Single but not singly.
So I was reading this article about Martha Plimpton yesterday, and you know what stuck in my mind? Not her refreshingly old-school New York style, but the fact that she still lives in the rent-stabilized two-bedroom apartment she shared with her mom, who raised her on her own on the Upper West Side. “That’s what I gotta do!” I thought, my mind racing. “I’ve gotta secure a two-bedroom apartment now that The Scamp and I will never want to leave. Otherwise, our ship is sunk!”
Because I mean, really, tone-deaf articles like this one aside (married, high-earning white women buying real estate? oh, we’ve come a long way baby!), I don’t understand how any single woman with caregiving responsibilities — for a wee one, say, or an elderly parent — manages to find a decent place to live in this town anymore. (I’m emphasizing women here because it’s usually women who are paid lesser salaries, and it’s usually women who bear the caregiving load.) You usually legitimately need a 2-bedroom place, however small, but you don’t have another hard-chargin’, 60-hour-a-week warrior to split the rent with — so $2,000+ a month is astronomical, no matter how fancy the fixtures. Added to that are the time (spent not working) and expenses of child or elder care, and, well, you’re probably robbing Peter to pay Paul on a weekly basis. I also don’t understand volunteering (as people on the hunt essentially do when they advertise that they “can pay up to $2XXX…”) at least two large a month in rent, but I guess I’m showing my age on that point.
My cold sweat has been patted dry for the moment; I’m in the process of moving into a cozy 2-bedroom, by some miracle still here in Clinton Hill. But I doubt The Scamp will still have the keys to the place when he’s 37 years old like lucky Martha. Before my search was happily resolved, I was seriously considering Madame X’s tips to burst the NYC real estate bubble. Rather than waste time praying for a miracle, I’m just going to step up my hustle and scrimp and save every dime so I can seize the first good opportunity I find to join the owner class. Even if it doesn’t happen till I’m 62 and I only need a second bedroom for my walking stick collection.