "free"). The front door was broken for days leaving anyone able to just enter the building. There was a flood in the garbage room for over a month. The first few weeks of that I didn't see anything being done. They finally put a fan but that only blew the water around, I never saw anything being done to actually fix anything. All of these issues with nothing from building management to tell us what's going on. To top it off, we recently received an email about "medical waste" being thrown in the regular trash and then days later there's a drug raid with kilos of coke, heroin and fentanyl being found in one of the tenant's apartment. I tried reaching out to the Property Manager a few times over the time that we have lived here but never get a response. The front door of the building says that the office is supposed to be open Tuesday through Saturday until 6pm, but I work from home 1 day a week and get home by 5pm the other days and I have never seen anyone in the office. It just feels like nobody is paying attention to this building

I write this on behalf of myself and other tenants still living at Stratus who won't post till they move out. I moved from NYC to Stratus 4+ years ago shortly after it opened. At first, it was a welcome change - great location with unparalleled river views and nice amenities and community/neighbors. However, it has gone significantly downhill in the last year, particularly with the change in the building management and manager. Aside from GDC's activities director, super and cleaning staff, GDC corporate and building management doesn't care about its tenants or this building. GDC calls this a luxury building, but it's far from it for the following reasons:

Little to no communication from management. Good luck getting a response if you send an email with a request.
The building is poorly built and there are structural issues. The walls are super thin - I can hear my next door neighbor sneeze and open and close their blinds. And most of the windows don't open and shut easily (or at all). Unless you have a sliding door, the windows open only a few inches. It's like living in a fishbowl. The corner street level apts flood every time it rains, forcing one tenant to leave. That apt was gutted for mold removal and has yet to be finished months later. The other apt remains occupied & the tenant has had inches of water throughout the apt every time it rains. To add insult to injury, GDC plugs in industrial size fans to the tenants outlet causing expensive electric bills. GDC offered no financial compensation, nor have they ever fixed the issue. Also one elevator (only has two) is always out of service.
The garbage room flooded weeks ago (see photo). There are pools of water and fans in an attempt to keep the area dry. Zero acknowledgment nor an update from management.
The roof deck is a mess. The furniture is years old and hasn't been cleaned - it's filthy (see photo). People leave trash after entertaining. There are parts of the floor that cave in - someone could easily fall and be injured. There is no shade (we asked for shade and they installed a shower instead) so it's too hot to be there during the day time.

A pipe burst on Christmas Day 2022 due to a tenant's heat that wasn't working (she had made management aware it needed to be fixed & it went ignored). There was MAJOR water damage to apts on floors 1-6, including the common lounge area, the mailroom and elevators. It took THREE days before tenants received an email from management, then another EIGHT MONTHS for the damage to be repaired. We were provided very little to no updates regarding when the work was to be completed. During this time the rooftop was closed for winter and the lounge area wasn't accessible, yet we were still charged the full amenity fee. We received a lousy $100 eight months later. Additionally, tenants who had water damage in their apts were given only two days notice to leave in order to allow repairs. The garage ceiling leaks when it rains. It did $3K damage to a tenant's car, with ZERO reimbursement from GCD to pay the insurance deductible. She had to move her car to three different spots as a result.
Recently, a couple living in the building were arrested for drug trafficking (fentanyl, heroin and cocaine), which raises doubt whether there are background checks. GDC is greedy and just wants to fill apts as quickly as possible for the money. They'll take someone off the street who can pay higher rent vs.a good tenant in the building who wants to upgrade to a bigger or river view apt. The two gym fans have been out of order for months with no update on when they'll be fixed. They were also impacted by the flood.

Net - this building doesn't warrant the high rent. Save your money and live elsewhere! I gave this two stars only for the amazing views of the river!

Lived here for 3 years. It’s a building that demands luxury rent and provides slum-like experience.
Got the apartment flooded dozens of times. Terrible management team who never cared about fixing the root cause.
Found mold (see pics). Whatever the management team says is likely a huge lie.
Many of my friends were also affected by water problems and mismanagement issues but the property manager simply asked us to move out while paying full rent.
Only reason I stayed was because of friends and family who lived in the vicinity.

Took a ride with my sister up to Yonkers the other day to see this building and was truly shocked with what we saw. She commutes to West Point regularly so Stratus is ideal. When we arrived the place was crawling with workers dealing with some type of water damage. We popped in the lobby and quickly had to leave because the place smelt damp and gross.

When we asked to talk to someone we were told no property manager is on site on Mondays. You would think even if they aren't normally there Monday, whatever disaster was going on that they would be there to deal with it.

According to one worker, named Diego, several floors were flood back during Christmas. We will continue our search, especially now that we discovered other buildings nearby that were nicer and not affected by floodwater.

Lovely property in a convenient location, especially if you have to commute into the City. The management team is kind and highly responsive. Great views of the Hudson and easy access to the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail.

My fiancée and I lived in this building for 2 years and had a great experience. We had a 2 bed, 2 bath, 2 balcony appt facing the palisades, and will never forget waking up each morning to that view.

The neighborhood was great for us with friendly neighbors and the aqueduct trail close by taking many peaceful walks with our dog. The MetroNorth is also just a few steps away, offering an easy 33min commute to the city. You would need a car to live here to access the local town, shops, and groceries, but the building has excellent garage parking at a very reasonable price.

We couldn't speak more highly of the GDC team taking care of this building. All the cleaning staff are very friendly, along with the building super. Alyssa (building manager) has done a fantastic job of making this a very happy place to live for anyone wanting to do so.

We highly recommend this building if you're looking to stay close to the city but have a peaceful escape.