$28.43. A month.

^ how much do you really need heat and hot water though?

New York is an interesting place…for the most obvious statement of this newsletter. Living here fundamentally transforms you – to touch one psychological shift everyone undergoes, the idea of how much things are worth just becomes so wildly warped. A cocktail less than $14 dollars is reasonable, a dinner less than $50 is unheard of, dropping $5 on coffee is as subconsciously routine as breathing, and spending $2,000 a month on your rent is a steal.
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Well what if you knew that someone in Greenwich Village was spending $28.43 on her monthly rent for her two-bedroom apartment at 498 Sixth Avenue.  I’m pretty sure I spent $30 on late night Mexican food last night. In a neighborhood where two-bedroom apartments go for a balmy $4,000 a month, Patricia O’Grady was paying what most of us drop on cabs in a night for her monthly rent. How did she do it?
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O’Grady moved to New York in 1955 as an aspiring actress and nabbed the two bedroom with three other friends for $16 a month – each girl contributing their $4 share. When O’Grady became the sole occupant, she stayed that way for 60 years – rent controlled and in the most ideal location in the city, why would she leave?
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She almost lost the deal when the building was purchased and the new owner learned of his 4th floor tenant. After consulting countless lawyers, legally he found he could only raise her rent $1.98, as during her 47 year tenancy it had only gone up $10.50. She ended up forging a friendship with the landlord, who owns the building’s adjacent Murray’s Bagels, and while he tried to install proper modern updates, she insisted in keeping her apartment without hot water, heat, bath or shower. There was only a single gas light bulb and when it went out, she lived by candlelight.
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While relying on fire for both your source of light and warmth demotes you somewhere between Amish and Pilgrim, the idea that two Sweetgreen salads a month would total my rent for a two bedroom in the village…who actually needs to shower, right?