One man’s tiny New York City apartment tour has left TikTokers reeling. In the week since it was posted, the video has been viewed an astonishing 22 million times, generating 5 million likes and nearly 32,000 comments in the process.
New York is a notoriously expensive city, and its rent prices are no exception. According to rental platform Zumper, the median monthly cost for a one-bedroom, New York City apartment in December 2021 is $3,233. Studio apartments, meanwhile, have a median price of $2,783.
In his wildly-popular video, TikToker Axel Webber (@ajwebber) announces: “Here’s what it’s like living in the smallest apartment in New York.”
“Whatever your expectations are, lower them,” he warned.
“As soon as you walk in the door, we have the sink,” said Webber. Indeed, the camera pans from the apartment’s front door to a sink, seemingly meant for a bathroom, directly beside it. Above the sink sits a medicine cabinet and mirror.
“Right next to the sink is, conveniently-located, the kitchen,” he continued. The setup includes merely two shelves, a microwave, and what looks to be a mini-fridge, all stacked atop each other.
“One bowl. One plate,” he said, pointing to his kitchenware.
He then takes viewers across the room, to his “living quarters,” which featured a bunk bed and a lava lamp. “I have two beds, but only one me,” said Webber. “Some nights I’m a queen guy, other nights I chill on the twin,” he added, referring to his two mattresses.
He briefly cuts to the apartment’s closet before telling the audience: “That’s the whole place.”
Viewers were left stunned by the TikToker’s bare-bones living situation—and many were concerned by the apartment’s apparent lack of a bathroom.
“This is half a dorm room,” wrote @k.monty_. “Are you ok?”
“Whatever you’re paying is too much,” said @artistkatiesmall.
Added @bulbousballs: “I lowered my expectations and still, they were too high.”
“If I came home after a long day and my one dish was dirty I would lose my mind,” wrote @malekthetiktoker.
Many asked Webber to reveal how much he paid in rent—and while he hasn’t yet answered that question, he did post a follow-up video showing the communal bathroom he shares with his fellow tenants.
“There is no bathroom in the apartment,” he said. “It’s a community bathroom, outside the door down the hall.”
“There isn’t any soap…and you do have to bring your own toilet paper,” he added.
Newsweek reached out to Axel Webber for comment.
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