NY Times referring to NYC apartments as "flats"?

Were they both on historical topics, as in the case of the Spanish Flats article in tomorrow's RE section?

Otherwise, it's just wrong. And the UK has an equally sleazy RE industry, so they've been getting a lot of "apartments", which is apparently a pretentious term that's supposed to convey luxury and up-to-dateliness.

@alanhart
From page 9:
"A flat on East 74th was smaller than the old one, but just as pricey."
Another from page 8:
"Jordan Cooper is a founder of JumpPost, a new Web site that gives subscribers a heads-up about flats that will soon be available."
Another from page 4:
"Roberto Garcia, a hospital administrator, rents a flat in a town house on a block acclaimed for its architecture."

Things do change. Back in the 1910s-1950s, the NYT called an apartment of any size a "suite". That was when they reported who -- by name -- had rented where.

@NWT Wow interesting!

I would be willing to guess that they reported rentals on a highly selective basis, being the Times and all. Someone I doubt very much they noted the change in "suite" when my grandparents moved from Cherry to Orchard Street in 1921.

History aside, and yes the vernacular does change over time, the use of the term "flat" by the NYT in the context of New York apartments is ridiculously pretentious (although "pretentious" and "The New York Times" truly are redundant). Now if I were the Times new competition for local New York upscale readers and advertisers, I'd tweak the hell out them them about that (in a dignified way of course). Except that...oops the competition is owned by Brits who don't see the mistake.

I've always liked "suite of rooms". "Liz Yank rented a suite of rooms on Rotten Row" sounds much more elegant thatn "Liz Yank lives in rented rooms in Potter's Field Lane".

At least Foxton's retreated from the NY market. They apparently had the descriptions for Manhattan rooms written by their UK writers, so everything had a "south-facing aspect" and was "portered" and "purpose-built" and "period". Ugh. Fortunately, they stopped short of "fitted kitchen".

I thought it was very strange, too. My guess is a British copy editor, but it's kinda pretentious.

If that's the case, the British copy editor needs to be informed that the copy is *WRONG*, period.

"Flats" for apartments in the NYT is just as wrong as "brolleys" for umbrellas. It sounds pretentious and absurd.

Wasn't the term "efficiency" used instead of "studio" back in the day? It seems that every other city uses "efficiency" today except for NYC. I guess the term "studio" gives a connotation of luxury to what is pretty much a run-down single room box.

I have seen the term "flat" used in the States, but perhaps not so much in NYC. I have always assumed "apartments" had communal hall space, whereas "flats" opened directly to the outside, e.g., a basement apartment. But then again, in the UK, a "flat" is pretty much anything that isn't a house, e.g., "council flat."

well considering the fact that where I work, there are now 1000x as many brits walking around, I would say that the recolonization of america is back on track!

gcondo, are you in pictures? I know they invaded that industry long ago.

To my mind, "flat" in New York was only used to indicate severe substandard apartments. Below "tenement" (which used to be used for any apartment, even luxury doorman highrises), below "slum": the "cold-water flat."