Madonna's NYC apartment
Description
Madonna Louise Ciccone was just 19 years old when she moved to New York City from her native Michigan in 1977. "It was the first time I'd ever taken a plane, the first time I'd ever gotten a taxicab," she says. "I came here with $35 in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I'd ever done." She moved into a spare bedroom in apartment 3-B at 270 Riverside Dr.—the home of Saul Braun, whose musician son, Josh Braun, co-wrote with Madonna a few of her early songs, and another 3-B tenant, Janice Galloway. About a year later, Madonna moved into a fifth-floor walk-up at 232 E. 4th St. in the East Village. Her brother, Christopher Ciccone, describes the apartment as "two small rooms, no furniture except a big white futon, and a perpetually hissing radiator." Madonna lived here while she rehearsed and gigged with bands like the Breakfast Club. By the time she signed with Sire/Warner Bros. Records and released her debut single, "Everybody," Madonna had moved to a loft on Broome Street. She turned over the East 4th Street apartment to Christopher, who struggled to afford the rent and soon gave it up.