Following Up: Are Laundromats Disappearing?

Are NYC's laundromats disappearing as property values and commercial rents rise? Answer: it's complicated.

We heard the report from your neighborhood and looked at the data with I Quant NY's Ben Wellington, who crunched the numbers late last night to answer the question with us.

The photographer Snorri Sturluson also joined us to talk about his collection of images (see below) of New York City laundry storefronts from his book Laundromat (PowerHouse, 2013). Plus: Brian Wallace, president of the Coin Laundry Association.

On I Quant NY, Ben Wellington looked at the data on active laundromat licenses from September 2014 and mapped the number of laundromats per 1,000 residents: 

A map, created by I Quant NY, of active laundromat licenses per 1,000 residents.

(Ben Wellington/I Quant NY)

Plus: we asked listeners on Facebook about their own neighborhoods: 

An image from Snorri Sturluson's book Laundromat (PowerHouse, 2013).

("Laundromat"/Snorri Sturluson)

 

An image from Snorri Sturluson's book Laundromat (PowerHouse, 2013).

("Laundromat"/Snorri Sturluson)

 

An image from Snorri Sturluson's book Laundromat (PowerHouse, 2013).

("Laundromat"/Snorri Sturluson)

 

An image from Snorri Sturluson's book Laundromat (PowerHouse, 2013).

("Laundromat"/Snorri Sturluson)

 

An image from Snorri Sturluson's book Laundromat (PowerHouse, 2013).

("Laundromat"/Snorri Sturluson)