Woman reveals she pays just $350 A MONTH for her New York City apartment

A born and bred New Yorker has revealed that she pays just $350 a month for her large studio apartment in New York City after living in the building her entire life. 

Akasha, who works in the food industry, welcomed content creator Caleb Simpson into her rent-controlled unit for his popular series exploring interesting spaces in the Big Apple, which he has dubbed ‘this generation’s MTV Cribs.’

‘I have toured over 200 apartments in New York City, and we have officially found the cheapest one,’ he declared at the start of the video. ‘It’s $350 a month in downtown Manhattan.’

Akasha welcomed content creator Caleb Simpson into her New York City apartment for his popular video series, revealing she only pays $350 a month in rent 

Caleb shared that he has toured over 200 spaces in New York City, and hers was the ‘cheapest one’ he has found

The tour started in the kitchen, which has a restaurant feel thanks to the stainless steel racks that are installed above the sink and stove

Akasha grew up in the building and lived on the same floor as her aunt and uncle, the apartment’s previous residents. 

‘We moved here in the early ’90s. We moved across the hall, and my aunt moved here, and she lived here for two decades,’ she explained.

She took over their apartment when they left, joking that it was ‘literally the easiest move in the entire world.’ 

The tour started in the kitchen, which has a restaurant feel thanks to the stainless steel racks that are installed above the sink and stove.

Akasha then took Caleb to see the pink-tiled bathroom, which is considered quite large for a New York City apartment

‘We used to joke when I was a kid, because I’ve lived in this building my entire life, that my bathroom was bigger than some people’s apartments,’ she said

There are only a few cabinets and minimal counter space, so she has her dishes and cups stacked on the shelves and her pots and pans hanging from the walls. 

The additional storage spaces that frame the refrigerator are covered by cream curtains, an addition that was already in place when she moved in. 

‘A lot of this was inherited,’ she said. ‘It’s very helpful to me…having people who had to function in here for a very long time. They figured it out.’

Akasha then took Caleb to see the pink-tiled bathroom, which is considered quite large for a New York City apartment. 

Akasha’s family moved into the building in the early ’90s, and they lived across the hall from her aunt and uncle. After two decades, they moved out, and she took over their apartment

Most of her storage is contained in her large floor-to-ceiling closet that has two clothing racks stacked on top of each other

Akasha said she inherited most of the built-in storage spaces from her aunt and uncle

‘We used to joke when I was a kid, because I’ve lived in this building my entire life, that my bathroom was bigger than some people’s apartments,’ she said. 

Most of her storage is contained in her large floor-to-ceiling closet that has two clothing racks stacked on top of each other. Hugging the side of the closet is a bookshelf that she calls her ‘book nook.’  

Akasha has a small table with stackable tables underneath that she can pull out whenever she has guests and a couch that sits between the kitchen and her bed. 

Across from the bed is a long table that serves as both a desk and a TV stand. Underneath, she has a storage ottoman that offers more space and additional seating. 

Akasha, who graduated from New York University, shared that this apartment building was her ‘safe haven’ when she was growing up and getting in trouble in the neighborhood. 

The NYU graduate, who works in the food industry, has enough room for a couch, a small table, and a large bed in the spacious studio

She doesn’t have any plans to leave the apartment thanks to the unbeatable cost, and she joked that they are going to have to drag her corpse out

Akasha said that she has seen a ‘huge’ amount of gentrification in her neighborhood over the years, but the culture is still artsy and grungy – albeit more expensive 

She said she has witnessed a ‘huge’ amount of gentrification over the years, but the culture is still artsy and grungy.  

‘Punk is always going to come back. Drugs never go away,’ she explained. ‘Like all of those things are still very much present here, but it is just sometimes frillier and more expensive.’

Akasha’s mother happens to be a fan of Caleb’s videos, and she was the one who reached out to him about checking out her unbelievably inexpensive rental. 

Unsurprisingly, she doesn’t have any plans to ever leave the apartment thanks to the unbeatable cost. 

‘They’re going to drag my corpse out of this,’ she said.