This article first appeared in The Listings Edit newsletter, a weekly digest of the most worth-it apartments in New York City. Sign up to get it first.
Listen, it’s not as though getting an apartment in New York has ever been easy. But one could probably argue it has never been harder than it is right now. The most god-awful studios are regularly renting for thousands and thousands of dollars with lines of interested tenants out the door. Here, we’ll find the actually worth-looking-ats, the actually worth-the-costs, and the surprisingly affordable-for-those-parquet-floors from all around the internet.
An unspeakably bad week for the world … and, I’m afraid, for New York City rental inventory, too. (Not to mention the recent loss of true Theatre District gem Barbetta.) My search felt, maybe appropriately, bleak, bleak, bleak. Everywhere I looked for inspiration, I only found clunky new builds and wildly overpriced one-bedrooms. Strangely, the most fruitful neighborhood was Park Slope, so I lingered there. And I made additional stops in Fort Greene, Greenwich Village, and Noho.
Park Slope Apartments
$2,995, 1-bedroom: Very rare, floating stone treads leading up to the front door of this brownstone building. Affordable for the neighborhood with floorboards in excellent condition.
$4,495, 1-bedroom: Same building as above, very different layout. Love most everything about it in here — the wide floorboards, the terra-cotta tile in the kitchen, the newly renovated and tasteful bathroom …
$3,200, 1-bedroom: Crown moldings, a hallway with original built-in closets, and parquet with a veneer that’s just right.
$3,500, 1-bedroom: I love those built-in shelves that look almost like an altar and essentially serve no purpose besides being perfect for your knickknacks.
$3,900, 1-bedroom: Was torn on whether or not to feature this (the kitchen was a big letdown for me). But because there’s so much space and so much light, it stays.
$4,800, 1-bedroom: I’m really lucking out on the wide floorboards this week, guys. Also the sage-green backsplash in the kitchen!
$6,000, 3-bedroom: Stunning and (almost) no notes (but if you want to go there, it’s obviously the formica tile in the kitchen, which, for $6,000 a month, is almost a crime).
$10,500, 3-bedroom: Maybe if you’re fancy and require beautifully set windows at every turn?
$13,500, 3-bedroom: Sort of can’t decide if the built-in bookshelves on every wall of this triplex are desirable or claustrophobic? You tell me.
Fort Greene Apartments
$4,999, 2-bedroom: Strangley, the CCTV-esque photos that they’ve chosen to feature are feeling very end-of-the-Earth and dystopian. Might explain the recent price decrease — maybe wait another month for another drop-off?
$3,350, 1-bedroom: Cute and tiny for the cooking-ambivalent.
Greenwich Village Apartments
$3,400, studio: Good window, questionable corner. Highlight is that you’re steps away from Tashkent.
$8,500, 1-bedroom: The mahogany hardwoods are a touch too dark for me, but if you want to live in a coveted, full-service building and have money to spend, this could be for you.
$5,500, 1-bedroom: Charming Fifth Avenue apartment with a tiny but updated(-ish) kitchen, just steps from Washington Square Park.
$5,895, 1-bedroom: Takes a lot of confidence (or lack of planning) to list an apartment with no pictures. But I’d be confident too if I were listing an apartment at 55 West 11th — one of the most-special prewar buildings in the neighborhood.
Noho Apartments
$8,495, 1-bedroom: LOTW (loft of the week). This one has a particularly commercial feel, which doesn’t bother me, and a gorgeous view.
