Emily Zaboski sometimes has trouble describing her life situation to people she meets.
“Everyone we know is like, ‘Wait, that’s just — you have two apartments?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, no, but kind of,'” he said.
Ms. Zaboski technically only has one apartment. She and roommate Jinn Liu moved into a three-bedroom apartment in Bushwick, Brooklyn, in the summer of 2020. At the same time, another group of roommates moved into the four-bedroom apartment upstairs.
Ms. Zaboski and Ms. Liu didn’t think much of their upstairs neighbors, just to say hello in passing. They noticed that they all seemed to be around the same age, in their 20s. None of the women expected to meet their neighbors. They never had before.
“In New York, people are so divided,” Ms. Zaboski said. “Even the people who live next to you, you don’t always know their last names.”
It only took about a month for the residents of the separate apartments to socialize over drinks on the outdoor patio. More than three years later, the two groups have merged into one household.
“I say I have four roommates,” said Sam Jaffe, one of three tenants of the top-floor “penthouse,” along with Parade Stone and Matt Scaptura.
The front doors tend to stay unlocked and everyone flows between the two units. They used to text first to ask if anyone in the other apartment had any materials they needed while cooking, but now they just let themselves get what they needed. They pop in to hang out or chat for a bit on days they work from home.
The five’s closeness grew amid the Covid-19 pandemic, when they weren’t open much and nobody spent much time away from home.
“We were together at a time when we weren’t allowed to see our families, and we were scared, so it became this support system and a way to blow off steam,” Ms Stone said.
Heading to the other apartment on a different floor or gathering outside on the patio “felt like we were still going somewhere,” Mr. Skaptoura said.
Throughout the fall and winter of 2020, when quarantine rules multiplied, the group found themselves celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s at home instead of going out with separate friends.
These traditions continue with regular family meals, couch movie nights, potlucks and afternoon barbecues, a friend-giving celebration in the fall, and a Secret Santa as Christmas approaches. The housemates have also hosted jam sessions, open mics and full moon parties.
“I would definitely consider them some of my closest and closest friends,” Ms. Liu said. “It feels sitcom-y in a really wholesome way.”
$2,800 (downstairs) and $3,200 (upstairs) | Bushwick, Brooklyn
Emily Zaboski, 29; Jinn Liu, 29; Sam Jaffe, 28, Matt Scaptura, 29, Parade Stone, 28
Occupations: Ms. Zaboski is a freelance photographer and creative director. Ms. Liu is a painter and works as a creative marketing manager at an ad tech company. Mr. Jaffe is an actor and educator. Mr. Skaptoura is a law student. Ms. Stone is a playwright and works as a receptionist and freelance copywriter.
About the art space: Ms. Liu has painted murals in her bedroom and living room, in the basement of the house and on a fence outside, although she had never painted a mural before moving into the house. Ms. Zaboski uses the spare bedroom in the downstairs apartment as a creative studio where she takes photographs, works with clay and makes jewelry. “Having a space to build something like this has given me a lot of good opportunities in terms of freelancing and having a greater ability to produce things that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise,” he said.
In sitcoms: While Ms. Stone compares sharing an apartment with two male roommates as akin to the premise of “New Girl,” Mr. Scaptura and Mr. Jaffe liken the situation to “Seinfeld.” “We have a friend Kramer, a very close friend who lives two or three blocks away, and he’s always down to hang,” Mr. Scaptura said. After booking an audition for a musical parody of the show, it was decided that Mr. Jaffe was the Jerry of the group.
Creative pursuits underpin friendships at the center of collectivity.
Although everyone has day jobs, every one of the five members of the extended household is an artist or has something to do with the arts. Mr. Jaffe is an actor while Ms. Stone is a playwright. Ms. Liu and Ms. Zaboski are visual artists, with an emphasis on painting, photography, and drawing. Mr. Skaptoura, now in law school, trained as an opera singer.
Ms Stone, who completed a master’s degree in playwriting last year, said everyone understood the highs and lows of being an artist, from the thrill of creating something new to the sting of rejection. She looks for her roommates as she finds her own footing professionally.
“I’ve admired how they’ve made such great careers for themselves and not let their passions die,” he said.
In such tight quarters, relationships tend to be symbiotic and supportive. Occasions where parties get messy – or karaoke at the theater goes on into the wee hours – seem to be quickly forgotten.
Mr. Jaffe recently made a Pokémon drawing as a gift for Ms. Zaboski’s younger sister, and in return, Ms. Zaboski took some new photos of his head. Each of the housemates has rehearsed scenes with Mr. Jaffe when they film themselves for auditions. Housemates also attended Ms. Stone’s theatrical readings and a gallery show of Ms. Liu’s work. They discuss how to set prices for freelance gigs and how to negotiate, share business connections, and rely on Mr. Scaptura to explain the legalese in their contracts despite his protests that he’s not their lawyer.
As Ms. Liu said, “everyone gives their best to each other.”
The roommates joke about living in a commune, before clarifying that it’s not actually a commune — and then reconsider.
“I avoid using the word commune because it reminds me of ‘Midsommar’,,” said Mr. Jaffe, referring to the 2019 horror film. “We are not a commune! But between our collaboration and our busy schedules and the way we all connect, that’s who we really are.”
As roommates approach their late 20s, everyone has thought about what it might be like to live alone or with a romantic partner. They expect the band to break up eventually – but no one has any real plans to make a change anytime soon.
“It makes me reevaluate what I’ve wanted since I was 30,” Mr. Jaffe said. “I had expectations that I would be somewhere else in my life, and yet I’m somewhere completely different and I’m so happy about it.”