Posted on 01/01/2011 12:26:32 PM PST by Sub-Driver
Manhattan Status Symbols: Washers and Dryers By C. J. HUGHES
THE final noisemaker has squealed and the last dinner guest has straggled home, so the holiday extravaganza that is Christmas and New Year’s — spread out over two long weekends and punctuated by a blizzard — is over.
Now it’s time for the cleanup, and that can mean dealing with more than the usual number of napkins splashed with red wine. For most people in the city, getting the laundry done will mean lugging it to a wash-and-fold service or taking it to the machines in the basement with a stack of quarters in hand.
But a growing number of New Yorkers can give the holiday linens a hot bath at home in their own washers and dryers. This staple of the suburbs remains uncommon in the city — apartments that have washers and dryers make up only about 20 percent of the sales and rental listings in Manhattan, according to StreetEasy, the real estate Web site. But demand is increasing, Condominium developers are making these appliances part of the standard package, and older buildings — even prewars — are relaxing longtime bans to keep residents happy and to avoid scaring off buyers.
But newer buildings have the edge. A search of StreetEasy’s listings in late December showed that 593 Manhattan co-ops for sale offered washers, versus 1,849 condos.
A washer can be worth far more than its weight in lost socks.
Jonathan J. Miller, the president of Miller Samuel, the appraisal company, said that “while there is no known empirical data to reliably measure this amenity,” a washing machine can add as much as 5 percent to an apartment’s price tag.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
WOW.
My laundry room itself is bigger than that. I could actually turn it into another room should times get rough and put the washer and dryer in the garage.
That room pictured is decorated and organized nice.
Things get a little strange out here. I think it’s the plants.
Seriously, the rabbits and deer gather together a lot, mostly in our yard because we’re the only one in the area without a dog. We’re also surrounded by state land so wildlife is pretty commonplace. The wild turkeys, however, can be lethal — they like to fly across roads at low altitudes!
While stationed in Germany, I lived on the economy in an apartment. The military provided appliances and certain furnishings. I had a small electic stove, a full size refridgerator (smaller than a standard American appliance) and a stacked washer and drier set.
The only possible issue would be adequate water hookups and drainage. The use of a drier may require an electrical upgrade. That shouldn't be too much trouble, since most major cities sound so gung-ho over setting up charging stations for electic cars.
I wouldn't be surprised. A few years ago, on the Jersey side, I designed two buildings full of $3 million condos with no disposals. The city would not allow them.
And people still clamor to live in that liberal cesspool. Incredible!
Unbelievable, I have never known anyone that didn’t have a washer and by the early50s no one that didn’t have a washer and dryer!
Hoses can burst, for a myriad of reasons....I never shut off that valve and my husband has hissy fits about it on random occasions, he usually forgets more that I forget consistently.....:)
"Back in the day," during the 70s, my sister had a "semi-mobile" dishwasher. You rolled it next to the sink, plugged it in and attached a hose to a special adapter on the kitchen faucet. The same hose had a water inlet and drainage line.
Personally, I prefer my appliances plumbed into the water lines.
We really don’t leave home for more than a day or two anymore so no longer shut off the hoses or the water heaters. But if we did, I would be faced with the dilemma of whether to do it or not.
I have had a hose burst to an under counter water heater and it wasn’t pretty. OTOH, it did about as much damage as it was going to do in the first ten minutes so a longer flow would not have made that much difference (except to the water bill!). This could have happened during a trip to the grocery store. In other types of house construction, an unimpeded leak over days on an upper floor could conceivably “total” the house from an insurance adjuster’s point of view, especially if either mold grew or additional freezing damage occurred.
Getting back to the dilemma, the problem with shutting off and turning on those old valves and hoses it that you are possibly disturbing an old system that ain’t broke. And that carries risks of its own. It is probably best to replace valves and hoses at least every five years but who does that?
My upstairs neighbor had one of those. Every time she used it I got suds backed up into my bathtub. Pleasant! That was from 1974-78.
While stationed in Germany, in my early 30s, a lot of locals were amazed that I would take care of my own laundry.
Many "men" my age still lived at home, even though they were pulling in more pay then their parents. Those that lived on their own still brought their laundry home to "Muttie." They usually went to Mom for dinner every evening, as well.
I had some German friends over for dinner. I grilled up some steaks, smothered with (fresh) garlic, onions and mushrooms sauteed in butter. I prepared a lot of sides including salad, steamed broccoli in cheese sauce and home-style french fried taters. Everything was prepared from scratch. They said they would have thought I had bought it already prepared if they hadn't seen me cook it.
“will be just like Denver or Dallas”
The New York barbarians should get down on their knees and pray to God that he would make them like Dallas or Denver.
Once through any museum is enough and by now all New Yorkers should have been through all the museums there at least once.
Washing your own socks and shorts and putting them through an extra time so they're warm and dry makes life worth living though. You'll want that at home where you know they haven't been putting the designer dog through the dryer.
Back when I was stationed in Cheyenne, Wyoming, there was a television commercial for a local facility with a bar, laundromat, dance club and bowling ally all under one roof. I don't remember the name of the place.
Compared to my 80s and 90s era military dorm rooms, that looked like paradise!
It never ceases to amaze me what an actual sh!thole NY city is.
Yet the arrogant NYers think that it’s the center of the world!
LOL!
I LOVE it!
Thank God that there is a NY city so those people don’t come clutter up OUR country side and cities.
Nice RATS NYers! Do RATS get bedbugs?
LOL!
I live in Dallas, and save for the taxes, I’d trade everything here for NYC any day of the week. It’s nothing political. It’s solely about the way of life. I love that city.
Just a guess, but duds and suds? Big in Colorado, a neighboring state.
TV? No thank you! I'd rather take a long, brisk walk. Of course, in my location we are more concerned with four legged predators rather than the two legged bottom feeders in Manhatten.
As far as "fine dining," Mrs Bear and I enjoy cooking for each other.
Uh, how does one LIVE there?
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