A video of a woman's "terrifying" apartment viewings around New York City has gone viral on TikTok.
The video was posted on August 13 by Vivi (known as @viviarmacost on TikTok) and has 1.6 million views at the time of writing.
A message overlaid on the clip says "3 Terrifying, Expensive Apartment tours." The footage shows a woman on a street looking into a camera. A voice in the clip says: "Come with me to see 3 terrifying apartments in New York City. I'm trying to find a studio right now and it is awful."
The video shows a tour of three apartments in the New York City borough of Manhattan. One of the listings came with a broker's fee of around $4,000, while all of them featured windows with bars across them on the outside.
A stock image of the exterior of apartment buildings in Chinatown in the New York City borough of Manhattan. A video of a woman's "terrifying" apartment viewings in Manhattan has gone viral on TikTok.A stock image of the exterior of apartment buildings in Chinatown in the New York City borough of Manhattan. A video of a woman's "terrifying" apartment viewings in Manhattan has gone viral on TikTok.iStock / Getty Images PlusThe woman's dismay over the rental market in Manhattan is unsurprising as New York ranked fourth among the top 10 states with the highest year-on-year rise in rent prices, according to an August report from Rent.com. New York saw a 13 percent rent rise from 2022.
The report found that the national median rent price was now at $2,038, just $15 less than the levels recorded in August 2022 when prices peaked at $2,053.
Average national rents shot up by 25 percent (more than $400) over the COVID pandemic and, after falling back slightly, they are now rising again, up nearly 5 percent since February 2023, according to the report.
"Should rents continue to rise at the average rate since February, the national price would surpass last August's record next month by nearly $5, setting another historical high," the report said.
The first apartment viewing in the latest viral clip was a one-bedroom apartment on the Lower East Side. A voice in the clip said "I knew it was gonna be gross" but the woman decided to see it because the listing was labeled as "no fee" online.
However, when she arrived at the viewing, she was allegedly told there was "a $4,000 broker fee." The camera pans across a two-room empty apartment with wood-like flooring.
"For a one-bedroom, it's really well-priced but it's literally a studio and they put up a fake wall, I can tell," the voice said in the clip. There was also no laundry machine included and it was located in "a more dangerous area to live by yourself as a girl."
The next viewing was a small studio in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. "This is literally a hallway but honestly in the best location ever," the voice said. The footage shows what appears to be an empty narrow room with a window at the end of it and a kitchen stove and sink built onto a side wall.
The voice continued: "I've also been trying to negotiate and every time I've done it, it worked. This apartment gave me $50 off a month and the next apartment I'm gonna show you gave me $1,000 off the broker fee. Sadly, this [the second listing] was taken off the market the moment I left the apartment..."
The third apartment viewed was "actually beautiful" and she put in an application for it, but the problem was that it's "a 9-month lease and they're still making you pay a broker's fee..."
However, "it's also in Chelsea and it's so beautiful. This is the biggest studio I think I've ever seen," the voice says. The footage shows an empty room with two large windows and white flooring.
"I also don't have the biggest budget, I don't want to spend more than $2300," the voice notes. The footage shows a shower cubicle at the other end of the room and "it's a really good steal for that."
"This shower is in the kitchen, but other than that, great," the voice says as the clip ends.
'Looks Like Prison'
The latest viral post has sparked debate among users on TikTok, with several saying the apartments looked like "jail cells."
John Allen wrote "All three [apartments] are awful..." and user yes its me said "omg [oh my god] this is so scary im not kidding."
Fly Gal Ki Ki said "New York is a mess" and EvieC wrote "I can only imagine the roach situation."
User sarah said "these are jail cells" and tort said "I'm sorry but this looks like prison."
User notmyrealname noted "the bars on the windows" and user555389 said "how is it legal to rent out literal prison cells."
Nah asked: "Is NY really worth this? They all make a jail cell look better."
Kay wrote: "idk [I don't know] why ppl [people] think anything in NY is worth living in THIS."
Stephy C. said: "The fact that she's calling that last one beautiful, I'm confused. Do ppl want to live in NY this bad??"
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
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