This Guy Pays Like 1/10 of What You Pay For an Apartment in the West Village (NYC)
If you live in New York, there are literally no other things that inspire as much envy as a rent-controlled apartment.
Those who live outside the five boroughs are familiar a little with the dynamic of clinging to rent-controlled apartments desperately, as the spacious pad Monica and Rachel shared in the Village on Friends is explained away as a rent-controlled apartment obtained by a bit of subterfuge. And while that was hard to watch, this real life version will leave your skin crawling with envy.
Yes, while you’re paying $2,200 for a studio in East Last-stop-on-the-F-Train-ville on the border of Queens and Brooklyn, this dude is paying less than $400 for a four-bedroom apartment on Commerce Street. Exposed brick. 1,220 feet. $332 a month. The New York Times interviewed the occupant, Arnold Warwick, and the comments section exploded in a seething pustule of rage. Warwick says what pretty much anyone else would say in that situation:
“I don’t plan on dying, because I don’t want to give up a rent-controlled apartment. I pay so little I’m almost embarrassed.”
Oh, bitch, come off it. If I paid $332 in rent for an apartment on that block that would be the only thing I would tell anyone ever in my life. Not everyone is as fearless as Warwick, though- another neighbor in a similar situation spoke anonymously, and said people are not very kind when they discover they’ve met someone with possession of one of the scant few rent-controlled apartments in Manhattan:
“I’ve had people actually get angry with me,” said one of Mr. Warwick’s neighbors, who declined to be identified by name and risk being chastised by strangers. She took over a rent-controlled lease from her parents, and she would not specify what she paid, except to say that it is under $400 a month.
“I’m an inheritor,” the tenant said recently by telephone, a slight quiver in her voice. “It’s not a very popular position these days.” And then, very politely, she ended the call.
Are you paying twenty times that for a Manhattan apartment or ten times it for something in Queens or Brooklyn?
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About the Author
Kim LaCapria Kim LaCapria is a writer and editor based in New York. A longtime information junkie, she began blogging full-time at the Inquisitr in 2009. Prior to that, she worked as a marketing assistant in the cosmetics and skincare industry. In addition to her writing for fortytwotimes, she also writes for Medacity and The Inquisitr. Kim is also a contributor for SocialNewsDaily, Indyposted, and TotallyMoney. In the past, she contributed to Lipstick and Luxury and managed social media accounts and blogs for several small and mid-sized businesses.
