Welcome to It Happened One Weekend, our weekly roundup of The New York Times real estate section...
1) Rich people. What are they spending millions of dollars on? What are they complaining about? This is What's Up With Rich People?
Lest we forget that rich people are willing to spend absurd amounts of money on things, here's an article in the Real Estate section kindly reminding us. The conclusion? Basically every square foot of space in a building can be monetized and sold off, whether as "a place to park your Porsche, a spare room for your visiting in-laws or a spot to store your growing handbag collection." Interested in a private wine cellar at 135 East 79th Street? That'll be $215,000. Want a parking space at 56 Leonard? $500,000, please. Need a spare room for the help at 432 Park? There are currently 25 "maid's rooms" available, starting at $1.53 million. Or, as Jonathan Miller says, "sell everything that's not tied down." ["Creature Comforts, à la Carte"]
2) Every "The Hunt" column begins with the Hunters describing the apartment they want, and ends with them rationalizing whatever they came away with. This is The Hunt: Dreams vs. Reality
The Hunter: a couple with a baby
Price
Dream: $3,000/month
Reality: $3,695/month
Neighborhood
Dream: Manhattan
Reality: Chelsea
Amenities
Dream: 2BR, stair-free
Reality: 2BR, washer-dryer, noisy
Summary
This week's Hunt is significantly more tolerable than last week's monstrosity, shifting focus to a couple of chefs with a newborn baby who made plans to move to the city from Bangkok. With a budget of $3,000/month, the family set out to find a baby-friendly two-bedroom, somewhere in Manhattan. After an inordinately long search (it sounds like the family had horrible experiences with a gang of brokers, go figure) during which they saw a total of 107 apartments, they eventually found a two-bedroom in Chelsea for $3,695/month, located directly over a bar. Uh, yay? [The Hunt/"A Chelsea Apartment With a Bedroom for Baby"]
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