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Flashback Friday: Clinton Avenue Apartment For Rent, Just $50

Flashback Friday: Clinton Avenue Apartment For Rent, Just $50
Image via Brooklyn Daily Eagle archives
Image via Brooklyn Daily Eagle archives

If you want that great a deal on an apartment in Fort Greene or Clinton Hill, unfortunately you’re going to need a time machine.

Today for our Flashback Friday, we’re taking a look back on what apartment rents were in the neighborhood 100 years ago, based on ads placed in October 1915 issues of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and how they compare to today’s prices.

450 Clinton Avenue (ad shown above)

1915: These “high-class” apartments were apparently loaded with modern conveniences — and with such a large ad, we’re thinking these were indeed some top-of-the-line units. Four rooms and a bath could run you as low as $50, or you could splurge for the nicest space — eight rooms and two bathrooms — for $120.

2015: According to StreetEasy, a two-bedroom, one-bathroom was listed for listed for $2,800 over the summer; four-bedroom, two-bathroom was listed for $3,890 just over a week ago.

Image via Brooklyn Daily Eagle archives
Image via Brooklyn Daily Eagle archives

373 Washington Avenue

1915: Proximity to public transportation has been important for at least 100 years, as this ad proves. One difference after a century, for most anyway, is the need for a maids’ lavatory, which the luxury of having in this building would run you between $67 and $75 per month.

2015: One of the bedrooms in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom unit was available to sublet earlier this year for $1,000 per month, according to hotpads.

Image via Brooklyn Daily Eagle archives
Image via Brooklyn Daily Eagle archives

480 Clinton Avenue

1915: A little bit of a better deal than its neighbor show at the top of this post — though this one promises to be “up-to-date,” too — you could rent a three- to five-room, one-bath apartment here for between $30 and $50. If you were a “small desirable tenant,” you’d have a leg up here.

2015: A studio apartment in this awesome castle of a building was listed in September for $1,995 per month, according to StreetEasy.