"Shares" are Scarce for New Grads
I walked into my friend's room and before taking a good look around, I asked, "Patrick, why do you have photos of Jason's parents in your room?" Then it hit me. Bunk beds! My 24 year old friends had taken a two bedroom, put up a pressurized wall in the living room, and two guys were sharing a room. The only way they could afford living in a prime neighborhood in Manhattan in a doorman building was for 4 guys to share a 2 bedroom.
The Caroline on 23rd St and 6th avenue is one of the few buildings left that will allow "shares." Recent grads flock to the building because they can't afford Manhattan rents without packing extra people into an apartment. Neighbors complain that the building has turned into a "fraternity house" because of the extra noise. Having extra people in each apartment puts more stress on the elevators, means people wait longer for a machine in the laundry room, and congests the common areas.
In searching for an apartment for two recent grads moving to Manhattan with a budget of $2,800, I couldn't find a full time doorman building below 86th Street with availability that allows shares and pressurized walls. Why? Because every other college grad is looking for the exact same thing. Anything that comes on the market gets rented right away.
Although many buildings, like "Rivergate" on 34th St. and 1st Ave., allow shares on a "case by case" basis, they really only allow shares in Junior-4s (one bedroom apartments with a separate dining area or home office). Junior-4s below 96th street in Manhattan are $3,200 and up (at Rivergate, they are closer to $3,600), which knocks my clients out of the running. In some cases, landlords will no longer allow two non-related people to share a two bedroom.
So what can those with a restricted budget do? Some decide to put only one person on the lease and sneak the other roomate and a wall into the building. This move is risky. Doormen are not clueless. They can tell when "The Wall" or "Living Spaces" show up in their lobby. Many pressurized wall companies won't agree to put up a wall without the express written permission from the building.
What are the ramifications of an illegal share? If one roomate is not on the lease, they may not be able to receive mail at the building and could potentially be evicted. If something goes wrong in the apartment, the roomate not on the lease can't call the management company to get it fixed, because they would alert the management that they had an illegal share. Essentially, the roomate not on the lease has to sneak into and out of their building every day, knowing they aren't supposed to be there.
90 West Street allows shares, but no walls. In their model apartments, they used large furniture and bookcases to show how you can "convert" a one bedroom into a two bedroom without building an actual wall. Although the furniture option is great, it does little to soundproof the second bedroom.
I finally found my clients a one bedroom that allows conversions at Carnegie Park, a gorgeous doorman building on 94th Street, with a pool and health club, for $2895. I hope they take it, because with rental vacancies as low as they are, if they wait much longer, there might be nothing left to share!
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Comments (7)
Why can't these kids get a place in Astoria, Carrol Gardens, Dumbo or Washington Heights? What's the motivation to below 96th Street?
Save the money, the headache and inconvinience by living elsewhere. You can still get to and fom bars by subway at 3 am. Or a cab four times a month will cost $120, which, in my opinion, beats $800-1200 rent difference between the boroughs and Manhattan.
Posted by D | June 21, 2006 7:09 PM
Why is the doorman building so crucial? The only case in which a doorman is necessary is when the roommates are working insane investment banking hours...in which case they can afford a pricier place so they should just shut up.
Posted by John Do | June 21, 2006 8:23 PM
These kids are idiots. I rent a 7 room pre-war in Washington Heights w/river views for $1050, can afford a car, has ample parking......but wait, no doorman.....!
What's the big deal with the doorman thing? Just another person getting into my business is how I see it.
Out of towners seem to think a doorman is a big deal I guess.
Posted by Ron | June 22, 2006 6:24 PM
Does anyone know of any large loft shares anywhere in the city with 6 or more people or any information on such rentals in either converted commercial, residential, or industrial properties. A doorman is not necessary If so please email me at: Nweinst@hotmail.com
Thank you!
Posted by NBW | August 17, 2006 8:24 PM
Im renting an apartment in Manhattan and its costing me $3200 a month, so i brought a roomate and we put a temporary wall in from 1wall2rooms.com
It saved me alot of money wether it was the rent issue or putting a standard wall is allot of money and im only renting the apartment so the temporary wall was afordeable . If anyone is looking for a temporary wall company 1 Wall 2 Rooms did the job!
Posted by Berry Wies | January 4, 2007 11:21 AM
i know that at 160 bleecker street they have a lot of conv.2BR Apartments.
the apartments there are huge, converted, has 24/hr DM and Central A/C.(some can share up to 4 people)
the building is 3 blocks below washington sq park NYU Walking Distance., Soho, West Vilage Etc...
you can view it at
www.greenwich-village-suites.com
Posted by broker | July 13, 2007 8:43 AM
Being a landlord in a few smaller upper east side walk up buildings in Manhattan, my son wanted to live the "luxury" lifestyle in a luxury rental in the financial district. I went with manhattan pressurized wall. It seemed to me that they were the only wall company in all of NYC with customer service. They are very prompt and straight to the point. They came in put up the wall for my son in 4hrs and painted within the final 5th hour. I strongly recommend them.
Posted by Theodore Miliken | September 24, 2007 5:59 PM