Room for Improvement

Room for Improvement: These New Yorkers would like quieter stairs, warmer floors, and more closets, stat!

By Mayra David  | February 27, 2013 - 11:13AM
image

Creaky stairs, peeling paint, pesky bed bugs and a bad case of the winter blues.  Six New Yorkers share their apartment living woes (and wishes).

  • Tired of creaky stairwells: There's a sign that hangs in our stairwell that asks everybody to be mindful of the neighbors when we are walking past their apartments. It's impossible to be quiet on these stairs. They are not level and they creak and bend and I don't think they've ever been up to code. -Keisha, Brooklyn
  • Wishing for warmer paint: I hate my view lately. I know I can't change that about my apartment, but I think the reason I hate my view is that it's so gray outside right now and my apartment is gray, too. Until spring is here, I think I'd like to paint it warm desert colors. -Mary Ann, Upper West Side
  • ...and warmer floors: My basement apartment is really cold. I would love under-floor heating because I hate having cold feet. -Britta, Upper West Side
  • Every New Yorker's worst nightmare: I love my apartment (I have outdoor space!). But my upstairs neighbor dragged bedbugs into our brownstone. I'd like to get rid of the bugs and then I'd like her to leave, too.  -Patrick, Upper East Side
  • Are post-leak repairs too much to ask for? We had a leak months ago and the landlord still hasn't fixed where the paint bubbled and peeled. -Jodie, Harlem
  • And perhaps the most common NYer wish: I'd like more closets, definitely. I'm tired of the 'creative storage solutions' like stuffing linen into my two ottomans or putting the A/C under my end table and having a table cloth over it. -Alicia, Upper East Side

See all Room for Improvements

Related:

How to buy a NYC apartment

Introducing Click and Improve.com: Easy one-click home improvement & repairs for stressed out urban dwellers (sponsored)

BrickUnderground's Renter's Survival Kit

The 7 worst places to live in a building

 

 

 

 

Brick Underground articles occasionally include the expertise of, or information about, advertising partners when relevant to the story. We will never promote an advertiser's product without making the relationship clear to our readers.

topics: