Obama Slept Here

James Papadopoulos, a freelance video producer, seemed nonplussed when informed last week that he lives in the same apartment where Barack Obama spent his first year in New York: a third-floor walkup at 142 West 109th Street in Manhattan Valley that the president rented during his junior semesters at Columbia in 1981 and 1982.

"It's pretty cool, you know," Mr. Papadopoulos said upon thinking about it for a second, his eyes hidden behind reflective sunglasses. "A little piece of history."

The next day, Mr. Papadopoulos had posted the revelation on Facebook, and received a spate of shocked responses. He had mulled and disregarded ideas for capitalizing on the apartment's former occupant, like giving tours. Mostly, it's just kind of ... cool.

"I had sex in Obama's old bedroom!" Mr. Papadopoulos said gleefully. Looking at old photos of President Obama hanging out in the apartment, the 27-year-old mimicked his poses. "He looks so angry," Mr. Papadopoulos mused about one. "'I'm going to be the president. Arrr.'"

Aside from the omnipresent bars on the windows, President Obama would almost certainly not recognize the long, narrow suite of rooms where he hosted friends and cooked chicken dinners. It's been stylishly redone with white walls and exposed brick, and outfitted with sleek furniture and a huge flat-screen TV. The large paintings on the walls were all painted by Mr. Papadopoulos' roommate's brother, and an "OBAMA 2008" sticker by the door stands as an odd tribute.

The president probably also couldn't have afforded the current rent, $2,250, for the two-bedroom that he shared with a fellow transfer from Occidental College. But he would have sympathized with the ongoing problems with the boiler, for which Mr. Papadopoulos has lodged complaints with the Buildings Department; Mr. Obama wrote in his memoir that he vacated the apartment "for lack of heat."

Bita Sassouni, whom the city records as the landlord, did not return phone calls. Neither did Faith Ministries Inc., the entity that since 1987 has owned the building at 339 East 94th Street where Obama spent his senior year at Columbia, walking the breadth of Manhattan to get to classes.

His sixth-floor apartment there is currently empty. A resident of the neighboring 6B, 23-year-old Gillian Barrow, was fully aware of the unit's former occupant. She hopes the landlord doesn't figure it out: Who knows what kind of premium people would pay to live in such proximity to greatness?

Meanwhile, Ms. Barrow said, there's something uplifting about remembering a former floormate.

"I really hate climbing these stairs, but whenever I do, I'm like, 'Barack did it.'"