How much did Lucy and Ricky pay Ricardo in rent each month?

At the time, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo lived on East 68th Street in the Lenox Hill neighborhood of Manhattan i love lucy Fans met the couple in 1951. Her one bedroom apartment was spacious and comfortable. The eat-in kitchen, the large living room and the spacious bedroom were designed in the traditional railway style. Even today, most Manhattan residents would be jealous of the large one-bedroom apartment. Do you know how much rent Lucy and Ricky paid Ricardo?

Lucy and Ricky Ricardo paid $125 a month for their apartment in “I Love Lucy”

Ethel and Fred Mertz were more than just landlords to Ricky and Lucy Ricardo. The two couples became close friends. The landlords were so attached to the duo and their young son that later in the year Lucy and Ricky signed a 99-year lease on the property i love lucy. Lucy and Ricky Ricardo’s rent was a reasonable 125 a month.

Lucy and Ricky’s rent in the 1952 episode “Breaking the Lease” was on par with similar units in the area. Rent in Manhattan in the 1950s ranged from $50 to $200 a month, according to Curbed. The price depends on the size and area of ​​the accommodation unit. The apartment was quite large and in a desirable area, so $125 a month was still a bargain.

Lucy and Ricky’s rented apartment would be a steal, but not the biggest in town

Lucy and Ricky might have signed a 99-year lease, but do you think they still wouldn’t have the cheapest rent in Manhattan if they still lived in Fred and Ethel’s brownstone? According to the New York Post, Manhattan real estate prices are at an all-time high, but for some renters, the rent is below the cost of a premier dining experience. In 2012, several Manhattan residents lived in SoHo for less than $100 a month. They had lived in their housing units for decades. To stabilize rents, landlords have had to allow them to stay for a fraction of the current market value of the properties.

Even today, renters in some Brooklyn boroughs are still paying less than $100 a month as prices in the borough continue to rise. Rent control, or rent stabilization as it is also known, is used to explain the lavish apartments often occupied by fictional New York residents. Rachel and Monica scored their points Friends Apartment thanks to rent control. They paid only $200 a month for their two-bedroom apartment with a terrace. Carrie Bradshaw spent $700 on her alcove studio. She also owed it to the rent control system. Comparable units cost $2,000 or more a month in your neighborhood.

Even if it weren’t the cheapest rent in town, Lucy and Ricky’s train-style condo at $125 a month would still be the bargain of the century. Comparable units rent about $4,000 a month today. The large rooms would also create a lot of competition for space.