Do you ever wish that you could go back in time and pay 1980s prices for Manhattan real estate today?
If you could jump in the way back machine to 1984, a one- or two-bedroom apartment in the Norfolk Arms at 170 Norfolk Street could be yours for under $65,000.
What would you pay these days to live in what was then a dicey block on the Lower East Side? According to Streeteasy, the number would be in the vicinity of a half million.
The “Village East” address in this ad isn’t specific, but 2,500 square feet of “rawish” loft space for under two grand a month sounds like a steal.
Both ads come from the September 1984 issue of the East Village Eye.
Tags: Downtown in the 1980s, East Village apartment rentals, East Village Eye, East Village in the 1980s, Lower East Side apartments, New York real esate, New York street, renting an apartment in New York City, vintage newspaper ads NYC
Ephemeral New York 
September 26, 2011 at 7:09 pm |
Under two grand a year? It’s a per month price 😉
September 26, 2011 at 7:13 pm |
Thank you–apparently I had trouble reading last night!
September 26, 2011 at 9:04 pm |
I like how the ad calls it “downtown’s newest homestead” cheap yes, but that area was more than dicey in the 70-80’s…and if you go back to the 20’s the rents around there were probably $3-5/mo and they were still old dumps!
September 27, 2011 at 1:51 am |
In ’82, I rented a 500sf 3-floor walk-up at 186 Norfolk for $530 a month. Not quite as sweet a deal as the 2,500 sf “rawish” loft, but mine boasted a divine view of the junkie-infested playground on Houston, so maybe that’s why I was charged a premium.