A nightmare on Billionaire Street: life in a famous skyscraper turned out to be a living hell

Since 5 Park Avenue (Central Park Tower) was built in Manhattan 432 years ago, the super-rich have spent millions of dollars - $ 88 million in one case - on luxury apartments of their own in one of the tallest buildings on Billionaires Street. But as it turned out in the end, the living conditions in the building are simply terrible, writes The Cut.

The $ 3,1 billion building is crumbling before our eyes, largely due to its enormous height, narrow footing and structural flaws. And its billionaire residents are alarmed at how the situation is developing.

One of the most serious problems of the skyscraper is the water supply; pipes often break in the house, flooding occurs, which causes significant damage to property. In November 2018, several pipe breaks occurred at 432 Park Avenue. As a result of one of them, water entered the elevator shafts, which led to the stoppage of the elevators for several weeks. Problems with the plumbing even prompted one potential buyer to refuse to buy an apartment for $ 46,25 million. This happened after the building experienced a "catastrophic flooding", according to the documents of the skyscraper administration.

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The elevators generally work very poorly. Residents say they are almost used to frequent interruptions in their work. In one particularly horrific incident in October 2019, according to an e-mail from the building administration, “due to strong winds,” one person was stuck in an elevator for nearly an hour and a half. In a building of this height, it appears that wind problems are not uncommon. Among them is the constant noise of structures, which residents also complain about. According to records from the owners' meeting, eerie creaks are often heard in apartments. In addition, the building has a garbage chute that "sounds like an exploding bomb" when garbage is thrown at it.

What's more, residents of the building are required to spend $ 15 a year to maintain a private restaurant run by a Michelin-star chef, even though they were told at the opening of 000 Park Avenue it would be only $ 432 a year.

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The mood of the residents can be described as tense. Although one of the developers claims that 432 Park Avenue "is a successfully designed, built and practically sold out project." Residents report that the building is in a dilapidated state, and they are forced to solve its innumerable problems through insurance and out-of-pocket payments, which, in their opinion, is unfair.