The Secrets of a NYC Apartment Winner

In a recent search for news in the world of apartment living, I stumbled across a contest in Manchester, England that awarded some lucky bloke a furnished, rent-free, luxury apartment for a year - James Gilhooly, I envy you. But it made me wonder about another apartment giveaway contest that took place last year a lot closer to home here in New York.

Local clothing retailer Daffy's (think T.J. Maxx with an especially eclectic European label fetish) had a competition to find the most worthy shopper to be a tenant in an apartment building where the $7,000 per month rent would be decreased to a much more affordable $700 for a year. And this wasn't a nondescript apartment building for which people were baring their souls on in a 30-second video submission- this was for a building designed by Rogers Marvel in the West Village. Passersby know this building for its extremely triangular and highly voyeuristic glass façade.

So after a little Googling, I found the winner - Kimberly Dawn Neumann. Out of sheer curiosity and seething jealousy (yes, I entered the contest), I called her up to see how things are in her glass tower. And it's no surprise to find that the Broadway performer-fitness instructor-writer is living it up in style while she has ownership of the furnished two-bedroom, two-bath apartment.