“Next Time You Think About Wanting to Move to NYC” — Woman’s Apartment Front Door Won’t Close

A New York City resident recorded themselves highlighting one thing folks who have dreams of living in the Big Apple may want to watch out for when they rent a spot of their own: ensuring they lease a spot that has a working front door.

Olivia (@batterysock77) uploaded a viral TikTok showing her frustrations in having to deal with a door malfunction to her apartment, which left her with a front door that wouldn't close no matter how much of her weight she pressed against it.

Her video showcasing the problem went ridiculously viral on the popular social media app, spawning several follow-up videos where she addressed/referenced the situation, like this one clip where she quipped that she was heading to the gym in order to build up enough strength to close her door (she said by the time this video was uploaded that her problem was fixed, however.)

"Remember this the next time you think about wanting to move to NYC," Olivia writes in a text overlay of her video which begins with her setting her camera on the ground and walking away from it.

She approaches the front door of her unit, which is slightly ajar. She then leans all of her weight against the door and attempts to close it shut, but it won't budge. No matter how much she struggles or attempts to slam into it, the entrance to her place still remains slightly open, allowing anyone who is walking in the hallway access to her place until she's able to get it shut.

The young woman's video went insanely viral, raking in over 12.8 million views. Numerous commenters who saw the clip wanted to know if she was ever able to get the door shut, and she decided to give an update in another clip as to why her door wasn't closing properly and if she ever did manage to get it shut.

"Basically the door fell off the hinges...but for the first day that it happened we were able to call a locksmith and he said he was gonna fix it. We were still able, as everyone was telling me to, lift and push the door in. So many people were telling me to do that and I'm not an idiot, I'm not stupid, we were lifting and pushing, until we couldn't anymore, basically," she says in the clip.

According to Olivia, "everything went to s---" once she discovered that the middle hinge of the door didn't even have a pin in it. This combined with the door's extreme weight, kept it hanging in a sort of limbo phase which prevented her from being able to push it shut.

She added that no amount of "sanding down the door or WD40" could make it budge as numerous folks suggested she try. She said that thankfully, her building super was ultimately able to come and address the issue, which was made all the worse due to the fact she she has cats in her apartment.

It's not difficult to understand why this is a less-than-ideal-situation: who wants to worry about their pets escaping at any time of the day, right?

Olivia says that her building super managed to rig a temporary solution, but that the door isn't entirely fixed and that she's still waiting for the locksmith to do their handiwork but unfortunately, they haven't responded to her yet.

However, upon hearing more about Olivia's situation, there were some folks, like this TikToker, who thought that she should withhold rent until the issue is resolved: "I’m pretty sure it’s legal in NY to withhold rent until major repairs are done."

Someone else wondered she she was getting a locksmith involved with her door issue in the first place, stating that this was an issue for a landlord: "You don’t need a locksmith, just let your landlord take care of it"

She's paying a premium for rent instead of a mortgage, hence, it's the landlord's duty to rectify any problems with the property.

It seemed like there were more than a few people who thought that Olivia should take it upon herself to make a big stink about the problem, like one TIkToker who said they used to have a similar issue until the proper authorities were notified: "i had a door like this. some how the fire department was mysteriously informed. they contacted the city who declared my landlord a slumlord"

Hitting up the fire department seemed to be a course of action that more than a few people supported: "Inform the fire department. It'll be fixed VERY quickly then."