Nine square meters
No closet, no stove, just a bed: this is supposed to be the smallest apartment in New York
This mini apartment by Ron Ervin costs 850 euros per month
© Ron Ervin
Ron Ervin’s apartment is only nine square meters – making it the smallest apartment in New York. The TikToker is still satisfied with his accommodation.
Affordable housing is a rare commodity in New York City. Many people are drawn to the US metropolis, the space is getting tighter and the prices keep rising. That’s why many New Yorkers live very cramped – in veritable mini-apartments. For example Ron Ervin: The comedian gave his followers on TikTok a glimpse into his apartment.
And it’s really very compact. Ervin lives in just nine square meters in the New York borough of Harlem. The living room is so clear that Ervin can capture the entire apartment in his video by turning around his own axis with his mobile phone in his hand. Ervin sleeps, cooks, eats and lives there. However, he doesn’t live cheaply: he pays $950 a month in rent. That’s the equivalent of about 850 euros.
Smallest apartment in New York: 850 euros for nine square meters
With his post on TikTok, Ervin responded to a video by user Axel Webber, who claimed to live in the smallest apartment in New York City. Ervin disagrees: At nine square meters, his apartment is just as “big”, but in fact he has less space. A real closet – like in Webber’s apartment – doesn’t fit in with him, for example. And while Webber sleeps on a queen-size mattress (60 by 80 inches), Ervin says, “If I put a queen-size mattress in here, it would crush me.”
Ervin uses the meager space in his home as effectively as possible: he deposits his clothes on a clothes rail, with his bed connected directly to it. Ervin cannot accommodate a stove in his apartment, he only has a small hotplate that he bought for ten dollars to prepare meals. Ervin has to do without his own toilet completely, he shares a toilet with the other residents of the house.
Ron Ervin’s “Kitchen”
© Ron Ervin
Ervin is happy with the apartment
In February last year, Ervin moved to New York from Cincinnati, having found accommodation through the US advertising site Craigslist. He can’t really receive friends there: “When I have guests, we usually sit in the backyard,” the comedian told the New York Post. “We come in for a minute to look at my tiny apartment, say ‘Oh that’s funny’ and then we go out again.”
Despite the very cramped conditions, Ron Ervin is quite happy with his living situation. He sees it pragmatically: He has less to clean. “Honestly, that suits me,” he says. “Here I have a place to sleep, cook and be on the computer.”
Sources: Ron Ervin on TikTok / Axel Webber on TikTok / “New York Post”