Maybe You Like The Idea Of Living In An Uninsulated Ferry On Newtown Creek

Me, not so much:

The residence is 6,000 square feet across four floors, with 15-foot ceilings. From a roof deck the size of a tennis court, there is an unbroken view of the Manhattan skyline. The main room is so big it even has a swing — perfect for the frequent all-night parties held there, about which there are no neighbors to complain. Best of all, one can live rent free in exchange for helping to keep the place up.

But there is no insulation and the heating is patchy, so its five residents often see their breath indoors and must sleep under piles of blankets. The power from noisy diesel generators is intermittent and there is no mail delivery. The shower does not work and the toilets flush only if someone hauls a bucket of water from over the side and throws it in.

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Jonathan sleeps in the captain’s quarters, a small cabin littered with power tools and candles. Bruce Beese, who grew up with Jonathan in Montana, moved into the pilot house a few weeks ago, and sleeps next to the ship’s wheel on a bed he got free on Craigslist. “I was a little worried about the possible bedbugs situation, but I think it’s good,” said Mr. Beese, 28, who remodels homes. “It probably helps that it’s freezing in here.”

Jason Menders, 31, who works in construction and is also from Montana, has lived on the ship since the beginning. “Summer is better than winter,” he said. “But even that gets too hot. And you can smell the sewage from the sewage outflow sometimes.”