Internet Grossed Out by View From Woman's 'Cheap' NYC Apartment

A woman took to TikTok to show off the "view" from her "cheap" New York City apartment, which has disgusted thousands of commenters.

The video was posted to the video-sharing app on Sunday by Carol (@notfromdenmark) and has amassed over 3 million views and more than 4,000 comments, many from viewers who couldn't believe Carol was paying to live in such a "nasty" place. You can watch the full video here.

New York City Rent

According to rental platform Zumper, New York City rents remain as high as ever. The average rent for a studio apartment in the city currently sits at $3,400, and the average rent for one and two-bedroom apartments sit at $3,988 and $4,500, respectively.

Douglas Elliman's Hal Gavzie told the New York Post that a lack of inventory is partly to blame for the city's high rent prices.

"We are seeing the demand greatly outweigh the inventory," he said. "I think a lot of people were expecting renters that were able to rent during the peak of the pandemic and were able to kind of capitalize on those discounted rates...to move on" when it came time to renew their leases.

Instead, those renters "looked around and realized there was such little inventory and the cost to move and even find something else just didn't make sense, and they decided to stay put and accept the increase whatever it may be," Gavzie said.

With such little inventory available, many New Yorkers are grabbing whatever they can find. Carol, for example, has snagged a first-floor studio apartment with a rather unsightly view.

Carol's Apartment

She posted her video as a stitched response to a viral TikTok, recorded by a New Yorker who asked: "What's the worst thing you experienced in a New York City apartment that you put up with because it was cheap [to] rent?"

Carol panned her camera to show TikTokers the view from her apartment window—an alleyway filled with assorted trash.

In a follow-up video, Carol said she originally got the apartment at a special "COVID" rate of roughly $1,500 per month. Now, she said she pays over $1,900 per month.

"It's not a bad apartment. I like this apartment," Carol said. "But I don't really like the view."

Viewers React

Many commenters were grossed out by how close the apartment was to the garbage-filled alleyway, saying they couldn't be paid to live there.

"I wouldn't be able to stand the smell or potential roaches and rodents," here comes the sun said.

"I would actually pay to not live there," Evie wrote. "The smell alone would make me angry."

"[You] couldn't pay me to live there," Parmigiano commented.

"Oh [that's] nasty," TweetB added.

Newsweek reached out to Carol for comment.

More Viral Moments

In June, a New Yorker posted a video tour of a Manhattan apartment that left viewers horrified. That same month, a video showing the large crowds of people waiting to view vacant New York City apartments went viral with over 800,000 views.

And last summer, viewers were left confused after watching a viral video tour of a Washington Heights apartment with an "incomprehensible" layout.