One of the biggest questions surrounding Friends was how Monica Geller and Rachel Greene afforded to pay rent on their massive New York City apartment. Monica, played by Courteney Cox in the NBC sitcom, served as the primary resident whereas Rachel, portrayed by Jennifer Aniston, became her longest-lasting roommate. That was until Monica's future husband, Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) moved in, forcing Rachel to live elsewhere. Here's how the series from David Crane and Marta Kauffman explained how the two women afforded to live in the huge living space.
Prior to the events of the series, Monica moved into the Greenwich Village apartment. At one point, Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) was her roommate but in the pilot, Rachel moved in. Chandler and Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) notably lived across the hall, but Monica's apartment was shown to be much larger. Throughout Friends, Monica's place served as one of the primary set pieces. Being a common hangout spot, it grew into the significant site of many episodes between the core group of characters.
The apartment itself was a large open space with a living room area and a full kitchen. In addition, it housed two bedrooms, a full bathroom, and a balcony. Due to the size and the fact that the apartment was located in Manhattan, many viewers questioned how Monica and Rachel could pay their rent. For much of the series, Monica worked as a chef before becoming a head chef in later seasons. Rachel, on the other hand, worked as a waitress/barista before entering the fashion industry. Despite steady work, it was difficult to believe that the two women could afford such a large apartment in an expensive NYC neighborhood. So many questions arose that Crane and Kauffman included revelations regarding the apartment's affordability and it involved Monica's grandmother.
In the Friends season 4 episode titled "The One With The Ballroom Dancing," the landlord Mr. Treeger threatened to evict Monica and Rachel out of their apartment for illegal subletting. The series also unearthed the fact that Monica's grandmother was the original tenant. After the woman moved to Florida, Monica moved in and sublet the second bedroom. It was also revealed that the apartment was rent-controlled so even after her grandmother passed away, she inherited the lease and continues paying just $200/month. In the series finale episode, as Monica and Chandler prepare to move out, the latter mentioned said "thanks to rent control, it was a friggin' steal."
The rent-control explanation was the easiest way for the Friends writers to explain Monica and her various roommates' ability to pay rent. Viewers had estimated that the women should have been paying around $3,000/month for an apartment that size in Greenwich Village during the last '90s and early '00s. Researchers (via CNBC) estimated that the cost of the living space that size would have been at least $4,500 as of 2018 and upwards of $8,000 depending on the location. So in this case, Friends took the fictional route when it came to realistic living situations.