Man Paying $2,100 Monthly to Live with 23 Roommates Reflects NYC's High Cost of Living

Living with roommates presents a host of unique challenges to renters.Photo by(The author)

NYC tops the national average for renters living with a roommate

New York City — Last week I wrote an article about NYC's overcrowding crisis.

With limited space for new housing opportunities, Mayor Adams has suggested the city consider turning garages into apartments.

Perhaps no case better highlights the mayor's concerns than Ishan Abeysekera's situation.

"In a city as notoriously expensive as New York," reads the report, "it’s common to see people in their late 20s and early 30s living with roommates to help manage the high cost of living. But Ishan Abeysekera has taken that to the next level."

Due to the cost of living in the Big Apple, unsurprisingly about 40 percent of renters are in what Zillow calls “doubled-up households.”

In Ishan Abeysekera's case, having 23 roommates, he's decided to take that to the extreme.