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Over the past two decades, hundreds of artists have lost affordable housing because the city has passed laws discouraging them from living in old manufacturing space that was converted into living units as lofts.

For many, the only choice is to wait, hope and deal with the consequences.

At her Alphabet City apartment, Booth can't get away from her own work. The walls of her 300-square-foot ground floor studio are covered with dozens of her own surreal, psychedelic paintings and Booth often has to jump over works in progress lying on the floor to get to her bathroom or kitchen.

Booth makes sure to keep a wall empty so she has a blank space to look at when she needs to clear her head.

Meanwhile, Petter Sandzen, an actor, sleeps on the floor of his apartment on West 73rd Street with his head near the door, where he hears even the faintest whispers that routinely slip through the cracks. In the summer, the lack of air conditioning makes him sweaty every morning before he embarks on this 45-minute walk to Neighborhood Playhouse on 54th Street, where he takes classes and rehearses.

Then there are the big cockroaches and the even bigger mice that “really creeped me out at first,” said Sandzen, who emigrated from Sweden to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater. “But you get used to it. What I’m really getting tired of is the bed on the floor with no door to protect your privacy.”

Artists like Sandzen look forward to a future that may provide opportunities.

The city, with help from the non-profit Actors Fund, helps artists seek space at various locations throughout the city. Right now, the group – which refers artists to subsidized, rent-controlled housing – is directing people toward the Schermerhorn House, a 217-unit residence for single adults in downtown Brooklyn between Smith and Hoyt Streets that is supposed to be open June 1.

At Schermerhorn, preferences for 100 studio apartments will be given to eligible individuals from Community Board 2 and the performing arts, said Barbara Davis, the Actors Fund’s director of human services. The remaining apartments will house formerly homeless individuals living with AIDS or mental health needs.

"The reason why we went into this is to serve the industry," Davis said. "Finding ways to keep artists living in the area is important."

Those who get on the waiting list for Manhattan Plaza – which bases its rent on income – usually have their dreams realized.

Silverstein, who put in for the Manhattan Plaza lottery in 1995, kept his expectations low while he waited. Instead, he put up – barely – with the nightly pounding on the walls and the frequent complaints coming from the East Side neighborhood that made his life "a living hell."

Those complaints became so intense that he was worried he was going to be evicted.

"When my number came up, I was relieved," Silverstein said. “I was more relieved because it got so bad, I couldn't touch the piano. It just became a really bad scene.”

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Did you know?

• Manhattan had the highest average sales price of apartments, at $1,107,000, in 2007.
• Brooklyn was second at $441,000 and Queens followed at $257,000.
• The average price per square foot for a cooperative was $664, a rise of 7 percent compared to 2006.
• The average price per square foot for condominiums rose 19 percent to $791.
• The average price per square foot for a Manhattan apartment increased 3 percent to $1,013.
• The median sales price for a condominium increased in all five boroughs.
• The Bronx and Manhattan showed the highest percentage increases at 17 percent and 10
  percent respectively.