Our First Look at Our New Apartment

Here are the first photos we took of the apartment. At the time these photos were taken, we had seen the apartment only once before, and that was at nighttime, which prevented us from knowing how glorious the sun would shine through the living room window, which faces due south.

Eeek! Notice the scary crack here on one of the living room walls!

At the start, we had no idea why there was a black door separating the living room and an inner room, and we had no idea why the door even had a tumbler lock on it.

Why did the previous tenant need a solid door with a lock?!

What was going on in here?

We found out, he had been illegally subletting his living room to another person, so we guess he needed a secure lock on this door for privacy. What a setup. We were outdone when we heard the history of this place from some neighbors.

Not forgetting that this is a railroad apartment and railroad apartments generally have two door entrances, this second door that leads from the hall into the living room, was taped tight with black electrician tape and had two sliding locks and one chain lock. Sheesh.

We wonder if the door had been kicked in at one time because someone had lost their key or someone was just plain pissed off.

Here’s a photo of one of the living room walls with glued-on wood planks. We’re guessing these were used to support bookshelves. They had to come down.

This is THE picture that clinched the deal for us. Where, oh where, in this city, can you find an apartment that gets both Southern and Northern exposure.

Being on the top floor, and with nothing to block the sun, this was the view that clinched this place. Nothing but sun, sun, sun.

Having lived in a railroad apartment for the past 24 years where the landlord had cut the apartment in half, we never were able to have sunlight or cross ventilation.

If you’re going to live in Manhattan for the long term, you NEED light and a cross breeze. Otherwise, you may as well just move to a basement apartment and give up the idea of ever seeing daylight.

Notice the two broken living room windows. They couldn’t close! This apartment was so neglected. And look at the dangling cable wires outside the windows.

This bathtub looked like someone was murdered in it. Those are rust stains, I think. And look at the different tiles. Evidently tile had to replaced at the faucet with an off-white so didn’t match the other white tiles. And the mold. And the sink is right in front of the toilet. Ugh, this bathroom was so disappointing.

The water damage on the living room ceiling was UNBELIEVABLE. We are on the top floor, so any roof damage directly affected this ceiling. I was horrified at what this would mean for us. Also notice the damaged walls and entry way.

Here’s a pic of the steampipe in the tiny bathroom. It has a window though, which overlooks a garden, and the light, although its northern, is still glorious. The steam pipe is a great let down, but there was nothing we could do about it. At least the steampipe didn’t have an asbestos covering around it like we had in our old apartment.