A Himrod Street Score and a Good Concrete Backyard

A Himrod Street Score and a Good Concrete Backyard 2206 Himrod Street. Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photos: Native Real Estate LLC Listen, it’s not as though getting an apartment in New York has ever been easy. But one could probably argue it has never been harder than it is right now. The most god-awful studios are regularly renting for thousands and thousands of dollars with lines of interested tenants out the door. Here, we’ll find the actually worth-looking-ats, the actually worth-the-costs, and the surprisingly affordable-for-those-parquet-floors from around the internet. I went to see The History of Concrete last week, which may have inspired this week’s theme: Queens and, well, concrete. Ever since, I’ve been looking at the city a little differently, noticing all the ways we fill, patch, and pave over the holes in our fragile infrastructure. This week, we took the proverbial highway to Ridgewood, Astoria, Sunnyside, and Elmhurst. Plus the Rockaways, because I’m not quite ready to let go of summer. (Emphasis on proverbial: After seeing this movie, I plan to never drive on the BQE again.) At the bottom, we’ve also got a price comparison of houses for sale, so feel free to skip straight there if the concrete content isn’t doing it for you. But before we begin our tour, I’ll leave you with this image from a neighborhood walk this week: $3,500, 1-bedroom (pictured): You might need sunglasses to flip through these photos because of how much the brightness has been adjusted, but behind that truly blinding luminance is a pretty cute, newly renovated apartment with aquamarine tiling and modern finishes in the kitchen and bathroom. 68-22 Forest Avenue. Photo: Compass $3,500, 1-bedroom: Railroad flat with a private backyard — the concrete platform out there is sort of stunning and Zen. Can’t really speak to the house itself, which appears to be completely AI-generated. $3,800, 2-bedroom: I know it’s childish, but I always laugh when I get to Himrod Street. If you’re more mature than I am, you should probably take this apartment, a prewar gem with a lot of mahogany and some stained-glass highlights. $2,500, 1-bedroom: Fine, convenient, and mostly just affordable. $3,500, 1-bedroom (pictured): Part of a two-family house with nice hardwood floors and some built-ins in the corridor that I like the look of. Feels a little narrow and hallway-y, but perhaps you could knock a wall down? Also, there’s backyard access. 25-54 42nd Street. Photos: Astoria Realty. 25-54 42nd Street. Photos: Astoria Realty. $3,500, 2-bedroom: A sprawling two-bed in an 1890s two-family house, plus a backyard, basement, laundry, and an honestly suspicious amount of bonus space. It’s not winning any beauty contests, but hey, it’s (almost) a whole damn house. $2,600, 1-bedroom: 1929 building with windows at every turn and a kitchen that has somehow escaped the gray-cabinet-industrial complex. $2,725, 1-bedroom: Herringbone parquet and arched entryways at this price? Move quickly. $2,700, 1-bedroom (pictured): More in the appealing price zone — imagine it without the overhead lighting (which reflects offensively onto the floor like a Kardashian lip gloss), and you’ll see potential. The bones are there (floors, square footage, no heinous design details). 43-30 42nd Street. Photo: Voro Purple LLC $2,250, 1-bedroom (pictured): A lonely single image can sometimes contain 1,000 words. In this case, it’s telling us that twilight looks awfully nice through those windows. I am curious about the door that appears to lead to nowhere, assuming this is a second-story apartment. Something a sole photograph can’t tell us, I guess … 86-45 St. James Avenue. Photo: Kew Forest Realty Inc $2,100, 1-bedroom: Unit in a three-bedroom house (that was built in 1870!). You could be a part of history — if you don’t mind bad ceramic tile in the kitchen and bathroom. $4,000, 3-bedroom (pictured): This one’s going in my weird-brick-building collection. It feels strangely History of Concrete–related, despite being made of stone? Another case of the haunting single image. 49-14 21st Avenue. Photo: Think Properties $2,850, 2-bedroom: And now for something completely different! Your beach bungalow awaits, right on the cinched waist of the Rockaway peninsula. Here’s what I like: the window cutout in the kitchen, the funky tiling in the bathroom, and the half-block walk to the beach. $2,800, 2-bedroom: Duplex with geometric polka dots in the bathroom :) $3,500, 3-bedroom (pictured): Imagine laying claim to an entire house? Nothing terribly exciting is happening inside this three-bedroom, but there’s lots of light and a respectable amount of space, and the beach is just a few minutes away. The ocean is the amenity here. 453 Beach 63rd Street. From left: Photo: Zi Realty LLCPhoto: Zi Realty LLC 453 Beach 63rd Street. From top: Photo: Zi Realty LLCPhoto: Zi Realty LLC $2,800, 1-bedroom (pictured): Looks like Maspeth is getting the gentrifier’s Helvetica treatment. Feels like a bit of a rushed reno (and the brass finishes have got to go), but I’m just being nitpicky! The light is nice, the floorboards are strong, and I like the painted mantel. 60-52 54th Place. Photo: Compass This four-story Greek Revival townhouse (pictured below) is asking $2.9 million, which, sorry to say, is on the low side for Boerum Hill. It’s a multifamily, which could also be keeping the price down (unless the prison going up nearby is the culprit). Anyway, I love that it’s set back from the street in that charmingly anachronistic way, and there are some special details throughout: a solarium with black-and-white tile, lovely window cornices, and a charming if nearly windowless attic that they’re calling the guest suite. 446 State Street. Photos: Compass. 446 State Street. Photos: Compass. Meanwhile, over in Sunset Park, we have a two-bedroom, one-bath going for $799,000 that was clearly owned by someone with taste. Warm woods, good art, and better duvets — to me, that’s all you need. The apartment itself? Solid prewar with 850 square feet of space, a windowed kitchen that’s renovated and kind of cute, a windowed bathroom with a good tub. Which one’s for you? A Himrod Street Score and a Good Concrete Backyard Your product is saved! You’ll receive emails when your saved products go on sale. Manage preferences.