We asked seven New York City-dwellers what they think their apartments are missing, and what they would change if they could. More open space and more space period were on the list ... of course.
Time changes things and when I bought my two-bedroom apartment I was fine with the smaller spaces, now I want big and open and modern. I would tear down walls in my apartment and make everything open and modern and bright. -- Roberta, Upper East Side
In my off-Broadway one-woman show (The Judy Show) I told the audience all about what I want to change about my apartment: I want another bathroom! I have two sons and one bathroom—not a good combination. Plus, I'm 6'3” and I don't fit in my bathtub and even if I did, I couldn't relax in it. -- Judy Gold, Upper West Side
I want a new neighbor downstairs. I have one now who complains non-stop when my kids run around the way normal kids do. -- Miriam, Harlem
I would like proper windows in my bedroom. Every winter I have to cover my bedroom windows floor-to-ceiling with heavy plastic (which billow like sails from the wind blowing in the cracks). If I don't do that, the temperature drops too low to use the room at all—lowest recorded temperature in my room was 48 degrees. I have to sleep with lots of covers and sometimes even a hat. -- Barbara, Upper West Side
I want those great windows that open up and tilt so that I can finally wash my windows! -- Sharon, Upper West Side
I wish my apartment were bigger. When I was first looking at it, I told that to the landlord. His response was priceless: ”When it's painted it will be bigger.” He was wrong. -- Patti, Chelsea
I want higher ceilings. I love ceiling fans and would like to have some in my apartment without having to worry about decapitating friends and relatives who visit. -- Elysa, Upper East Side
Marjorie Cohen is a New York City-based freelance journalist, editor and author of over seven non-fiction books. Her real estate reporting has appeared in amNewYork, Investopedia, and The West Side Rag. Since moving to New York five decades ago for graduate school at the Teachers College of Columbia University, Marjorie has lived on the Upper West Side, with a brief detour to West 15th Street when she got six months free rent in a new building.
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