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Relax: Couple Has Room For Prosciutto Slicer In $5,800/Month Apartment
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jun 16, 2013
Modified Jun 16, 2013
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jun 16, 2013
Modified Jun 16, 2013
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When looking for a suitable apartment, most New Yorkers are concerned with amenities like "permanent facades" or "sob-resistant drywall." But attorney Jean Poh and her husband Giordano Contestabile needed something special when they moved here from Seattle: counter space for their meat slicer.
Poh told the Times that her husband "absolutely hands down has more clothing and shoes than I do," but what he truly enjoys is freshly sliced prosciutto.
They required ample kitchen counter space for their many appliances, including a mixer, a blender, a panini press and a small deli-style meat slicer for the whole prosciutto Mr. Contestabile has shipped to him every few months. (In cool weather, they store the prosciutto in the microwave.) Their budget was $6,000 a month.
Only $6,000? And they want to live in Lower Manhattan? Better pack it off to Westchester, where couples have enough room to slice their giant slabs of cured Italian flesh with piano wire lashed to the bodies of 18th century harps.
Long, heated-toilet-seat-mentioning story short, the couple found their dream 1,000-square-foot walk-up in Greenwich Village for just $5,800/month (plus that pesky 15% broker's fee).
In the audio portion of the story, Contestabile, who is in the "video game field," defends the meat slicer that his wife claims "will haunt me for the rest of my life."
"For some reason Americans think it's the funniest thing ever. But you know, it's kind of common in Italy [laughs]. Yeah! And if you buy a whole leg it's much much cheaper than buying in the store."
The apartment also has a private roof deck and a washer/dryer.
[Hat tip to Peter Kaufman]
Tagged
greenwich village
meat slicers
rich people
the other half
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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