Saturday, May 30, 2015, by Rowley Amato
Welcome to It Happened One Weekend, our weekly roundup of The New York Times real estate section…
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 young man looking to rent
Price
Dream: $2,000/month
Reality: $2,395/month
Neighborhood
Dream: Long Island City
Reality: Long Island City
Amenities
Dream: Short commute
Reality: Studio, short commute, skyline view
Summary
This weekend’s Hunter is a young man from New Joisey named Anthony Altamura. After suffering a “miserable” four-hour commute to Manhattan for over four years, Anthony decided it was time to make like Springsteen and get out while he was young. He began looking for small apartments in the $2,000-range in Long Island City, after hearing good things about the neighborhood from a coworker. Eventually, he and his mother found a nice corner studio in 4720 Center Boulevard, asking $2,395/month. It had a lousy kitchen but a “beautiful” view of the Manhattan skyline. Because he didn’t meet the (admittedly absurd) income requirements, he had to either get a guarantor or pay a year’s rent. He chose the latter and moved in last February, and can now apparently cook chicken parm in his crappy kitchen. [The Hunt/
Long Island City for the Good Commute; photo via Young Sok Yun 윤영석/Curbed Photo Pool
