The door opens onto what can only be described as a sliver of a room, and the reaction is immediate. Standing just inside the threshold of one of New York City’s smallest studio apartments, a man’s face does most of the talking before he even gets a word out, a mix of disbelief and dark amusement at what’s technically being marketed as a place to live. He steps carefully through the space, as if measuring it with his own body, because there’s barely enough room to do anything else.
Throughout the walkthrough, he keeps up a steady stream of skeptical commentary, pointing out just how little floor space separates one wall from the other, questioning where a bed would even go, and wondering aloud who exactly this apartment was designed for. It’s less a real estate tour and more a slow-motion reaction video, the kind where the apartment itself becomes almost a supporting character in his growing disbelief. By the time he reaches what passes for a kitchen area, his tone has shifted from surprised to nearly incredulous, especially once the price tag being asked for the space enters the conversation.
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A post shared by Vincent Hunter Jr. (@vince_nyla418)
Videos like this one tap into a very specific and very widespread frustration, the sense that housing costs in major cities have detached almost entirely from what’s reasonable given the size and quality of what’s being offered. As @vince_nyla418 demonstrates by simply walking through the door and letting his face do most of the reacting, sometimes the most effective commentary on an absurd housing market doesn’t need much narration at all, the space speaks for itself the moment the camera pans across it…