Stacks of Small Spaces for City’s Singles
For most single New Yorkers, the tyranny of living in a small space, or worse, a shared space, is all too familiar.
對大多數紐約單身客而言，被迫住在狹小空間，或者更甚者，住在一個共有空間，是件再平常不過的事。
And with the number of single New Yorkers growing, the demand for more of these spaces is inevitable.
隨著單身紐約客增多，這種小空間的需求也無可避免與日俱增。
Enter My Micro NY, the city’s first micro-apartment complex, at 335 East 27th Street, with 55 units ranging from 24 to 34 square meters. The building will begin leasing studios this summer for around $2,000 to $3,000 a month.
新增的「我的微紐約」在東27街335號，是紐約第一座微公寓綜合大樓，有55個單位，每單位24～34平方公尺（編按：7.3～10.3坪）。大樓今夏開始出租這些單房公寓，每間2000至3000美元。
My Micro NY’s modular units, prefabricated at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, will be stacked into place this spring. The apartments will come with kitchenettes, wheelchair-accessible bathrooms, ceilings over nine feet high and big windows. And to help make living in a small space more palatable, tenants will have access to storage units and common spaces scattered throughout the building.
「我的微紐約」是棟模塊組合公寓大樓，模塊在布魯克林海軍造船廠預造，預定今春完成疊砌。公寓有小廚房，輪椅無障礙浴室、挑高九呎以上，且有大型窗戶。為讓居住小空間更舒適宜人，還有散處於大樓各處的儲藏室和公共空間供住戶使用。
To allow this building to come to be, the city had to waive current zoning and density rules that limit apartments to no less than 37 square meters.
為讓這座大樓誕生，紐約市只好擱置公寓不得小於37平方公尺（11.2坪）的現行分區密度規定。
The project is being watched with interest by both housing advocates and developers. The advocates say micro-apartment could lead to more reasonably rents. Singles looking for larger apartments to share may have artificially inflated the rental market.
住屋權倡議者和開發商都在觀察這項計畫的發展。倡議人士認為微公寓可引導租金合理化。單身族尋找較大公寓分租，已虛抬租屋市場的租金。
Some developers have a related idea on the drawing board, “micro-suites,” or apartments that are slightly larger than the legal limit – at, say, 46 square meters – but house two or three singles in tiny bedrooms.
一些開發商已在規畫類似的案子，「微套房」，也就是只比法規限制略大的公寓，如46平方公尺（14坪），但有可容納二或三個單身族的小臥室。
Whether New Yorkers can live in less than 37 square meters is not really in question – many already do. Micro-apartments built before the zoning rules were enacted in 1987 exist throughout the city. There are some 3,000 apartments under 37 square meters in Manhattan alone.
紐約客是否願意蝸居於小於37平方公尺的公寓並不是問題，許多人已這樣做。1987年分區規定實施前，紐約市到處有微公寓。光是曼哈坦就有3000戶小於37平方公尺的公寓。
Kelli Okuji, 27, a graduate student at Columbia University, lives in one, a newly renovated apartment of 29 square meters at the Greystone, a former hotel that has turned its room into luxury rentals.
27歲的哥倫比亞大學研究生凱莉．奧地就住在這種公寓，灰石區一戶29平方公尺（8.8坪）的新裝修公寓，前身是旅館，房間改成豪華出租套房。
“For me, the draw was living on my own,” Ms. Okuji said. “I had been crammed in an apartment with three other girls, and as I have lived with roommates for eight years, since my freshman year of college, I was ready to do my own thing.”
奧地說：「吸引我的是獨居。我曾和三個女孩擠一間公寓，從大一開始我八年都有室友，我準備過自己的生活。」
The firm that designed My Micro NY, nArchitects, wants it to accommodate tenants of all ages and income levels – 22 of the units will be designated as affordable housing. The architects are hope that sliding glass doors, high ceilings, lots of natural light and Juliet balconies will help alleviate any feelings of claustrophobia.
設計「我的微紐約」的「n建築師」公司希望公寓適合所有年齡層與收入層住戶，因此其中22個單位規畫成實惠住房。建築師們希望玻璃拉門、高天花板、充足的自然光與茱麗葉陽台，有助舒緩幽閉恐懼感覺。
Critics worry that such micro-units will attract a young transient population that will keep the neighbors up at night. But the singles of New York City are not all hard-partying 20somethings. The population includes recent graduates drawn by a first job, slightly older people who have put off getting married and a growing population of older New Yorkers. The number of single New Yorkers age 65 and older has increased by almost 10 percent since 2000.
批評者憂心這種微公寓會吸引年輕流動人口，吵得鄰居夜不成眠。但紐約市的單身族並非全是愛轟趴的20幾歲年輕人。這些人包括為第一分工作而來紐約的新鮮畢業生，年齡大些的晚婚族，以及數量持續增加的紐約老人。65歲以上紐約單身老人2000年以來增加近10%。
The population living in existing micro-apartments would suggest that they do not just appeal to the young.
現有微公寓的住戶說明它不只吸引年輕族群。
Jack and Linda Sproule, both in their late 60s, have lived in a 28-square-meter apartment on Central Park West and 83rd Street for almost 13 years.
傑克和琳達．史普勞爾都已年近70，在中央公園西路和第83街交口的28平方公尺公寓住了將近13年。
“We were won over by gorgeous views of the park, and an elevator,” Ms. Sproule said. “Having a view really helps in a small space.”
史普勞爾女士說：「我們被公園的美景和公寓的電梯吸引。有景觀對住在狹小空間大有幫助。」
（王麗娟譯）
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