July 23, 2014 By Michael Florio
There is a new way for Long Island City residents to meet their neighbors.
Tenant King, a website that launched earlier this year, provides residents with the opportunity to connect online with fellow tenants/property owners through a private network of verified users.
The website, co-founded by three LIC residents, allows users to communicate with each other in their respective building, or across a number of buildings, if they so choose.
The hyperlocal platform currently offers two main features: an exchange where people can buy and sell goods; and an event calendar, which also provides residents with the ability to submit their own events.
“We are like Craigslist, without all the Craigslist randomness,” said CEO, Mihkel Noormagi, a Hunters Point resident. “If anyone wants to gather people for any reason, whether it’s people who walk their dogs at a certain time or someone trying to start a mommy group, they can with this.”
The founders have launched the website in Long Island City and plan to roll it out across New York City. They have already brought it to Battery Park City.
“Long Island city is a great community for us,” Noormagi said. “Since the community is relatively new, and a lot of people are moving in, many people want to get to know it better as well as their neighbors.”
The site will be releasing a third function in coming months, which will allow local vendors to offer deals to users.
This feature will also allow residents to be vendors. For instance, a resident could post services they offer– such as tutoring or babysitting- on the site.
The site is currently being offered in several buildings throughout Hunters Point and Court Square.
Currently, more than 10 percent of LIC high-rise residents are using the site, which accounts for about 700 users, according to Noormagi.
Users must verify their address–either with a piece of mail, credit card verification, or by taking a snap shot of their utility bill– before they can sign on.
Similar services to Tenant King have been offered—and controlled– by management companies in the past.
“A lot of time the management company won’t update it for weeks,” Noormagi said. “With us, the tenants are in control.”
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4 Comments
This looks pretty, but I’d like to know neighbors outside of my building too. Our building went with Nextdoor and created a private group for our building. Figured its best to find out if there is crime or new stuff around us than just inside the building.
John, in fact Tenant King does allow you to reach out to the entire neighborhood. Just last week they celebrated their 1,200th user with a sponsored local happy hour – unfortunately I couldn’t go but I received an e-mail invitation about it. I tried NextDoor about a year ago, probably saw around 10 active people there in Hunters Point South, so looked pretty dead to me and felt more like a neighborhood watch group. Meanwhile, I just sold my camera and a TV-stand on Tenant King to locals from nearby buildings, so I would encourage you to give it a try! I think they’re site is awesome!
Is this site only for the large high rises? I live in a small, 6-unit building and tried to sign-up b/c I’d love to connect with others in the LIC community. However, I received a response stating, “We have added your building to the list of candidate buildings for the future expansion rounds.”
What does the building have to do with it? I live in the neighborhood too.
I’ve been waiting for something to replace Building Link ever since TF Cornerstone eliminated it over a year ago. This site allows access to those outside of TF too, so I have a bigger audience to buy and sell things I wouldn’t necessarily want to bother with Craigslist for. Plus I like the ability to read and post local events. A welcome addition to the neighborhood!