The rent for these big duplex lofts (Spiral staircase! Full kitchen!) sounds pretty cheap today.
But in July 1984, when this ad ran in the East Village Eye, wouldn’t $1150 and $1300 a month be kind of on the pricey side?
I wonder what the location was and if these apartments still exist—or if they’ve been boutique-hotelized.
Tags: apartment rentals in the 1980s, artist lofts in the 1980s, East Village Eye, Lower East Side 1980s, New York City in the 1980s, renting an apartment in New York City
Ephemeral New York 
December 2, 2009 at 7:33 pm |
they’re big enough, but still yes that sounds pricey to me.
December 2, 2009 at 7:34 pm |
Inflation adjusted, $1300 is $2660 in today’s dollars. Doesn’t sound too terrible to me for such a large apartment.
December 3, 2009 at 9:44 pm |
Apartments were expensive and hard to come by in those days! I remember looking at some real dumps, including one apartment that didn’t have appliances and another billed as a 2 bedroom that didn’t actually have any rooms–real estate guy: “You can put up walls”–as if!
December 6, 2009 at 3:41 pm |
“Call if ready you’re to move.” = wonderful
December 6, 2009 at 7:36 pm |
I got a 2000 sq ft space in SoHo for $300 in 1977.
Very pricey indeed, although it sounds like it had more amenities than mine.
December 9, 2009 at 1:21 am |
I remember seeing ads like these in the mid 80s, but at that time there was no way in hell I was going to be able to afford that…I was living in an SRO, and even that cost 70 a week (with bathroom down the hall.)
Don’t forget the Yuppies were in full swing, lots of people were moving to NYC (even though it was still quite dangerous, Bernie Goetz shot those kids 25 years ago this month). There was a housing shortage, and the Upper West Side (ie Columbus Ave, more than other places) was overflowing. The yuppies had to go somewhere…no one actually lived on Wall Street yet, and for the most part, Battery Park City hadn’t been built yet (LeFrak’s Gateway Plaza wasn’t exactly a yuppie destination!)
I’m not sure where this could have been, as most of the East Village and the Lower East Side was in ruins. My first guess is that this was a bait and switch ad, of which there were many.