# Secret Apartment Discovered **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 15, 2021, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918 "2021-03-15T06:10:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/21 "2021-03-15T15:44:38Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > NYC is so frickin weird like that. It sure is. There are weirdities like that all over the city. I once worked for a tiny company that had an office in the garment district. A lot of the old office buildings around there were built with [air shafts](https://www.6sqft.com/a-short-history-of-new-york-citys-foul-air-shafts/) in the middle. This particular building was originally used by tailors and shirtmakers (that’s why they call it the garment district) but the sweatshops had long been subdivided into smaller office suites. The elevator was on the east side of the building, and that meant to get to the offices on the west side, you had to take the elevator up to your floor, go _outside_ to a balcony overlooking the air shaft (great view) and back inside to get to the other side of the building. I’m told quite a few buildings around there are like that. The mail man hated it. Another place I worked had rented three floors in a midtown skyscraper. (26-29, as I recall.) They needed more space, and luckily found out that the 30th floor next door was available. These buildings butted up directly against one another (no clearance between the lots; common in midtown.) So they rented the 30th floor plus a tiny corner of the 29th floor next door. Then they knocked through the wall on the 29th floor and built a staircase, thereby connecting the main office (floors 26-29) with the 30th floor next door. You needed a special key code to access the magic staircase, since the buildings had different owners and different security vendors. I always thought a weird angle like that would be a great subplot in a heist movie. Another odd one is the Empire 25 movie theater in Times Square. It uses the old Empire Theater (not in its original location) as a lobby, but the actual movie theaters are in the building next door, above Dave & Busters. That building is itself kind of a weird agglomeration. And if you ever decide to take the stairs instead of the escalator when you leave, you’ll see what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/22 "2021-03-15T15:45:15Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Can you guess what it was used for in this college town? The many dried up leaves on the ground helped us solve that mystery. Ah. Book-binding classes. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/23 "2021-03-15T15:49:23Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Ah. Book-binding classes. Surely it must have been basket weaving. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/24 "2021-03-15T15:51:15Z")
For the true life horror version of this, back in the 80s an older woman in a Chicago low-income housing project [reported that a man was coming out of her bathroom mirror to threaten her.](https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/they-came-in-through-the-bathroom-mirror/Content?oid=871084) Before clicking on the link, be warned, the actual, real life case really was horrific. It turned out she wasn’t delusional. The medicine cabinet in her bathroom backed on the medicine cabinet in the adjacent, unoccupied, apartment - with no interior wall in-between. It also turned out the contractor responsible had done that intentionally as a cost-shaving move, and some burglars had discovered this, and used it to break into apartments. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/25 "2021-03-15T15:55:03Z")
That cracked me up. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/26 "2021-03-15T15:56:19Z")
On the lighter side, when I was a kid, I discovered, to my delight, that there was a secret servant’s staircase in my house. It led from a hidden panel in the second floor hall closet, to the first floor kitchen pantry (the back shelf covered a hidden panel), and down into the basement utility room. I was sorely disappointed when I couldn’t find it again the next morning, and then realized the whole thing had been a dream… (There was a laundry chute that went directly from the second floor hall closet directly down to the basement utility room, which I’m sure I combined with some memory of a hidden servant’s staircase I had seen in a movie or TV show. There wasn’t any unaccounted for space in our townhouse that would allow for such a staircase - I checked pretty thoroughly - and the pantry didn’t line up with the upstairs closet or basement utility room, anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/27 "2021-03-15T16:02:08Z")
Both wrong: Wood shop. Table makers. Ba-dum-tsss ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/28 "2021-03-15T16:08:13Z")
When we were young, my brother and I spent years arguing over who had the dream where we opened up the bathroom medicine cabinet to another shinier, fancier bathroom on the other side. We both though we’d had the dream. It’s possible we both actually did. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/29 "2021-03-15T16:09:20Z")
Since you already [slowed down the thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/showing-thanks-on-the-dope/937912) by saying thank you, I’ll slow it down more by saying “You’re welcome”. But I think @ThelmaLou outdid me in the very next post: > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I went to Narnia. I was a Queen there. Then some bad shit happened. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/30 "2021-03-15T16:15:38Z")
“Slowing down a thread” is bad because we all have much more important things demanding our attention? What about the pleasant lubrication of gentle Discourse? That’s why I hang out here. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/31 "2021-03-15T16:47:08Z")
I rented a house that had a “secret” room behind a bookcase. The bookcase was on hinges and there was a clearly defined scuff mark on the floor where it swung open, so not really well hidden. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/32 "2021-03-15T16:54:44Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > When we were young, my brother and I spent years arguing over who had the dream where we opened up the bathroom medicine cabinet to another shinier, fancier bathroom on the other side. We both though we’d had the dream. It’s possible we both actually did. This might be more appropriate for the other dream thread, but as I understand it that’s not an uncommon theme in dreams. So it is quite possible you both had it. I too frequently have dreams in which I discover previously unknown rooms in my house, usually much nicer than the ones in my actual house. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/33 "2021-03-15T17:02:01Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I also remembered this bit of secret architecture: > > ### [2 Condos Were Illegally Converted Into 18 Micro Apartments In NYC](https://www.npr.org/2019/08/20/752791717/2-condos-were-illegally-converted-into-18-micro-apartments-in-nyc) > > “The ceiling heights were 4.5 feet to 6 feet tall on each level, depending on where you were standing,” says a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Buildings. Was it the Mertin-Flemmer Building?: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/009tNfQRd4o/maxresdefault.jpg "Being John Malkovich (3/11) Movie CLIP - 7 1/2 Floor Orientation (1999) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=009tNfQRd4o) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/34 "2021-03-15T17:17:58Z")
Thanks much for including that story. My original post included a link to that 1987 Chicago Reader (Hello, Cecil.) article, but I deleted it because it was so dark, I wasn’t sure it belonged in my Gee Whiz kind of OP . I found that story deeply disturbing, not only because people broke in through the medicine cabinet and killed her but because murders in the Projects were so commonplace and were usually ignored by cops and media. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/35 "2021-03-15T17:42:34Z")
Last house had multiple secret compartments and one secret room. The room attached to a bedroom with entrance hidden behind a knotty pine panel that had a knot that was actually a metal rod that you pulled out to lift up the panel with revealing a small door. Space was unfinished though. Also a regular door to the furnace space that was only unlocked by turning a coat hook 90 degrees. In that space a separate caged area that could be locked from the inside. House I believe once owned by low level mafioso. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/36 "2021-03-15T17:44:59Z")
That is so cool! How old was the house? And did you now about the secret room (and/or compartments) when you bought the place? ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/37 "2021-03-15T17:45:22Z")
We lived in my grandparents house in Norway for a while when I was a kid – the house my mom grew up in. There’s a formal banquet room in the basement (a common feature). There’s a built-in cabinet on the outside wall. We moved back to the US, but visited again when I was about 12. My mom showed my sister and me that the cabinet swings in, in two parts, to make a narrow opening to outside. She used to sneak in and out of the house that way when she was a teenager. I don’t recall now what it looked like from outside. The cabinet was high enough that you had to climb up on a bench to be able to go through. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/38 "2021-03-15T18:11:01Z")
Sounds like a delivery box for the milk man. A lot of old farm houses in the midwest have that feature. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/39 "2021-03-15T18:45:30Z")
If that’s a reply to me, no, I don’t think so. Not a cabinet you could set something like milk bottles in, and nowhere nearby for that either – the milkman would have to climb through the window to put down the milk. And, it would have been built in the built-in cold room, not the banquet room, presumably, if that were its purpose. It was definitely meant as a semi-hidden egress. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918/40 "2021-03-15T18:58:27Z")
1920s and the secrets have been passed from owner to owner. When we sold though the new owners did not seem very interested. No appreciation of history! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-apartment-discovered/937918.md?page=3)