142 West 109th Street.
When Barack Obama became president, brokers used his celebrity to advertise an apartment he once lived in on 109th Street. He was attending Columbia at the time, and he wrote about his time there in his memoir Dreams from My Father.
Now they’re even using his name to try to rent other apartments in the same building.
A two-bedroom apartment at 142 West 109th Street is on the market for $2,400 a month. The broker advertises that you can “Live in Obama’s Old Apartment Building!!” Obama paid $360 when he lived there in the 80’s.
The broker says that it’s a “very large” two-bedroom where “both rooms can Fit Queen Size beds.” They’re also excited about the transportation options: “2 Blocks away from all Major transportation ~~ 1, 2, 3, C, Cross Town Buses!!!”
Have the words “crosstown buses” ever had three exclamations after them before?
Read our 2012 story about attempts to rent Obama’s apartment.
Starting in 1979, I lived in an apartment across the hall from an apartment shared by Robert Duvall and Dustin Hoffman in the 1960s. The building later went co-op; I should have used that pitch when I sold my place.
My neighbor used to be Bela Faloney
Trust me, from someone who lives here and knows. Horrible landlord. Terrible building “staff.” Do your research first. That list of NYC’s 100 worst landlords means something. In the earlier article, it mentioned how Obama talked about how he always froze in the winter because the heating was bad. Any guesses as to whether or not that has changed in 30 years? I’ll make it easy for you… It hasn’t. And that’s just the beginning.
What an incredible conversation starter
$2400 now versus $360 in 1985 is a yearly increase of approx 6%. Normal for any real estate price increase over a long period of time.