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New York City Mayor's Office A peek at the winning design in the city's small-apartment competition. The entry, "My Micro NY," packs a lot of space and light into less than 370 square feet.

With space always at a premium and the number of small households growing, New York finds itself with an increasing need for small, livable apartments. On Tuesday, the city announced the winner of a tiny-apartment design competition — a building of micro-units that, if the rendering is any indication, manage to feel roomy and inviting at less than 400 square feet.

The winning design, "My Micro NY," to be built on a city-owned site at 335 East 27th Street in Manhattan, will consist of 55 micro-units each measuring between 250 and 370 square feet, with 40 percent of the units priced to be affordable, the mayor's office said. My Micro NY was submitted to the city's "adAPT NYC" competition by a team composed of Monadnock Development LLC, Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation and the firm nARCHITECTS.

The apartments feature ceilings nearly 10 feet high and Juliet balconies. The one in the rendering even has an overhead storage space to stash a surfboard.

New York City Mayors Office A rendering of the exterior of My Micro NY, which will consist of 55 units, developed using modular construction.

My Micro NY will also be the first multiunit building in Manhattan using modular construction, the mayor's office said. The building's modules will be fabricated by a company at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

"New York's ability to adapt with changing times is what made us the world's greatest city – and it's going to be what keeps us strong in the 21st century," said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. "The growth rate for one- and two-person households greatly exceeds that of households with three or more people, and addressing that housing challenge requires us to think creatively and beyond our current regulations."

The winning proposal and four other finalists, out of a field of 33 submissions, are featured in an exhibit that opens Wednesday at the Museum of the City New York, "Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers."

New York City Mayor's Office The floor plan of the apartment shown in the rendering above.