Here are some of the worst rooms for rent in NYC

landlord · May 2013

The asking rents for these rooms (if you can call them rooms)are insane....but this is what things have come to.

http://theworstroom.tumblr.com/

whynot_31 · May 2013

I work in the part of the industry that is governed by HUD Fair Market Rents. Basically, HUD states how much it is willing to pay for a unit based market conditions. The rate is not designed to pay for "nice" units, merely ones that can meet the quality and habitability standards.

Efficiency $1,183

One-Bedroom $1,280

Two-Bedroom $1,424

Three-Bedroom $1,752

Four-Bedroom $1,970

The only places we obtain for these rates are really far from Manhattan and/or in a state of bad repair and/or are in really violent neighborhoods.

However, I know that if HUD were to increase the rates, it would make the disparity between what they pay to house poor/disabled people in NYC vs the rest of the country even greater, which will be politically and financially untenable.

Needless to say, this same funding could get you a really nice apartment in many parts of the country. In those parts, the HUD FMR funds available are far less, but you still end up with a nicer unit....

pragmaticguy · May 2013

These rooms are what you end up with when you don't make enough money to get a decent place. Move back with the parents. It's probably less embarrassing.

whynot_31 · May 2013

I'm imagining myself as a twenty something, and trying to think which option would inhibit the chances of getting sex the most:

These rooms, OR living with my parents?

It is a tough call.

ribbons · May 2013

When I first moved to the city 10 yrs ago I had a room that just fit a twin bed and a desk, no windows. I paid $850/mo for it but it was in Soho.

The tent in Greenpoint doesn't look so bad for $400.

pragmaticguy · May 2013

@Whynot---Live with the parents, find a motel with short stay rates.

whynot_31 · May 2013

If I am ever twenty something again, I will take your advice.

drano · May 2013

Wow, I really didn't like my first place in the Slope but I had it made. $550 for a decent-sized studio in 1994. Of course, the only closet was in the bathroom so your clothes would get mildewed in the summer, it was roach infested, everybody else in the building except the stoner guy seemed permanently angry and prone to barn-burning fight with their partners on a weekly basis, and...well that was pretty much it, so not too bad!

armchair_warrior · July 2013

Oh nice site!! I'm trying to see if i could spot one of my units LOL. Some of my tenants get roommates .

Also from a poor landlord who lives with parents.I know guys who have roommates get more action than I get dates in decades! don't go back to live with your parents!!!

armchair_warrior · July 2013

Oh nice site!! I'm trying to see if i could spot one of my units LOL. Some of my tenants get roommates .

Also from a poor landlord who lives with parents.I know guys who have roommates get more action than I get dates in decades! don't go back to live with your parents!!!

whynot_31 · July 2013

I am kind of disappointed that this site hasn't shown any of the rooms that are for rent to those people even more on the margins of society:

-Those inhabited by undocumented workers, who are working off their passage to the US, as modern day indentured servants.

whynot_31 · July 2013

I am kind of disappointed that this site hasn't shown any of the rooms that are for rent to those people even more on the margins of society:

-Those inhabited by undocumented workers, who are working off their passage to the US, as modern day indentured servants.

veets · July 2013

Horrifying! But trust me.. reasonable people in PS rent rooms with light, amenities, furniture at only slightly more than those rents.

veets · July 2013

Horrifying! But trust me.. reasonable people in PS rent rooms with light, amenities, furniture at only slightly more than those rents.

whynot_31 · July 2013

Yes, such nicer rooms are available not only on the basis of being able to pay more, but also on factors that make one more attractive/suitable as an apartment/house mate.

Typically these to include:

-Having good credit

-Being able to put down first months rent, plus security

-Being employed

-Being the same gender as the leaseholder

-Being approximately the same age

-Sharing similar interests

-Making a good impression....

My sense is that those who don't/can't succeed at these things, end up renting a room from someone who can not be selective, which is often correlated to the location and neighborhood of the room available for rent.

whynot_31 · July 2013

Yes, such nicer rooms are available not only on the basis of being able to pay more, but also on factors that make one more attractive/suitable as an apartment/house mate.

Typically these to include:

-Having good credit

-Being able to put down first months rent, plus security

-Being employed

-Being the same gender as the leaseholder

-Being approximately the same age

-Sharing similar interests

-Making a good impression....

My sense is that those who don't/can't succeed at these things, end up renting a room from someone who can not be selective, which is often correlated to the location and neighborhood of the room available for rent.

whynot_31 · August 2013

The actual "worst rooms" are in places like this:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/life_in_dog_cage_yZiwcoSsx5b842jXeHEWcK/1

...although the story covers a venue that cater to Chinese immigrants, and those with psychiatric disabilities and drug addictions, there are similar ones in Richmond Hill area that cater to people from India.

landlord · August 2013

Wow! Can't imagine anything being worse then that.

whynot_31 · August 2013

Reliable sources tell me that the ones in Richmond Hill are the worst, and I doubt a reporter will ever be able to get in there.

Here's another article on the ones that "cater" to those with psychiatric disabilities and drug addictions:

http://www.bkbureau.org/2012/03/07/deep-concerns-about-three-quarter-housing/

The city is in the following position: If it closes them, it has to offer them with housing in the shelter system. ...a system that is presently over flowing, expensive to run, and has long lengths of stay as a result of the city's soaring rents.

Hence, everyone has agreed that the situation is best ignored.

....when there is a fire that kills 12, there is finger pointing.

People who are trying to help the situation: http://www.mfy.org/projects/illegal-boarding-house-project/

armchair_warrior · August 2013

wow the dog cage takes the cake!! reminds me of the photos of

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City

http://gizmodo.com/5995070/kowloon-walled-city-remembering-the-chaotic-city-of-darkness

in miniature.

whynot_31 · August 2013

AW-

There used to be a lot more cage places than there are now.

In Manhattan, they were on the lower Bowery, as well as on East Broadway.

They served mainly Chinese immigrants, who had been brought over as indentured servants to work in the factories and in food service.

whynot_31 · September 2013

In Hong Kong, housing is so expensive relative to the means of the poor that 170,000 people live in stacked cubicles.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/28/business/international/have-nots-squeezed-and-stacked-in-hong-kong.html

It is difficult to "offer" such housing on a large scale in NYC. However, as I expect to see more people living in really cramped quarters as the cost of housing continues to rise for those unable to access housing for the disabled.

whynot_31 · October 2013

South Korea:

http://kotaku.com/these-korean-rooms-are-compared-to-prison-cells-for-goo-1439844132/1440099557/@jesusdiaz

Note, these places are all "first world" cities.

whynot_31 · October 2013

Let's return to NYC.

The folks at John Jay just put out a pretty well written report on what are known as "3/4 Houses"

http://johnjayresearch.org/pri/files/2013/10/PRI-TQH-Report.pdf

You can read it if you like, but I'll save you the work: They are almost at the bottom of the NYC housing food chain.

whynot_31 · February 2014

Above, I wrote about how a reporter was unlikely to gain access to NYC's 3/4 houses.

A friend of mine, who is a reporter, just did it:

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/2/23/the-dangerous-zonebetweenahalfwayhouseandfreedom.html

whynot_31 · August 2014

Quick, don't blink, here is a rarely seen
new
congregate
unlicensed
housing facility
in Kips Bay: http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/08/29/live_in_a_twobedroom_kips_bay_apartment_with_21_roommates.php#reader_comments

The article doesn't mention who would likely have filled the apartment, but it isn't unreasonable to suspect that they would be recruited from the nearby Bellevue Mens Shelter.

"...to get out of here, I'll live there"

whynot_31 · November 2014

Here's one of the risks:

http://nypost.com/2014/11/20/building-where-fire-injured-16-was-illegally-subdivided-fdny/

pragmaticguy · November 2014

Well, the landlord may not have consented but I'll bet he knew about it. I wonder how much of the extra rent he got but I guess it'll all come out in court. I insure the building next door but I don't know how much damage was done to it as there hasn't been a claim made yet.

whynot_31 · November 2014

The dirty secret is that many of these landlords receive payment directly from HRA.

They receive $215 per month per resident. HRA doesn't check with DOB to see whether the units are illegally subdivided, or how many people are presently registered in the HRA system as living at the address.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=new+york+city+housing+allowance+$215&gbv=2&oq=new+york+city+housing+allowance+$215&gs_l=heirloom-hp.3...1513.18377.0.19079.40.26.0.14.6.0.187.1809.14j5.19.0....0...1ac.1.34.heirloom-hp..18.22.1625.Qto2tOXcOFA

pragmaticguy · November 2014

When I read the article I thought that 15 people in a 2 unit building was about 10 too many. Thankfully more didn't get hurt.

whynot_31 · November 2014

11 small rooms created from 1 apartment. In my experience, it is a little unusual for small rooms to be created.

Usually, they just put bunk beds everywhere and provide a chest or a locker for people to padlock their valuables.

whynot_31 · March 2015

@pragmaticguy -
In this case, around 50 people are living in windowless rooms in a former MDs office: http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/2015/03/18/housing-unwanted/

The story doesn't dig to the next level and point out that HRA is paying the bills, nor does it point out how DOB and FDNY have been told to not enforce the building codes as a result of the city's shelter crisis:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-10/nyc-s-record-homeless-population-seeks-shelter-at-laguardia

Rooms have to be even more of a fire and safety hazard than these for the city to step in.

whynot_31 · May 2015

I know 2 of the people quoted in today's NYT article on 3/4 houses: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/nyregion/three-quarter-housing-a-choice-for-recovering-addicts-or-homelessness.html?referrer=

whynot_31 · October 2015

Here is the crowd that just a little better off than group that lives in 3/4 houses: http://m.nydailynews.com/new-york/exclusive-surge-number-overcrowded-nyc-apartments-article-1.2385078

whynot_31 · October 2015

The attention created by the NYT article has already waned, and most of the attention was focused on the houses that "cooperate" with substance abuse treatment providers in order to "make ends meet".

Meanwhile, here's an account of the majority of 3/4 houses: Those that serve people who are desperately poor and do not affiliate with substance abuse treatment facilities: http://talkpoverty.org/2015/10/16/went-prison-60-years-old-heres-learned/