Woman Rents An Apartment In New York For $1,575, Is Shocked After Moving In By The Awful View From Her Only Window
Rent’s always a bit of a sensitive issue, isn’t it, Pandas? It’s not something that you often talk about with just anyone—only those closest to you. However, that doesn’t apply to any apartments you might come across that throw the cost-quality balance completely out of whack! Things like being forced to live next to a huge heap of garbage right in front of your apartment window.
When you hear that an apartment costs $1,575 to rent each month, what are your first thoughts? Personally, I imagine a spacious 4-bedroom palace with a terrace, a gorgeous view of the city, and perhaps even a part-time butler to serve tea and finger sandwiches. Alas! TikToker Caroline Gelgot, aka @notfromdenmark, showed exactly what this means living in New York, and it ain’t pretty.
Beyond her window is a courtyard where the locals keep their garbage until it gets picked up. It looks horrendous, it’s unsanitary, and the ‘cherry’ on top is that it blocks the fire escape! Probably the biggest kick in the gut is the fact that Caroline had no idea that this is where everyone dumps their trash: not during the apartment viewing, not while signing the lease. Other than that, the apartment itself is pretty nice. Check out her videos about the situation below, Pandas!
Bored Panda reached out to financial expert Sam Dogen, the founder of the Financial Samurai blog, for some insights about rent costs, how much we should be paying, and financial freedom. “Spending no more than 30% of your gross income on rent is par for the course. In NYC, the general rule is that your gross income needs to be at least 40X your monthly rent without having a cosigner,” he said. “In other words, if rent is $3,000 a month, you need to make at least $120,000, which does equal 30%.”
Caroline has gone viral after sharing the view right outside her expensive New York City studio. Here’s one of the videos she shared on TikTok
@notfromdenmark🌟Stop dreaming, start doing🌟 #nyc #nycapartment #nycstudio #apartmenttour #manhattan♬ Runaway – AURORA
Financial expert Sam said that if we do want to get ahead, we ought to try spending no more than 20% of our gross income on rent. “The ultimate goal is to get the percentage down to 10% based on my housing expense guideline for financial independence. If you get your housing expense down to 10% or less, financial freedom is an inevitability!” he shared with Bored Panda.
The spacious and overall nice NYC apartment has one glaring flaw
Image credits: notfromdenmark
There is a literal mountain of garbage outside the window
Image credits: notfromdenmark
I was interested to find out what someone should do if they’re forced to choose between living far away from their jobs while paying less rent and living closer while paying more rent. Sam from Financial Samurai said that he highly recommends “geoarbitraging in your own city to save on living expenses.” That way, you’re one step closer to financial freedom.
“There are plenty of cheaper areas in one’s city or town if one is willing to move. If you can work from home more regularly, moving farther away from work is a no-brainer. The only downsides are a longer and more expensive commute,” he said.
“In 2014, I moved just five miles west in San Francisco and ended up buying a property 60% cheaper. If I had to commute downtown, my commute would only be ~15 minutes longer each way. That’s a small price to pay for saving so much on housing. Luckily, I just work from home,” he revealed his own personal experience. “The proper geoarbitrage strategy is first your city, then a different city, then a different state, then a different country. By living in your same area, you also won’t need to take a pay cut like some companies are mandating for those who move away.”
In another video, the woman explained how people dump their trash in the courtyard without any care. You can watch the full video here
@notfromdenmarkReply to @hungrylikeawolff #greenscreen #safetyfirst someone in housing law please hmu♬ original sound – Carol
Caroline had no idea that there would be so much trash when she was touring the apartment and signing her lease
Image credits: notfromdenmark
Image credits: notfromdenmark
It seems like the locals don’t care about fire hazards and blocking the fire escapes
Image credits: notfromdenmark
Image credits: notfromdenmark
Image credits: notfromdenmark
The woman’s videos had a small impact. Someone came over and painted some squares where people should leave their rubbish
Image credits: notfromdenmark
However, things didn’t go as planned…
Image credits: notfromdenmark
In yet another video, Caroline pointed out that the rent for her NYC apartment was supposed to be even higher. However, because of Covid, she essentially gets to live the first two months there for ‘free’ while the price would jump back to its original cost after a year.
The renter pointed out that $1,575 is the absolute maximum that she can pay for an apartment. She also noted that it’s pretty spacious for a studio and it’s very nice, overall. What’s more, all of the utilities, apart from the wifi, are included in the price of the rent. And the trashy view beyond the window? That’s completely free.
Caroline’s videos actually had an impact. Well, somewhat. After one of her TikToks went viral with a whopping 4.2 million views, someone came along to paint some yellow squares in the courtyard, denoting where people should be leaving their trash so it doesn’t block anyone’s fire escapes. Things seemed like they’d work out… only they didn’t. The TikToker showed how people completely ignored the squares and piled up their trash wherever they wanted.
According to Business Insider, some of the reasons for sky-high rent prices in New York City include a booming job market, the world’s largest urban economy, and numerous wealthy residents. The Big Apple isn’t all glitz and glamor, however. Around 1.5 million New Yorkers live below the poverty line. That means that they have to choose between living in low-quality apartments, living far away (meaning commuting to work is even more of a time-consuming hassle), or they have to pay far more on rent than they can allow themselves.
You can watch Caroline’s full follow-up video right here
@notfromdenmarkReply to @craftiemaddie #greenscreen♬ Recycling Bin – Trash Beats
‘The Balance’ explains that the rule of thumb when it comes to rent means that you should be spending roughly 30% of your monthly income on your rent. That leaves 70% of your earnings for food, transportation, clothing, and all the other things, large and small, that make up a person’s life.
However, ‘The Balance’ points out that the rule of thumb doesn’t work all the time. For example, it doesn’t account for inflation, income stagnation, or rising rent prices, which are all important factors to consider. What’s more, the rule isn’t personalized, meaning that how much you should be spending on rent might differ vastly if you have any debt, the realities of the local real estate market, as well as your own financial goals.
So if you’re looking to save more money, you’d choose to spend a smaller fraction of your earnings on rent. Meanwhile, if you live in an expensive city like NYC, you might have to fork over more of your hard-earned cash.
Earlier, I spoke to Cameron Knowlton and Tatum Kelly about rent prices in New York. They told Bored Panda that, for example, $1,650 per month “is very inexpensive” for the city. However, you have to consider what you’re getting for the price. For instance, paying even a couple of hundred dollars more might let you upgrade from a cramped studio to a far more spacious apartment.
“NY is a densely populated city with incredibly high demand,” they said.
Here’s how people reacted to the awful garbage mountain sitting inches away from Caroline’s apartment window
That’s disgusting and awful and uninhabitable really. And yet so much of me is just shocked she found a place in NYC for $1575!
I'm shocked at that rent price too. I didn't know it was possible to find a NYC apt for less than $2000. Especially with a window at all. Granted, the window was not a perk here. I'm thinking this wasn't very recent.
Load More Replies...One thing that some are not mentioning is there is currently a sanitation worker strike in NYC over the vaccine mandate. Take a look at other pictures of trash piling up on the street and in alleys all around the city.
It's weird to me that everyone is completely missing the point that there isn't the infrastructure in place in this neighborhood to handle the amount of trash. That the number of people living there has outpaced development of that. And the local government doesn't seem to be lifting a finger to do anything about it. I mean -- why isn't anyone asking where people are supposed to be putting that quantity of trash instead of berating how filthy they are being??? They clearly have no choice in the matter at all.
You got a place in NYC at that price, amazing! That you are unaware of NYCs history with garbage is also amazing. Strikes, lack of places to put it, after a while you ignore it, move, or FIX it!
Dude- 1500 will get you nothing but a dump in NYC. Apartments are ten times that amount. Even in metro area a one bedroom is 2500$. A palace for 1500? Never in NY. She got exactly what she paid for.
The owners/property management companies/landlords of these buildings need to have the trash taken away more than once a week, if it piles up that much in only 7 days. Unless someone or some business not located there is illegally dumping their mountains of trash there. Yeah, call the Fire Marshall, and mention all those concerns. See if they can give you any suggestions to get this taken care of.
Um, where does she WANT them to put the garbage for all these tenants? She seems really naive if you ask me... and yes, there is a sanitation worker slowdown currently in NYC as others have mentioned.
This is disgusting and disturbing all at the same time. I can't imagine what it would smell like in her apartment . Someone needs to take action. There's no way this is legal.
So to become financially independent - Get a job that pays 6 figures as a base salary right out of school. OR... Find the worst apartment in the city in the worst neighborhood, split the apartment with a night worker - 1 bed 2 tenants. This is total bullspit.
I feel like there’s definitely other options besides those two less than desirable scenarios.
Load More Replies...It's not the landlord's fault, it's the neighbours dumping their stuff in your courtyard! Landlord has to install lock with release from inside, you see the gate is open in last picture.
The landlord should be providing adequate trash removal services for their building.
Load More Replies...Omg can we please get those nice underground dumpsters Europe has already with the pneumatic vacuums. Course some Jack-ass will refuse to sort their trash properly or stick something explosive in it to f**k everything up. But if a mob beats that first person to sabotage one the new dumpster with shoes the legend of that shoe whipping death will become so great nobody will mess with the fancy trash cans ever again. And then we can begin to heal.
I was in NYC for 10 days as a kid in the year 2000 i remember like pretty much every basically locking like this. How am I not surprised, I'm sure this was to be expected...
Same I went once and that seems to stick out more than anything! The amount of trash everywhere
Load More Replies...Read the story. She went on a Monday. Their trash day.
Load More Replies...Don’t you get to look at the apartment before moving in? Also, why does anyone want to live in NYC? Or any big city for that matter? Everything is so expensive, everything smells, pollution is higher, groceries cost more, you can’t drive anywhere because of all the traffic… should I keep going?
I could never live somewhere with only one window. In the French Quarter of New Orleans it's not uncommon. Bedrooms often don't have a window. As cool as I think it would be to live for hundreds of years and watch history unfold. I'm not a vampire. I need windows. Pro tip, if you're visiting the Quarter, your hotel room may very well not have a window, especially in a boutique hotel. Call a day or two ahead and request a room that gets the "morning sun" or something similar. Nothing gets the morning sun because it's completely packed but you'll get a window.
Take to evaluate apartment at least go to address before money changing hands
This is a basement apartment which is illegal in NYC, that is why it is "cheap". Most New Yorkers know they are illegal when they rent but do it anyway because they are cheap. The city knows about them but does not do anything so the practice continues. Trouble is many people die in these because there is no easy escape route in case of fire or flood, which is why they are illegal.
First of all, not all basement apartments are illegal - they just have to be zoned properly (i.e. the city has to inspect them etc.). Second, she is clearly above ground - so it's not a basement apartment. It's a ground floor apartment.
Load More Replies...Don't worry about us city folk. We'd all rather be in that apartment than to live in some backwoods flyover state surrounded bigoted, meth head, third grade drop out, conservatives.
Load More Replies...That’s disgusting and awful and uninhabitable really. And yet so much of me is just shocked she found a place in NYC for $1575!
I'm shocked at that rent price too. I didn't know it was possible to find a NYC apt for less than $2000. Especially with a window at all. Granted, the window was not a perk here. I'm thinking this wasn't very recent.
Load More Replies...One thing that some are not mentioning is there is currently a sanitation worker strike in NYC over the vaccine mandate. Take a look at other pictures of trash piling up on the street and in alleys all around the city.
It's weird to me that everyone is completely missing the point that there isn't the infrastructure in place in this neighborhood to handle the amount of trash. That the number of people living there has outpaced development of that. And the local government doesn't seem to be lifting a finger to do anything about it. I mean -- why isn't anyone asking where people are supposed to be putting that quantity of trash instead of berating how filthy they are being??? They clearly have no choice in the matter at all.
You got a place in NYC at that price, amazing! That you are unaware of NYCs history with garbage is also amazing. Strikes, lack of places to put it, after a while you ignore it, move, or FIX it!
Dude- 1500 will get you nothing but a dump in NYC. Apartments are ten times that amount. Even in metro area a one bedroom is 2500$. A palace for 1500? Never in NY. She got exactly what she paid for.
The owners/property management companies/landlords of these buildings need to have the trash taken away more than once a week, if it piles up that much in only 7 days. Unless someone or some business not located there is illegally dumping their mountains of trash there. Yeah, call the Fire Marshall, and mention all those concerns. See if they can give you any suggestions to get this taken care of.
Um, where does she WANT them to put the garbage for all these tenants? She seems really naive if you ask me... and yes, there is a sanitation worker slowdown currently in NYC as others have mentioned.
This is disgusting and disturbing all at the same time. I can't imagine what it would smell like in her apartment . Someone needs to take action. There's no way this is legal.
So to become financially independent - Get a job that pays 6 figures as a base salary right out of school. OR... Find the worst apartment in the city in the worst neighborhood, split the apartment with a night worker - 1 bed 2 tenants. This is total bullspit.
I feel like there’s definitely other options besides those two less than desirable scenarios.
Load More Replies...It's not the landlord's fault, it's the neighbours dumping their stuff in your courtyard! Landlord has to install lock with release from inside, you see the gate is open in last picture.
The landlord should be providing adequate trash removal services for their building.
Load More Replies...Omg can we please get those nice underground dumpsters Europe has already with the pneumatic vacuums. Course some Jack-ass will refuse to sort their trash properly or stick something explosive in it to f**k everything up. But if a mob beats that first person to sabotage one the new dumpster with shoes the legend of that shoe whipping death will become so great nobody will mess with the fancy trash cans ever again. And then we can begin to heal.
I was in NYC for 10 days as a kid in the year 2000 i remember like pretty much every basically locking like this. How am I not surprised, I'm sure this was to be expected...
Same I went once and that seems to stick out more than anything! The amount of trash everywhere
Load More Replies...Read the story. She went on a Monday. Their trash day.
Load More Replies...Don’t you get to look at the apartment before moving in? Also, why does anyone want to live in NYC? Or any big city for that matter? Everything is so expensive, everything smells, pollution is higher, groceries cost more, you can’t drive anywhere because of all the traffic… should I keep going?
I could never live somewhere with only one window. In the French Quarter of New Orleans it's not uncommon. Bedrooms often don't have a window. As cool as I think it would be to live for hundreds of years and watch history unfold. I'm not a vampire. I need windows. Pro tip, if you're visiting the Quarter, your hotel room may very well not have a window, especially in a boutique hotel. Call a day or two ahead and request a room that gets the "morning sun" or something similar. Nothing gets the morning sun because it's completely packed but you'll get a window.
Take to evaluate apartment at least go to address before money changing hands
This is a basement apartment which is illegal in NYC, that is why it is "cheap". Most New Yorkers know they are illegal when they rent but do it anyway because they are cheap. The city knows about them but does not do anything so the practice continues. Trouble is many people die in these because there is no easy escape route in case of fire or flood, which is why they are illegal.
First of all, not all basement apartments are illegal - they just have to be zoned properly (i.e. the city has to inspect them etc.). Second, she is clearly above ground - so it's not a basement apartment. It's a ground floor apartment.
Load More Replies...Don't worry about us city folk. We'd all rather be in that apartment than to live in some backwoods flyover state surrounded bigoted, meth head, third grade drop out, conservatives.
Load More Replies...
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