With work, bills, commuting and myriad other everyday hurdles, adulting in the city can be exhausting. But thanks to a growing retro amenities trend, residents in some NYC apartment buildings are recapturing childhood in some very unique ways.
For example, 555TEN in Hell’s Kitchen offers residents a game room with nostalgic arcade favorites like Pac-Man and pinball — as well as a bowling alley, while House39 in Murray Hill offers Skee-Ball. Residents can try their hand at bocce ball on the rooftop of EVGB in the East Village or play shuffleboard at 363 Bond Street in Gowanus.
“Our outdoor spaces provide a backyard setting for relaxing and also get-togethers among neighbors, where there are lawn games like ping-pong, foosball, a bocce ball court and hopscotch,” said Marisa Moraes of Harrison Urby in Harrison, a suburb of Newark, which also provides beanbag chairs on the grass in summer.
A tree house grows in this NYC apartment building
One Manhattan Square on the Lower East Side has a putting green, fire pits and even one of the more unique amenities in an NYC apartment building: an adult tree house “in the middle of their park space that has Wi-Fi and is fully furnished,” said Anna Zarro of developer Extell.
The tree house came about after Extell, which also developed 555TEN, EVGB and several other NYC apartment buildings, started to see more and more residents working from home or having flexible and creative work hours.
“How great would it be to sit outside on a nice day in an enclosed tree house with internet and furniture?” Zarro said. “Maybe that’s where you’re working when you work from home.”
The driving factor for Extell is “a thought about someone living in their home and extending their home outside the four walls they have and into the rest of the building,” Zarro added.
Access to retro features in NYC apartment buildings are typically covered under an amenity membership fee.
