A Room Without A View: The Windowless Gramercy Apartment -- $2200!

Yesterday while out with a client I came across this gem -- a large one bedroom apartment in a Gramercy building with laundry and elevator that is completely windowless. This dungeon can be yours for only $2200 a month! (I'm 90% sure that windowless apartments are illegal.)

Even better: the super (who is a dead ringer for Schneider from One Day At A Time) told me today that the only reason it's vacant is because the people who rented it before were using it as an illegal casino. The door is even dented up where the cops had to bust in. (Schneider seemed really proud of that fact.)

It actually could be a good deal if someone needs cheap office space. It's right off Third Avenue in prime Gramercy. Schneider, by the way, mentioned he would really like it if the next tenant was a massage parlor.

Let's do the apartment 360:

The whole place is easily 600 square feet.






Pretty decent kitchen. Full sized appliances!


Bedroom is large -- but still windowless. Would make a great Champagne Room.

A Curious Sight On Irving Place

An abandoned, half-finished glass of wine, on a stoop, in the middle of the day.

It's nice to see Mad Men infiltrating daily life. Who says the two martini lunch is dead?

Murray Hill Needs A Yoga Studio

Hatha Yoga Video - Revolving Lunge Pose, originally uploaded by myyogaonline.

This weekend I had to walk down to Gramercy (18th Street!) to take a yoga class. The people at the front desk were happy to see me, especially after three years. Since there is no yoga studio in Murray Hill, it was the closet place to go.

Which got me thinking over the weekend: Why is there no yoga in Murray Hill, and by extension, the Turtle Bay/Sutton area? The area is full of young professionals. Most of Murray Hill is under 30, particularly among females. There are three gyms -- Crunch, The New York Sports Club and Club H Fitness, but everyone knows that gym yoga sucks.

Making money off this would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Women *love* yoga. Even the biggest elliptical addict needs to tone her arms and inner thighs. Most people don't want all the chanting and spiritual mumbo jumbo either -- they just want a physical class where they feel nice and tight afterwards.

From a real estate standpoint, there is plenty of commercial space available along that stretch of the East Side. So why have none of the big guys -- such as Sal Anthony or Yoga Works, jumped on it?