Roofarena.com - Buy Your Own (Virtual) NYC Rooftop

Do you have an extra $23 lying around? How about putting it towards a prime piece of Manhattan real estate? Roofarena sells rooftop properties- virtually, that is. The site has taken a Google map of Manhattan, and sells members the “building”; a square in the shape of the roof where buyers can put an advertisement, a family photo, or anything else they want to display. Recent sales have cost between $19 and $50, and available plots are clearly demarcated with a “sale” sign on the site. Potential buyers can also test out their space for free before buying, although they always run the risk of someone else swooping in to take the property.

“In Roofarena you can get your own roof in Manhattan. You can try it for free or buy it forever! Once the roof is yours, you can put an image on top of it and make it a link to your website.”

How cool is it to say you own your own Manhattan rooftop?

Why would anyone peruse a site just to view advertisements? Moreover, there is a very small area devoted to Roofarena real estate; most of the time it just feels like you are looking at Google Earth zoomed to the max.