David Crane and Marta Kauffman’s “Friends” is without doubt one of the nice haunt sitcoms of all time. Constructed round six immensely interesting and proficient younger actors, the sequence provided a peppy portrait of twentysomething/thirtysomething Era X ennui. Its characters weren’t essentially aimless, however they positively did not have it collectively. What they did have was one another, which was a weekly Should-See TV balm for the souls of many a Gen X-er going via comparable tsuris within the Nineties and 2000s.
Whereas viewers everywhere in the world might relate to the struggles of Monica (Courtney Cox), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Ross (David Schwimmer), Joey (Matt LeBlanc), and Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), there have been facets of those characters’ lives that have been a tad laborious to swallow. Positive, many people knew what it was wish to wrestle to get by in a bustling metropolis like New York Metropolis (I lived there in the course of the peak of the sequence’ recognition), however none of us might ever hope to slug it out whereas dwelling in a stunningly spacious condo within the West Village. As somebody who did a good quantity of condo hopping throughout that interval, I’ll inform you that if a dealer (which I could not afford within the first place) confirmed me a flat akin to Monica and Rachel’s place, I might’ve punched them within the face for making an attempt to humiliate me. That is a wealthy individual’s condo.
How wealthy? That is a query many individuals have requested through the years, and whereas we will not offer you precise numbers for fictional lodging, we will ballpark it. Put together to be astonished.
Monica and Rachel didn’t pay market worth for the condo
According to Architectural Digest, Monica’s “shabby stylish” and “countrycore” condo would’ve set off a bidding conflict the second it hit the market. So how did Monica land such prime Manhattan actual property? Her grandmother illegally sublet it to her!
Per the present’s canon, the condo is rent-controlled, which suggests the unit’s hire will increase have been fairly incremental to not drive the un-moneyed tenant (on this case Monica’s grandmother) out of her residence and, doubtlessly, onto the streets. This implies Nana, who’d retired to Florida, occupied this condo for fairly a while, and, as a senior citizen gathering Social Safety within the Sunshine State (as was her proper as a as soon as hard-working American), most likely did not have to cost her granddaughter market worth for the unit.
When you issue this in, you are within the too-good-to-be-true realm of Hollywood leisure, like Adam Sandler’s unemployed protagonist in Paul Thomas Anderson’s beloved “Big Daddy” dwelling in a Manhattan loft as a result of he banked a large settlement off a minor accident. At this level, it is best to most likely simply shrug and benefit from the fantasy, which is simple to do as a result of “Mates” was a constantly hilarious present with only a few dud episodes. However you continue to have to know, proper? Spoiler: Monica and Rachel would’ve by no means sniffed a Manhattan condo of that caliber.
Monica and Rachel fell $200,000 wanting having the ability to afford their condo
In 2024, Architectural Digest cited the real-estate concierge company Clever, which used present Division of Labor statistics to find out that occupants Rachel and Monica — who labored, respectively, as a chef and a waitress on the sequence’ outset — earned $120,000 a yr mixed. They then zeroed in on condo 12A at 136 Waverly Place within the West Village as a stand-in for the unit (estimated to be someplace between 1,125 and 1,500 sq. toes) and determined Monica and Rachel would’ve needed to pull down at the very least $321,429 mixed to afford the hire straight-up. In the event that they wished to buy the unit, they’d need to make $782,379 to cowl the $2.65 million it will go for on as we speak’s market. Clearly, any member of the “Friends” cast might afford to purchase all the constructing these days.
Had Crane and Kauffman taken a sensible strategy to “Mates,” they might’ve positioned Monica and Rachel in a railroad condo someplace in Alphabet Metropolis, which might’ve lent the present a decidedly gritty air that most likely would not have appealed to individuals who like their community sitcom settings to be aspirational. Contemplating the circles the “Mates” gang traveled in, there additionally would’ve been extra job turnover and copious cocaine use. Once more, as a result of I lived in New York Metropolis on the time, I might’ve liked this. My guess, and it is only a guess, is that NBC would possibly’ve frowned at such an outline.
