When Rodrick Covington applied for his apartment, he knew he couldn't afford it. The same applies to the building's management company.
But they had a plan.
For Mr. Covington, finding the house he wanted in a building he loved took a little more work and creativity. And he was ready, even if he was already exhausted from a long search and a step that was not voluntary. “I had a pandemic deal in Jersey City,” he said. “But then the rent went up again and it was no longer a deal.”
He wanted to move to New York and began his search in Brooklyn and Queens, figuring Manhattan was out of his price range. “I looked for places, but they were all in food deserts, at least the ones I could afford,” he said. After looking at 25 apartments, none of which were sold, he decided it couldn't hurt to give Manhattan a try.
A realtor mentioned Ray Harlem, a building completed last summer near one of Harlem's main commercial corridors on 125th Street. Mr. Covington wanted to take a look, but remembered approaching the building with fear and low expectations, exhausted from all the tours there had been before.
“It can be a little daunting,” he said, “but when I walked into the building, my heart rate dropped. I felt a creative peace.”
The earth tones and new finishes throughout the building filled him with equal amounts of comfort and horror. “I thought, 'Okay, this seems out of my price range,'” he said.
He looked at a few different units in the building and the feeling of a red carpet followed him wherever he went. “It was the first place they offered bottled water,” he said.
Although the building was outside his budget, Mr. Covington couldn't shake the sense of peace it gave him – and his desire to live there. He loved the apartments and community spaces, but also appreciated that the development of Ray Harlem included a collaboration with the National Black Theater, a cultural anchor of Harlem. The nonprofit arts organization owns and operates 25,000 square feet of space in the building dedicated to the performing arts.
The inclusion was particularly meaningful for Mr. Covington, an actor who has appeared in theater productions across the country as well as on television and films. But it was his work as a personal trainer that got him thinking outside the box about securing an apartment in the building.
$5,290 | Harlem
Rodrick Covington, 45
Profession: Fitness trainer and owner of Core Rhythm Fitness; Actor
On food deserts: Access to supermarkets with fresh produce was a priority for Mr. Covington. He was surprised at how many new developments he looked at in Brooklyn that didn't have high-quality supermarkets nearby. The shops near Ray Harlem were a big plus for him. “I have to have fresh vegetables and fresh fruit,” he said, “and now I can just go out and get them.”
Early morning: Mr. Covington is used to starting early with clients looking for sessions before work. Every morning he goes to the roof terrace of the building. “I get up at 4:30 a.m. to watch the sunrise,” he said. “It’s wonderful to see the sun rise over everything on the roof every morning.”
In 2013, Mr. Covington founded Core Rhythm Fitness, a personal training company that grew out of his private classes. He has a studio in downtown Manhattan and many of his regular clients live in Harlem. Some had already asked Mr. Covington if he could open a studio in their neighborhood — and he felt there was a good chance some Ray Harlem residents might be interested, too.
“I was like, 'Okay, I don't think I can afford this apartment,'” he remembers. “'But what if we partnered up?'”
Through his work as an actor, Mr. Covington knew Jonathan McCrory, executive artistic director of the National Black Theater. When Mr. Covington inquired about the possibility of a partnership proposal between Core Rhythm Fitness and Ray Harlem, Mr. McCrory put him in touch with building management.
“It was like a match made in heaven because they are really serious about building community,” Mr. Covington said. “And I care about community – I have 18 brothers and sisters and I’m the 18th child.”
He floated the idea of holding regular group fitness classes in the building. It would be just enough extra income to pay the rent. Management asked him about it. “I shared with them my vision,” he said, “of how I would build community through wellness, through the integration of mind, body and spirit.”
Mr. Covington moved into the building in June and began teaching weekly classes in August. Students meet in a studio on the fifth floor, and Mr. Covington said more classes will likely be added due to demand. The sessions, included in the residence fees for the building's residents, are a combination of Pilates and meditation exercises. Each class, Mr. Covington continued, taps into the creative peace he felt when he first entered the building.
He still remembers one of the first bank checks he was asked to pay to rent the apartment. He was instructed to go directly to the National Black Theater. This detail was extremely satisfactory, he said. “I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm literally writing a check to the National Black Theater. Take my money, take everything. This is my community.'”
He appreciates that he is close to the Apollo Theater and that so many people from the theater scene live in his neighborhood. Moving to Harlem wasn't his original goal, but he fully embraced it.
“When I come home,” Mr. Covington said, “every time it feels like a hug.”
He has a two-bedroom apartment with enough space to host friends, which Mr. Covington often does. “I have a lot of guests because I love entertaining and because there is always someone there,” he said.
As an actor, Mr. Covington also uses the second bedroom to record auditions. He incorporated panels to add warmth to the room's ambient sounds, and he takes advantage of the natural light that comes through the windows.
Seeing the sunset through the windows is the best part of the apartment. “It creates this prism of light,” he said. “Having that beam of light directly into my home is my favorite.”