Inside New York's Smallest Apartments

I'm about to take you inside the smallest apartments in America's biggest city.

This is the whole room.

Entire homes are as tiny as a parking spot for upwards of $4,000 per month.

How can people live like this?

And what kind of problems do they face?

Today, I'll be running around Manhattan to see how people are making it work.

From micro apartments and low-budget flats to single room housing.

So, this is how you lay down?

Yeah, I just watch TV like that.

But here's the catch.

Each apartment will get smaller and smaller as we go.

Our first stop is in one of Manhattan's

fanciest areas, Greenwich Village, where two artists are spending serious cash to live in

an apartment the size of a shoe

I have been here since last January.

So, a year and three months. 3 months.

We have a six flight walk up. Really?

So, there's no elevator.

You have to walk up six flights. Yes.

Um, so you must have some crazy calves.

It's a good way. Yes.

If you look up, like sometimes I'll

drop my laundry down.

Dude, I can't believe you have to walk up all these stairs. I know.

I'm so out every time.

I'm even out of breath that I've been

Does that mean it's cheaper if you live this high up? It is.

No one wanted this unit.

these are different units. Yeah.

Two studios, two doubles.

Six people living in this tiny little corner.

I mean, it's like 5 ft wide.

Don't you hear them all day long? Yeah. Yeah. It's awful. Okay.

The fun thing about this is we have a super small hallway.

The door doesn't open all the way.

No, he just stops.

We keep shoes behind here because we're "Why else is he going to hold back?" What else?

Yeah, just for context,

this space, you literally can't even.

It's like 2 and 1/2 ft.

Put your dog in a small space. I know. It's hard.

You like it though, right? You're like, "Whatever."

Sometimes he'll run down the hallway.

Welcome to our living room.

We did the best we could with it.

We ordered uh I wouldn't say the couch is too big for it, but like kind of. All right. So, okay.

Welcome to my bedroom.

We've got just the Ritz Carlton in here.

This is the whole space right here.

Yeah, this is the Okay, so closet areas there.

It's gone through so many variations.

This is the best that you know I could

Yeah, I was going to say you could build shelves, but maybe the landlord

wouldn't like the Yeah.

And they're just kind of like the walls just aren't sturdy.

So like Well, there's nobody on this other side of the wall, right?

Or there is there is the other the studio behind.

So like when I do this, it's like loud.

It's like another wall. Yeah. Uhhuh.

So you can hear like

all kinds of things all everything.

These people, they're a couple. They argue.

I can hear their arguments

and I'm like sitting in bed trying to sleep.

Yeah, that's New York for you.

So, Pimento sleeps with you.

Pimento does sleep with me some nights, not all nights.

Pmentoto, how's it What's it like living here?

Oh, how do you kind of snuggle in with him?

Or I'll just like kind of scoot him over.

I'll be like, "You got to go."

This room is so funny cuz you just don't have anywhere to store anything

like in a normal room.

I don't even have that much stuff.

What do you do for work?

For work, I do brand strategies.

Would you say that it's it's accurate if people spend half their salary on

rent in New York City? 100%. Yes. Yeah.

And it sucks because

and everyone has to do it. There's no loopholes. You can't Exactly. Yeah.

If you didn't skip rent, which is why I did the small apartment.

Obviously, you can set yourself up for success, but

you know, most people coming to New York City if you don't have parents money or whatever.

Like, you just got to

just got to figure it out.

What's that white pole in the corner? Oh my god.

Okay, so at night

this thing will make noise in the winter. It'll like screech.

It's a hot pole.

I think it's for heat.

You don't know what it is.

There's a mysterious hot pole in the corner of your room.

Are you happy in here or do you feel like I got to get the hell out?

I'm not claustrophobic, but I do get bored of spaces really easily.

So, I feel like it's a little bit hard to stay inspired in a small space.

So, you have to keep either, you know, keep it clean or else you're

you're going to stress

You don't have AC. No AC. No AC.

You have to pay all this money with We're not even in the summer and I'm hot.

Imagine in like June you're going to be like sweating crazy.

How much do you pay for this

How much do you think?

Basically $2,000 for this tiny place. That's crazy.

What is that picture right there?

Uh I don't know.

My roommate ordered I'm the roommate. Hi roommate. How are you? I'm Drew. You're Grace.

Nice to meet you.

Can you show me your side of the world?

Well, come on in, everybody.

So, this is Grace's entire apartment.

Her bed is a nice bed.

A queen-sized Thank you.

Yes, it's a queen size.

Takes up 80% of like this little space.

You have way more stuff than Yeah.

So, I'm a stylist

just helping people look great in my own clothes so I can invest in

myself as I invest in others.

But I have a lot of clothes and you should see under my bed

like I have like rolling

out kind of like buckets.

And on this side,

um, it's actually really insane.

Every time I turn, there's like something else.

It's very convenient like how you

have everything Purses, sunglasses,

I have my gloves,

I have, um, my scarves,

I have like a little sports corner.

For one, this is my cowboy hat. Um, absolutely. I'm from Texas.

These are my beautiful purses.

And this one is my radio bag.

And so this is you every morning.

You wake up and you stand right there.

Uh, pretty much, especially if I want my cowboy boots, they're in the middle.

and I have to reach way back there.

I love it cuz like I'm a little girl.

I don't mind like kind of beep boopping all over my room and like

bending over backwards uh to put on a pair of underwear literally over here.

The uh sixth floor walk up is just the only thing I could live without.

Uh especially because I'm a stylist.

Like I have to like, you know, donkey

on all my stuff

um to go to set.

Besides that, maybe paying for the laundry is like a little annoying,

but I love it.

This is your whole common area right here basically.

And then each of your rooms are right No closet. And no storage.

Like that's our storage up there.

And then if you look in the closet, you'll just see how we split

it down the Wow.

This is We really wait.

You both This is half a half and half.

And this is how we do it. Look.

Uh I put a umbrella from my grandma's apartment to separate it, you know. Smart.

I love those little details.

So you just look for the green umbrella. Okay.

You're like, "This is Atlanta. This is Grace's."

And what about up here in the situation?

That's mine on the left.

You Oh, just the left. Nice.

Do you ever like wear each other's We do actually.

I style her a lot because I'm a stylist

and you know when she wants to keep for her dates or her events, I've got her. Yeah.

Or I'll always like come to Grace.

I'll be like, "Does this look fine?"

Okay, this is the little bathroom.

You guys are going to see.

Wait, you only have one bathroom, right? One bathroom.

We got a bathtub. Luxury, dude. Nice.

We have no storage, but

we built that shelf. So, that's cute. Makeup. Yeah, it works.

It's your little tiny bathroom.

All right, let's go to the kitchen where it's tiny. This is it.

So, like All right, we got some stuff in here, but yeah, for two people.

I mean, this is barely enough for one, I think.

Yeah, this is our We call it a balcony, but it's fire escape. And you know what?

If you have a fire escape,

I guess it's not to get on it, but you have to. Have to. There it is. All right.

No, you cannot get up.

Kimentto always wants to follow me out here. Okay.

Well, you can definitely get some fresh air out here.

This is like the classic New York apartment like Sidewinder staircases.

It's actually kind of a little sketchy up here.

Like, don't you think it's going to fall?

No, we usually put a cushion out here in the summertime. We'll lay out.

So, there's Washington Square Park.

Is it true that New York City is the greatest city in the world? Yes and no.

Yes, if you make it work.

No, if you feel stuck.

It's a very hard city to make it in.

It's the most expensive city.

You really got to tough it out or uh

you go back home or you

But you love it.

I do love it.

Yeah, I think it's great.

You're going to be here for a while.

Yeah, it's good for opportunity.

It's good if you want to make happen.

All right, that was fun.

Now we got to get out of here. Hey, Pimento.

He's He's a He's a guard dog.

The craziest part about Elena and Grace's place isn't the size.

It's that for almost $4,000

a month, this micro apartment is actually considered a great deal.

And if you think their place is small, just wait.

It only gets smaller from here.

My next stop takes me to the East Village,

a Bohemian neighborhood once home to legends like Andy Warhol.

These days, it's packed with students from NYU,

which means cheap, tiny apartments are in high demand.

One of the most famous buildings is on St.

Mark's Place, where I've heard the units are shockingly small.

This is what's known as a tenement building, a relic of old New York

that's basically full of single person dorms, but with shared bathrooms and zero privacy.

When I arrive, I wait outside for someone to let me in.

And after 45 minutes, a young Jewish woman sees me standing there with my camera.

So, I asked her if she'd be kind enough to show me inside.

The answer is yes.

So, I moved here in October

when I was getting out of a relationship

with my ex- fiance,

but everything in Manhattan, you know, was like $4,000

a month and up.

And I was not at the place where I was like ready to do that.

So I found this apartment for $11.95 a month.

And I was like, this is a like prison cell.

But I said, you know what?

I'd rather live here

while I build my business and get my life more together cuz I'm an ex comedian.

I was the serving artist thing.

Like I went to NYU for musical theater and then I just was like, I'm 30 now.

I have a whole different like vision for my life now. Here's the tour. It's a mess. Oh my god. Okay.

So, here's my I didn't even decorate it cuz I feel like it's not

worth the money cuz I know I'm not going to be here for more than a year.

So, I was like it I'm just going But you know that's just a

loft for storage up there. That's for storage.

I used to sleep up there and then my dog

every time I would go up the stairs.

He can't climb up there.

So, he would start crying and being like, "Wait, but how do you stay

here with a dog?

It's already small for a human."

He goes outside like all day.

Like my my neighbor takes him out most of the day and then he just sleeps here.

But yeah, I I definitely am going to be moving into a much bigger

space come October, God willing.

This is obviously your office, too, because your computer's right there.

Yeah, I sit here and I I work from my laptop.

So, what's your current job if you're not a

I'm a digital marketer.

So, I do like branding sessions for very cool people.

And um yeah, if you guys need help with branding,

if she doesn't want to be a comedian anymore, but if you need help

with branding and marketing, like we do marketing services. Cool.

So, you don't have a bathroom, but you have a sink.

So, you can have a sink.

So, I brush my teeth. Yeah, don't worry. I'm not disgusted. I'm not entirely.

I do brush my teeth.

Where do you Where do you use the

The bathroom's in the hallway.

This is how I make it look clean.

You know, you just put the shade down.

Shade down as if it was like the sun outside, but there's no sun.

Yeah, there's no Also, I never That's the thing about living in here.

It doesn't really show the sunlight.

So, sometimes like I'll look outside and it'll look like it's dark or light

and I don't know. I don't know. I can't tell.

My friend will text me and be like, "You should wear snow boots cuz

it's a snowing outside."

And I'm like, "What? It's snow?"

He's like, "It's a snowstorm.

It's like 4 feet."

Are you so dirty right now?

Are you claustrophobic and like you hate this place or are you just

honestly I'm really low maintenance.

Like I I really am fine.

I I also Let me tell you a perk of living here. I hate cleaning.

And here I can clean this place.

I know you can tell it's a mess right now, but when I clean

it up, like before I go to sleep at night,

it takes me like

5 minutes to sweep,

mop, and do the whole

Do you see that right up there?

So, I used to have an air fryer and I would like you I

would cook food and it would go off every time and I was like, "Screw this.

I'm eating out every meal."

Like, it just wasn't worth it.

Um, but I used to have a fridge and then one time I saw a mouse.

What I did was I moved my fridge into here. What's here? Another one.

just an empty tenant.

Like there's no one lives here.

So I moved I moved my fridge here and now I just keep like

food in here still.

And I'm like I hope someone doesn't move in.

This space is tiny.

I'm just backing up.

look at this is where the bed is.

It's like sort of like that. What?

That's the whole place. Yeah.

It's really worth it being in this location.

Like for the price we're getting like I could not ask for a better

Are you trying to get the hell out Yes.

Do you make friends in this unit?

Yeah, I have a friend.

You want to meet Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I love how your dog just kind of like hangs out. Yeah. Yeah. He's the best. What's his name? His name's Asher. Asher. Asher. Hey, Asher. Hey, buddy. are you home? What's going on? Are you sleeping? No.

Well, I just got out of bed and haven't showered.

I like Can you give me a 15-second tour of your place?

Wait, you're tall, so

Yeah, this place is like I'm sorry.

I just No, dude.

I want to see it as is.

So, the top bunk is basically for storage.

Uh, I just have a bunch of like clothes and up there.

Got the loft area where I keep my skateboards,

like art supplies, like that.

What's it like to live here?

Um, it's pretty chill, honestly.

If you're okay with the uh shared bathrooms and showers,

like it's not terrible,

but please don't move in.

Raise the rent more.

You know, we don't need like

it goes up steady like a hundred bucks every year, you know? They're mad roaches.

The shared bathroom piss on the seat sometimes.

So, it's like also 60 square feet.

Bro, this TV situation is hilarious.

So, this is how you lay down.

And then you just

just watch TV like that. Yeah.

But it does the job.

And honestly, it's nice having like a place where you can afford it with

like a a chill

uh job, you know, where you don't have to be red.

I work at Target uh actually.

So it it pays the bills and I'm able to live in Manhattan,

you know, but it's

60 square ft of,

you know, is what it is.

I just turned 25,

so like I'm a young dude.

But you are a young dude.

So my sink shoots out brown water.

At times very dark brown, at times light Yeah.

So I got this like little electric

Then I'll come in here.

This is like my shower.

It's like a little cubicle

type fill it up like this. Hilarious, bro.

How do you feel right now doing this?

Um, I mean, I feel like real like showing people like what it's like

to live here, but at the same time, I don't want someone to think

like it's all like

a really easy way to live in New York City because at the end

of the day, like,

it's rough out here. Like, St.

Marks is also like a gnarly place to live.

You know, there's no oven.

The smell of cat in here is insane. I know.

Oh, I need to change.

Well, that's the thing, man.

My my cat takes a dump

and like it stinks up the entire place.

I can change the litter every day, but it's 60 square ft.

Oh, and also, I don't know if you noticed, like one of these bulbs

that like went out and now like you see how it's flickering up there.

So, like now I'm going to have to figure out how to change that.

This doesn't hold my body weight.

Climbing from my bed to the loft is super gnarly cuz I have to

like kind of catapult

my way over like

and like or like climb up here and lower myself down. But yeah, man.

It's not easy at all.

But I'd say it's worth it for a young guy that can handle it.

These neighbors here, I'll see them come in, live for a few months, and

then dip, and then they have to find new people.

Like they cancel their leases

cuz they think they can handle it, but like they can't.

like at the end of the day like cuz sometimes I'll go to the

bathroom not check before sitting on the toilet and I sit and piss, you know?

So like how often do you use the toilet and it just smells like All the time.

All the time, dude.

And like there was also people like doing weird drugs in the bathroom at one point.

It's worth it to me.

The price you pay to live in New York City, baby.

It's the price I pay.

And like I'm cool with it, man.

But like I don't want my rent going up any higher because I feel

like 11 I'll feel like a fool if it gets any higher than 1,100, you know?

While I'm heading out, I bump into a friendly guy in the hallway who

offers to show me his room, which is apparently the largest in the building.

This is the only

room that has kind of two levels to it.

Every other room, it's just this part.

How did you get so lucky?

I pay a little bit extra.

Um, I have the largest room in the building.

Everything is low, so the table is low,

the couch is low.

This is also a futon

just to make it feel bigger.

Just to make it feel bigger.

And you always like find multi-purpose things like futon.

This opens up and you have storage in here.

Um the fridge is actually new.

Everyone else has a fridge that's half the size.

Can I see in your fridge?

You got everything you need in there.

Little burger for later.

You find ways of like just making space.

How much do you pay for rent? 1,400 a month.

To me, that's a lot.

I live in Arizona,

so that's that's super expensive for a small place.

It teaches you to live exactly

with what you need

and get rid of the rest.

So, a lot of people, they kind of find uses for things they don't need.

I only have what I need.

Just don't hit your head.

It's only 5'4 in.

Um, you can stand up straight here.

I'm only 5'7 and I can't stand fully tall.

So, you got to kind of lean your head over.

But right here in the middle, you can stand up.

There's the sky here.

When it rains, when it snows, you get to hear everything.

It's very nice, very peaceful.

I have two fans going because I have no windows.

So, two fans that

circulate the air both vertically and horizontally.

Wait, isn't it illegal if you don't have

I got a skylight.

This room was definitely an afterthought.

I would It's probably was storage and they probably convert it into a unit. Got it.

So, this is your desk area.

Everything you need is here.

You got some books.

Can I do you mind me asking what's your So, partnership marketing.

You know, I have little bits of storage there.

Little things of storage in That is cool.

Oh, I didn't even notice that.

So, like anywhere you can find storage, you just put stuff. Absolutely.

Like a lot of times I have things in my parents' place in their

attic and basements and stuff, but

um you really crunch down.

I used to have dozens and dozens of pairs of shoes and you got rid of them. Yeah.

And I had to get rid of most of them.

Um actually, if you open that up, you can see that the shoes are

folded in just to save on space. Oh, wow. Yeah.

And you got even got a little cubby here for stuff.

You never like been hammered and fallen off this. Nope.

Even when I'm at my drunkest,

craziest moments, I still never fall.

I barely hold on to anything.

It's just How long have you lived here for?

I lived here for about 8 months. Nice.

Are you planning to stay longer or are you trying to get out?

I'm trying to get out.

Just a little more space.

I would say the number one thing I miss,

it's not a kitchen,

it's not a closet, it is bathroom.

If you have to go,

you don't want to have to like quickly like throw clothes on, throw shoes

on, run in there, and hope no one's in there.

Yes, it's like fourish

people per two bathrooms.

Just the luxury of having your own bathroom

is immense, and there's so many New Yorkers who don't have that.

Is it worth it for you to live in New York given these conditions? Oh yeah.

Is it the best city in the world?

In my opinion, it is.

I'm in the heart of everything.

And I love being in Midtown, East Village.

I love being in Chelsea.

Everything is so close.

Everything's within walking distance. Everything is 24/7. It's fantastic.

And you can get anywhere.

Queens, Coney Island, Brooklyn,

New Jersey, Connecticut, PA,

anywhere very, very easily.

I'm in the heart of it all.

So, you kind of ask yourself,

is it worth being

so tightly packed and

spending the money you're spending? Yes. You're barely home.

You just need to

eat, sleep, and shower, and then you're out the door.

And the second I leave, there's lines out the door for clubs that are

literally outside my That's awesome.

So, it really is worth it.

I can't imagine living in rooms as tiny as the ones I just toured,

but I get the appeal of living in a prime neighborhood.

Speaking of prime neighborhoods, I'm on my way to Dumbo,

one of the nicest spots in Brooklyn to meet up with Caleb Simpson,

that guy on Instagram who asked to see inside people's apartments.

Chloe Fineman, how much do you pay for rent in New York? I pay 5,500.

But what if I flip the script on him and ask to see inside his home?

So, before we head to the actual smallest living space in New York City,

Caleb is going to show me what a great apartment in the city looks like.

Do you mind giving me a tour of your You want to see it?

I want to see it. You want to? Yeah, of course.

I want I want I want the whole nine

You can get it all, baby. this one's cool.

It's got a unique vibe to it.

And I didn't even know it was cool, but then once I started doing

the home tours and seeing all these apartments, I realized like, oh, I have a gem here. Sweet spot.

I feel like I'm in an art store. Wow. Fancy. Yeah.

So, it's really a multi-unctioning space.

We have like the living room, dining room, and the cuddle cushion area over

there where I famously

cuddle with Drew Barrymore.

Is it okay if I call you right now?

I was going to say, can we spoon?

So, she came in your spot. Yeah.

How much organizing did that take?

Uh, a decent amount.

How long was she in here for?

She was here for like 2 hours.

We're in the gym of the apartment. The bathroom.

We got blue penny tile.

We got, you know, washer, dryer, huge bathtub.

This is a rather large tub.

Yeah, you can fit a lot of people in here.

At one point, six people lived here, and we fit all of us in

there as a joke just to see if we could.

And you know, a boy lives here cuz the toilet seat's up.

And now it's down. Nice.

You've been to so many different apartments around New York.

You've seen so many different living situations.

What can you say about the rent situation in New York?

It's so expensive for such a small place.

I heard someone say once,

no one can afford to live in New York.

But we're here anyway.

Most of my career in New York, like 85%

of my income went to my rent.

So you think like bang for your buck, New York is like the most

expensive in the world?

I think so, too. Definitely. It's 6,500.

I pay 2180 cuz we split But the unit is 6,500. Mhm.

This is my dirty ass room behind you.

Right now, you cannot find an apartment for this price with this many rooms

with this many outdoor spaces

cuz there's this whole deck out here.

People come out here and they can't believe that

this is Brooklyn or this is New York cuz we have so many trees.

Kind of feels like you're in Connecticut.

Wo, like the brick walls.

This used to be a pole dancing room.

And we had it lined with mirrors and there was a pole where that light is.

You've been in all kinds of apartments in New York, like the smallest ones

that you've been to.

What's your feeling going inside them?

No, I don't feel bad for anyone

who lives in a tiny apartment.

I think most of them are proud of their apartments and excited to be in New York.

I think for the most part, it just gives people like an opportunity and

a chance at a city.

Most people go to New York to try to like better their lives financially, let's be honest.

So, I think it's it's good.

Caleb's space is awesome.

But now I'm ready to visit the actual smallest living space in New York

City on Manhattan's west side near Penn Station and Madison Square Garden.

I found out that this place uses its profits to feed the homeless.

And outside, I bump into a German tenant named Jonas, who agrees to take

me inside as long as we keep quiet. Wa.

So, here's like the entire breakfast area.

Cream and butter and

milk and This place is crazy small.

Like, these are all rooms.

As I walk down the hallway, it's just

like every foot there's another room.

I've entered the bathroom here.

You can't even fit, bro.

Yeah, it's just here.

Um the toilets like

um you you share with everybody with everybody. Yeah.

This is for men and women.

And upstairs is another

bathroom just for women.

So I think that's really cool.

So this bathroom for men and women.

This is the shower.

It is tiny in here.

Like I can't even stand.

It's amazing because you have everything

you need on a very small place.

And I like it very much. So so great.

This is like a little common area here. People to work.

What about the people here?

Well, the people are very, very nice.

That's something you won't have in Germany.

So, everyone is talking to you.

Um, people are very kind, very nice. Yeah, that's crazy.

So, what is this?

Yeah, that's that's my room.

This whole This is your entire room. Yeah.

Um, my my luggage is like under the bed. That's my tower.

This is the entire room.

Like, we are in Yeah.

I think it's pretty cool.

I paid a lot about €100. Yeah. A night.

It's okay, I guess, for New York.

I'm pretty sure that's the cheapest room in all of Manhattan.

Yeah, Manhattan is 100 bucks a night.

Yeah, it's amazing that you have everything you want here.

No, it's just perfect.

But when you're sleeping, people are talking or No. Um, actually, no.

But, uh, one to two times

there was an interference.

But people on the office are very

strict and are telling them to stop talking. Just stop. Yeah. You staying here?

This guy is staying here, too. Where's your room? Show me.

He's going to show me his room.

Wow, this is crazy.

This is the whole

What is it like to live here?

You Yeah, I'm enjoying. I'm enjoying.

I'm I'm a tourist here.

So, it's not too small for you?

It's too small, by the way.

But what do I say?

Especially I couldn't able to bend here and especially bathroom if you see we

can't bend bend and we can't clean things also

that much so so this is your bed right here that's my bed

and once I need to pack things I have to put it over here

and I have to pack things and I have to put

so is it a good experience or a bad

uh new experience new experience if you look up the ceiling is open so

um that's the only thing

you hear everything from the other rooms there's a very strict policy

about snorting Yeah, you don't have

you don't can bring other people here. So, no sex. No sex.

New York City isn't an easy place to live, but that's kind of the

point of making this video.

Whether it's a micro apartment in the East Village or a pod by Penn

Station, people here always find a way, and that's what makes this city so inspiring.

Would you pay such a high price to live in New York City?

Let me know in the comments down below.