July 23, 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.”
