The actual property market in New York has by no means been this tight.
A Lower East Side condominium proprietor turned his small condo right into a mini-village — by changing it into an unlawful duplex with 11 sub-units that had ceilings as little as four ¹/₂ ft excessive, officers mentioned Friday.
The unlawful micro flats at 165 Henry Street are so cramped that condominium proprietor Xue Ping Ni even put up bubble wrap as safety to maintain residents from hitting their heads on the numerous low-hanging pipes.
The weird association in Ni’s condo No. 601 — which was raided and shut down Wednesday evening by town Buildings Department — was in comparison with one thing out of a film.
“This is like the room out of the movie ‘Being John Malkovich,’” mentioned Manhattan Councilman Ben Kallos — a nod to the “7th 1/2 floor” Manhattan workplace within the 1999 indie flick.
“It was funny in fiction, but a horror story in real life.”
It wasn’t clear how a lot lease Ni was charging for the tiny items. But the residents there have been stacked like sardines, because the 11 windowless items have been all carved out of the upper-areas of Ni’s single 634-square-foot condominium on the constructing’s 4th flooring.
The condominium, the place 9 individuals have been residing, additionally had an unlawful lavatory, inspectors mentioned.
The tenants have been relocated from the nightmarish hearth hazard, when Buildings Department inspectors raided the place in response to a 311 grievance, in response to residents and metropolis officers.