Sydney Blumstein, a broker at Corcoran, was showing her client a loft on Washington Street in Dumbo. All was going well until they stepped outside. The street, with its uninterrupted view of the Manhattan Bridge and quaint cobblestone, was mobbed — influencers and tourists were taking photos in almost every direction they looked. “She loved the apartment but was like, ‘I can’t walk out into this every day, this is insane,’” Blumstein said.
Call it the curse of the content creator: As more and more neighborhoods and formerly low-key spots have their turn in the influencer spotlight, brokers say clients are getting cold feet about forever being caught in the background of someone’s TikTok about “My NYC Fall Faves!” Unsurprisingly, the West Village, Dumbo, and Williamsburg are at the top of many of these privacy-seeking clients’ no-go lists. “For a long time, people were like, ‘I’m up for living in Dumbo, which is the sleepy version of Soho,’” Blumstein said. “But now you walk out and people are there with their little flags leading a tour group, there are influencers with their tripods, and it’s just an intense environment.” While tourist hordes are nothing new, there’s something unnerving about the number of screens around to capture you on your morning coffee run.
For those who dare to move in or have the misfortune of already living next to BonBon Candy or Via Carota, creativity is required to keep the peace. The West Village townhouse that stands in as Carrie Bradshaw’s Upper East Side apartment is roped off with a metal chain that reads “Private Property: No Trespassing.” (During a visit for a recent story, a voice from inside the house reminded onlookers that “real people live here.”) Anti-influencer architecture, like plants strategically placed on the steps of a brownstone, can help, too.
Ashley Jeudy, broker at Brown Harris Stevens, mostly does sales above 96th Street and says that many of her clients are people fleeing “TikTok-esque places” to try and find some quiet. “I’m seeing a lot of these buyers wanting to get out of the hustle-bustle of the bagel shop across from their apartment that’s now a hot spot where they can’t even walk their dogs without ten people standing outside with cameras,” Jeudy said.
Even people who have lived in these areas for decades are trading for quieter neighborhoods (for now) like the Upper West Side or Park Slope. As one Yorkville resident listed in the pros of their neighborhood on Reddit: “Tons of real humans. I know the butcher. No content creators.”