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Strapped For Cash In NYC? You Can Now Sleep In A Taxi For $39 A Night
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
Who says there’s no affordable housing in NYC or San Francisco?
A couple of weeks ago, I published an article titled, The Rent is Too Damn High – San Fran Residents Pay $1,000 a Month to Live in Shipping Containers. Here’s an excerpt:
Luke Iseman has figured out how to afford the San Francisco Bay area. He lives in a shipping container.
The Wharton School graduate’s 160-square-foot box has a camp stove and a shower made of old boat hulls.
Iseman collects $1,000 a month for each of the 11 structures parked in the 17,000-square-foot warehouse he rents for $9,100. Tenants include a Facebook Inc. engineer, a SolarCity Corp. programmer and a bicycle messenger.
Now we have New York City’s answer. From International Business Times:
The words ‘New York City’ and ‘budget’ tend not to go hand in hand. But a new venture offers budget travelers million-dollar views of Manhattan for about $39 (£27). Adventurous travellers can sleep overnight in a taxi, van or camper parked on the street in New York City.
Entrepreneur Jonathan Powley started offering the rentals in April on the Airbnb website. He said the idea came to him after his van broke down on the side of the road. Powley said he now rents what he calls “rolling rooms” inside three vans, two campers and one taxi. While the prices vary, Powley said the lowest price for a night is $22.
Each of the vehicles has been converted to accommodate a large bed, a fan and not much else. All the vehicles are parked in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, just across the East River from Manhattan.
The vehicles might be big on charm, but they are short on amenities. There is no bathroom.
“That’s the number one question, ‘Where do I go to the bathroom?’,” said Powley. “I’ve made a list of all the local restaurants in the area that allow my guests at least to use the bathroom.”
Powley added that after the restaurants close, a few late night bars also allow his guests to use their bathrooms. For some, it is a little bit of cozy comfort in the concrete jungle. Philip, a tourist from Germany, said the $39 a night van rental was right on budget for him and his friend.
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Ewww.
New York Taxi...? I can only imagine the smell, or some of the activities that have taken place in the back seats. Phew!
Don't knock it until you try it. Most taxi drivers enjoy the free show...
I once went in an internet cafe in Tokyo and while i was firing away on the keyboard, I heard snoring from an adjacent area. People were sleeping on leather recliners in separate cubicles for $3 per hour or so and $4 showers. That was fifteen years ago and was shocking.
Japan's infamous "net cafe refugees", or "cyber homeless". The faces of a lost generation.
This "stay-in-a-taxi" trend of New York seems the beginning stage of something similar.
"...in a van down by the river!"
RIP Chris Farley
Just pee in the river. Everyone else does.
and you can shit on everyone who lives there, just like the mayor
Any fly fisherman worth his salt knows you have to "match the hatch". Your selected fly needs to mimic whatever insects are currenty hatching out at the moment.
When fly fishing on the Hudson its best to run a hook through a Baby Ruth, cast upstream let it float down and wiggle it enticingly. The fish will recognize it a part of the natural fauna and BAm the fight is on.
Locals fisherman have found Trolling with a used condom can also be productive.
When fly fishing on the Hudson its best to run a hook through a Baby Ruth, cast upstream let it float down and wiggle it enticingly. The fish will recognize it a part of the natural fauna and BAm the fight is on.
+100 on that one.
Thanks for at least starting the morning with a good chortle. Might as well!
Nice analogy, I just got home from a week on the San Juan River, NM near Durango, CO. You should have seen the Animas river from the plane, a bright fluorescent orange EPA fuckup visible for miles...
'2015' - Ya, we are really advanced and sophisticated.
.
Real cool.
seriously, why would anyone voluntarily remain in new york city? seriously
It's glamorized in the media. Insecure people feel like they are the cool kids by living there. Same reason people spend $200 on a pair of shoes, $50,000+ on a car, or work and scrape to climb the income ladder. Desperately needing reassurance in the form of material goods, high income, anything you can brag about on facebook, really.
Relax - there is no inflation in the land of the free.
The Fed says inflation was 0.8% in 2014. Chapwood Index says it was 9.7%.
If Chapwood Index is correct, real US GDP growth in 2014 was 8.9% lower than official estimates.
Chapwood Index inflation for New York was 12.4% in 2014
http://www.chapwoodindex.com/
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-29/inaccurate-statistics-and-threa...
Guess the term " van down by the river " is true.../sarc
"If This Van's a Rock'n, Don't Come A Knock'n" bumper sticker sales skyrocket.
People trying to make a business out of being homeless. I never thought that this would happen in my lifetime.
Next thing you know companies will be selling water in bottles.
Monetizing the human condition is not new. As I recall, there is an old established cult centered around that very thing.
You already have a water sold in bottles, so next thing I expect is a tax on air consumption.
Ever hear the term "sarcasm"? Whoosh.
Many make a damn good, income tax free, living by harassing vehicles at traffic lights, telling them that they want some of their earnings. Because they deserve other people's money.
+1 And this is exactly why centrally planned economies will never work in the long run...who could've imagined a business renting backseats to "trendy homeless"? Trendies in NYC are so vapid now they will throw money at literally ANYTHING.
Renting out office space at night as accommodation could be the next thing. All those good locations mostly unused at night -- many office buildings offer spectacular views as well.
With bathrooms. That's 5 star living.
we got a 40 something white lady living otta a suv- parks each night down the block..leaves during daylight hours..lotta beer cans and trash left everywhere..she needs help send me $5 and I will give it to her ..no really I will.
Meiser - That actually happened in the late nineties in NYC. Forgot company name but A homeless guy recruited others and eventually he bought trucks to load it all and bring it to the recycling center. Made a pretty penny.
A prior homeless young man I met at OWS was bringing back shoe shines on Wall St. Making a decent living now.
Yesterdays entrepenuar: Renting a room, using PC and Internet to make it happens. Todays entrepenuar: Use smart phone and sleep in cab to make it happen.
It's doesn't jive with my "Don't Sleep Where People Fart All Day" travel rule.
How desparate can you get? If this doesn't signal a real estate/rental "top" I don't know what does.
+1000
This is a powerful observation and comment.
[deleted]
Wait until NYC Mayor de Blasio gets rid of the painted ladies in Times Square. The overnight housing demand may disappear. The painted ladies are probably the ones renting the vans for their night jobs.
Like a restaurant or bar is just going to let you in to use the bathroom.....in NYC...right...you go out by the dumpster like all the other bums...
If you don't have to do a #2, pretty much anywhere in NYC is fair game to urinate one... Be considerate and find a dark corner of a building or behind objects like postal boxes.
If this was a civilized nation, we could actually have safe and clean public bathrooms...
Or you could be like Homey the Clown, and have a 'guest bathroom' - a second empty (for the moment) pickle jar.
Sounds so.....exotic.....yeah, that's the ticket.
FNY. This is the socialist Utopia, coming to a red state near you.
Good observation. Republican politicians are no better than their sock puppet counterparts in the other party, but this kind of self destructive behavior never originates in red areas of the country, it develops in the big left wing urban areas and migrates outwards to pollute the rest of the country.
the invisible hand .. just have to have faith.
This fellow looking to make some money comes up with this idea and saves others money and thus both interests are served. By actiing in his own self interest, society as a whole improves.
That's capitalism folks, the best system in the world.
Some lovely brownstones in brooklyn have a little alley behind them where every home has a storage shed/garage. People are living in those now.
LMAO, what a society we've created.
I live in a rural area, I will NEVER visit NYC.
If I need to piss outside, I just whip it out and go.
It's hard for me to imagine a lifestyle like that. Talk about being totally caught up in all the hoopla.
Living back in the woods is the greatest thing evah.
And where exactly would one get this $39 you speak of?
You get it from the bank, fool. That's where the money is.
Über sleepers coming to city near you cool
But if I have to take a dump I'll just leave it in the trunk..,
Uber mobile composting
Should add 1B valuation ad they are now Green
Does this mean there is truly a free market economy? Where are the regulators?
As I've written before, Mom owns a house she rents to my nephew.
Next door is a single family 2 story Brick house. Modest size. At the end of the driveway sit one each,a 20' and 40' shipping container. Between the containers and the house are blue tarps and carnival lighting. On the mailbox is taped a sheet of paper, covered with clear plastic. On that sheet are at least 25-30 Hispanic names.
So, here are my questions;
1) does this meet zoning?
2) has this house had the Required lead paint certificate?
3) are the authorities blind, stupid or what?
4) does this " homesite" generate proportional property tax to cover the impact of the residents?
5) can you imagine the " loading" on the plumbing?
6) how long would this go on if they where " white"?
7) how many kids going to school? The names are surely only adults.
8) this is good for our economy?
9) their impact is only positive?
10) why and how did this lawlessness get institutionalized?
This is Maryland, by they way. Anne Arundel county specifically. Well known to any builders and developers as on of the most strict and regulated counties in the state to build. Merciless! From annotated building codes, to piled on high fire regulations. I've seen class 2 ( non-combustible) construction with sprinklers and fire spray that owners still had trouble getting occupancy. These fuckers are off the chart with regulations.
But this type of living condition is ignored.
If you people only knew. I do my part to spread the word.
And,oh yeah....fuck you O'Malley. You pointy eared cunt.
We're living amongst two sets of rules my friend, one applied to the "priviliged", and another applied to the "downtrodden". Clearly, this woman is using her "privilige" to give a hand up to the "downtrodden", so the code nannies look the other way. You're dead on, though. If the families in those containers were from say West Virginia, she'd be in deep doo-doo by now.
I'm curious. How did you determine it was a " woman" who owned the brick house?
It is, by the way. But I did not write that. She's a ugly overweight sow, who inherited the house, and managed to attract an equally ugly, overweight Hispanic.
Edit; I'll bet they are making bank on this invisibly illeagal setup.
Because if it was a man owning that house your town would be all over his "white-privileged" ass, taking advantage of homeless illegals like that! Providing squalid conditions to the downtrodden for profit? How dare he!
No, that ugly overweight sow has no privilige whatsoever, right? Therefore they will leave her alone.
It was really just a simple inference from the picture you described. My mind's eye did the rest.
It's ok if they pay the rain tax.
Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Kramer is renting dresser drawers in his apartment for visiting Japanese businessman to sleep in...fucking hilarious. I just have to say, the more time I spend on this hellish red globe, the less death seems like any kind of real problem...
Sometimes it looks like the solution.
Are those taxis up to code?
The permit Nazis will have a feeding frenzy on this one.
Why not just leave the city and spend $20 a night on a campsite up in the mountains? Oh, that would take some planning, gear and some basic know-how of camping gear. You'd also have to find some means of making $50 per day to cover your expenses. Not too hard if you have an axe and a maul, or some other useful skills. And no healthcare, b'gosh!
ZH'ers junking on camping skills? You're trully phucked
I like what this guy is doing. I'd sleep in a van if I wanted to save some cash.
Third World America, here we are.
Agree totally - nothing says welcome to the third world than people sleeping in cars. At least I keep mine on blocks! Nice and level that way!
I can recall a time when we all laughed at Matt Foley for living "in a van, down by the river." Now it's what young go-getters are doing. And the UN is trying to get us to include insects in our diet. So basically you went to college to live in a car and eat bugs. But I know,I know, just like they don't want the marriage and kids they can't afford anyway, because of overpopulation and all that, this is just smart, sustainable green living. Yeah. Serenity now, serenity now...
https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/
16,000 members and growing every day
r/collapse
...for the rest of us.
Carab covered roaches for breakfast in NYC anyone?
Look on the bright side: When you wake up in the morning, you can fall out of bed onto the street and head right inside to your 'jawb' (If you have one, that is) as the driver drops you off.
Except for the little green crackers, we're seeing everything predicted in Soylent Green.
Long Soylent, tick symbol SYLT
Come on America. Just admit we're going to need to set aside some land for slums and shantytowns. If you don't like the European socialist model, fine, let's embrace the Asia/Latin America/Africa model.
Park all the cabs overnight in District 9
This business model is going to do wonders for the ripe smell one can detect in many cabs. . . Need a little eau d'homeless prior to your big '3rd date'? Slide your ass a little extra across the cab seat. Eh-ohh! Pay one rate, get a breeding pair of bedbugs, FOR FREE!
I travelled around for my first few years in an rv. Not my dream home but it worked well, shelter from the storm.
When the revenue cops make their attack, someone will come up with "keeping it rolling". Roll around all night, with customers sleeping, partying, whatever. Some enterpriser will figure out how to make a toilet dump near the storm drains, like railroad cars used to.
Wall street wants slaves, slaves will figure out where to eat, sleep and shit. The oligarchs want americans to compete with 3rd world countries, then the oligarchs are going to have to get used to the smell of feces, and people living in cars. It's a mathmatical principle, those that can't afford housing, won't.
I don`t undedrstand - for 40 USD you get a bed in a hostel, why opt for the van ?!? Someone ready to sleep in a van is usually creative enough to find better and cheaper options...
Poor labourers in Asia earn this much in a week