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Desperate Times Call For Desperate Rent Parties
By
John Del Signore
Published May 4, 2009
Modified May 4, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 4, 2009
Modified May 4, 2009
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Yesterday the Times spotted a new trend: The rent party, which is when a deadbeat tenant refuses to accept that he's living beyond his means and won't move back in with his parents like a real man, so he decides to leech off his friends by inviting them to a "party" and charging them money for admission. Instead of sitting these moochers down and having a sober chat about their extravagant lifestyles, all the friends in the article play along and cough up—except for one brave woman who refused to be shaken down for the $6 charge to "party" in a New Jersey basement. But over in Williamsburg, destitute men's wear salesman Daniel Marks brags that his last rent party went so well ($400) that he'll throw one every month—at least until he bleeds everyone dry: "I don’t think I’ve tapped out my friends." If these parties really are the new craze—the concept dates back at least as far as 1920s Harlem—and this isn't just some manufactured trend article, you'll probably want to know how you can get a piece of the action. Here's an instructional video on how you can effectively make your party parasitical; it's not as easy as you think!
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rent parties
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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