NEW YORK, NY – A promising Zillow listing for a one-bedroom apartment boasting “panoramic park views” and an “earthy, minimalist aesthetic” led one prospective tenant to a clearing near Sheep Meadow last Tuesday, where she discovered her potential new home was a multi-room structure constructed entirely from appliance boxes.
Chloe Abernathy, a 28-year-old graphic designer relocating from Ohio, had been drawn to the listing’s description of an “open-concept floor plan with unparalleled natural ventilation.” Upon arrival at the GPS coordinates provided, she found the “apartment” featured a separate “bedroom” made from a refrigerator box, a “living area” inside a widescreen TV box, and a “sunroom” with a clear plastic-wrap skylight. “Honestly, the listing said ‘unrivaled access to green space’ and ‘floor-to-ceiling windows,’ which I guess is technically true if you count the flap I was supposed to cut myself,” Abernathy stated. “For a second, I almost considered it. The cross-breeze was fantastic, and you can’t beat the commute to the carousel.”
The property’s creator and “landlord,” a man who introduced himself as Barnaby Finklestein, a 45-year-old “experiential real estate artist,” vehemently defended the structure and its $4,200 price tag. “This isn’t just a dwelling; it’s a commentary on the ephemeral nature of urban living and the prison of permanence,” Barnaby explained, gesturing with a twig he was using as a pointer. “The U-Haul branding on the walls? That’s a post-modern nod to the transient soul of the city. The rent covers the prime location and the immersive, artisanal living experience. The tenant provides their own waterproofing, of course.”
The listing has since been flagged and removed from Zillow, though not before receiving three other applications, one of which included a cover letter praising the unit’s “bold deconstruction of interior/exterior binaries.” Finklestein was last seen attempting to collect a “pet fee” from a woman walking her beagle nearby. Abernathy, meanwhile, has adjusted her apartment search criteria, telling friends she is now just hoping for “a home with at least three solid walls and a ceiling that doesn’t dissolve in the rain.”