Here’s what it’s like living in a fifth-floor walkup unit in NYC

Real Estate

On Reddit, one hapless renter has sought solace from others regarding living in a fifth-floor walkup — the closest thing New York City will ever have to hiking up a mountain.

“How do you find the strength to leave your tower and experience the city?” the young man plaintively asks.

“Here I am, living in the greatest city on Earth, and yet I rarely go out partly because it means I need to get my heart racing and legs burning to come back up the stairs to my apartment.”

Three years in, he finds it never gets easier.

Hundreds of people chimed in to commiserate — or not.

For many, the struggle of living in such an apartment is real.

“This is my 8th year in a 5th floor walk up and I can assure you it never gets easier,” one person wrote in solidarity.

Another said: “Lived on the 5th floor for two years, never again. It never seems so bad when you’re touring but then it becomes an everyday battle.”

For one young woman, Rapunzel-style living was a relationship test. “When we started dating my now husband lived in a 5th floor walk up . . . The fact that I was willing to go there said a lot about our relationship’s potential.”


In Manhattan's East Village, and in other downtown districts, walkups can reach up to seven floors. This one, at 54 E. First St., stands six stories tall.
In Manhattan’s East Village, and in other downtown districts, walkups can reach up to seven floors. This one, at 54 E. First St., stands six stories tall.
OLGA GINZBURG FOR THE NY POST

Living high up in a walkup building can mean avoiding deliveries out of fairness to workers -- but others on Reddit claimed they went down halfway, or tipped handsomely for someone to make the trek up.
Living high up in a walkup building can mean avoiding deliveries out of fairness to workers — but others on Reddit claimed they went down halfway, or tipped handsomely for someone to make the trek up.
OLGA GINZBURG FOR THE NEW YORK POST

A few people thrive on living so high up, or claim to.

“I’ve lived on … the fifth/top floor of a walk-up building for 20 years,” one replied. “I love it. Free exercise. And it doesn’t color my decisions about leaving my apartment. I don’t order delivery very often but when I do, I try to meet them about halfway. It seems cruel and entitled to make them walk all the way up.”

The delivery issue arose often. Others take full advantage of a delivery person who treks to the top, claiming to tip well.

According to real-estate data company UrbanDigs, the Upper West Side is the Manhattan neighborhood with the most fifth-floor walkups, nearly 1,200 of them.


A handy chart to see where in the city residents are really taking a hike to get back home.
A handy chart to see where in the city residents are really taking a hike to get back home.
UrbanDigs

Manhattan has 135 walkup buildings that go even higher — reaching six or seven floors, sans lift. They cluster primarily in the East Village, Lower East Side and Chinatown. Roughly half of those are rental buildings.

Elevator requirements have changed over time, said a Department of Buildings spokesman. As of 1929, the state’s Multiple Dwelling Law required buildings of seven stories and higher to have an elevator. Then, as of 1968, the city’s Building Code dropped the elevator cutoff substantially, to four stories and higher.

In 2008, that cutoff was revised upward one flight, to five stories or higher. So, today, a four-story building could be built with stairs only, but a five-story building needs an elevator.


Today, the construction of a five-story building would require the presence of an elevator. At 222 E. 51st St., six stories high, that wasn't the case at the time of construction.
Today, the construction of a five-story building would require the presence of an elevator. At this building in Turtle Bay, seven stories high, that wasn’t the case at the time of construction.
OLGA GINZBURG FOR THE NEW YORK POST

Despite the huffing and puffing required to arrive home, some Reddit users claimed living in a walkup meant free exercise and staying in shape.
Despite the huffing and puffing required to arrive home, some Reddit users claimed living in a walkup meant free exercise and staying in shape.
OLGA GINZBURG FOR THE NEW YORK POST

Reasons for loving life at the top? Some claim that this New York rite of passage is also a badge of honor. Then there are the benefits of great light, a bargain price and no neighbors stomping overhead. As for the reluctance of people to visit — that could be both good and bad.

Testimonials abounded about the top floor making for great exercise.

“5th floor here!” one Redditor boasted. “I just routinely use the stairmaster 4-5 times a week at my local gym so that going home feels like no big deal each time. pre-stairmaster, i hated it haha.”

“I think it helped me maintain a certain amount of muscle tone I might have lost otherwise,” one said.

Another lived on a high floor for seven years. “Rode my bike to work every day and kept my bike in my apartment. I’ll never be that fit and healthy for the rest of my life. Enjoy the benefits while you have them.”

It seems that a shift from the fourth to the fifth floor is a game changer, as reflected in the current building code.

“To be fair, the marginal difference between each floor is enormous,” one Redditor wrote. “I’ve lived on 4th floors of walkups most of my time in the city, I’d be so upset to switch to a 5th floor.”

Or maybe three to four is the game changer.

“I’ve lived in both a 3rd floor walk up and a 4th floor walk up, and it’s pretty crazy how much of a difference that one floor makes,” another said.


Putting things in perspective, Jolanta in Greenpoint has resided in a walkup for more than three decades.
Putting things in perspective, Jolanta in Greenpoint has resided in a walkup for more than four decades.
Courtesy of Heloisa Germano, Keller Williams NYC

Jolanta, however, now has back issues -- but still she manages to get to her top-floor unit.
Jolanta, however, now has back issues — but still she manages to get to her top-floor unit.
Courtesy of Heloisa Germano, Keller Williams NYC

For shopping runs or laundry days — some of city life’s biggest, and heaviest, chores — a backpack seems to help.

A more elaborate tool is a stair-climbing granny cart. With it, one person claims to have pulled a portable washing machine upstairs, and two Midea air conditioners — which are known for being heavy.

Moving day is always a problem, with some people endorsing the bucket-brigade or relay-race technique, with one friend per floor. Or they resort, without hesitation, to hiring movers.

On a day-to-day basis, people work hard never to waste a trip, planning their runs for trash and recycling, and combining errands as much as possible. One young woman, a former fifth-floor resident, wrote, “The worst part was carrying groceries. Liquids suck. But I just brought stuff home EVERY day to space it out.”

Forgetting an umbrella means buying a new one — or getting wet.

“If I realized I forget to grab milk on the way home, I’d probably have black coffee the next morning,” one wrote.

At least one offered counseling to the original poster.

“If I were planning an outing, I wouldn’t go home after work. I ran my errands in one trip. But the city itself was enough of a lure that I wanted to go out. Maybe you just don’t like living here? Maybe it’s not the stairs keeping you in.”

Another offered perspective: “For nine months the elevators in my old building didn’t work reliably at all, and I lived on the 50th floor. Consider yourself lucky, my friend.”


However, the presence of walkups -- such as 9 Spring St. -- are evidence of the city's structural past that remain to this day.
However, the presence of walkups — such as 9 Spring St. — are evidence of the city’s structural past that remain to this day.
OLGA GINZBURG FOR THE NY POST

Recently, a tenant leased a one-bedroom unit at 9 Spring St. that, despite any elevator, asked $2,850 per month.
Recently, a tenant leased a one-bedroom unit at 9 Spring St. that, despite any elevator, asked $2,850 per month.
OLGA GINZBURG FOR THE NY POST

Real estate agents tout the advantages of life on high: “Nobody is coming up to the fifth floor — I never locked my door,” said Christoper Baker of Keller Williams NYC, an avid runner who once lived in a fifth-floor walkup.

But when he married and moved out, he found that his renovated alcove studio was unexpectedly hard to sell. People showed interest — but ultimately backed out.

Garrett Lawson of Bond New York lives with his family on the fifth floor of a seven-floor walkup. The very highest units “sit on the market longer and go for lower prices,” he said.

He makes a game of the stairs with his son, now 5, pretending they are fighting off yetis as they ascend Mount Everest. “But sometimes he asks, ‘Daddy, will you carry me?’ which is sweet, and every time he gets heavier and heavier.”

Heloisa Germano of Keller Williams NYC helps many foreign buyers. South Americans shun high-floor walkups, she said, but Europeans embrace them. “They say, a fifth floor walkup? I lived in Paris on the sixth floor!”

Germano’s friend and neighbor in Greenpoint, Jolanta, has spent more than 40 years climbing to the top floor. Now, in her 80s, she is having back problems. “It’s difficult, but I manage,” she said. “Of course I am worried.”

Jolanta’s husband died two years ago after Parkinson’s disease stole his ability to walk. He had Medicaid, she said, “and they were sending the car with two strong guys who carried him in the wheelchair down and up when he had important doctor visits.”

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