New York City Luxury Rental Blog Archives for May 2011

Roosevelt Rising: Heard About the Roosevelt Island Population Boom?

When most people begin looking for a luxury apartment rental in Manhattan, several districts tend to come to mind immediately. There's the sought-after high-gloss, high-culture vibe that comes with SoHo apartment listings, the famed luxury of Upper East Side rental listings, and the perpetually trendy East Village and its apartments for rent. But there's one New York City area of rapid growth and expansion that twenty years ago wouldn't have been on anyone's apartment-hunting list: Roosevelt Island. Once saddled with the less-than-flattering nickname "Welfare Island," this former backwater in the middle of the East River is an afterthought no longer, as a boom of new construction condos and luxury rentals on Roosevelt Island suggests. But here's the biggest sign of Roosevelt Island's rising prosperity: People are actually moving there. Quickly and in serious numbers. Seriously.

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Get Your Own Door: Are Doorman-Free Luxury Rentals The Biggest Value in NYC Real Estate?

There is something to be said for the Manhattan doorman rental apartment, especially for the New Yorker coming home late at night, or returning from a Whole Foods or C-Town expedition loaded down with groceries. But while most Manhattan luxury rental listings are doorman rental listings -- it comes with the "luxury" part -- there's nothing that says that you need someone to open the door for you, even after an evening on the town or an afternoon at the supermarket. Chances are that if you've managed to find your way onto the internet, let alone to Luxury Rentals Manhattan, you're probably pretty accomplished in tasks such as opening and closing doors. Which is to say that, if you're browsing luxury rental listings in Soho or searching for a rental apartment on the Upper East Side, would it really matter to you that much whether the aformentioned luxury rental in Soho or rental apartment on the Upper East Side came with a doorman? Well, apparently a great many people do -- which means that doorman-free rental listings in those most desirable Manhattan neighborhoods are notably cheaper than their be-doorman'ed counterparts. Is this the sort of market efficiency a savvy apartment-hunter could exploit to his/her advantage?

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