Triple-Threat Prewars and the Case for Kips Bay

Triple-Threat Prewars and the Case for Kips Bay 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. Bad news: The Kips Bay AMC is closing. For me, the loss is tinged with nostalgia because it’s where I saw Pirates of the Caribbean and got my first-ever migraine but was so absorbed that I stayed through the pain. To offset the memory of the headache, I found two homes for purchase so you can lay down roots quickly before they propose knocking down the I.M. Pei buildings, too. For rentals, we went uptown in Manhattan, where I found a surprising number of perfect-three prewars (you’ll know what I mean in a second), and downtownish in Brooklyn. I tried looking in downtown Brooklyn proper but started to dissociate between all the bland and the beige, so I retreated to Cobble Hill, where I found some overpriced duplexes. Crown Heights, as ever, is where you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck. $3,200, one-bedroom: The Photoshop is apparent, but the parquet and moldings don’t lie. It may not be as bright as presented, but the bones are there. $3,200, one-bedroom: I like the funky layout and the bay window in this brownstone apartment. Great natural light and photography that doesn’t seem at all altered, which I appreciate. $4,000, two-bedroom: Underneath all that bad furniture are some original details I like the look of. Namely, the purple and green fireplace surround is catching my eye. $6,800, two-bedroom: Ever wonder what it would be like to live in the turret of a castle in the middle of Brooklyn? This could be your only opportunity. $2,800, three-bedroom: In honor of the guy who got struck by lightning and survived, I ventured to Staten Island to behold all the wall-to-wall carpeting and mirrored walls I could find. This house is particularly funky — the bathroom, green as Jim Carrey in The Mask, may be the standout for me here. $3,499, two-bedroom: When it comes to prewars, good things come in threes: soft arched passageways, sunken living room, good parquet. $3,950, two-bedroom: Refreshing to see a true two-bedroom that isn’t a bedroom and an office masquerading as something it’s not. This one’s in a 49-unit prewar building just a few blocks from the water. $3,250, one-bedroom: A little hallway-forward, but I like the bookshelf by the window; the fireplace appears to have wood in it even though the listing calls it decorative. Not for people six feet tall and up, though. $8,500, one-bedroom: Definitely a splurge … but hey, this one’s just for fun. Live a little, would you? $3,000, studio: I’m into the built-in cabinetry! One would have to be to live here. Grim marble in the bathroom, which the listing claims is real, but I have my doubts. $2,700, one-bedroom: Small but mighty prewar with strong hardwoods and a price that sits right with me. $2,500, one-bedroom: Another prewar with the big three. Lucking out today, I guess. $7,400, three-bedroom: The masochist in me returns to Carroll Gardens week after week, holding out hope for a hidden gem. Jury’s out on whether this qualifies, but I’m too distracted by the sheer number of rooms to care. This much space in the neighborhood is rare enough to be a feature unto itself. $7,500, two-bedroom: The renovation feels distinctly ’90s in this duplex brownstone apartment. Something about the skylights transports me to a bygone New York rendered by cinema. Unfortunately, the fantasy is interrupted by a giant monolith of a middling luxury condo building looming outside. $9,500, three-bedroom: A two-and-a-half-bath duplex with a wood-burning fireplace and a stone backyard that’s giving Italian courtyard (when I squint). The Astroturf is a concern, so someone please step in here asap. To honor Kips Bay and complement yesterday’s paean to Murray Hill, it feels like an appropriate time to pay our respects to one of Manhattan’s more chronically overlooked neighborhoods. Kips Bay has already survived quite a lot — from some brief research, I learned the neighborhood began as an actual bay beside a 17th-century Dutch farm, hosted a British attack exactly 250 years ago, and was later remade by postwar urban renewal. Not to mention the I.M. Pei building, Kips Bay Towers, which defines it in the current moment. There are two ways to support the area while you still can. If you have $3.95 million lying around, there’s an entire three-story townhouse on East 31st Street with three bedrooms, three fireplaces, a courtyard, and the general feeling that you’ve somehow been allowed to remain in old New York. Look outside the window on the top floor and you might see the mirage of that 17th-century farm — or maybe it’s just Cynthia Nixon, your most famous Kips Bay neighbor. For less than half the price, there’s a 1,625-square-foot combination unit in Pei’s building, itself a monument to the neighborhood’s next incarnation. It’s currently a blank canvas, which could mean you’ll either be spending more money or you’re just lucky because the bones look extremely good: three bedrooms, two bathrooms, enormous windows, and three acres of private gardens. Two very different artifacts from a neighborhood that has apparently been getting redeveloped against its will for a few centuries. Triple-Threat Prewars and the Case for Kips Bay Your product is saved! You’ll receive emails when your saved products go on sale. Manage preferences.