Published Jan. 27, 2022 | Updated Feb. 3, 2022 | Sourced from NYT by Stephen Ruddy

It's the height of a pandemic and you're looking for an apartment for the first time in 17 years.

Some things never change, like finding a place in Lower Manhattan is hard if you're not incredibly wealthy.

Stephen Ruddy has just seen a 150-square-foot studio on West Fourth Street for $2,000 a month, and he's told that he can save space by hanging his winter coat in the building's stairwell "It'd probably be safe there," the agent reassures him and then takes Stephen to a "duplex" around the corner, a ground floor cell with a menacingly steep spiral staircase that empties into a windowless basement. "$2,300," he says. "Better snap it up, it won't last."

Stephen loves his sunny Greenwich Village apartment, but Covid has gotten in the way. His theater and teaching work had dried up and the lease is expiring. The landlord is raising the rent while prices plummet throughout the city. The thought of moving during a pandemic is daunting, and the likelihood of his friends helping him move furniture down four flights of stairs is low.

In late 2020, he saw an amazing apartment on Carmine Street. The apartment was raw, the designer loved stucco and the hardwood floors are painted in Brutalist gray. It is huge, a genuine two-bedroom with soaring ceilings, lots of light, and unobstructed views of Greenwich Village, all for $1995 a month. Now that he works from home, he was ready to make an offer.
The agent had described every closet space and towards the end of the tour, he pulls him aside.

“
Did you notice anything about the bathroom?
”

Intrigued by his sense of mystery, Stephen wondered, was there a bidet he missed? A jacuzzi tub?

“
No toilet.

👀
”

The agent told him and gazed into his eyes as if to say, "A less scrupulous agent wouldn't disclose this, but I am leveling with you because that's the kind of agent I am." He said. Stephen peeks into the bathroom and notices the ample tub and sink. Though one doesn't usually notice the lack of things until one needs them.

"No, um, toilet?" are all the words that Stephen managed to get out of his mouth.
"A lot of people actually prefer it this way", he says. "It's cleaner"

Stephen found it hard to believe that there are people who prefer NOT to have a toilet in their apartment. As it's the only bathroom in the apartment. The toilet isn't broken either. It just simply isn't there. It never has been. The listing mentions that the apartment is listed near an Equinox and a Starbucks — but has failed to mention this at all.

The agent leads him to a single toilet stall in the hallway and tells him that it's shared by the apartments on the floor. No sink, just a toilet.
This was an old building, a communal bathroom was common at the time.
This was a deal-breaker, of course, but was it? The apartment had enormous arched windows, located in the Heart of Greenwich Village. Under $2000.

When he got home, he called his friends for advice. Some supported the communal endeavors and others weren't so sure about it. "You don't want to be known as the no-toilet-in-his-apartment guy."
Other questions also prompted the move such as: Who cleans the bathroom? How many people live on the floor? Are you sharing with any other people? If the bathroom is occupied, where do you go? Why has this building left out a bathroom?
Stephen was tempted to rent the apartment anyways. The communal pool in his childhood neighborhood in Texas made friends of all neighbors — he wonders if this will have a similar effect? Surely, he could get by. He was also an artist and he thought this may be a way to keep him humble.

This was no small thing, the apartment was twice as large as anything he's seen in his price range, it was bright and airy — a canvas upon which to make a great home.
In the end, he decided to go against it. Two weeks went by and he saw 10 more depressing apartments, all smaller with lower ceilings and fewer windows. He checked online and the apartment was down to $1850 a month. He thought about it some more and decided to check again in 2 days. Too late, it was already in contract.

He realized that most Lower Manhattan places within his price range had a flaw.