Home » News » Young man pays $1,850 a month to live in a ‘weird’ laundromat in Queens, New York

Young man pays $1,850 a month to live in a ‘weird’ laundromat in Queens, New York

NEW YORK.- In Queens, New York, Sampson Dahl, a producer of video and photo production designs, decided to live in a laundromat saturated with many of the furniture and accessories that he has used in his designs.

In the laundry-house of Sampson Dahl, who is barely 27 years old, you can find everything: from clothes hanging almost on the ceilingeven a street hydrant to put out fires, seats from a movie theater and -of course- a giant sign that says, in English, ‘ Laundry’.

On a tour with influencer Caleb Simpson, who specializes in documenting how New Yorkers live, Dahl explained that that sign is the original and it could be very old. He decided to keep it, like many original things from the public laundry in Maspeth, Queens, and place it on your bed.

The bed, by the way, cost him $25 and it is “aerial”, to take better advantage of the 800 square foot space in which you live. Next to it is the “closet you have to jump into”, because it is also near the ceiling and which, its owner admits, is not very practical.

In the laundry house the lamps do not work

The lamps that it has are not very practical either, because as could be seen on that tour, they do not work.

What does work is his kitchen, which, although narrow, serves to produce “tons of tea”, for the people who constantly visit him, because the 27-year-old producer is never alone, because he rents his laundry-house for different productions (from videos, photographs etc.).

In addition, the kitchen has a refrigerator, toaster oven, sink and a collection of kitchen knives.

A laundry with cinema seats

On his Web page, Dahl explains that the laundry building It was built in 1920 and first served as a grocery store, but that in the 80s it became The Wash & Dry laundry (wash and dry).

In March 2019, when he went to see it to rent it, his girlfriend told him he was ‘disgusting’, but he saw the potential to turn it into a home and business.

“I have always liked commercial spaces”, explained to Caleb during the tour when he revealed that years ago He lived in a warehouse in Chicago. Thus, he began to fill the place with whatever “free” thing they donated to him during the productions he makes.

Therefore, in the old laundry you can find the same thing: cinema seats, children’s toys, movie memorabilia and even an ancient organ, which he got -for free- from Amazon.

What caught Dahl’s attention the most when renting it was that whoever built it included a window between the toilet and the shower. “You can see me in the shower!” she exclaims. “It’s a window in the shower!

The “weirdest” apartment in New York

While Caleb Simpson says he was quite surprised to see the amount of art (Dahl is a painter), he says that It’s something you wouldn’t expect when visiting an apartment in a laundromat.

Likewise, Simpson says that, of all the homes he has documented in New York, including that of actor Eli Young, who turned an ambulance into his home, and that of the “smallest” apartment in NYC, that of the designer Alaina Randazzo, this seemed “the weirdest I’ve ever seen.”

In an apartment where nothing borders on monotony, Sampson Dahl included a swing in the driveway. It is a few steps from a psychedelic “communal” refrigerator, placed on the street, right at the entrance of your home.

In the community fridgepassersby and its owner deposit or pick up food at will.

He says that this sense of community is what he likes most about living in this old laundry, since in his childhood he lived in a humanitarian community that l It helped to value, to help each other among neighbors.

He also likes, says Dahl, is that the price of the place is not that expensive: $1,800. Since she moved in almost three years ago, his rent has only gone up $100. Other than that, his expenses include about $120 for electricity and $60 for internet, per month.

It may interest you:

1/17

Sampson Dahl, a set designer for photo and video productions, moved into a laundry building and converted it into a living and studio.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

2/17

Caleb Simpson, an influencer who specializes in documenting how New Yorkers live, calls this apartment “the weirdest he’s seen in NYC.”

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

3/17

But at the same time he admits that it has so many weird things, that “it’s the funniest place I’ve been in New York.” And that is, he has documented quite original houses.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

Click here to continue with the gallery

4/17

Dahl, who is 27, pays $1,850 to live here. And she says that, although she would like to move, she would have to have “minimum, $5,000” to be able to rent another studio apartment.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

5/17

The laundry room hasn’t been in operation since before he moved in in March 2019, but he liked the 800-square-foot space because it gives him “freedom,” he says.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

6/17

He says he hasn’t paid for most of the furniture he owns, and every item, including this musical organ (it also has a piano), which he got for free, from Amazon.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

Click here to continue with the gallery

7/17

His kitchen is equipped with everything necessary, and unlike that of actor Eli Young, who has a minibar in his apartment-ambulance, Dahl prefers tea, a drink that he says he consumes by the ton.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

8/17

While other compact NYC apartments don’t have a bathroom inside, like designer Alaina Randazzo’s, Dahl’s not only has its own bathroom… it also has lots of mirrors and even a window between the toilet and the shower.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

9/17

Among the ‘donations’ he has received is a community refrigerator. Right at the entrance of the apartment. Everyone who passes by can put or take clothes from there.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

Click here to continue with the gallery

10/17

Also, on the sidewalk, in front of the laundromat where he lives, he incorporated a swing, and a table and two chairs, for whoever passes by, talks, or has fun. He says that he likes to foster a community atmosphere in his neighborhood.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

11/17

The bed is one of the few things you have paid for. She cost him $25, and to make it more original, not only is it almost near the ceiling, she also left him the original laundry sign, to sleep next to it.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

12/17

At the foot of the bed, and almost on the ceiling, he has an “air” closet, in which he says clothes almost never fit.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

Click here to continue with the gallery

13/17

Although she lives in an old laundry, she didn’t leave a single clothes dryer inside her house, so after washing her clothes, she hangs them on loops that run through her house.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

14/17

He also distributes the clothes he has washed by hanging them in other of the strange pieces that decorate his home.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

15/17

The ties where he hangs his clothes also help him overcome leisure and sometimes he does pirouettes on them.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

Click here to continue with the gallery

16/17

Similar to the influencer Tory Deluhery, who lives inside a van and inside it has her studio, Dah has her painting studio in her house-laundry, because she likes art.

17/17

Dahl confesses that his next step is to stop living in the laundromat and turn it into a community art studio.

Credit: YOUTUBE FROM @CALEBSIMPSON

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.