Tiny Microapartment in NYC Roughly the Size of a Closet Has Everyone Shook by the Price

Manhattan apartment buildings on the Hudson River rherrmannde via Shutterstock

If you follow Manhattan real estate news to any extent, you'll know how brutally expensive it is for even the most modest of accommodations. One-bedrooms and even studio apartments can easily go for thousands of dollars a month. If you want a place with multiple bedrooms or a townhome, expect to pay a king's ransom. Seriously, it's not a place for the faint of heart or the low of budget.

But surely, if you strip away all but the barest of essentials, you can find a budget-friendly place in Manhattan... right? Well, that's all relative. For instance, the rent for this tiny microapartment might be considered "cheap" by Manhattan standards, but from an outside perspective, it looks like straight-up highway robbery!

Look: I knew to keep my expectations low. I've seen tiny Manhattan microapartments before, and I wasn't expecting a massive penthouse for $1,200 a month. But when real estate agent @dejan_tolmac opened his video on a nice looking hallway without the usual shabby, rundown look I've seen in a lot of "cheap" Manhattan apartments, I got my hopes up just a tiny bit... just enough to get whiplash when he opened the door on the microapartment.

I know it's passe to compare these tiny apartments to closets, but seriously, the width of that "room" looks shorter than the length of my body lying down. So much for getting in a good morning stretch. Dejan adds in the comments that there's at least a shared bathroom on every floor, but I'm struggling to envision how anyone could fit much more than a loft bed in here, especially with only one visible electrical outlet (hopefully there's more just out of frame; otherwise, good luck trying to hook up a mini-fridge and charge all of your appliances at the same time).

"Sooo, they're renting out the old utility closet. Got it," snarked @@peggybball.

"Makes a tiny house look like a mansion," laughed @raisedbywolves558.

Manhattan Real Estate vs. the US

The lack of affordable housing is an issue in communities across the country and isn't a problem unique to New York City. But when you stand back and compare how much $1,200 a month gets you outside of Manhattan (even within New York City), it really puts into perspective just how frightful the Manhattan housing market truly is.

"That is the mortgage amount for our 4 bed 2 bath HOUSE," gasped @emeraldnisbet.

"So, I can get a 1 bedroom 6 times that size in Brooklyn for less," one New Yorker commented.

"I pay $1,100 for a one-bedroom townhouse in Highland Park, Illinois," said Chicago suburbanite @jessyyeniid.

New York City is an expensive place to live, and Manhattan most of all. According to Property Club, the cost of living in NYC is over 121% above the national average in 2024. In Manhattan specifically, housing costs alone jump to a whopping 404% above the national average! The reason why those costs are so high is complicated and multi-faceted, but prestige and high demand combined with very limited space are huge driving factors. Still, staring at an "apartment" no bigger than my walk-in closet for a $1,200 monthly rent feels like a slap in the face.

I may not be able to call myself a New Yorker, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that Manhattan would be an incredible place to live in every other respect. Still, as long as Manhattan rent prices stay as high as they are, I'm content with living on the outside looking in!

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