Cramped apartments in Queens make coronavirus isolation a challenge

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LeFrak City is one of Queens’ largest apartment complexes. Photo by Tdorante10 via Wikimedia Commons

LeFrak City is one of Queens’ largest apartment complexes. Photo by Tdorante10 via Wikimedia Commons

By David Brand 

If you’re feeling particularly claustrophobic during coronavirus isolation, you’re not alone.

Queens apartments are, on average, some of the most crowded spaces in the country. Family members, roommates, subletters and doubled up house guests share a paltry 329 square feet per person in Queens buildings with more than 50 units, according to a report by the apartment search website RentCafe.

The per-person average in large apartment complexes puts Queens in third place on the list of most-cramped cities in the country. Only two towns in California, Santa Ana and Fremont, have less space per person, RentCafe found.

Brooklyn, with 351 square-feet per person, and Manhattan, with 393 square feet, are also among the top ten most cramped jurisdictions. 

The average U.S. apartment has 529 square feet per person, RentCafe found, based on U.S. Census statistics and data from real estate investment company Yardi Matrix. 

The tight digs make isolation a challenge, said licensed counselor Raychelle Cassada Lohmann, Ph.D. 

“In the past, we may have had more ways to get out of our tiny space, but with COVID-19 resulting in many people working remotely and staying home, that sweet escape may cease to exist,” Lohmann said. She recommends that tenants stay busy with tasks throughout the day to stave off anxiety.

But the RentCafe study only covers per-person square footage in apartments located in  buildings with 50 or more units. The true amount of space for Queens renters, who typically live in smaller apartment buildings or two-family homes, may be even worse. 

The borough leads the city in illegal basement conversions, where working class residents, particularly immigrants, often live in close quarters. 

Low-income families also live doubled or tripled up in small apartments throughout the borough. In 2016, the New York Times reported that about 9 percent of New York City households — roughly 280,000 units — have more than one person per room.