Why is this guy smiling???? Because he doesn't have 5 roommates sharing the space.
Murray Hill is the best. generic? that's rich from somebody from San Jose.
5
Why spend money on shipping a few pieces of generic looking furniture across the country and then have to find an apartment to fit the furniture? I arrived in NYC with a suitcase.
A card table with a bargain Indian print textile served as the table cloth. When I moved to DC a few years later I wondered if had too much stuff as it almost filled my VW bug. On a visit by my parents, my father splurged in Georgetown with a Marrikemo vinyl card table cover.
Now, 50 years later, a retired diplomat, 3 continents, great mix of textiles to top the card table, if needed, the card table, "you can't hurt it." is the often used voter registration table in Florida. Stored next to stackable washer/dryer in my senior apartment.
11
It's always so disconcerting when I'm happily reading a Times article and out of nowhere there'll be some shady remark about San Francisco. People are fake. There's nothing to do. Prices are high. They refuse to build housing. They're full of themselves. There might be an interesting article that Wesley Morris can ponder: All the times the NYT is petty about San Francisco. I'm just imaging some editor being like, way to sic it to them, those hippie West Coasters! It's just unbecoming for a national newspaper.
8
@KK The NYT didn't say that the people in San Francisco can be fake. That is a direct quote from someone who had lived there.
I am very fortunate. I own a studio apartment in a great NYC hood and a small place two hours outside of the city. Last year I hit a bump with work and decided to sublet my NYC apartment and live f/t upstate. The numbers worked and I made every effort to become an active full-timer in the country. (The area wasn't new to me; I have been a weekender there for decades. I have friends and fun and interests up there.) I joined associations, went to local readings and events, volunteered, etc.
One year later I can say, with utter conviction and assurance, nothing compares to the quality, quantity, variety, content, and potential of what living in NYC offers. Nothing. The arts, energy, people, street life, and daily rhythm of living in the city exists nowhere else and if that matters to you, if it equates with your sense of well-being, living elsewhere is challenging and the last option.
I know I'm very lucky but I've made the trade-offs and watch every penny and have come to enjoy living more mindfully and smaller. The city is like a friend, like oxygen, where I belong, my host. I love it, hate it, love it ... but won't leave it.
28
A point the article missed: asking for 4 months' rent as a security deposit is illegal in California. The max due at lease signing is first month's rent and a security deposit of no more than two months' rent. (Plus an extra half-month if the tenant has a waterbed!)
3
I just love reading about the trials and tribulations of millennials. It makes for great (mostly comedic) reading. First, why would anyone move furniture when it can be sold and with the cash go to IKEA and furnish you new place. Second, I wish the article would tell us where Mr. Bejan grew up. I’m guessing he’s one millennials who chase money and salary around the country, then pretend they love how “real” the people are in his new “home” and how “fake” the people are in the place they leave. (As if UBER gives any its employees enough time to make an informed decision about the people in either place). I’m looking for the day when the NYT real estate section tells the story of an evicted family of 4 have to find an apartment. Please no more stories about spoiled millennials.
17
@Lisa S Lot of assumptions, here.
10
@Lisa S: I mostly agree, and I wish the stories here were more about real people with normal incomes who are not indulged by rich parents or who have six figure jobs at age 25 (!!!!). This is a really, really tiny cohort group! it is not the norm!
Most 25 year olds are earning lowish wages, and in entry level jobs just 2-3 years out of college (or 1 year out of grad school!) and with big college loans to pay off! Mr. Bejan is in a very unusual situation! and yet I never read here about ordinary folks facing real economic dilemmas in living in such a scary expensive environment!
HOWEVER: as someone who did move around a lot as young 20-something...used furniture is worth almost nothing. You are lucky to sell a couch for $50 that you bought for $600. A coffee table for $15 that you paid $120 for! So if you sell all your furniture....you MIGHT get $100 bucks and you can't furnish an apartment with that, not even at IKEA (which frankly is not that cheap AND you must assemble everything yourself!).
The cheapest way to furnish an apartment is to buy used stuff -- Craigslist, Goodwill -- you might luck out and find some stuff in the trash for free! Again, Mr. Bejan can afford stylish all-new furnishings (at 25!) AND afford to ship them cross country ($$$$). So again, he is a very atypical millennial.
3
@Concerned Citizen Sorry but 3 out of 4 of my sons thus far earned 6 figures right out of college. And I expect my youngest son to follow their path. They took out loans in college and worked-so not overindulged by "rich" parents. They majored in subjects that would help them make a living. You should stop generalizing about 20 somethings. I am proud of my sons but would not say that we did anything special.
This article sums up why I will never live in NYC.
7
A 25yo, moving to NYC. And his biggest problem is, he has furniture too big to fit in the pint-sized apartment. I'm sorry, but it's such a non-issue. To start, how many 25yo would get so attached to their furniture, really?
I'd bet, this guy gets all he wants, which is the free publicity, both for himself and his employer (disclaimer: I hate that company), and NYT falls for it, writing an article wholly for him.
14
People don't realize when they first come to New York City, there's more to NYC than Manhattan. We lived in Brooklyn's South Midwood neighborhood, tree-lined streets with big backyards, in a seven-bedroom Victorian. A short thirty minute subway ride to midtown. Over four-thousand square feet. We rented out the third floor, three bedrooms, at $900 each per month. Mortgage was $2700 a month. Makes me sick when I see young people spending $2000+ per month on rent for tiny little place to live. Oy!
5
I would have looked out farther to get a real apartment, instead of living in a closet. And no way would I have moved that little bit of furniture from one coast to the next. I'd have sold it all and bought furniture. He should have sold the couch and bed and bought a futon. It would have tripled the space in that place and wouldn't scare off any potential dates. I cannot imagine any woman or guy visiting his place and wanting a second date.
3
@Libby
Sleep on a futon for 6 months and then recommend in this order: a competent doctor whose in your insurance plan to treat your aching, and I mean aching, back, and then the best store in NYC to buy a futon.
2
@Libby: though it does not look like much....a top quality mattress and box spring can run $2000. A "designer" sofa can run $1200 and up. Coffee table, rugs, big HDTV, a few dressers and nightstands....high quality, brand new (he's just 2 years out of a college dorm!)....COULD run $10,000. He might even still be paying on this stuff.
It's not my taste, but I'm his parent's age or older. My kids all have this plain, mid-century modern taste that dominates decorating shows on HGTV and Pinterest.
To furnish a whole apartment with NEW, stylish furniture, even from IKEA would run thousands of dollars. Plus, used furniture sells for 10-20% of its new price, even after just two years. It is a VERY poor investment, which why I always buy vintage or used.
2
@RLS .. Perhaps you've never slept on a new cotton futon, with a wooden-slat frame underneath and a dreamy wool-filled 4" topper on top of it? Also need some flannel sheets, firm pillows and a down comforter on top of it all.
It is simply the best sleep I've ever had .. and I'm in my 80s.
This is really a sad story if you think about it. How can we save for retirement, have a family and live the American dream if we have to pay over 2K for a Studio.....?
9
You have the answer at hand. Live in Iowa - not NYC!
3
@Andrés Salgado
Um, don't move to NYC. That's one solution. Manhattan is for the rich. Spread the world. Problem solved.
2
@Andrés Salgado, don't have to live in certain neighborhoods in NYC.
3
I visited the first of many of the high rise lux rental towers here in Greenpoint Brooklyn, at The Greenpoint Landing complex.
I was stunned at the sizes of the apartments. They looked like a possible version of what a prison cell might look like in a "Club Fed" prison for white collar criminals.
The bedrooms were so small you could not fit a king sized bed in there let alone a dresser.
The rents start at $3,500 for a closet studio and if you want to get anything large enough for a person to live in, be ready to start shelling out $5,000 and above.
Can you spell/pronounce "high rent residential blight" crash coming?
7
@Paul; my niece just rented a brand new apartment in trendy Seattle. She sent pix, plus a link to the building's website which had cool 3-D "walkthrough" graphics, so you can literally walk through the various units like a video game.
I too was shocked at how small it was and how much it cost (over $2100) for about 650 square feet. The bedroom can't be more than 9x10 feet, maybe less. There is only room for a queen bed and two nightstands -- NO dressers, because you can just barely walk around the bed itself.
The kitchen is just one counter about 9 ft. long, with stylish but really cheap formica cabinets and countertops. The flooring is all Pergo in a faux wood pattern. The combined living/dining room is about 10x12 feet! just enough room for one couch, the TV and a tiny dinette set.
My first thought was "gee...it's strangely like an Assisted Living home for seniors with dementia"...cute, stylish, tiny and EXPENSIVE.
If this is the new "trend", please count me out. I get claustrophobia.
4
I'm not sure why some readers seem annoyed by a fellow who moves to New York City for a job and ships his furniture there. Nowhere does it say his furniture is from IKEA, or whether it is cheap or expensive, just that he didn't want to get new things. I think many of us, moving to a new place, would like to bring our furniture, and would like a home it fits into comfortably.
26
Shipping bedroom furniture from CA to NYC?! OMG! Noooo! There's a place called Ikea, or its equal, in NYC. Ask your young friends about it. Re other commentaries about the unequaled food/steaks, beautiful people and SHOES only found in NYC!! Every American city I've been to in the last 10 years that has over 500,000 people has a great restaurant scene. Don't move to NYC just to become another provincial New Yorker. When in NYC a few years ago, I stayed in Korea Town and was amazed at how harried and stressed out the citizens looked. No thanks, I'll pass.
22
@Economy Biscuits
I’m sure his employer paid for it.
3
@Economy Biscuits To be fair, Korea town is about one block of west 32nd. You couldn't have picked a worse place to stay in the city if you wanted to avoid feeling harried.
5
@Kevin
right, if he'd stayed at the conrad hotel in battery park city, it might have been different.
2
Those folks who move to NYC for Amazon are going to be in for a real sticker and size shock.... (Maybe the bribe, er, incentive should've gone to build housing - oh wait, the location was originally set aside for housing...)
10
@Dave S, it's not the well-paid Amazonians who are in for a shock but others who wish to live in the same neighborhoods when rents skyrocket.
1
Shipping an IKEA dresser across America ? And a bed ? I really don’t get it. Put it on Craigslist, give it to a charity and don’t complicate your apartment search !
I’m a Parisian, we complain a lot about prices, but a least for this rent you have 60 sq meters place.
16
@Emma
His employer may have paid the shipping costs.
2
Well. Trade offs must be made. Many of us would like to live in Chelsea or the UWS. A longer commute may be needed. And we use our washing machine as storage space. I don’t feel sorry for this fellow. Sorry.
9
@Monica Klehr, I don't think we're supposed to feel sorry for him. It's just an account of his experience looking for an apartment in a new city. I suppose they could make it seem as if he didn't have any problems during the search, but no one would believe it.
9
I understand location is everything and you go where the jobs are... but wow. That's twice the amount of my mortgage and I live in a 2300 sq ft. house on a quarter acre lot. I don't think I could handle living in NYC.
13
@Greg
NYC is far more liberal than Indiana. Many people will live smaller to live in a blue state/city. If i were gay or transgender, I'd rather squeeze into a studio in NYC than live in a big house in a red state.
13
@richguy: so you are paying to live amongst people with very liberal politics?
You do realize there are affordable places in between San Francisco and NYC, that are NOT anti-gay or Evangelical strongholds -- college towns -- suburbs of good-sized cities -- and all much cheaper than NYC.
It's a big country, and it is fine if you CHOOSE to live in NYC in a tiny studio....just stop putting down the choices of other people, or assuming you know their politics.
3
@Concerned Citizen
"You do realize there are affordable places in between San Francisco and NYC, that are NOT anti-gay or Evangelical strongholds -- college towns -- suburbs of good-sized cities -- and all much cheaper than NYC."
Without getting too much into politics, living in a gay-friendly town is great, but ultimately doesn't mean much if the state government is anti-gay as we witnessed in North Carolina.
A lot of people like living in a city where nightspots are open most of the night, where they don't have to drive to get around and where they don't have to worry about rushing home because it is about time for the transit system to shutdown for the night.
3
Purchase a platform bed with drawers underneath. In fact, the whole situation should be regarded as an opportunity to think intelligently and use space in a smart way. That's how I would do it.
32
@ClydeMallory
Some put up a little loft for the bed. It helps to have high ceilings.
1
Americans moving to Europe find that the spaces in big cities are smaller and more expensive than in the US. Given the two big cities, symmetrically located on opposite coasts and both considered to be foci of Evil emanating therefrom, I am surprised that Mr. Bejan finds New York apartment spaces smaller.
A solution that I venture to suggest, sell the queen bed and other furniture, and create a minimalist space where everything needed is within the field of vision, with some more important items stored in wall- and/or under-floor-safes.
11
Did you look at the photo? You can’t get more minimal that what he has unless you put a futon on the floor and use it for both sitting and sleeping, using the floor itself as a table/writing desk.
4
@Tuvw Xyz Unless you're speaking of London or Geneva or some wild place like that, I'm rather confident most will find housing in Europe to be much cheaper than in the United States, and no smaller for it! At least in the case of Germany, England, Finland, Sweden (where I have lived on very small salaries) and other places I have not lived but know about. But maybe being in the Chicagoland area is relevant here; I've lived there, too, and it's one of the most affordable big cities in the U.S. (broadly speaking). And so infinitely superior to New York City ;) Anyway, curious about your reference points!
I lived in NYC from the late 1970s to 1990. It was the most exciting time of my life. I was a student, lived in a dorm for the first year ($800 for 8 months). By the time I left, I was sharing an apartment in Chelsea, each of us paying $500.
People were stimulating to talk to. Everyone has an opinion from the cab drivers to the guy behind the deli counter – and for the most part, they are respectful of other people's opinions. I stood for literally hundreds of shows and ballets -- $5. No lotteries were needed. TKTS worked as it was intended: half price + $1 service fee. It was a big deal when standing room went from $5 to $6. But even so, you appreciated how cheap it was.
But also... the subways were filthy. Times Square and 42nd Street were at your own risk. You were approached for money several times in every walk (and probably still are). When traffic was gridlocked and there was nowhere for anyone to go, the noise of honking cabs, trucks and cars still split your head. It was (and probably still is), a huge number of people chasing a limited number of opportunities. Finally, it took its toll.
San Diego is nice, the weather is gorgeous and the people are polite. But it doesn't have the drive of NY and the people aren't anywhere near as interesting. I miss it, and I always will. I can't afford to live there now, but I am so glad it was a part of my life and my coming of age.
82
@ReadingLips: it isn't like that anymore, nor are their $5 theatre tickets -- try more like $500 each! -- $800-$4000 to see "Hamilton"!!!!
No apartments for $500, not even shared.
And here is a heads-up: there are interesting people with interesting opinions in EVERY city, suburb and rural cowtown....from Bangor Maine to Akron Ohio to Des Moines Iowa.
Of course San Diego is not NYC (and vice versa) -- why should it be? Every city has its own pluses and minuses, and thank god they (and we) are not all alike.
1
@Concerned Citizen, if you think you need to pay anything like $500 for theater tickets you are really out of touch with costs here. Ask a New Yorker and they will share how to get a bargain.
4
At 25 I would have put up with a lot to live in a vibrant city like new york. Now middle aged I want to go out west to live a slower pace of life with sunny days the majority of time.
15
My last Brooklyn apartment, where I holed up for 9 years, was 340 SF. Expansive compared to the 210 I lived in in the Lower East side prior to that. I just bought an 830 SF house within train commute distance to Manhattan, and I keep my tape measure handy to ensure I do not cram my new "giant" house with stuff. I even down-sized to a full size mattress. I can't wax poetic about my decade plus of a view of a brick wall. I can about the years I've spent on the Hudson River, enjoying the free and inexpensive city waterfront. New York City can teach us to make the most of our dwelling - and the most of what is outside of our front door.
20
Got 400 sf here on Coronado Island off San Diego, for $2,300 a month, utilities water sewage NOT included. It's nice, pool, weight room, all the police in the world make the island very clean and safe, weather is excellent all the time, but give me Brooklyn, Park Slope, specifically, ANY DAY over the bland san diego environment. Everything is irrigated, not a single shrub grows naturally - feels like living in a plastic cage that steals water from two states away, just to water some annuals..
22
I just got back to Manhattan from two weeks of skiing in Utah. I live downtown. I went for 7 mile run the day after I returned. I love to ski, but I missed Manhattan so much. I'd been staying in a much larger condo in Utah. I'd rather live smaller in NYC. Also, the steak here is best. You'd think steak would be great out West, but cuisine is always best in Manhattan, because the ecosystem here is so competitive. Manhattan is like the olympics of food. Judges are scoring every dish every night. If I lived outside Manhattan, I'd save up my dining budget for trips to Manhattan, and then just cook for myself at home. Also, everyone in Manhattan looks like a model compared with other places. I feel like I have work out every day just to be average here. Similarly, everyone in NYC has nice shoes.
15
@richguy LOL, very entertaining. I like shoes, nice ones in particular.
6
@LucianoYYZ
They say Toronto is the NYC of Canada.
Come to Toledo! For $2,325, you can buy a house (on a 15- year loan!) & have enough space to put a queen bed in every room. You can get tranquility & no transport problems & the people are even nicer than those in NYC. The door’s open!
14
@Observer And miss out on the Met Museum, opera, Broadway, ballet, Frick Museum (my favorite) thousands of restaurants and incredible shopping? No way!
37
@Laura West
Actually, Toledo has an outstanding Museum of Art, an opera company, and one of the best zoos I have ever been to. And our 1,600 sq home with nice yard was $85,000.
9
@Lisa
I live in lower Manhattan. I can walk all around without seeing a church. I see very little evidence of religion. When I lived in Brooklyn, I saw a lot of evidence of religion (statues, churches, mosques, synagogues). For me, personally, one of the pleasures of living in Manhattan (downtown) is being able to walk around without being reminded that organized religion exists. I'm an atheist. Down here, I don't Jesus statues, Virgin Mary statues, religious parades, nothing. It almost feels like a world without organized religion. The only religion here is money.
11
Relocate to the plains of Nebraska. You can telecommute and never worry about a space large enough for your bed. And Saturdays, when you like to be a homebody, what's the difference? You're indoors anyway. That's 1/7th of the week taken care of right there. Don't mention it.
11
Man that rent is crazy but it’s crazy out here in Los Angeles also. The one thing that would eat at me would definitely be the broker fee, that’s a no no for me. Good luck to you kid and have fun in Gotham.
14
@Andy Betancourt
In LA, one needs a car. I love having a car, but in NYC, you don't really need one. You pay more in rent and fees, but you can walk everywhere or take the subway. having a car in NYC is a huge pain, but I love my car (I track my car. So, it's a hobby toy.)
12
Living in Manhattan means paying well over $2000 a month to live right next to the Midtown Tunnel. Folks, there's 4 other boroughs.
16
@Jeremy W. -- I think of real estate in NYC (and the surrounding suburbs and even exurbs) as a version of the vicious triangle.
You can have two of the following: space, a short commute or relatively low costs. Which two you pick is a matter of choice. All of them are right for at least some people.
20
He is spot on about Murray Hill (aka Ambulance Hill), Ever so noisy and generic, to a point. Some streets, crammed with tunnel traffic (sadly) have magnificent houses, including a beautiful McKim building at 35 and Park. This hood is completely ignored by the city leadership-- an "in-between" space at the top of a Community Board and not on their radar, and no real presence from City Council. No real access to the East River (and no plans to correct that-- everything planned is to the north). Sad, in a way. NYC is supposed to be a city of neighborhoods, not ambulances and car horns.
11
Blake - ignore the haters (ie most of the comments below) and enjoy your adventure. I expect you'll look back on these years and that apartment with great fondness in years to come!
31
I am almost twice as old, have significant more education and work experience but cannot afford $2,325. Top20percenters!
20
@xyz
do you have kids and/or a car?
2
The noise will become more of an issue in the long term when you start realizing that your rising cortisol levels and disrupted sleep patterns start affecting your mood and performance even when you're not at home.
33
Blake:
Congratulations! What a fantastic new apartment in such an exceptional city, unlike that parochial and so-called town called San Francisco. Full of homeless and fake people...I agree.
Best wishes on your excellent decision and I hope you enjoy the remainder of your life on the East Coast. Please let all your other San Francisco friends know about your new life in your new home, and please give them the name and number of your broker. I'd be willing to give each of them a bottle of wine as a gesture of good will for their trip into clearly a much better environment.
All the best!
19
I live in rural California, surrounded by trees. A huge porch that runs along the whole front of my house. Privacy. Off the street.
I think you all who live in New York City are crazy. You fit your mind into tiny corners, telling yourself that it’s ok to live like you live. It’s not. It’s really not.
18
@Annie Eliot, MD To each his own. I have no desire to be surrounded by trees. I've lived in 9 states. The best years of my life were spent in NYC--the only place I lived where I cried when I left. (husband's desire for a new job caused that move).
35
@Annie Eliot, MD
What do you mean it's really not? Wouldn't the more scientific assessment take into consideration longevity and health? Your point is some mishmash of spirituality and psychology. I'd bet that urbanites tend to live longer and suffer fewer obesity and alcohol-related ailments than people who live outside the city. Most people I know in NYC struggle to stay as young-looking as possible. That might be a bit pathetic, but it leads to better health. There may be more places to run outside the city, but I bet more city dwellers are runners.
13
@Annie Eliot, MD - Your home sounds lovely. I would never presume to call you crazy for living the lifestyle you prefer. Not sure why anyone would pass judgement on others' choices. Different people have different priorities, and that's okay! It really is. I enjoy the excitement of a big city, and also enjoy getting away into nature. Fortunately there are some beautiful parks in NYC so I can have both. Isn't it wonderful that not everyone wants to live where you are? It would be crowded and no longer peaceful. NY has so many opportunities and things to enjoy. It's a great place to experience, even if just for a while. I can see eventually wanting something different, though. But every place has pros and cons, and there are always trade-offs. As they say, you can have it all, just not at the same time.
42
After 14 years of living, practicing medicine and renting in NYC, I have become even more cynical about NY real estate people.
The city houses ~70,000 people per night who are homeless.
~650,000 New Yorkers live in NYCHA projects or section 8 housing.
37% of the NYC population is born in a foreign country. Many of these immigrants live in places I equate with living standards of the developing world. There are ‘houses’ with floor to ceiling bunk beds, rampant tuberculosis, roaches, bedbugs, rats, and hygiene standards that reflect the most impoverished places I’ve ever seen (been to Latin America, Haiti, and East Africa).
A few stops on the subway from these impoverished neighborhoods are privately owned brownstones that are used by their owners 4-6 months per year and $3000/month studios used as pie de terres by rich suburbanites too tired to drive out of the city after a long day at the office trying to figure out the next scheme to make money off of other people’s labor.
The NYC realestate industry is full of aspiring modern day feudal lords. We elected one president too.
92
@J
Ok, where should the rich live? The rich must sleep somewhere. If we move all the rich out of NYC, they'll just go to another city.
2
To each his own, of course, but unless someone's furniture consists of precious family heirlooms or the like, I can't a young person making the choice to literally ship it across the country, and then making life choices dependent upon pieces of wood and plastic.
I've lived in Manhattan, and in Grand Canyon National Park, near Midwestern cornfields, and close enough to the ocean I could walk a kayak down to the water. Neither a rich man nor a vagabond, I learned early on in these adventures that I was much freer when I connected to the earth and people, instead of "things".
When I feel the call to explore new surroundings, I call a church or charity and donate my furniture to someone who needs it, and then fill my new home with whatever fits my new nest.
49
@ImagineMoments -- my guess is that his company paid to move the furniture. And given the expense of moving into the apartment and almost losing the apartment over an additional $2200 for a security deposit, he may not have had the cash to buy new things.
As a child growing up in the 70s, I learned a lot from TV, including that "what might be right for you might not be right for some." Please stop assuming that everyone does (or should) share your values and has the same interests and abilities to feather their own new nests.
22
@JM
"Please stop assuming..." you assume (guess) that his company paid for his furniture to be shipped. Why? Money can't be that tight if he's flying off to Europe.
13
@JM
Where did I state, or even imply, that others should share my values and interests? My comment stands on its own, nothing more should be read into it.
"I don't understand people who do X, Y, or Z" is different from "People who do X, Y, or Z are wrong".
1
I've always heard expensive SFO apartments were (and, I assumed, tiny). I'm surprised he was surprised.
17
San Fran is expensive but the quality and size of the usual lay out is much better.
13
@J: Many apartments in desirable buildings in San Francisco are pretty funky even though the buildings themselves may be attractive, the reason being investor owned condos are a significant part of the inventory and the current crop of investors see little reason to improve their product especially in Pacific Heights, Russian or Nob Hill in the larger buildings like 1177 California built in the 70s intended to be a hotel the units are typical cheap construction of that era. Not to mention as several have, the “ fake people” who constitute the tech generation, as a native who long ago left I can tell you the only good things left are the few remaining post card views and Jeff and the gang at the Original Hunan on Church.
8
I love visiting New York, but I love coming home to a house and a garden for 1100/month in Southern California even more.
22
@Mary
I love visiting California but I love coming home to the vibrancy, culture and excitement of New York. Chacun ses goûts, n'est-ce pas?
29
So, I'm curious. Are any utilities included in that rent? If not, what would the average be in this scenario to pay for monthly utilities?
3
@Glenn Probably heat, water/hot water. New Yorkers usually pay for gas and electricity. I'd venture those would run $105/month for that apartment.
19
Broker fees (paid by tenants) is the most absurd racket in New York City that everyone tries to normalize. It’s discriminatory along a number of dimensions, and blocks entire swaths of available units from being viewed by prospective tenants who can technically afford the apartment’s monthly rent, but can’t afford the already (compared to other rental markets in the country) crazy first, last, and deposit, *ON TOP OF* a broker’s fee that is 1-3 months rent. A broker for an apartment I could afford that I found on Street Easy, located in an amazing neighborhood, actually told me I would have to pay him 20% of the yearly rent which was about $4300 — for literally just showing me the apt, running the standard background check, and signing standard paperwork. Normal stuff. How did he earn $4300 and why am *I* paying him? He didn’t even find the apartment — I did! But I couldn’t rent it unless I went through him (also a Citi Habitats broker). It’s a disgusting, parasitic characteristic of renting in this city for which, 10 years in, I still hold a burning hatred.
177
@Vanessa Moses Yeah! What a racket, it's out here too. Any way to wring more money out of us. It should be illegal--any politician who proposed a law, would get a lot of votes.
17
@Vanessa Moses -- Landlords don't want to be bothered vetting the tenants, advertising or showing properties, etc. The brokers do all this, which is the service that is being paid for.
As to why the tenant pays the broker fee instead of the landlord, I'm sure the brokers and landlords would tell you that it's to keep the rents lower. If the landlord paid the broker fees, the rent would be higher so the landlord would end up with the same amount of money.
And at the end of the day, the renter pays the fees because there's more demand for these apartments than there is supply. Until there's a revolt by renters, and apartments go empty because prospective tenants refuse to pay the fees -- new lessees are going to keep paying them.
9
@Vanessa Moses i have lived in NYC 20 years and have never paid a broker's fee.
5
I moved to NYC at 21 with a suitcase, and looking back I wonder if I would have been too intimidated if I had experienced adult life first elsewhere (with dressers, queen beds, cars, convenience, heat that you can control, affordability, Target). But I wouldn’t have traded my dresser-less, queen bed-less, postage-stamp, radiator-clanking, cave-like walkup on the UWS for anywhere else in the WORLD. Instead of a dresser, I had the Met. Instead of chain restaurants, I had Gray’s Papaya and Coronet and H&H. Instead of Target, I had a walkable, livable, vibrant neighborhood where you could get anything anytime. I wonder if that NYC still exists for today’s 21 year old. I hope so!
97
I first came to NYC at 30 after living in other cities. It was intimidating - which is why I hadn't come sooner. But so endlessly exciting. I left after a few months due to running out of money! Now I'm finally back...at 48. Never got the desire to be here out of my system. Just wish I still had the same energy to enjoy it, lol. Oh - we have Target now!
10
Welcome to New York. We have a house in Northern Westchester and after 25 years of trying to shoehorn-in and walk around standard-sized fridges, finally found one in Canal St. that would fit.
There’s also the slimmed-down sofa in the living room we discovered, in all places Penny’s.
Oh, and with a bureau and chest of draws in our bedroom, the only bed that can fit is a full. Yes a full. It’s been 33 years and we still go to bed in it every night and have never thought of up-sizing. When synchronized sleeping becomes an Olympic event, we’re good for the gold.
Sometimes, things take time to adjust to, but work out for the best.
28
I like to read about NYC, and watch Blue Bloods' photography with awe. I take the New Yorker and imagine the arts and theater and dining I read about there. But with a 750-foot one-bed running $600 a month down here and a big sky overhead, I can see some charm here too for sure. If you ever get ready to mosey on down, we'll get you settled without an agent.
36
@jb
He's worried that Murray Hill is bland, so....
29
I can’t speak to how bland it may be in Oklahoma. I did live there for a couple of years when I was a child, but that was over 40 years ago. I have lived in many places, including large, cosmopolitan cities on the coast, and smaller places in the Midwest, but never in NYC. I am both amused and appalled by how many New Yorkers reject living anywhere else, often without ever experiencing those places. There is much to see and do in the rest of the country.
38
@Louise Cavanaugh. I find it interesting how quick you are to criticize New Yorkers rejecting living anywhere else when you haven’t lived in New York. Until you’ve lived in nyc, there’s just no way to really understand.......Yes there is much to see and do in the rest of the country, but it holds a dim candle to the variety, quality and quantity of what is on offer in nyc every day. And the diversity, and intellectual and cultural generosity of my fellow New Yorkers have helped me develop a true appreciation and respect for the big and endlessly fascinating world in which we live. I’ve lived in Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Detroit and Indianapolis, all of which are fine places - they just don’t come close, individually or in aggregate, to nyc for me.
65
Unbelievable. $2400 a month for an "apartment" that essentially looks like a Motel 6 hotel room. At least, that's what it looks like from the pictures. I understand that the thrill of living in New York City is probably worth it for these twenty-somethings, but at a certain point, is there a limit? I'm curious though, what were the landlord's income requirements? It had be at least $95,000/yr. The old adage being that 30% of your monthly income should be set for rent.
60
@Rob The typical rule of thumb is 40x the monthly rent annually. So, in Mr. Bejan's case, he would have had to make at least $93K/year, although it appears that he came up a bit short in terms of income since the landlord asked for additional deposit and/or local guarantors. NYC doesn't mess around when it comes to making the numbers work.
17
Many people who pay high NYC rent spend much more than 30 percent.
18
@Rob
Yep. Yep. Yep. Nope. Yep.
5
Bejan did not meet the landlord's income requirements and did not have sufficient funds for the full deposit, yet he seems content to have paid a broker's fee to Marien Richardson of Citi Habitats because "they kept certain things in mind."
It would be more fair for brokers to be paid by the landlord, who is usually richer than the prospective tenant and who will get even richer as a result of gaining a new renter.
99
@Admiral, you are assuming that the Manhattan real estate market has even a whiff of sanity about it. Only in Manhattan does the renter end up paying the broker fee. Alternatively, the renter can pay a much higher-than-market monthly rent to live in a so-called "no fee" apartment. Either way, they got your money. The only good deals in Manhattan are if your grandmother bequeaths her rent controlled apartment to you or you are the working poor and qualify for a place in a NYC project.
38
@Admiral broker gets paid by both landlord and tenant,
at least in Boston when I rented out my condo. Did I get a bad deal?
@Admiral
It's the NYC estate market, nothing is fair.
38