No matter where you look in New York City, there’s always something to feast your eyes on. Postcard-perfect street corners, sparkling skylines, a sea of the world’s best-dressed people. Yet the most fascinating sight, in my opinion, is the tease of a beautiful home from a parlor window. All across the city, townhouses and brownstones parade glowing Noguchis and de Gournay-wallpapered mudrooms. Sidewalk dawdlers like myself can’t help but sneak a glimpse into these secret, fabulously furnished worlds.
Before you call me a creep, let it be known that “looking in” is a growing phenomenon — one that’s supported by onlookers and homeowners alike. Americans who earn more than $150,000 are almost twice as likely to leave windows uncovered compared to those making $20K to $29K, as noted by The Atlantic. Beautiful homes are status symbols, and New York City is flush with them, given that a person needs to earn over $200,000 annually to own property.
“It’s class voyeurism,” anthropologist and NYU assistant professor Gabriel Dattatreyan tells InsideHook. “The domestic spaces we want to see tend to be that of the wealthy.”