By JEREMY MORALES
Absolute freedom in one of the most influential cities in the world comes at a cost. Brandon Quiñones has come to find this out the hard way, Quiñones already maintains three occupations and accepts side jobs in order to save little money at the end of the month.
Quiñones is resourceful and resilient, yet he still struggles day to day to make ends meet. He recently took over his parents’ lease for their apartment as they prepare to move to Puerto Rico. The rent for the cozy 4 bedroom room and 2 and a half bathrooms was only a humble $368 a month due to rent control subsidies in the New York City Housing Authority, including the government checks his parents were entitled to each month.
Each room has at least one window that overlooks Avenue C and depending on the room you may be able to see the top of the Union Square skyline. What also makes the apartment so desirable is the new renovations that took place over the summer of 2016, which included new tiles in each room and bathrooms as well a new shower tub, brand new sinks and counters in the kitchen and bathroom along with new ventilation ducts, electrical wiring and central A/C units throughout the home.
Though this past April, Quiñones paid approximately $2000 market rate for the rent that was now solely in his name, as a 25 year-old kid it is difficult to manage that alone, especially with an annual income for a physical education teacher and part-time swimming instructor that totals around roughly $38,000 between two jobs – before tax, and a social life.
Quiñones was definitely outspoken in accepting his new responsibility and spoke at length as to what he may think the future holds.
Quiñones
Quiñones
“I been working since I was 14 so I am not afraid of obligations, I am only fearful of not being able to afford my rent due to some unforeseen obstacle, I have been learning from my mistakes since I was young,” Quiñones says. “I taught myself how to read and write in English before my parents were able to teach themselves, so difficult is nothing but the uncertainty of the future is what keeps me up some nights.
Statistics
A 2016 report from the Pew Research Center by Richard Fry detailing that trend of millennials opting to live at home with their families for a longer amount of time than any period in the modern era.
Fry says, “It’s worth noting that the overall share of young adults living with their parents was not at a record high in 2014. This arrangement peaked around 1940, when about 35% of the nation’s 18- to 34-year-olds lived with mom and/or dad (compared with 32% in 2014). What has changed, instead, is the relative share adopting different ways of living in early adulthood, with the decline of romantic coupling pushing living at home to the top of a much less uniform list of living arrangements.” – Richard Fry
As reported by the Business Insider, New York millennials make about $25,000 a year before taxes, while a Pew Research survey reveals Hispanics in New York make $24,600 a year before taxes. While Quiñones is certainly above these statistics, he lives in Manhattan, which is the most expensive borough.
The New York Post reported in June of 2015 that the average rent in New York City is $4,081, ranging from Inwood, NJ to the Financial District in lower Manhattan. Although Quiñones has been able to compromise with the rent in New York City and meet it halfway at $2,000 a month, he still has his word cut out for him.
Quiñones’ Background
Brandon Quiñones was adopted at birth along with his two older brothers and raised in Alphabet City his whole life. He started working at 14 as a helper to a piragua vendor near the Hamilton Fish public park. Today, Quiñones works in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn as a full-time athletic director for the physical education department within a high school.
His adoptive parents are now in their mid-80’s and his adoptive father was diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer this past Feb. 2017 and has decided to live out his remaining time on Earth in Puerto Rico with his wife of 54 years.
Quiñones’ adoptive father is undergoing chemotherapy now in an attempt to shrink the tumor and be healthy enough to move to Puerto Rico in July to escape NYC’s harsh winters. But Quiñones’ plans on keeping the apartment by paying for half of the monthly rent and sub-letting the three other rooms to childhood friends of his.
Quiñones is hoping that by taking on a larger portion of the rent his friends will be able to afford their half of the rent while also contributing to things around the house such as utilities and groceries.
A 4-bedroom, 2.5 bathroom apartment in the heart of Alphabet City, lower Manhattan should be triple the price of what each friend will pay. If his friends move in they will each pay approximately $450 a month each including utilities and groceries in order to be able to afford the apartment.
Quiñones’ father says he’d rather see him do something more “legit” in terms of finding a place to live when he moves to Puerto Rico in July, his father said –
“I wish he would just get married, move to New Jersey. It’s cheaper he would be happy with his wife, he could be good. I don’t know, he wants to stay here for the bars and girls but it’s not real. He will realize this when he takes over and sees there’s more to life than location.
A Millennial Perspective
Since Quiñones lived with an old school mother from the island of Puerto Rico, he was also spoiled and had his room cleaned for him. No obligations or chores; his only priority was school and his hobbies. Quiñones has yet to live on his own and is yet to be kitchen savvy, he does not know how to properly cook meals with an oven or stovetop.
Quiñones has even said himself he doesn’t remember how to use his home washer and dryer – although he is confident he will succeed as an adult living in the big city on his own. His whole life he has gone to the deli for late night meals and the dry cleaners to have his clothes cleaned for him.
Quiñones’ friends have had slightly more home training but have also opted to utilize the same methods as Quiñones by eating out instead of cooking meals and taking their clothes to a dry cleaner rather than buying detergent and learning how to use the dial on their washer machine.
One of Quiñones’ friends Gilbert Salas, 27 – is moving in come July, says he is most qualified to teach Quiñones and the guys how to live on their own successfully. Salas says their friendship may be put to the test, not due to financial stress but tolerance for how they will all coexist as one and start to see each other’s flaws in homelife such as hoarding or messiness and hygiene or lack thereof. Salas went on to say –
“ I been living away from my parents for 8 years now and I have been in so many living situations, obviously many of them not that great, otherwise I wouldn’t be planning on moving in with Brandon in July, but this is the first time it will be with good friends. In the past it has been with strangers or lovers, that hasn’t been good for me – so we’ll see how this goes.” – Gilbert Salas
Salas is a IT Technician for the social media company Tumblr, while Quiñones other friend is a private swimming instructor for children and a fitness coach for New York Sports Club. Quiñones hopes to further excel his success, he recently finished his Master’s program this past spring of 2016 and plans to take part-time classes at Columbia University for audio engineering which is a passion of his.
According to a 2014 Pew Research Center article – once Quiñones independent living journey begins, he will be a part of the other 8 percent of millennials who live on their own in New York.
Bibliography
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2016/06/28/diversity-defines-the-millennial-generation/
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/25/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers/
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/03/07/millennials-in-adulthood/
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/02/09/young-underemployed-and-optimistic/
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.