Sale at 156 East 97th Street #17 (Legal??)

It was legal when built. Renovating a unit can trigger some kinds of code compliance, but not size.

That's not the only tiny unit in that building. The others all seem to be less than 350 square feet.

"It's a small world after all..."

I like it - if you want a reasonably priced apt and don't need much space, this is a good one.

Since when are the micro-units controversial? I think most people believe there is an affordable housing shortage in NYC. Well-designed, smaller units will be very well received by a whole host of people.

Pawn_Harvester, I'm with you; I think it's great. NYC has almost no good housing for young single people, who don't need 400 SF and would flock to apartments like this one. Instead they're stuck living with roommates, with all the noise and potential drama that that entails.

Imagine a young guy in banking or finance who isn't quite rich enough -- HDFC eligible still -- to buy a really good apartment but still wants his own place. He buys this while still in his 20s, lives in it until he gets married, and then rents it out for income when he and his wife move to something bigger.

They don't say anything about subletting, it's a little far to the financial district, and the trudge up to the 5th floor could get annoying, but otherwise it looks just fine. Sometimes I think these minimum-space laws were put in place just to keep non-rich people from having apartments. Nobody's looking for ten-to-a-closet tenements, but 200-300 SF is just fine.

Biggest pet peeve is people who think that the micro apartment idea is a new one...every 1900 tenement unit is less than 400 sq. feet. The only difference with the new ones is that modern amenities such as heat, hot water, bathrooms, are all required and not "fit" into the existing units like the 1900 tenements which were built prior to any of it. The newer built studios will just be layed out better.

My dwarfish friends resent that