When Kelly O’Connell arrived in New York after college in 2007, she landed in Astoria, Queens, and quickly found everything she needed — friends, food and shopping. “You don’t need to go into Manhattan on your day off to do anything,” she said. “Astoria is like its own little city insulated from the city.”
Shortly before the pandemic, Ms. O’Connell was working at a theatrical rigging company when she interviewed Steven Ferrier, newly arrived from Chicago, for a job. He declined, but the two started dating and Mr. Ferrier eventually joined Ms. O’Connell in Astoria, where they rented an apartment for $2,100 a month.
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The couple spent the pandemic in the closet-free railroad unit. The long, narrow layout felt increasingly claustrophobic, and as Covid receded, they worried that their landlord would raise the rent.
The couple got married last year and resolved to buy a home, looking first in Astoria and nearby Long Island City, with a budget of up to $650,000. They were surprised to find that places for sale seemed no better than places for rent. They found mostly small walkups in older co-op buildings far from public transportation.
They asked themselves what was really important and settled on just two things: a good work commute and a dishwasher. Everything else was negotiable.
“We wouldn’t cook much because we both hate washing dishes,” Ms. O’Connell said.
Frustrated with Astoria’s offerings, Mr. Ferrier suggested they consider Midtown Manhattan, where they could both walk to their jobs.
Ms. O’Connell, 39, now works as the general manager of The Ride, a tour bus company in Times Square. Mr. Ferrier, 40, is a member of the Broadway stagehand union, IATSE Local One, and works primarily in the theater district. His hours are long and irregular, and he often lugs a heavy tool case.
“It would be an hour and 15 minutes to take a train home,” he said. The two barely saw each other.
The co-ops they found in Midtown (they avoided the most crowded areas, like Times Square and Hell’s Kitchen) were bigger and nicer than the ones they’d seen in Queens, with better amenities and lower purchase prices, but higher monthly maintenance costs.
“Suddenly the choices seemed endless instead of one halfway decent apartment a grandmother had died in,” Ms. O’Connell said. “It was bonkers.”
The two were referred to Yan Gladkov, a licensed salesperson at Keller Williams NYC. “We kept the radius of their search super tight,” Mr. Gladkov said. They aimed for the West 50s, and nicknamed every place they looked at.
Often, places didn’t live up to the listings, with professional photos that turned dark into light, small into large, narrow into wide. Mr. Ferrier was scrupulous about checking fixtures, testing every faucet, knob and light. “He has never met a detail he can’t obsess over,” Ms.O’Connell said. “He always has his multi-tool on him.”
At one point, he encountered a kitchen drawer that didn’t open properly. “It had come off its slider and a retaining ring had popped out,” Mr. Ferrier said. So he fixed it.
Ms. O’Connell was more hands-off. “It would never occur to me to flush a toilet in a stranger’s home,” she said. “I was hesitant to open a closet because it felt so invasive.”
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