New York City. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere! And by “make it,” they must have been referring to making rent, because apparently it’s ridiculously high.
The idea that the Big Apple is expensive certainly isn’t news, but somehow landlords never cease to amaze residents with the audacity they have when hiking up rent prices. Below, you’ll find a video that New Yorker Ally Shapiro recently shared on TikTok giving a tour of her tiny apartment that costs $7,000 a month.
Before moving out of her NYC apartment, Ally Shapiro decided to share a tour highlighting just how ridiculous rent prices have become
Image credits: Charles Parker (not the actual photo)
"Let me show you what $7000 a month gets you in New York City"
"Unfortunately, my building raised our rent so we have to move and the apartment is only 570 square feet. So let me show you what $7000 looks like"
"This is the entire living space"
"This is the kitchen, which honestly I cannot complain about"
"It is gorgeous. Oh, it is very small, but the finishings are amazing, especially for New York."
"It is a modern, clean, nice apartment. But this is it"
"It's less than 600 square feet and is on the 2nd Floor of the East Village."
"That is the noise you hear all day, all night and they want to charge $7000 a month for this"
"This is the one and only bedroom"
"Not even enough room for drawers here or a nightstand. So I have one night stand and one set of drawers there"
"And the closet, because it's for my boyfriend and myself, literally busting at the seams. So for that much money, you would think we'd be comfortable in a huge apartment. Nope, this is the closet. My shoes cannot even fit. They're everywhere. So I have two racks, my boyfriend has the one down here."
"Just not a practical living space for how much they're charging"
Image credits: allyshaps
You can see the full tour of Ally's apartment right here
Rent prices in Manhattan have hit an all-time high multiple times this year
Living in New York City is often romanticized by millions around the world and glamorized by those who can afford to have a nice life there. But the reality of living in this concrete jungle is that, unless you have an extremely large paycheck or parents who will bankroll you, you will probably have a hard time making ends meet.
According to RentCafe, the cost of living in New York City is 78% higher than the national average and 37% higher than the state average. Housing in the Big Apple is a whopping 228% higher than the average across the United States, and groceries are about 26% more expensive than what you’ll find in most of the country. And unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be getting cheaper any time soon.
CNBC reported in August 2023 that the average rent in Manhattan hit an all-time high of $5,588 a month. Rent prices in Manhattan increased 30% since 2019, and August was the fourth month in five months where these prices reached a new record.
Recent rent increases in NYC are due to a variety of factors
Image credits: Karolina Grabowska (not the actual photo)
No apartment in Manhattan is safe from rent increases either. According to CNBC, studio apartments have seen a 19% rent increase since the pandemic, but larger, more expensive apartments have been hit even harder, with three-bedroom units seeing a 36% price increase. Unfortunately, demand also often outweighs supply when it comes to finding a flat in NYC, as many renters would rather stay put than fight to find a new place.
As far as why living in the city that never sleeps has become so ridiculously expensive, The City reports that it’s a complex issue. The population in the city has shifted, as many couples decided to sell their suburban homes when their value increased and come into the city instead.
Remote work may have also impacted demand, as many people who could afford it started seeking out apartments with an extra bedroom that they could turn into an office space. In the past, however, this bedroom might have been rented out to another person. Apparently, landlords have also been given the upper hand, and many jumped at the opportunity to increase rent, even if it meant tenants who had lived in their spaces for years could no longer afford them.
New York City is in the midst of a concerning housing crisis
Image credits: Matthis Volquardsen (not the actual photo)
Another factor is how rent laws in NYC changed in 2019, resetting rent permanently in many rent-stabilized apartments to a lower level. According to Rachel Fiegler, co-founder of real estate firm Pinpointe Group, “Everybody that took advantage of that — they’re not moving.” With even less people moving than before, it can be nearly impossible to find an open place.
There’s no question that New York City is in the midst of a housing crisis. Housing in the city has a vacancy rate of only 3%, and there are currently 73 homeless individuals per 10,000 residents in NYC, Pew reports. According to the New York Times, half of the population can’t even afford to live there anymore. Meanwhile, in states like Mississippi, renters can pay around $700 a month for a one-bedroom apartment.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this video in the comments below, pandas. How much does rent cost where you live? Do you think it’s gotten out of hand in NYC? Feel free to share, and then if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article discussing similar themes, look no further than right here.
Viewers shared their thoughts on the apartment and called out how outrageous its price is
