So you thought I was joking about insanely high real estate prices, cramped conditions and roommate madness for those wanting to live  in New York City. When I wrote about that in my May 1st post, I thought I had covered the outrageous pretty well - one room with bunk beds in a basement apartment, a million-plus for a one bedroom condo, $500 or more a month to park your car (plus cash to keep the garage attendant happy). That kind of thing. Au contraire, mon ami!

Imagine my surprise when I read on the front page of the New York Times on May 10th that a newly minted New Yorker wound up having to live on the top floor of the Long Island City office of Outward Bound. That's right, she's living in her "office." She and some of her coworkers converted cubicles into sleeping spaces. Some of them pitched tents on the roof! Friends, Long Island City is across the East River from Manhattan, in Queens - the borough the boys from Entourage are from. Even a big outfit like Outward Bound has to have its NYC HQ outside of Manhattan.

Now get this: Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village - the last great bastion of middle-class digs on Manhattan, an island Peter Minuit once picked up for 24 bucks, was recently purchased by a nice-sized real estate firm for a cool $5.4 billion. Residents are accusing the conglomerate of spying on them to get dirt like credit scores, making sure they aren't renting their apartment to someone else and charging market prices, etc. - all in the hopes of kicking current residents out so they can boost rents.

Still want to live in the town so nice they named it twice? In a somewhat desirable neighborhood with perhaps just one roommate in a one bedroom apartment? Easy. Just dip into your trust fund - or tarp a rooftop.