The New York Times - USA (2020-07-26)

8 RE MB THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2020

Christine Hirt and Jason Sloan met as fresh-
men at the Macaulay Honors College of the
City University of New York. They lived in
the school’s one dorm, the Brookdale Cam-
pus Residence in Manhattan, and bonded
over food in a small communal kitchen.
“Our relationship really flowered around
cooking together,” Ms. Hirt, 26, said. “We
made it a fun adventure every day.”
They both went on to graduate school:
She got a master’s degree in marine policy
at the University of Delaware; he studied
law and public health at the University of
Pennsylvania. And when they shared a re-
furbished apartment in Philadelphia, it
“shaped how we felt about where we
wanted to live,” Mr. Sloan, 28, said.
The place had new appliances, a washer-
dryer and central air-conditioning. Last
winter, as the couple prepared to return to
New York, they hoped to rent a similarly
modern apartment.
Ms. Hirt had landed a job as a program
manager at the National Offshore Wind Re-
search and Development Consortium, but
the location of her office wasn’t yet deter-
mined, so a central spot with good public
transit options was important. Mr. Sloan
had plans to start a job as a first-year associ-
ate at a Midtown law firm before the coro-
navirus pandemic delayed them.
The couple did some hunting in Down-
town Brooklyn, but found that Long Island
City, Queens, was a better fit.
A good kitchen was crucial — one big
enough to allow two people to cook side-by-
side and to house the anticipated gifts from
the couple’s upcoming wedding.
For the sake of visiting parents, they
wanted to avoid stairs. A two-bedroom
would allow family and friends to stay
overnight, but two-bedrooms were expen-
sive, so the couple figured a one-bedroom
with a pullout sofa would do.
Their budget was around $3,000 a month,
give or take a few hundred dollars. But it
wasn’t always easy to tell what they would
actually be paying, as many listings adver-
tised “net-effective” rents accounting for in-
centives like a free month or two of rent.
Among their options:

1.BRAND-NEW ONE-BEDROOM

This pristine one-bedroom was in a new 18-
story doorman building called Bevel, where
amenities included a roof deck, laundry

room and library. The unit had a washer- dryer hookup and floor-to-ceiling windows. The rent, after incentives, was $3,273.

2.TWO-BEDROOM WALK-UP This renovated, railroad-style unit in a re- cently restored walk-up building had two equal-size bedrooms, one with an en suite bathroom. It had two exposures, exposed brick and a washer-dryer. The rent, includ- ing two free months, was $3,333.

3.ONE-BEDROOM WITH BALCONY This one-bedroom, in an 11-story building built in 2015, had floor-to-ceiling windows and a spacious balcony, but a small kitchen. The building’s amenities included a pool and a laundry room on every floor. The rent, after incentives, was $2,938.

THEIR CHOICE Bevel was appealing, but the amenities were almost too much. The couple knew they wouldn’t use most of them. The balcony at the other one-bedroom apartment would have been a bonus, but the deal-breaker was the small kitchen. They chose the two-bedroom — the most expensive apartment they saw. The big kitchen lined two walls, and the extra rooms proved irresistible. “We kind of broke our rules,” Mr. Sloan said. “It looked like an apartment we could start our lives in.” They arrived in the winter, a few weeks before Covid-19 derailed some of their plans. When Mr. Sloan’s job was postponed, he took a job as a contact tracer, for which the apartment is well suited. “We have enough independent spaces that we can work separately while I have my confidential phone calls,” he said. Ms. Hirt learned that her new office would be in Midtown, but she still hasn’t been there. The couple changed their wedding plans, too, aiming for a small ceremony next month, with a reception next year. They turned the living room into a dining room, and the second bedroom into a living room, adding a pullout sofa. For reasons they can’t determine, their Con Ed bill is high. They’re also close to a fire station and its sirens. But there are plenty of strollers in the neighborhood, which helps them envision their future. “It seems there’s a lot of resources here for families with young children,” Ms. Hirt said. The kitchen is everything they wanted. “We don’t have to fight each other for counter space,” she said. “We can be chop- ping or dicing on separate cutting boards.”

The Hunt

Returning to New York, a Couple Look for a Modern Apartment in Queens

With wedding plans on the

horizon, they wanted a kitchen

with room to cook together.

A one-bedroom in a new 18-story doorman building had floor-to-ceiling windows and amenities like a roof deck, a laundry room and a library.

A renovated railroad-style unit in a walk-up building had two bedrooms (one with an en suite bathroom), exposed brick and a washer-dryer.

A one-bedroom in an 11-story building had a spacious balcony, but a small kitchen. Amenities included a pool and a laundry room.

‘We kind of broke our rules,’ Mr. Sloan says. ‘It looked like

an apartment we could start our lives in.’

AMR ALFIKY/THE NEW YORK TIMES

By JOYCE COHEN

[email protected]

1 23

The RentersChristine Hirt and Jason Sloan in their new Long Island City apartment.

The Options

The list price is the asking price when the property came on the market with the most recent broker.
The time on the market is from the most recent listing to the closing date. Email: [email protected]

COMPILED BY C.J. HUGHES

15 weekson the market $795,000list price 4% abovelist price

Size5 bedrooms; 3 full and 3 half-baths DetailsA 2,918-square-foot house with a fireplace, a dining room with a bay window, a kitchen with skylights and a koi pond, on 0.34 of an acre. Costs$21,159 a year in taxes Listing brokerWeichert, Realtors

$826,000

New Jersey

124 Oakland Road Maplewood

43 weekson the market $795,000list price 9% belowlist price

Size1 bedroom, 1 bath DetailsAn 863-square-foot co-op with a sunken living room, a kitchen with stainless-steel appliances and five closets in a doorman building with a roof deck. Costs $1,821 a month in mainte- nance Listing brokerCorcoran Group

$720,000

Manhattan

301 East 48th Street, No. 15J Midtown East

Size4 bedrooms, 3 baths DetailsA 1,964-square-foot house with quartz counters, a dining room with a decorative fireplace, and a second-floor porch, on 0.13 of an acre. Costs $15,097 a year in taxes Listing broker Julia B. Fee Sothe- by’s International Realty

$820,000

Westchester

1234 Knickerbocker Avenue Mamaroneck

Size4 bedrooms, 3 baths DetailsThis 56-year-old, 2,400- square-foot house, expanded in 2014, has a living room with a beamed ceiling, a kitchen with quartzite counters, a patio and a heated pool, on about a half-acre. Costs$13,247 a year in taxes Listing brokerDouglas Elliman

$690,000

Long Island

23 Soundview Drive Shoreham

Size5 bedrooms, 4½ baths DetailsA 98-year-old, 3,804- square-foot house, with a cement- block facade, a living room with a vaulted ceiling and skylights, a kitchen with a range-topped island and central air-conditioning on 4.34 acres. Costs$15,819 a year in taxes Listing brokerWilliam Pitt Sothe- by’s International Realty

$675,000

Connecticut

4 Old Oscaleta Road Ridgefield

AROUND $750,000

What’s Selling Now

Size 2 bedrooms, 1 bath DetailsA 725-square-foot co-op with a combined living and dining room, a kitchen with a breakfast bar and two exposures in a non- doorman walk-up from 1931. Costs$818 a month in mainte- nance Listing brokerCorcoran Group

$760,000

Brooklyn

231 Park Place, No. 23 Prospect Heights

The New York Times - USA (2020-07-26)

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