Sure, the apartment has leaky windows and a fridge from 1988. Yes, it’s on the fifth floor of a Manhattan brownstone; no, there’s no elevator. But when Colleen Kelly, 64, got the one-bedroom, $4,500-per-month unit two years ago, it felt like the “find of the century.”

“Anybody outside of New York City wouldn’t understand that at all,” she said.

What made it so alluring? A window on one side, where Kelly could see a slice of the sky and the East River, and a tiny outdoor deck with a view of the Chrysler Building.

“I go in and out all day long,” she said.

It can seem like a miracle that anybody finds a place to live in New York City, which is enduring its worst housing shortage in nearly 60 years. Rents and home prices remain staggeringly high.

What’s even more surprising is that people are able to find places they actually like.

We asked New Yorkers to tell us what they were looking for in this punishing housing market, seeking insight into their needs, wants and deal-breakers. Price was a vital issue, though curiously not always the most important. Many people said they had to be close to mass transit, or in a safe neighborhood, or have space for their children to play and grow. Amenities such as washers, dryers and dishwashers were, of course, often cited as needs.

Kelly’s story illustrates one of three broader themes that shaped the more than 160 responses.

First, the expectations of many New Yorkers were what could be considered incredibly low, as they grasped for things as simple as a closet, the sound of birds chirping outside or having enough counter space for a dish rack. Second, despite their love of the city, many wanted to also feel like they were in suburbia, prioritizing outdoor space or quiet. Finally, the hunts were often guided by niche desires, like being close to a Colombian bakery or not living on a parade route.

Low expectations

The features that are often commonplace in other cities — air conditioning, full-size appliances, even floors, ample power outlets, freedom from rodents and insects — can seem aspirational in New York City.

A person on the Upper East Side just wanted good water pressure in the shower. One Bronx resident described a need for natural light, because she felt traumatized by having lived in “mineshaft-like apartments.”

One resident fled the Upper West Side last year for Long Island City, Queens, just to escape a neighbor who screamed at him and his partner.

For decades, Kelly, who is retired, had lived in a top-floor duplex with a roof deck in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan. Then she got divorced and had to find a place of her own. She wanted some sense of a connection to the outside world, even if it meant landing in a place that felt a little “run-down.”

Her new building in Manhattan’s Murray Hill section does not have a superintendent or door attendant, she said. She’s seen a couple of mice. But she has a hallway, which creates more of a “home feeling,” she said.

In the end, the benefits outweigh the negatives, because the apartment isn’t about the physical unit for her. “I would never leave New York City,” she said.

Niche desires

Some searches were shaped by unusually specific or narrow desires: yes to being close to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Alamo Drafthouse or the Park Slope Food Co-op; no to being anywhere near a McDonald’s, Lululemon or Shake Shack.

A man living across the river in New Jersey said he wanted a hand-held bidet. A Brooklyn Heights resident wanted space to lay out her yoga mat. An older couple living near Union Square in Manhattan said they had to have a street where taxis regularly stopped because walking was difficult.

For Brian Lutz, 30, one of his top needs was to have a window that under no circumstances looked out onto the street. Courtyard views, he said, gave him a sense of isolation and peace.

Originally from Cleveland, Lutz, a software programmer, moved to California after college. After he got laid off, he took a job with JP Morgan in New York City, where he had interned, prompting a frantic search for an apartment. And while the inward-facing window was a must, Lutz found his other tastes changing. He initially wanted a laundry room in his apartment building, and to have a gym within walking distance.

But after living in his first New York apartment for a year — a $3,200 studio in Kips Bay in Manhattan — he decided he wasn’t saving enough. So he moved into a $2,700, fifth-floor walk-up in Hell’s Kitchen. It does not have laundry, but he’s come to enjoy biking to work and exercising at a gym there. His window still faces a courtyard.

“I think the social life here is a lot more interesting,” he said.

Suburban vibes

Most of the responses highlighted the need for a home to balance against bustling, urban life.

Amada Hassan, 29, an academic adviser at a university, said she and her wife had been on the cusp of leaving the city. The couple lived with Hassan’s wife’s brother and his boyfriend, creating a household of four that was fun and helped lower their cost of living.

But they had lived “all over” Manhattan, including the Upper West Side, Upper East Side and midtown. They were getting tired of the crowds and the rats. They thought they might want a car.

“We were thinking we would go to the suburbs and have more space, and maybe actually have a pet,” she said. “We were thinking up in Yonkers, or over into Jersey.”

But they decided to look a little harder in the other boroughs, and found a three-bedroom apartment in Astoria, Queens, that seemed to fit their needs. It felt safe, Hassan said, and was affordable enough — each person pays about $1,400. They have a spare bedroom that can double as a workspace and storage.

Most importantly, though, there is a large living room. It was something Hassan imagined she might have found in the suburbs, but not in the city.

“Being able to open up that space, have people come over and host clubs and stuff, plenty of room for everyone to sit and talk and bond and host parties — that has been so different for me,” she said.