The Opal

worst management ever, there is nothing «luxury» about this building when it comes to service. not worth the price for what you get, stay away.

I read some of these reviews and wonder if it’s the same apartment I am living in. Its either exaggerated or belated; or BOTH! I have been here for about 16 months and its not as horrible as these reviews are making it sound; at least not while I’ve been here.
To start with, the units are really nice, clean and decent with very lush and beautiful grounds. All my visitors have complimented that, so it’s not just my opinion. Yes, the pets sometimes seem to over extend their boundaries, but I see the new management is very serious with enforcing the pet regulations. Also, the kids now have a very nice play area, so no unnecessary noise.
Yes talking about the management, these new guys are really professional. I can say this with so much confidence because I experienced a little bit of the former management who were really awful. In the past you could spend a whole week calling to solve an issue, without success to even talk to anyone. Sometimes you had to take the day off just to see them face to face to solve an issue that would have taken a 2-​minutes call. They were really horrible. But the new management are the complete opposite. The present manager Derrick, is so nice, warm and helpful. I remember catching him up late when he was outside the office on his way leaving after work. He happily listened to me, went back into the office, put his computer back on to attend to me; I was impressed considering what I have seen here in the past. And the assistant property manager Erin, she’s just wonderful. Always very courteous and ready to address any complains; face to face or over the phone. If I had this business I would hire these guys ten times over (particularly Derrick and Erin). And yes, the guys at the front desk (concierge)and the maintenance guys are really nice and efficient. Always ready to help and the few times I reported a maintenance issue, it got fixed before I got back from work.
The shuttle does not break down constantly as I was made to believe initially. In my 16 months here I have experienced that less than 5 times (far less than the stoppages on some public transportation); and in each occasion they always make alternative transportation arrangement to take tenants to the train station. Yes, you loose some 5 –10 minutes once in a while but its incomparable to the other times it’s always on schedule. Common guys, we experience breakdowns in personal cars and public transportation once in a while so give these guys a break. I am not saying the shuttle is 100% but it’s effective and not as bad as I see it described.
The facilities are adequate. The Laundromat is very adequate for this building. I have never for one day met more than 2 people in it, sometimes I feel it is underutilized. It only serves the one bedroom and studio apartments, since all the 2 bedroom apartments have washers and dryers in them. I use just one of the heaters in the winter and even then, I have to wake up at night and put it off. ACs are very effective also. However, the walls of the apartments are actually thin and you could hear loud conversations from outside; not too bad though but could be better. The gym is relatively well equipped and better than many I have seen in New York.
For the initial price they offer, this apartment is not too bad. The doubts started coming after they start to increase the rent when renewing the lease, so that’s what I think is not fair to the tenants.
Overall, I am quite satisfied with the OPAL apartment in its present state; and my wife who just moved here, loves it. Hope they maintain this standard especially the WONDERFUL management and staff.

Not worth the money. Units are decent, grounds are nice. Far from subways if you care. Parking is only good if you want to pay $ 180 a month for their garage.

It’s been over 2 months now and I have not heard anything about my deposit. No update from the management on the status of this and no one returns my calls. What a shithole. Had I known what kind of idiots ran this place I never would have moved in here.

Not worth the money. The people in the office are clueless and rude. The only good part is the front desk staff and maintenance guys. They are fast and friendly.

This building has to be the biggest mistake we ever made when we moved here! The managment is horrible, and are very disrespectful! Lived here for 2 years and hated it! theres always a jungle of kids in the lobby area, with no parents, screwing around, being loud and treating the lobby as a playground. this building and management is not luxury at all! the building is situated in a run down neighborhood with nothing to do or anywhere to go, your best bet would be the new walgreens! stay away!!!

came to visit a friend at this place in queens. pretty cool. has a pool table/​chill area downstairs. since i don’t live here i don’t know about the other reviewers but i liked it.

I have been living at the Opal since July of 2009, and at first it was a great building to live in. A lot of the staff including Anthony, Harold, and the doormen, have been fantastic. My issue lies with the front office and rude and obnoxious individuals like Elena (Yolena as she prefers to be called). We have been great tenants, paying our rent on time, friendly with everyone in the building, even going so far as to buy presents for all the employees during the holidays, and buying a heater for the front desk in the winter (because for whatever reason the building didn’t supply them with one, and it was FREEZING due to the door constantly opening. The issues first started with the Opal Shuttle… this would pick you up in the morning and drive you to the subway, however it was CONSTANTLY broken down and never worked. We were then forced to take 2 separate small vans to work in which everyone has to cram into every morning. They decided never to fix the orginal shuttle, so the 2 vans are what picks you up every day. The 2 bus drivers are great, really nice guys… but for everyone to squeeze onto those Vans is a little ridiculous. Not to mention that if you are even a minute late getting off the subway, you have to wait a whole 30 minutes for the next one to come. In addition, they have a dog run in the back, which was a big selling point for us. They advertise as having 2 dog runs, but its really just one dog run that has been sectioned off into 2 sections. The «2^nd dog run» is about 5 feet by 6 feet… call that a «Run» if you will. The dog run NEVER has new bags for picking up after the dogs, so consequently, the entire dog run is overrun with dog feces and flies. The opal used to refill the dog run with new mulch to cover this, but this has only been done 2x in the 2 years I have lived here and it is disgusting. Another annoying thing is because of the fact that the area is very Hasidic and to abide by religion, on Fridays-​Sat (THE BUSIEST DAYS OF THE WEEK IN TERMS OF PEOPLE COMING AND GOING IN THE BUILDING) 2 of the elevators stop on EVERY floor, so that Jews who cannot use electricity do not need to press a button to get off on the floor they want to. I understand this, but it is a HUGE inconvenience for everyone else. If you happen to get in that elevator, it will stop on every floor… and when you press the button for the elevator, sometimes that is the one you get stuck with. I have spent times waiting 15 min+ just for an elevator to show up on these days which is ridiculous. Another gripe is that anyone can come onto the premises. They have gates that open on the property, but they open for anyone and everyone… you don’t need a pass or anything. So there are constantly people who do not live in the building on the property, and people park their cars there when they shouldn’t. The management office is retarded as well… we have decided not to renew our lease because they tried to increase our rent $ 200, and for the same price I can live in DUMBO which is 5 min to my office instead of over an hour. We have sent Yolena paperwork that she needs to sign to prove we have lived in the building for 2 years. It doesn’t take a lot, she literally just needs to sign off on it, but has decided to not do that for over 2 weeks now. We have called every day, and she still has not signed it, and now she is «on vacation». It is very evident she is bitter we are not renewing our lease so is trying to make things difficult for us, but we have gone above her and had everything sorted out. IF you want to live in a building where the management is incompetent, the quality of the people living there continues to decline, where the backyard is covered in dog sh*t, and a community where NOTHING is open on the weekends (due to religious observance), and NOTHING to do in the immediate area without a car, then by all means live here. You are MUCH better off looking at places in forest hills, however, and I highly suggest you look over there if you are considering the opal. Feel free to message me if you have any questions.

Caution: they are getting very expensive, and certainly not worth the stress and aggravation… once you move in, be careful of the deal they give you with one– three months rent free, or whatever current deal they have. Yes, it sounds good, but wait until you move in and find out the real deal on how management treats the tenants. We are simply just another number in this building!!! And Once you move in after a few years they will try to go up on your rent, not just 3% but almost double and every year you have to negotiate with them to bring it down. The apartment is nice and the grounds are the best in queens. BUT for the price you will pay for a one bedroom is 1700 – 1800.00/mo and I will tell you in my apartment I would never get adequate heat in the winter and in the summer i always had problems with their built in AC units. if you like to waste your money move here, because truth be told you will never afford to buy a house living in this place, and you don’t get what you pay for, even the laundromat is small for over 400 residents. The walls in the apartment are paper thin you can hear anyones conversation if you stand by their front door long enough, you can smell cig smoke from the vents if you live nearby a smoker, the kids are loud and wreck the gym area and even the study lounges, where you can never concentrate. Some of the doormen are rude and the superintendent always walks around with an attitude as if he owns the place, and never fixed anything even when you put a order in. You have to stay behind management for them to fix anything. Don’t move here, unless you enjoy wasting precious money and time. More than likely after a few years you will move out because they will go up on your rent. Once they have you as a tenant your trapped and they will try their darndest to go up on the rent as much as they can!
GOOGLE REVIEWS ON dermot company inc they own the opal as well as other buildings, get a better idea on how these owners operate!