Hey, one of our favorite Craigslist, uh, listings is back!:$500 / 500ft² - Apt to share with 4 guys (East Village)
Roommate needed to share my studio apt. for just $500 a month plus a $500 refundable deposit. I'll pay all the utility bills!
This is a 1-room studio apt. that is set up dormitory style with loft beds and curtain dividers.
The space is perfect for someone who won't be spending all their time in the apt. and who won't be bringing in much stuff.
No smokers please. I have a tiny dog and a big cat. The space is available immediately.
At least this time the ad isn't in all caps, like last June.
Previously on EV Grieve:
We'll always have Craigslist: 'Seeking third roommate that doesn't suck'
h/t @serenaspeaks
[Photo is not of the actual studio]
Wonder if the landlord is aware of this highly illegal set-up?
ReplyDeleteWhy would this set-up be illegal? Does it fall under the airbnb law?
ReplyDeleteWhy illegal? Oh I don't know maybe because we live under a pretense of civilization, maybe because we generally frown on slum conditions, especially in expensive neighborhoods like this. I don't know, go figure.
ReplyDeleteNYC law. Cannot have more than 3 unrelated people lving in an apartment. See NY Times provided link. On the books but rarely enforced. In Bloomturd world, no way, he likes this type of housing.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/nyregion/29roommates.html?pagewanted=all
I don't think there are any laws against the number of people living in an apartment, are there? Anyway, 5 guys, a dog and a cat...BYO Febreeze.
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely illegal.
ReplyDeleteAn overcrowded apartment like this breaks all kinds of NYC codes. Overcrowding results in fire and health hazards and puts additional physical stress on the apartment and the building, not to mention the other tenants.
Here are a few sample violations:
1.New York City code restricts apartment occupancy to a minimum of 80 square feet per person.
2. New York City code makes it illegal for more than three unrelated people to live in an apartment or a house.
3. The tenant has to inform the landlord of the name of any occupant within 30 days from the time that the person moved in.
Ken,
ReplyDeleteUnless my math is off, #1 does not apply.
#2 is on the books of almost city in the country and is a leftover tool against brothels. It would almost assuredly unenforceable for many reasons. Until July 24, 2011, large parts of Hells Kitchen/Chelsea would be in violation of this law.
#3 is the only one that would apply and be enforceable.
Hats off to these guys, I think! Of course, affordable rent would be great but that's not the world we live in. I think these thrifty dudes probably fit in in the EV--no junior suit would be OK with such an arrangement! (Full disclosure--I lived in a hostel for a while in my early 20s and it was a fantastic experience.)
ReplyDeleteIs there a Bro/Dude schedule for these five on when to fart and when to hurl? “I think these thrifty dudes probably fit in in the EV”. I am sure that their neighbors are thrilled. Unless they are Bro/Dude/OMG/White-Girl-Wasted types as well. Can’t wait for World War Z to premier, isn't it about the history of the EV?
ReplyDeleteThe outrage among several posters is...predictable.
ReplyDeleteUnless you moved to the neighborhood in the last decade, you should know that lots of people living together in a small, crappy apartment is an EV tradition. Do you folks not read the interviews on this blog? Or remember what the EV has been like the last 40 years?
Is the problem because they used Craigslist or that they are not squatting?
I get it, everything new is bad, even if it is like things that are old.
This was probably par for the course in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Where's Jacob Riis when all this squalor needs to be documented? This is just retro/authentic LES/EV living.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this is probably standard in Chinatown today.
Difference between the late 1800's and early 1900's and now is that the tenants back then were fleeing poverty, famine, sickness or simply wants to better their lives and this type of situation was the only affordable housing that they can afford or know. Today, it's about slumming it in and coming here to be around the bars and nightlife that the neighborhood and CB3 offers. Then they move to consume another trendy neighborhood once they've sucked dry the current neighborhood, like locusts that they are.
ReplyDelete