“Next Time You Think About Wanting to Move to NYC” — Woman’s Apartment Front Door Won’t Close
A New York City resident recorded themselves outlining one thing that people who want to live in the Big Apple should keep in mind when renting a place: making sure the front door works.
Olivia ( @batterysock77 ) shared a viral TikTok video about her frustrations with a door malfunction in her apartment, which left her with a front door that would not close no matter how much of her weight she pressed against it.
Her video showing the problem went insanely viral on the popular social media app, spawning several follow-up videos in which she addressed/referenced the situation, such as this one clip in which she joked that she was going to the gym to build up enough strength to close her door (she said her problem was fixed by the time this video was uploaded, however.)
@batterysock77 how much in rent for a door that wont close??? 😃 #nyc #rent #apartment #fyp #viral #hurricane #hurricanebridgitmendler
“Remember this the next time you think about wanting to move to NYC,” Olivia adds in a text overlay to her film, which opens with her placing her camera on the ground and walking away from it.
She approaches her unit’s front door, which is slightly ajar. She then leans all of her weight against the door, attempting to close it, but it refuses to budge. No matter how hard she tries or how hard she slams into it, the entrance to her place stays slightly open, allowing anyone going in the hallway access to her place until she is able to close it.
The young woman’s video quickly went viral, garnering over 12.8 million views. Many viewers who viewed the video wanted to know if she was ever able to close the door, so she decided to give an update in another video about why her door wasn’t closing properly and if she was ever able to close it.
“Basically, the door fell off the hinges…but on the first day, we were able to call a locksmith, and he said he’d fix it.” We were still able to raise and push the door in, as everyone had told me. “So many people told me to do it, and I’m not an idiot, I’m not stupid, we were lifting and pushing until we couldn’t anymore, basically,” she says in the video.
Olivia claims that “everything went to s—” when she noticed that the door’s center hinge didn’t even have a pin in it. This, combined with the door’s great weight, maintained it in a sort of limbo state, preventing her from pushing it shut.
She stated that no amount of “sanding down the door or WD40” could get it to budge, as several people suggested. She stated that happily, her building super was eventually able to come and handle the problem, which was exacerbated by the fact that she has cats in her flat.
It’s easy to see why this is a less-than-ideal situation: who wants to be concerned about their dogs fleeing at any time of day?
Olivia claims that her building super was able to create a temporary solution, but that the door isn’t completely repaired and that she’s still waiting for the locksmith to do their work, but they haven’t responded to her yet.
However, after learning more about Olivia’s position, some people, including this TikToker, suggested that she withhold rent until the matter is resolved: “I’m pretty sure it’s legal in NY to withhold rent until major repairs are done.”
Someone more questioned why she was involving a locksmith in her door issue in the first place, noting that this was a landlord issue: “You don’t need a locksmith, just let your landlord take care of it”
She is paying a premium for rent rather than a mortgage, thus it is the landlord’s responsibility to fix any faults with the home.
There seemed to be quite a few people who thought Olivia should make a big deal out of the matter, such as one TIkToker who said they used to have a similar problem until the correct authorities were notified: “i had a door like this. The fire department was inexplicably notified. They contacted the city, who labeled my landlord as a slumlord.”
Reaching out to the fire department appeared to be a favored course of action, with several individuals endorsing the idea: “Let the fire department know. It’ll get resolved rapidly then.”
Read More:
- Guess Who This Little Boy With His Toy Truck Turned Into!
- Man sues New York City after serving 27 years in jail and then being cleared in the death of a subway token clerk
