In the video, Ervin responds to Webber's apartment tour and jokes: "A challenger has appeared." He adds: "This guy has a queen-size mattress in his apartment. If I brought a queen-size mattress into my New York apartment, it would crush me to death."
Ervin told Insider he moved to New York over a year ago and was briefly staying with friends when he saw the Harlem apartment listed on Craigslist for $950.
"The price was right. It works for me. So I just went with it and I love it. And I love the neighborhood, too," he said. He added that the apartment is in a building that has a few other small homes inside it.
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Inside the space, Ervin said he had a twin bed, a set of drawers that he also uses as a desk, and a clothes rail. He said his kitchen area consisted of a minifridge, a $10 hot plate, and a George Foreman grill, as well as a sink and wall cabinet.
He added that he was supposed to share a bathroom with the resident of one other apartment but that it had been empty for most of his tenancy.He also has a backyard that he shares with other people in the building.
Despite being 6-foot-2, Ervin said he didn't feel claustrophobic in the space because of where he lived: "In New York, you're always out and about, so the city is kind of your living room."
He added that he tried to stay busy so that he didn't spend all of his time in the room but said he equally enjoyed lazy days in the space.
Ervin said he had always lived with minimal possessions.
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"Even when I was living in other cities with bigger places, I never had that much stuff, so coming here, it really wasn't that much of a difference," he said. "I maybe got rid of one or two smaller things, but it really wasn't much big of a deal. I've got some stuff shoved under the bed, and that was really all the storage I needed."
Other space-saving hacks Ervin has for tiny apartments are buying foldable chairs, using a clothes rail instead of a wardrobe, and having a small dresser that can double as a desk for your computer or workspace.
The kitchen area in the apartment is also minimal and does not have a stovetop, but Ervin said this suited his lifestyle.
"I went on this big health kick about two years ago. I lost, like, over a hundred pounds," he said.
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"I found that I didn't need a microwave, as I was trying to eat good whole foods," he said, adding that the hot plate and grill "work for my diet."
While he loves the space and has very few concerns about his living arrangement, Ervin said he sometimes wished he could fit a bigger bed inside his home. He said: "I fit, but it's not the best."
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