possibility to divide 2BR condo for income?

why not just get a roommate?

or buy a studio?

no roommate because of privacy, also rent could be higher for a studio,
and it would be easy extra money forever...
also a 2 BR would cost less than 2 1BR?

Lots of work and red tape involved in doing this. I wouldn't bother.

I have a feeling the condo board would have a field day with that proposal and you'd probably will end up in a mental institution after you'd stress out from all the red tape and crap from the management company that handles the condo. Keep in mind NYC in a very retentive and restrictive when it comes to hair brain ideas such as the one your proposing.

thanks for the heads up, #6. I don't live in NYC yet, so I wouldnt know.
(I like your sense of humor:-)

Means of egress in case of a fire would be a key factor. It's very unlikely you could reconfigure to meet fire code.

And NYC boards are very retentive and restrictive when it comes to much less hare-brained ideas, like moving a sink 5 or six feet (within the kitchen's footprint), for example. Arrrrgggh!

..amazing..that's what happened to you? Is it really necessary to notify them about a minor change like that?
I actually thought of moving the whole kitchen at one condo in case I would buy. didn't like the layout so much and wanted to gain more space.
I guess I should forget about plans like that as well..

#8 here.

Boards -- advised by their attorneys -- are primarily interested in covering their asses, and fear change. Attorneys are rarely engineers, and also fear change.

Added to that the many ways that unlicensed, untrained, uneducated handymen can muck things up (drain needs to slope at a certain rate, and a venting stack needs to be added in a certain way, or blockages occur). So in all fairness it's not really minor.

It becomes a "what if" / "why bother saying yes" thing.

But I'm still fuming. In my case, I opened up the kitchen to face a phenomenal Hudson River view through big glass sliders opening to a terrace, and now I'll have to have my back to that view when I'm near the sink (which, if you cook, you know is where you spend most of your time when in the kitchen). It also forces me to have the fridge on the "open" side, because of the configuration of the building's mechanicals.

Some boards are better than others, and have architects/engineers on them, or at least are educated on the right and wrong ways to do things, so feel the issue out with the building.

But I'd say forget about splitting the 2BR.

I get your point and will drop the idea.
sorry for what happened to you. (had a similar situation in my apartment in Europe, decided to "mirror" the view - better than facing a wall) But congrats on your apartment - sounds very beautiful.

You might find a 2BR/2ba with split bedrooms -- one BR/ba pair right near the apartment entrance -- and rent it w/o use of the living room, or even without "kitchen privileges". You wouldn't have full privacy, but you wouldn't be in each others' faces either. And lots of busy young people in Manhattan don't eat or even shower at home (gym), don't use a landline phone, don't expect to socialize in their apartments.

It's still cheaper to buy 2 studios than a 2BR to convert to 2 studios.
Even using the Millersamuel numbers which are affected by very high $ sales, ave price of studio condos in Manhattan are in the mid 500's while 2BR condos are 1.7 something.
That's a big difference.

good points #12 and #13, thanks.