This Week’s Best NYC Rentals: Prewars Galore

While prices remain high in the New York City real-estate market, at least the AQI is down and the Legionnaires’ situation on the Upper East Side appears to be improving. I took both as a sign to avoid the neighborhood entirely, instead making stops in Washington Heights, the Lower East Side, Crown Heights, Carroll Gardens, and Boerum Hill. Keep reading for a price comparison at the bottom, and a friendly reminder to wash your raspberries like your life depends on it.

$2,895, 1-bedroom: Strong hardwoods, clean, and under $3,000 — a trifecta I can get behind.

$3,800, 2-bedroom: Floor-through brownstone apartment with a railroad feel. Tile with dark-looking grout in the kitchen is unfortunate but at least they went with bright white and not beige or, worse, imitation terra-cotta.

$2,800, 1-bedroom: Oh dear, it seems I summoned the imitation terra-cotta into being. But this is an otherwise solid prewar with strong parquet that’s just a smidge rough around the edges.

$3,800, 2-bedroom: Classic brownstone that’s heavy on the mahogany — the original details are lovely, but then there’s a lot of imitation marble in the bathroom and kitchen. Because sometimes God doesn’t give with both hands.

$1,850, 1-bedroom: Haven’t seen a price like this for a brownstone apartment since before the pandemic? Kitchen’s a little rough, but still: Something must be wrong. Go scout for me and report back, please.

$12,500, 4-bedroom: I have to admit I was fooled by the bookshelves into thinking this was a more refined apartment than the rest of the pictures reveal it to be. But 2,500 square feet is a lot of real estate in this part of town.

$8,500, 1-bedroom: An architectural feat: Look out for the dramatic glass atrium and an angled glass roof that floods the landing with natural light!

$12,500, 3-bedroom: I was getting a witchy feeling that Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig once lived here. And what do you know … they were next door.

$10,250, 2-bedroom: When the planks are that wide, you know I can’t not list it. I’m sorry that I’m not sorry.

$3,800, 1-bedroom: We’ve reentered the realm of normal with this aggressively average apartment that’s on the cheaper end for the neighborhood.

$3,650, 1-bedroom: A moment of silence for the size of the window in the kitchen, please. Technically Boreum Hill, by the way.

$2,800, 1-bedroom: Generously proportioned prewar apartment with tasteful updates, no notes.

$2,300, 1-bedroom: Another strong-boned prewar that I’m having difficulty critiquing, especially at that price point.

$3,650, 2-bedroom: Just a wealth of prewars up here — this one is slightly over-varnished in the parquet department, but that’s not at all a disqualifier.

$3,000, 1-bedroom: When I tell you that every other apartment on the Lower East Side is north of $5,000, all that exposed brick may start to look better and better.

I present to you, at $875,000, a duplex one-bedroom on Lincoln Place that feels a little more elevated than your typical garden apartment. I like that the parlor and the bedroom are on separate floors and that there is more than one patio. Private outdoor space in Prospect Heights is not a given, and the original details help offset the sort-of-hefty maintenance. And then there is … this. Let’s be honest: Unless you accidentally bought bitcoin in 2011 and forgot about it, this house is most likely JFF (just for fun/fantasy). A former carriage house turned architect-designed compound with a guesthouse, spa, two-car garage, three wood-burning fireplaces, Venetian plaster, and more bespoke millwork than I’ve ever seen in a single residence. I don’t think I’d have a hard time deciding between the two.

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