Manhattan Status Symbols: Washers and Dryers

[The Straight Story]

Manhattan Status Symbols: Washers and Dryers

THE final noisemaker has squealed and the last dinner guest has straggled home, so the holiday extravaganza that is Christmas and New Year’s — spread out over two long weekends and punctuated by a blizzard — is over.

Now it’s time for the cleanup, and that can mean dealing with more than the usual number of napkins splashed with red wine. For most people in the city, getting the laundry done will mean lugging it to a wash-and-fold service or taking it to the machines in the basement with a stack of quarters in hand.

But a growing number of New Yorkers can give the holiday linens a hot bath at home in their own washers and dryers. This staple of the suburbs remains uncommon in the city — apartments that have washers and dryers make up only about 20 percent of the sales and rental listings in Manhattan, according to StreetEasy, the real estate Web site. But demand is increasing, condominium developers are making these appliances part of the standard package, and older buildings — even prewars — are relaxing longtime bans to keep residents happy and to avoid scaring off buyers.

But newer buildings have the edge. A search of StreetEasy’s listings in late December showed that 593 Manhattan co-ops for sale offered washers, versus 1,849 condos.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/realestate/02cov.html?_r=2&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1294084876-BdvMN9Qx3xEE3Ik7zVWQaQ

[hlthe2b]

1. The old builidings are unlikely to have adequate plumbing....

and possibly not sufficient electrical capacity... But certainly inadequate plumbing drainage capacity can be the end all problem.

[Cleita]

2. I used to have a small one that pulled up to the sink in my

apartment kitchen. It filled, rinsed and spinned. The dryer was stacked on top of it and ran at 120 electricity, which took forever to dry, but it sure beat hauling everything to the laundromat. When I did the laundry, you couldn't use my apartment sized kitchen because the washer took all the space between the sink and frig.

[HockeyMom]

3. Mom had a washer in the 50s

It was a VERY old building (1800s) in the West Village. The washer was one of those wringer jobs. No, she didn't have a dryer. We had clothes lines in the back of the buildings. Mom hung the wash (3rd floor) on the clothes line with a pulley from one building to another. Other than rain or snow, it went outside. I can remember her pulling in the clothes during the winter and it was FROZEN SOLID sometimes.

Little NYC nostalgia for 'ya.

[ileus]

4. A condo without a washer and dryer?

WTF? I'll pass.