Manhattan Mennonites Offer Rooms Under $900, Welcome All

Finding affordable housing in Manhattan feels impossible, but a 10-person boarding house near Union Square is proving otherwise with rooms priced between $582 and $881 per month.

Menno House, run by the Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship, offers long-term stays of three months to a year in the heart of Gramercy. For 24-year-old NYU graduate Hannah Keziah Austin, it was simple math: "It was the cheapest place I found in Manhattan."

But affordability isn't the only draw. Unlike other religious boarding houses in the city with strict rules and gender restrictions, Menno House breaks the mold by being co-ed and vocally LGBTQ+ inclusive.

"As a ministry of Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship, Menno House celebrates that we are a community with diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity," their website states. The fellowship welcomes diversity in race, ethnicity, age, ability, mental health, education, economic standing, and relationship status.

Everyone shares responsibilities equally. Residents rotate bathroom and kitchen cleaning duties, with a deep-cleaning assignment every six weeks.

Each floor has one shared bathroom, and residents share a common kitchen, dining room, living room, and laundry facilities. A small garden out back hosts herbs, flowers, and occasional cookouts.

Mennonites bought the building in 1957 to house conscientious objectors completing alternative government service. Residents formed the Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship in the 1980s and purchased Menno House in 1997.

The Ripple Effect

The house attracts residents from across the globe, including New Zealand, Germany, Colombia, Indonesia, and South Africa. Professions range from nurse practitioners to opera singers, UN workers to theology students.

Religious affiliation isn't required. The MMF's confession of faith emphasizes creating "a place together where we each can feel safe enough to be authentic and share our gifts."

Housing remains competitive, with the next expected openings not until June and August 2027.