Inside New York’s Smallest Apartments

I’m about to take you inside the smallest apartments in America’s biggest city. This is the whole room. Entire homes are as tiny as a parking spot for upwards of $4,000 per month. How can people live like this? And what kind of problems do they face? Today I’ll be running around Manhattan to see how people are making it work. From micro apartments and low budget flats to single room housing. So this is how you lay down? Yeah, I just watch TV like that. But here’s the catch. Each apartment will get smaller and smaller as we go. I our first stop is in one of Manhattan’s fanciest areas, Greenwich Village, where two artists are spending serious cash to live in an apartment the size of a shoebox. I have been here since last January, so a year and three months. Three months? Three months. We have a six flight walk up. Really? So there’s no elevator, you have to walk up six flights? Yes. So, you must have some crazy cabs. It’s a good way. Yes. If you look up like sometimes I’ll drop my laundry down. Dude, I can’t believe you have to walk up all these stairs. I know. Every time I’m even out of breath and I’ve been here. Does that mean it’s cheaper if you live this high up? It is. No one wanted this unit. Actually, these are different units. Yeah, two studios, two doubles. Six people living in this tiny little corner. I mean, it’s like five feet wide. Don’t you hear them all day long? Yeah, yeah, it’s awful. Okay. The fun thing about this is we have a super small hallway. The door doesn’t open all the way. No, it just stops. We keep shoes behind here because we’re like, wow. What else? Yeah, just for context, this space, it’s like two and a half feet in a small space. I know, it’s hard. You like it though, right? You’re like, whatever. Sometimes he’ll run down the hallway. Welcome to our living room. We did the best we could with it. We ordered, I wouldn’t say the couch is too big for it, but like kind of. All right, so. Okay. Welcome to my bedroom. We’ve got just the Ritz Carlton in here. This is the whole space right here. Yeah, this is. Okay, so closet areas there. It’s gone through so many variations. This is the best that, you know, I could find. Yeah, I was going to say you could build shelves, but maybe the landlord wouldn’t like that. Yeah, and they’re just kind of like the walls just aren’t sturdy. So like, well, there’s nobody on this other side of the wall, right? Or there. There is the other, the studio behind. So, like, when I do this, it’s like loud. It’s like on their wall. Yeah. So you can hear, like all kinds of things. Everything. These people, they’re a couple, they argue. I can hear their arguments. And I’m like, sitting in bed, trying to sleep. Yeah, that’s New York for you. So Pimento sleeps with you? Pimento does sleep with me some nights, not all nights. Pimento, how’s it. What’s it like living here? Oh, how do you kind of snuggle in with him? Or I’ll just like, kind of scoot him over. I’d be like, you gotta go. This room is so funny. Cuz you just won’t have anywhere to store anything. Like, in a normal room. I don’t even have that much stuff. What do you do for work? For work? I do brand strategies. Would you say that it’s. It’s accurate if people spend half their salary on rent in New York City? 100%, yes. Yeah, and it sucks because. And everyone has to do it. There’s no loopholes. You can’t get. Exactly. Yeah. If you can skip rent, which is why I did the small apartment, obviously you can set yourself up for success, but, you know, most people coming to New York City, if you don’t have parents, money or whatever, like, you just gotta. Just gotta figure it out. What’s that white pole in the corner? Oh, my God. Okay, so at night this thing will make noise. In the winter it’ll like, screech. It’s a hot pole. I think it’s for heat. You don’t know what it is. It’s just high, serious hot pole in the corner of your room. Are you happy in here or do you feel like I gotta get the hell out? I’m not claustrophobic, but I do get bored of spaces really easily. So I feel like it’s a little bit hard to stay inspired in a small space. So you have to keep either, you know, keep it clean or else you’re. You’re gonna stress out. You don’t have ac? No ac? No. You have to pay all this money. We’re not even in the summer and I’m hot. Imagine in, like, June, you’re gonna be sweating. Crazy. How much do you pay for this room? How much do you think? $1,000. 1897. 1897. Basically $2,000 for this tiny place. That’s crazy. What is that picture right there? I don’t know. My roommate ordered that. I’m the roommate. Hi roommate. How are you? I’m Drew. Drew, I’m Grace. Nice to meet you. Can you show me your side of the world? Well, come on in everybody. So this is Grace’s entire apartment. Her bedroom is a nice bed. A queen size bed. Thank you. Yes, it’s a queen size. Takes up 80% of like this little space. You have way more stuff than Elena. Yeah. So I’m a stylist. Just helping people look great in my own clothes so I can invest in myself as I invest in others. But I have a lot of clothes. And you should see under my bed, like I have like rolling out kind of like buckets. And on this side, it’s actually really insane. Every time I turn there’s like something else. It’s very convenient. Like how you have everything here. Perfect. Purses, sunglasses. I have my gloves, I have my scarves. I have like a little sports corner for one. This is my cowboy hat. Yee haw. Absolutely. I’m from Texas. These are my beautiful purses. And this one is my radio bag. And so this is you every morning you wake up and you stand right there pretty much. Especially if I want my cowboy boots. They’re in the middle and I have to reach way back there. I love it. Cause like I’m a little girl, I don’t mind like kind of beatbopping all over my room and like bending over backwards, to put on a pair of underwear. Literally over here. The sixth floor walk up is just the only thing I could live without. Especially because I’m a stylist. I have to like, you know, donkey on all my stuff, to go to set. Besides that maybe paying for the laundry is like a little annoying, but I love it. This is your whole common area right here, basically. And then each of your rooms are right there. Yeah, yeah. No closet, no storage. Like that’s our storage up there. And then if you look in there closet, you’ll just see how we split it down the middle. Wow, this is really try. Wait, you both. This is half a half and half. And this is how we do it. Look, I put a umbrella up in my grandma’s apartment to separate it, you know. Smart. I love those little details. So you just look for the green umbrella. Okay. You’re like, this is Elena, this is Grace’s. Yeah. And what about up here in the situation? That’s mine. On the left. You. Oh, just the left. Yeah. Nice. You Ever, like, wear each other’s clothes? We do, actually. I tell her a lot because I’m a stylist. And, you know, when she wants the to look cute for her dates or her events, I’ve got her. Yeah. Or I’ll always, like, come to Grace. I’m like, does this look fine? Okay, this is the little bathroom you guys are going to see. Wait, you only have one bathroom, right? One bathroom. We got a bathtub. Luxury, dude. Nice. We have no storage, but we built that shelf, so that’s cute makeup. Yeah, it works. It’s your little, tiny bathroom. All right, let’s go to the kitchen where it’s tiny. This is it. So, like. Yeah. All right. We got some stuff in here, but, yeah, for two people. I mean, this is barely enough for one, I think. Yeah, this is our. We call it a balcony, but it’s fire escape. And you know what? If you have a fire escape, everyone does not to get on it, but you have to. Have to. There it is. All right. No, you cannot get up. Pimento always wants to follow me out here. Okay. Well, you can definitely get some fresh air out here. This is like the classic New York apartment. Like, sidewinder, side staircases. It’s actually kind of a little sketchy up here. Like, don’t you think it’s going to fall? No. We usually put a cushion out here in the summertime. We’ll lay out. So there’s Washington Square Park. Is it true that New York City is the greatest city in the world? Yes and no. Yes, if you make it work. No, if you feel stuck. It’s a very hard city to make it in. It’s the most expensive city. You really got to tough it out or, go back home or you move. But you love it. I do love it. Yeah. I think it’s great you’re going to be here for a while. Yeah, it’s good for opportunity. It’s good if you want to make shit happen. All right, that was fun. Now we got to get out of here. Hey, Pimento, He’s. He’s a guard dog. The craziest part about Elena and Grace’s place isn’t the size. It’s that for almost $4,000 a month, this micro apartment is actually considered a great deal. And if you think their place is small, just wait. It only gets smaller from here. My next stop takes me to the East Village, A, bohemian neighborhood once home to legends like Andy Warhol. These days, it’s packed with students from nyu, which means cheap, tiny apartments are in high demand. One of the most famous buildings is on St Mark’s Place, where I’ve heard the units are shockingly small. This is what’s known as a tenement building. A relic of old New York that’s basically full of single person dorms, but with shared bathrooms and zero privacy. When I arrive, I wait outside for someone to let me in. And after 45 minutes, a young Jewish woman sees me standing there with my camera. So I ask her if she’d be kind enough to show me inside. The answer is yes. So I moved here in October when I was getting out of a relationship with my ex fiance. But everything in Manhattan, you know, is like $4,000 a month and up. And I was not at the place where I was like ready to do that. So I found this apartment for 11.95amonth. And I was like, this is a like prison cell. But I said, you know what, I’d rather live here while I build my business and get my life more together. Cause I’m an ex comedian. I was the serving artist thing. Like I went to NYU for musical theater. And then I just was like, I’m 30 now. I have a whole different like vision for my life now. Give me the tour. Here’s the tour. It’s a mess. Oh my God. Okay, so here’s my. I didn’t even decorate it. Cause I feel like it’s not worth the money because I know I’m not gonna be here for more than a year. So I was like, it, I’m just gonna. But you know, that’s just a loft for storage up there. That’s for storage. I used to sleep up there. And then my dog time, I would go up the stairs. He can’t climb up there. So he would start crying and being like, wait, but how do you stay here with a dog? It’s already small for a human. He goes outside like all day. Like my, my neighbor takes him out most of the day and then he just sleeps here. But yeah, I, I definitely am going to be moving into a much bigger space come October, God willing. This is obviously your office too, because your computer is right there. Yeah, I sit here and I, I work from my laptop. What’s your current job if you’re not a comedian? I’m a digital marketer, so I do like branding sessions for very cool people. And I Yeah, if you guys need help with branding. So she doesn’t want to be a comedian anymore. But if you need help with branding. Branding and marketing, like we do marketing services Cool. So you don’t have a bathroom, but you have a sink, so you can brush it. I have a sink, so I brush my teeth. Yeah, don’t worry, I’m not disgusting. No, no, no. I’m not entire. No, no, I do brush my teeth. Where do you use the bathroom? The bathroom’s in the hallway. This is how I make it look clean. You know, you put the shade down as if it was, like, the sun outside, but there’s no sun. Yeah, there’s no sun. Also, I never. That’s the thing about living in here. It doesn’t really show the. So sometimes, like, I’ll look outside, and I’ll look like it’s dark or light, and I don’t know. I don’t know. I can’t tell. My friend will text me and be like, you should wear snow boots because it’s snowing outside. And I’m like, what? It’s. He’s like, it’s a snowstorm. It’s like, four feet. Are you. Are you, like, so dirty? Are you claustrophobic and, like, you hate this place or are you just. Honestly, I’m really low maintenance. Like, I really am fine. I also. Let me tell you a perk of living here. I hate cleaning. And here, I can clean this place. I know you can tell it’s a mess right now, but when I clean it up, like, before I go to sleep at night, it takes me, like, five minutes to sweep, mop, and do the whole shit. Do you see that right up there? So I used to have an air fryer, and I would, like, you. I would cook food, and it would go off every time, and I was like, screw this. I’m eating out every meal. Like, it just wasn’t worth it. But I used to have a fridge, and then one time I saw a mouse. What I did was I moved my fridge into here. What’s here? Another. It’s just an empty tenant. Like, there’s no one lives here. Oh. Oh. So I moved. I moved my fridge here, and now I just keep, like, food in here still. And I’m like, I hope someone doesn’t move in. This space is tiny. It’s tiny. I’m just backing up. Look at. This is where the bed is. It’s like, sort of like that. That’s the whole place? Yeah. It’s really worth it being in this location. Like, for the price we’re getting. Like, I could not ask for a better. Are you trying to get the hell out, though? Yes. Do you make friends in this unit? Like, yeah, I have a friend. You want to meet him? Yeah. Yeah. I love how your dog just kind of, like, hangs out. Yeah, he’s the best. What’s his name? His name’s Asher. Asher. Asher. Hey, Asher. Hey, buddy. Joseph, are you home? What’s going on? Are you sleeping? No. Well, I just got out of bed and haven’t showered. I like. Can you give me a 15 second tour of your place? Wait, you’re tall. So, this place is like. I’m sorry. No, no, dude, I want to see it as is. So the top bunk is basically for storage. I just have a bunch of, like, clothes and shit up there. Got the loft area where I keep my skateboards, like art supplies, shit like that. What’s it like to live here? It’s pretty chill, honestly. If you’re okay with the, shared bathrooms and showers, like, it’s not terrible. But please don’t move in. Raise the rent more, you know, we don’t need, like, it goes up steady, like a hundred bucks every year. You know, they’re mad roaches. The shared bathroom. Piss on the seat sometimes. So it’s like also 60 square feet, bro. This TV situation is hilarious. So this is how you lay down? Yeah. And then you just. I just watch TV like that. Yeah, but it does the job. And honestly, it’s nice having, like, a place where you can afford it with, like a chill, job, you know, where you don’t have to. What is your job? I work at Target. Actually, so it pays the bills. And I’m able to live in Manhattan, you know, but it’s like 60 square feet of, you know, is what it is. I just turned 25, so, like, I’m a young dude, but you are a young dude. So my sink shoots out brown water. At times very dark brown, at times light brown. Yeah, so I got this like, little electric kettle. Then I’ll come in here. This is like my shower. It’s like a little cubicle type situation. Fill it up like this. How do you feel right now doing this? I mean, I feel like, real, like showing people, like, what it’s like to live here. But at the same time, I don’t want someone to think, like, it’s all like, a really easy way to live in New York City. Because at the end of the day, like. Like, it’s rough out here. Like, St. Mark’s is also, like, a gnarly place to live. You know, there’s no oven. The smell of cat in here is insane. I know. I need to change. Well, that’s the thing, man. My. My cat takes a dump and like, it stinks up the entire place. I can change the litter every day, but it’s 60 square feet. Oh, and also, I don’t know if you notice like, one of these bulbs that like, went out and now, like, you see how it’s flickering up there. So like, now I’m gonna have to figure out how to change that. This doesn’t hold my body weight. Climbing from my bed to the loft is super gnarly because I have to like, kind of catapult my way over, like, and like, or like, climb up here and lower myself down. But yeah, man, it’s not easy at all. But I’d say it’s worth it for a young guy that can handle it. These neighbors here, I’ll see them come in, live for a few months, and then dip. And then they have to find new people. Like, they cancel their leases. They think they can handle it, but like, they can’t. Like at the end of the day, like, cuz sometimes we’ll go to the bathroom, not check before sitting on the toilet and I sit in piss, you know, how often do you use the toilet? It just smells like shit. All the time. All the time, dude. And like, there was also people, like, doing weird drugs in the bathroom at one point. It’s worth it. The price you pay to live in New York City, baby. It’s the price I pay. And like, I’m cool with it, man, but like, I don’t want my rent going up any higher because I feel like 11. I’ll feel like a fool if it gets any higher than 1100, you know? While I’m heading out, I bump into a friendly guy in the hallway who offers to show me his room, which is apparently the largest in the building. that has kind of two levels to it. Every other room, it’s just really this part. How did you get so lucky? I pay a little bit extra. I have the largest room in the building. Everything is low, so the table is low, the couch is low. This is also a futon. Just to make it feel bigger. Just to make it feel bigger. And you always like find multi purpose things like futon. This opens up and you have storage in here. The fridge is actually new. Everyone else has a fridge that’s half the size. Can I see in your fridge? You got everything you need in there. Little burger for later. You find ways of like just making space. How much do you pay for rent? 1400amonth. To me, that’s a lot. I live in Arizona, so that’s, that’s super expensive for a small place. It teaches you to live exactly with what you need and get rid of the rest. So a lot of people, they kind of find uses for things they don’t need. Yeah, I only have what I need. Just don’t hit your head. It’s only 5ft 4 inches. You can stand up straight here. I’m only 57 and I can’t stand fully tall, so you got to kind of lean your head over. But right here in the middle, you can stand up. There’s the skylight here. When it rains, when it snows, you get to hear everything. It’s Very nice. Very peaceful. I have two fans going because I have no windows. So two fans that circulate the air both vertically and horizontally. Wait, isn’t it illegal if you don’t have windows? I got a skylight. This room was definitely an afterthought. I would. It’s probably with storage and they probably convert it into a unit. Got it. So this is your desk area? Yeah. Everything you need is here. You got some books? Yeah. Can I. Do you mind me asking, what’s your job? Marketing. Nice. So partnership marketing. You know, I have little bits of storage there. Little things of storage. Wow, that is cool. I didn’t even notice that. So like anywhere you can find storage, you just put stuff? Absolutely. Like a lot of times I have things in my parents place in their attic and basements and stuff. But, you really crunch down. I used to have dozens and dozens of pairs of shoes. And you got rid of them? Yeah, and I had to get rid of most of them. Actually, if you open that up, you can see that the shoes are folded in just to save on space. Oh, wow. Yeah. And you got. Even got a little cubby here for stuff. You’ve never like, been hammered and fallen off this? No. Even when I’m at my drunkest, craziest moments, I still never fall. I barely hold on to anything. It’s just. How long have you lived here for? I lived here for about eight months. Nice. Are you planning to stay longer? Are you trying to get out? I’m trying to get out. Just a little more space. I would say. The number one thing I miss. It’s not a kitchen, it’s not a closet. It is bathroom. If you have to go, you don’t want to have to like, quickly, like throw clothes on, throw shoes on, run in there and hope no one’s in there. Yes. It’s like 4ish people per 2 bathrooms. Just the luxury of having your own bathroom is immense. And there’s so many New Yorkers who don’t have that. Is it worth it for you to live in New York, given these conditions? Oh, yeah. Is it the best city in the world? In my opinion, it is. I’m in the heart of everything. And I love being in midtown East Village. I love being in Chelsea. Everything is so close. Everything’s within walking distance. Everything is 24 7. It’s fantastic. And you can get anywhere. Queensland, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania. Anywhere very, very easily. I’m in the heart of it all. So you kind of ask yourself, is it worth being so tightly packed and spending the money you’re spending? Yes. You’re barely home. You just need to eat, sleep, and shower, and then you’re out the door. And the second I leave, there’s lines out the door for clubs that are literally outside my place. That’s awesome. So it really is worth it. I can’t imagine living in rooms as tiny as the ones I just toured, but I get the appeal of living in a prime neighborhood. Speaking of prime neighborhoods, I’m on my way to Dumbo, one of the nicest spots in Brooklyn, to meet up with Caleb Simpson, that guy on Instagram who asked to see inside people’s apartments. Chloe Feynman. How much do you pay for rent in New York? I pay 5,500. But what if I flip the script on him and ask to see inside his home? So before we head to the actual smallest living space in New York City, Caleb is going to show me what a great apartment in the city looks like. You mind giving me a tour of your spot? You want to see it? Want to see it? You want to? Yeah, of course I want. I want. I want the whole nine yards. You can get it all, baby. Oh, this one’s cool. It’s got a unique vibe to it, and I didn’t even know it was cool. But then once I started doing the home tours and seeing all these apartments, I realized, like, oh, I have a gem here. Sweet spot. I feel like I’m in an art store. Wow, fancy. Yeah, so it’s really a multi function, functioning space. We have like, the living room, dining room, and the cuddle cushion area over there where I famously cuddled with Drew Barrymore. Is it okay if I cuddle you right now? I was going to say, can we spin? So she came in your spot? Yeah. How much organizing did that take? A decent amount. How long was she in here for? She was here for, like, two hours. We’re in the gym of the apartment. The bathroom, we got blue penny tile. We got, you know, washer, dryer, huge bathtub. This is a rather large tub. Yeah, you can fit a lot of people in here. At one point, six people lived here, and we fit all of us in there as a joke just to see if we. And you know, a boy lives here because the toilet seat’s up and now it’s down. Nice. You’ve been to so many different apartments around New York. You’ve seen so many different living situations. What can you say about the rent situation in New York? It’s so expensive. For such a small place. I heard someone say once, no one can afford to live in New York, but we’re here anyway. Most of my career in New York, like 85% of my income went to my rent. So you think like bang for your buck New York is like the most expensive in the world? Yeah, I think so too. Definitely. It’s 6500. I paid 2180 cuz we split the unit is 6500. This is my dirty ass room behind you right now. You cannot find an apartment for this price with this many rooms, with this many outdoor spaces. Cuz there’s this whole deck out here. People come out here and they can’t believe that this is Brooklyn or this is New York cuz we have so many trees. Kind of feels like you’re in Connecticut. Whoa. Like the brick walls. This used to be a pole dancing room and we had it lined with mirrors and there was a pole where that light is. You’ve been in all kinds of apartments in New York. Like the smallest ones that you’ve been to. What’s your feeling going inside them? No, I don’t feel bad for anyone who lives in a tiny apartment. I think most of them are proud of their apartments and excited to be in New York. I think for the most part it just gives people like an opportunity and a chance at a city. Most people go to New York to try to better their lives financially, let’s be honest. So I think it’s good. Caleb’s space is awesome. But now I’m ready to visit the actual smallest living space in New York City. On Manhattan’s west side near Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. I found out that this place uses its profits to feed the homeless. And outside I bump into a German tenant named Jonas who agrees to take me inside. As long as we keep quiet. Whoa. So here’s like the entire breakfast area. Cream and butter and milk and everything. This place is crazy small. Like these are all rooms. As I walk down the hallway, it’s just like every foot there’s another room. I’ve entered the bathroom here. You can’t even fit, bro. Yeah, it’s just here. The toilets. Like, you share with everybody. With everybody. This is for men and women. And upstairs is another bathroom just for women. So I think that’s really cool. So this bathroom is for men and women? Yeah, this is the shower. It is tiny in here. Like can’t even stand. It’s amazing because you have everything you need on a very small place. And I Like it? Very much so. Great. This is like a little common area here. People to work. What about the people here? Well, the people are very, very nice. That’s something you won’t have in Germany. So everyone is talking to you. People are very kind, very nice. Yeah. That’s crazy. Yeah. So what is this? Yeah, that’s my room. This whole room? Yeah. My luggage is, like, under the bed. That’s my towel. This is the entire room. Like, we are in it. Yeah. I think it’s pretty cool that I paid, about €100 a night. It’s okay, I guess, for New York. I’m pretty sure that’s the cheapest room in all of Manhattan. Yeah. Manhattanist. 100 bucks. Yeah. It’s amazing that you have everything you want here. No, it’s just perfect. But when you’re sleeping, people are talking or no. Actually no, but, one to two times there was an interference, but people on the office are very strict and telling, them to stop talking. Stop. Yeah, he’s staying here. This guy’s staying here too. Where’s your room? Amazing. Wow. That’s crazy. This is the whole room. What is it like to live here? You enjoy. Yeah, I’m enjoying. I’m enjoying. I’m not. I’m a tourist here. So it’s not too small for you? It’s too small, by the way. But what do I say? Especially I couldn’t able to bend near. And especially bathroom. If you see, we can’t bend, bend and we can’t clean things also. That much of what. This is your bed right here. That’s my bed. And once I return pack things, I have to put it over here. And I have to pack things and I have to put down. Is it a good experience or a bad experience? New experience. If you look up, the ceiling is open. So, that’s the only thing you hear everything from the other rooms. There’s a very strict policy about snorting. Yes. You don’t have. You don’t can bring, other people here. So New York City isn’t an easy place to live. But that’s kind of the point of making this video. Whether it’s a micro apartment in the East Village or a pod by Penn Station, people here always find a way. And that’s what makes this city so inspiring.