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2. Cabbies kick back in posh NYC hotel for $225/month
In New York City, affordable housing is drying up and driving out all but the richest of the rich. So we were puzzled in August to hear about two cab drivers who were living at the swanky Chelsea Highline Hotel for a mere $226 per month. Similarly sized apartments in that neighborhood go for $3,200. It was all due to an arcane provision in the city's rent stabilization laws that allows residents in buildings that were once single-room occupancies to get permanent residency at low rates if they request a lease of at least six months—which can be renewed indefinitely. Talk about streetwise.
3. Church of Bacon tries to buy Penn Jillette's home
In October, the United Church of Bacon, an atheist community started by friends of magicians Penn & Teller, announced a lofty new mission: to crowdfund $500,000 to buy Penn Jillette’s Las Vegas home. If it can cough up the money, Jillette is all for it since he shares the group's views.
“Yes, worshipping bacon is ridiculous, but at least bacon is real,” head fryer John Whiteside told HuffPost. “Praise the lard.”
Update: The church has raised nearly $24,000 to date. With a deadline of Dec. 9, we're guessing it will take a lot of faith for the church to hit its goal.
4. Google worker lives in truck on company's parking lot
Here's yet more evidence of San Francisco's real estate insanity: A 23-year-old Google employee revealed he was living in a truck on the company's parking lot to avoid the area's exorbitant rent. As "Brandon" pointed out, he could eat, shower, and use the gym for free on the Google campus. So why pay the average $2,500 a month for a one-bedroom apartment when he's rarely there? Keep in mind, the average Silicon Valley tech employee makes a $200,000 salary—and while as a new college grad Brandon might not be at that level, he's keeping 90% of his take-home pay.
5. Vegetarian landlord charges meat-eating tenants more
In an effort to promote his vegetarian views, Bothell, WA, landlord Jinesh Varia announced that he's offering a $200 discount on the $2,200 monthly rent to tenants who vow not to eat meat. Varia compared this to other landlords' no-smoking policies, although we'd say that's a stretch. Suffice it to say we're not sure if cheaper rent is worth sacrificing a double cheeseburger, but vegetarians may enjoy the discount—that extra cash could buy a whole lot of organic tofu.
6. Spiders take over Tennessee town
News from North Memphis, TN, sent chills up our spines in November when thousands of spiders reportedly moved into the area, building a half-mile-long web. Experts chalked up the phenomenon to "ballooning," where young spiders spin a parachute of sorts to carry them off in the wind. However, this time they happened to land all in the same place. While these "sheet web spiders" weren't dangerous and would eventually dissipate on their own, it was still as creepy as a pest infestation could get.
7. Chinese try to sell Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch
In May, Sotheby's listed Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch for $100 million. No one bit, even in spite of its new name of Sycamore Valley Ranch. Then in October, Chinese auction site Taobao Pamei tried yet again to drum up a buyer for the property with a one-day auction. The opening bid was 500 million yuan, or $78.6 million. Only one bidder signed up for the auction and, in the end, didn't bother to bid. Can you blame him or her? |
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