What you pay in rent is always a hot topic in NYC. In general it’s not considered rude to ask someone what they pay in rent; however, I generally stray away from asking really wealthy people what they pay. My reasoning for this is as follows: A. because they normally get weird about it and #2 because the answer is generally depressing. So today’s post is dedicated to what I have paid in rent over the past 9 years.

Apartment 1
Year: 2005
Location: Astoria, Queens. Ditmars stop on the N.
Minutes to Midtown: 25
Bedrooms: 2
Occupants: 2
Rent: $1,100 a month, $550 per tenant.
Stabilized Rent:  Yes.
Pros: Great location for a starter NYC apartment.
Cons: Creepy super and it lacked a living room, but we made half the kitchen a living room.

Apartment 2
Years: 2006 – 2007
Location: Astoria, Queens.  Steinway stop on the R.
Minutes to Midtown: 20
Bedrooms: 4
Occupants: 3 in 2006 and 4 in 2007.
Rent: $1,800 a month, $600 per tenant (2006). $2,100 a month, $525 per tenant (2007).
Stabilized Rent:  No.
Pros: Lots of space, backyard, and our landlord was great.
Cons:  There were times the rent checks weren’t cashed for months at a time.

Apartment 3
Years: 2008-2010
Location: Inwood, Manhattan. 190th street station on the A.
Minutes to Midtown: 45
Bedrooms: 1
Occupants: 2
Rent: $1,250 a month, $625 per tenant (2008). $1,295 a month, $647.50 per tenant (2009 and 2010).
Stabilized Rent:  Yes.
Pros: The apartment was newly renovated.
Cons: I hated the neighborhood.

Apartment 4
Year: 6 months in 2011
Location: Rego Park, Queens. 63rd Drive-Rego Park stop on the R.
Minutes to Midtown: 30-45
Bedrooms: 2
Occupants: 3
Rent: Subleased a bedroom for $600 a month, $300 a month per person.
Stabilized Rent:  I am not sure.
Pros: Dirt cheap.
Cons: Rego Park is an acquired taste.

Apartment 5
Year: 2012
Location: Gowanus, Brooklyn. 9th Street stop on the R.
Minutes to Midtown: 45
Bedrooms: 2
Occupants: 3
Rent: Subleased a bedroom for $600 a month, $300 a month per person.
Stabilized Rent:  Yes.
Pros: Great neighborhood.
Cons: We couldn’t afford the average rent in the neighborhood once we started looking for our own place.

Apartment 6
Location: East Flatbush, Brooklyn. Winthrop stop on the 2-5.
Minutes to Midtown: 45
Bedrooms: 1
Occupants: 2
Rent: $1,320 a month, $660 per tenant (2013). $1,429 a month, $714.50 per tenant (2014 & 2015).
Stabilized Rent:  Yes
Pros: It’s the largest apartment we have lived in, we have a dining room, we have an eat-in-kitchen, the building has an elevator, there is laundry in the building, and our neighbors are very friendly.
Cons: The 5 train stops running after 8pm, and does not run on the weekends.

Total spent in a decade… Drum roll please… $65,034.

All in all, I think I have done pretty well. In the past 9 years my half of the rent has only gone up a total of $164, if you don’t count the rooms we subleased. Obviously, you can pay a lot more a month than we do, but we like to keep it on the cheaper side!

Maybe my rent isn’t too damn high, but how can you resist this anthem?