Sometimes the longest part of the trip is the airport to your apt

My sister recently came into town from Colorado for a weekend visit. The plan was for her to go up to my parents' in Connecticut first, and then come stay with me later over the weekend. She comes into town often so it's all pretty routine by now. Flies from Colorado to NYC. Takes the bus to Grand Central. Either takes Metro North up to the parents or takes the subway down to me.

So you can imagine my surprise when I got this call after she landed:
Sis - So I landed. I'm at Newark.
Me (thinking I misheard) - Oh, you're in New York. Cool. How was your flight?
Sis - No, I'm at NEWARK.
Me - What??

Yep, as if gridlock on the ground in the NYC metropolitan area weren't enough, turns out there can be gridlock in the air too. My sister's flight got to NYC airspace 30 minutes early, circled for about an hour and finally was diverted to Newark so they could refuel. And then the plane was going to fly from Newark to LaGuardia. As in about a 5-minute flight, if that. Holy moly.



Funniest to my sister was that the holding pattern put her right over the Financial District, aka my neighborhood. So she was circling over my apartment for about an hour. And circling. And circling. I thought they weren't allowed to do that after 9/11, but I guess those restrictions got lifted.

After all of that, the idea of another takeoff-turned-almost-immediate-landing wasn't exactly appealing. Passengers were allowed to deplane at Newark so she left. (Pity those who'd checked baggage -- the plane's baggage was not being unloaded until arrival at LGA.)

The other issue is of course that getting from Newark into Manhattan is a real pain in the ass. There's New Jersey Transit, which is a joke. There's a cab, which is robbery. And then there's a car, assuming you have one. Which is environmentally inefficient but sanity-wise the best option. Zipcar to the rescue! Being the awesome sister that I am, I grabbed a Mini Cooper to go get my sister.

And the longest part of the trip? Waiting on Varick to get into the Holland Tunnel after finding the Canal St approach closed. Gridlock -- it gets you every time.

I have seen Fashion Week, and it is great

It's Fashion Week here in NYC and I must admit I'm really getting into it this year. In high school and college I was quite the junior fashionista. When I re-arrived in NYC I had the opportunity to walk in a plus-size show for a friend who styles (plus size! I'm an 8 for goodness sake!). In 2006 I attended three shows in the tents and in 2007 I was at one. But more recently my body and budget issues have put my fashionista aspirations on the back burner. Over the last couple of mmy freelance projects have revolved around fashion. Though the industry is kind of messed up in terms of ego savagery it's been fun to get back into the exciting whirlwind that is FASHION, all caps.

This year I was particularly interested in getting into Leifsdottir's Spring 2010 presentation. I realized it too late and didn't start making calls to the peeps I know until the beginning of September. I didn't have high hopes. Though I had no luck through my connections it was great to get in touch with friends, some of whom I hadn't spoken with in a couple of years.

Usually the response I got was, "Can't do Leifsdottir but I can get you into X." I was shocked! I got invites to some great shows. All I had to do was ask!

Friday was by far the craziest day. After failing to get an invite to Leifsdottir through friends by sheer luck Anthropologie's PR firm invited me directly. I could not have been more excited. I put in a 3/4 day at work and then went to the presentation. Unfortunately my partner in crime F had to bail so I went by myself. It was such a beautiful presentation and I loved just about every single piece. The presentation was my first time blogging about a show and I had trouble editing myself because I was so pleased with what I saw. Here's the post.



Friday was GROSS in NYC -- rainy and cold and more like October or April than September. Soaked to the bone, I ran from 38th St & 7th Ave to the tents to make Nicole Miller. Thank goodness these shows always start late. My friend J was understandably pissed that I was late but once the show started all was forgiven. I loved Ms. Miller's show. She had an intense peacock modern print in several pieces that I found intensely awesome, even from the second-to-last row.

I was a bit embarrassed by how underdressed I was. I usually break out the DVF for Fashion Week and had my Pilar dress set to go. The rain completely messed with my plans. I ended up in jeans, a white tank and a grandpa cardi. Not exactly front row material.



I did much better on Saturday. Rain again killed my Pilar plans but I did wear a fabulous pair of wide leg trousers, awesome 4" ruffle heels and a Theory blouse that was flatteringly...umm...flattering. I was lucky enough to see Christian Siriano's show on the promenade. Again I was in the second-to-last row but I heard that many people didn't even get in so I have zero complaints. His collection was stunning even from that far back. I saw later in the online pictures just how cool the prints he made were and there were several pieces I only wish I was famous enough to have an occasion to wear. My friend F tried to introduce me to Tim Gunn but the poor man, dapper as ever, was swarmed.



And yesterday it was a dream come true as I somehow got into Diane Von Furstenberg's show. I kept pinching myself...could not believe it was real. I broke out a Missoni dress and a pair of Cole Haan heels. Looking at some of the frocks inside the tent I would have been safe in DVF. I love almost all of her stuff but last year was a rare miss for me. I liked what I saw for 2010 a lot better. I didn't think her show photographed very well. The photos I've seen have not captured the movement her pieces had.

The end of the weekend was almost a relief. I have an invite to one more show: Nanette Lepore on Wednesday. I would love love LOVE to go but it's smack in the middle of work. Not sure what I'm going to do. But in terms of seeing shows Fashion Week has already been quite the lucky success.

Driving is hell in NYC (in case you didn't already know)

Hey, look! It's Tudor City. I totally almost lived there until I looked at a few apartments and cried. They were so ridiculously tiny. Like 200 sq. feet tiny. And when they built Tudor City people didn't have kitchens in their apartments (they ate in mess-hall style cafeterias) so you would see one of the closets sacrificed to the gods of hot plates and dorm fridges. But that is not what this post is about.



And oh hey there's the Chrysler Building with Tudor City! Great shots right? You don't usually see shots from this angle. You see I got these great pictures while sitting on the FDR. Yep. I was in a car. Driving. Don't worry, I wasn't taking pictures while zooming along at (ahem) 40 mph because that's the speed limit. Nope. I was at a standstill thanks to gawd awful city traffic.



On Wednesday it took me 2.5 hours to get to New Rochelle for a Seder. It should have taken me an hour tops. I should have predicted traffic would be hell but I had no idea how bad. I didn't want to take the train because my cousin doesn't really live near a train station. So instead I decided to get a Mini Cooper from Zipcar and zoom and sing at the top of my lungs. I left work early and started the commute at 4:30 from Battery Park City.

(Quick tangent: There is no Mini Cooper on the east side of Financial District. What gives Zipcar? That's your friggin flagship vehicle. Oh and PS the cars at the Cedar St garage are always messy inside and have less than 1/4 tank. I have animosity against my neighborhood Zipsters. Thanks especially to the person who left a Starbucks soy latte in the BMW 328 overnight! My car ride was so pleasant in 30 degree temperatures with the windows down to alleviate the smell.)

My cousin had given me directions going up the West Side but my friend who'd left 30 minutes before me called to warn me off that path. So I thought I would just zip up the FDR drive to the Triboro aka RFK bridge to 95. Oh man. What a mess the FDR was! At 5 PM I hadn't made it to Houston St. At 5:30 PM I was just passing Tudor City. At 6 PM I was near tears at 96th St. Side streets were no better. It was the massive Passover commute!

I have never hit such bad traffic on the FDR. When I lived on the Upper East Side I'd just get on at 96th St and sometimes it would be stop and go. This was just stop. The only good news was that I got to take in the pretty scenery. I went through two CDs before I cleared Manhattan. I almost turned around twice -- the only thing that stopped me was that the traffic was equally bad going southbound. And the WORST was all the idiot drivers weaving in and out of traffic trying to gain any position. I picked the left lane and stayed there almost the whole way up.

Wait though. It gets better. Around the Queensboro Bridge I heard sirens behind me. Thinking it was an emergency I moved over. Except it wasn't an ambulance. It was the Mayor's caravan. Yep, that's right. The Mayor who takes the subway to work was apparently in such a rush to get home that they had to make a traffic jam even worse. I hope he made it in time for dinner!

I almost didn't. I was ridiculously late. So was everyone else though. And for contrast, the trip home took me 40 minutes. And it would have been shorter but I got caught by the toll shift change entering Manhattan. I wasn't even speeding! I didn't have to brake around corners though...god bless Mini Coopers.

Manhattan Skyline Management is making me very angry...

...grrrr. Well, there is always some kind of drama with NYC apartment hunting and here I am once again. The first time around it was adventures in cashier's checks. This time around it's cold feet on the part of the building's management company. For this building it's Manhattan Skyline Management.

Let's review the hoops I've jumped through so far, shall we? I called about an apartment that was $2200/mo but that apartment was 'gone' so instead I chose a $2400/mo apartment. I filled out an application, I put in a deposit, I paid a credit check fee, I provided all required documentation within 24 hours (copy of driver's license, two paystubs, two bank statements, employment verification letter, first two pages of last 2 years' tax returns, etc.), I make very close to 40x the rent and with bonus will be close to the 45x this building wants (ridiculous) yet I STILL provided the same amount of documentation for a guarantor, I gave a check for ANOTHER credit check fee. I have been nothing but proactive for this entire process. And now you are telling me you're not sure if I make enough to live in your building? Please. I realize it must chafe you guys a bit that you have to rent some of your apartments below market levels. Don't think of it as losing money. Think of it as paying it forward.

Let's review, shall we? The reason you had openings in the first place is because a whole bunch of people in the financial industry lost their jobs and had to move out of your building. I work in the Internet Industry's fastest growing sector -- hosting. While other companies are laying off, our company is hiring. I realize I don't make $11 billion per year (yet) but I have been living in rental housing for 7 years and in that time I have never paid my rent late. That is at least 84 on-time rent payments and counting. Above that, I'm a quiet tenant. The loudest thing I do is blog! (Sad, I know.)

So which would you rather have? A trust fund baby who trashes your apartment, is obnoxious and fucks you over before moving out by not paying the rent for a few months because they just do not care? Or someone who has been clawing for money their entire life, who gets it and knows to pay their bills? God, I am so angry right now!

Yeah, I'm pretty
upset right now.

This would ONLY happen in NYC. I don't know of any other city, village, town, incorporated area, anything that requires jumping through this many hoops. And yet for better or worse I have done everything you asked and have shown myself to be more than qualified for the apartment. Yeesh.

Here is the deal. After being told I was all set for my apartment after a long week and a half process I was just waiting for a call from Manhattan Skyline Management to set my lease-signing date. And then lo and behold last night I get a call from the leasing agent saying that they're not sure I make enough in salary. What? Seriously? You told me I was all set! I have already notified my current landlord that I'm moving out because you said I was all set. You were calling me to set a lease-signing date! That's what you said! You said my application was approved but you wanted a guarantor as backup! This is why I get so nervous about this kind of thing. Good faith is no longer good faith. I knew it wasn't a done deal until I had a signed lease.

First of all, Manhattan Skyline Management, your requirements for living in this rent-stabilized building are exhorbitant. 45x times the rent is 5x above the standard. Furthermore we have been going through this rental process for almost 2 weeks. You have had my application for 12 days. You couldn't mention this before? You waited until AFTER I gave you a cashier's check deposit? What am I supposed to do now? I should mention that your two leasing agents have been mostly a pleasure to deal with but that doesn't make up for this.

Don't answer. Because I know what I am going to do. I am going to research every damn thing I can find in the god-forsaken city rental resources and come to you on Monday armed with enough information and evidence in my favor to bury you. Let's just forget about this little performance anxiety episode, set a lease-signing date and let bygones be bygones. There is no other option. BFF M just went through this exact same thing. Her management company came to their senses and realized peeps like us are ideal residents. Want to wake up to the same thing, Manhattan Skyline?

I'm going to go stew for awhile. Thanks for ruining my weekend, Manhattan Skyline Management.

Dear Roxy, tell me about living in NYC

I've been getting a lot of questions from friends, friends of friends and the like about moving down here lately. So I thought I'd compile the recent ones into a post. This time around, questions about how much you need to make, where to get the most space for your money and what a car fanatic should do.

Q -- What's it like living in NYC?
No joke, it's awesome. There is no other city in the world like it. You hear a different accent and language with each person you pass. The food, the shopping and the culture are unmatched. New York may not be as old as the cities in Europe and the East but it's unique in that the immigrants who've landed in America have taken neighborhoods and made them their own. No where else can you feel like you've gotten a taste of China, Italy, Ireland or Russia all in the same day.

That being said it's challenging to live here. A lot of people come to NYC and find out they aren't tough enough to survive here. If you don't know anyone here you will spend the majority of your first year alone. It takes a long time to make friends here. There are people everywhere and even your apartment won't feel like a true escape. If you need quiet or alone time you will not be happy in Manhattan. Everything is very expensive here -- food, rent, utilities, clothes, going out and the like. Your college dorm room will look like a mansion compared to your first NYC apartment. There's a me-first attitude that pervades and it is very grating. You have to learn to rise above and find people with a similar like-water-off-a-duck's-back attitude. Once you make friends it's great. Having someone to live through all those only-in-NY-moments with you makes it all worth it.

The people here are great once you learn the nuances of New Yorkers. But coming from the South or Midwest is often difficult. You will find the people here rude. Life moves ridiculously fast here. Just prepare yourself. You can do it! If you can make it through the first year semi-happy, sane and still stuck on NYC you will be fine. If you're unhappy, I really recommend that you leave. If a you're not happy here after a year you will most likely never be happy here and it's not worth dealing with all the bullshit. Move on. Try Philly or Chicago; cities with a similar pace but a different zeitgeist.

Q -- Should I move to NYC now, or should I wait?
Depends. I advocate moving here now for just about anyone. I say wait if you're under 18, just got married or just had a kid. Moving here is such a huge change and you don't want to be facing more than one life change at a time.

Q -- Are rents coming down?
Not yet. There seem to be two schools of thought on the matter. The first school says that of course rents are going to come down because the people that lose their jobs are going to move out of NYC. The vacancy rate will rise and more apartments will be available leading to lower rents. The second school of thought is that some of the people who bought apartments will be forced to sell. Then they'll rent instead. That would actually make the rental market even more competitive than it is.

My personal guess is that in 6 months the rental market will have to start correcting. Regardless of the number of people renting, sales prices are starting to drop and if they drop below rental rates people will just start buying anyway. Also, many of the financial peeps have severance pay that is just starting to run out. They will start making moves now as their cushion is depleted. So however it happens rental rates should come down. Just a guess though.

Q -- Where can I get the most space for my money?
In one of the boroughs for sure. Many parts of Brooklyn are just as expensive as Manhattan these days. And Brooklyn is only convenient to Manhattan below 23rd St. So I'd suggest skipping it for Queens. If you work on the East side Queens is pretty convenient. Long Island City is expensive but Astoria, Woodlawn, Forest Hills and Jackson Heights all have decent-sized apartments for 20-40% less than a Manhattan apartment. Take note that subway trains are kind of iffy on the weekends into Manhattan from Queens. Do your research before you commit to a borough. There's also Long Island or Connecticut though I can't recommend either with a straight face. If you're moving to New York, move to New York!

If you work on the west side, I would consider New Jersey (much as it pains me to say so). The PATH trains are pretty reliable. There's also a ferry. Jersey City and Hoboken are pretty cool little cities and have amazing skyline views. Then again, it's still Jersey.

The Bronx has some nice neighborhoods. Riverdale and Pelham Bay are a couple off the top of my head. If you have a family this is one borough you should look at closely. Make sure to factor in commuting time though. For jobs in midtown or south, count on at least a 45-minute commute.

In Manhattan you may get lucky in the Financial District. But not too lucky -- think 500 sq foot studios; same size for 1 BRs and on from there. Spacious is a relative term in Manhattan.

Q -- What's the minimum annual salary I need to make to live in Manhattan?
In my opinion you need to make at least $50,000/year if you plan on living by yourself. With roommates I think you could slide by at $40,000/year. I know people who do it for less but it's not like they have a ton of spending money.

For one thing, most landlords require that you make at least 40x the rent in annual salary. So if you make $50,000/year you would qualify for monthly rent of up to $1250. I know of ZERO apartments in Manhattan for that price. Really the least I would expect to pay for a studio is $1550. Even if you have a guarantor paying anything more than 60% of your monthly income towards rent is asking for trouble, especially in today's economy. Do you really want to have no disposable income to buy things like clothes, movie tickets, books, drinks or dinner? That doesn't sound like a good way to live.

Think of it this way: making $100,000/year in NYC is like making $50,000/year anywhere else in the country. It's decent but you're by no means rich. There are people who make such ridiculously high salaries here that it's hard for the rest of us to keep up. And the city caters to the rich and not the rest. Them's the facts of life, bitches.

Q -- How much does it cost to move into the city?
If you're coming from the tri-state area expect to spend about $1200-$1700 on the move for a studio apartment worth of crap. If you're coming from east of the Mississippi put it around the $2000-$4000 range just for the movers and the truck. Further west you should budget anywhere from $2500 to $6000 for a studio apartment's worth.

Make sure you research your moving company very carefully. If you're coming from NY/CT/NJ/Mass I highly recommend Gentle Giant Movers. They did my move and two of my friends' moves and they are amazing. Incredibly dependable and honest, though a bit more expensive. Then again I'd rather pay an extra $250 to know that the movers will show up on time and take good care of my stuff. Anyway, out of state moves should be calculated based on weight rather than hourly cost. You should get a fixed bid contract -- you sign and agree to a price before the move. Remember to tip your movers!

Then there are the expenses once you get here. Some of your furniture is going to be too long, wide or just plain big for an NYC apartment. You will need to buy some new stuff adapted for vertical living.

If you plan on using a broker (sigh) to find an apartment expect to spend between $8,500 and $15,000 just to get into an apartment up to $2000/mo. That will cover: your first month's rent, your security deposit of one month, a broker's fee and a credit check or application fee. The broker's fee can range from one month's rent to 20% of the annual rent. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate.

Q -- Should I live in a doorman building? and Why are doorman buildings so much more expensive?
Growing up, my Aunt lived in a doorman building. It was awesome -- his name was Oscar and he always gave me a piece of Hershey's chocolate when I came to visit. When I started looking for an apartment I thought a doorman was a deal breaker. They help you with groceries, they receive packages for you, they take care of your dry cleaning.

But the truth is a doorman shouldn't be a dealbreaker. True, doormen usually come in elevator buildings so if you want an elevator a doorman might be a byproduct. And it does suck trying to get a package sent to you via the UPS/FedEx/DHL trifecta. So you adjust. You get packages sent to your work. You learn to carry your own groceries or get them delivered. You take care of your own damn dry cleaning.

Doorman buildings are more expensive because the tenants combine to pay the doorman's salary. And you have to tip on top of that. In the end, the costs outweigh the benefits for most youngins.

Q -- I need to have a car. Where should I live?
Really? Really really? Because there's awesome services like Zipcar for when you absolutely have to drive. I heart Zipcar (95% of the time). You really don't need to own a car in Manhattan. And this is coming from a drive-aholic!! In Connecticut and Colorado I would drive just to drive. Gas was a lot cheaper then.

The public transportation in NYC is really good. Sure I bitch about it but it's way better by bus or subway then it would be by car. I can't tell you how many traffic jams I've sat in trying to get from the George Washington Bridge or one of the tunnels to my apartment. Hell, I somtimes take taxis home to the UES from Flatiron and it usually takes about 45 minutes vs. an 18-minute subway ride.

It's hard to park in Manhattan. Just about everything on the street is parallel parking. Parking garages are valet only and it costs about $20 per half hour. So good luck with that. They have weird rules like Alternate Side. Your car is 60% more likely to get broken into than around the rest of the county. Good luck with that too! Oh, and your insurance? Maybe better not to even talk about how high your rates will be.

If you absolutely cannot live without a car, try the Bronx. My car-owning friends say it's the best borough for cars.

On picking a Manhattan neighborhood to live in

So...you know you're moving to NYC but have no idea which neighborhood to live in. Common tale. My friend D is strongly considering moving here from Dublin and asked me for advice on where to live. Where to even begin? What follows is my personal, non-expert takes on the nabes starting from the north and moving south:

A loose representation
of major NYC nabes.

Morningside Heights
110th St to 125th St, West Side
Examples of landmarks within: Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Grant's Tomb, The Cloisters
Examples of mini-nabes within: Washington Heights
I'm not going to pretend like I know a ton about anything north of 125th St. I have a friend couple that lives up here on 118th st in a generously-sized 2 BR with a child. This area seems to be a mix of Columbia students and young families who needed more room than they could afford further south. As such, the nightlife is pretty thin. There are tons of festivals and street fairs, especially ones aimed towards children. There are lots of parks and communal gardens.

The rent up here tends to be cheaper than downtown but that's because it takes a good 30 minutes to get to midtown. One cool thing: the A line runs express from 125th straight to Columbus Circle. If you live and work on the west side that can be a life-saver.

Washington Heights is the area around the George Washington Bridge. This area contains the highest point in Manhattan, which is where George Washington and his troops camped out during the American Revolutionary War. The area is still gentrifying today. Which is a nice way of saying it's kind of a tough place. As a young single woman I would not want to live up there alone.

Harlem
96th St (East Side) to the northern tip of the Island. 110th St in central Manhattan
Examples of landmarks within: The Apollo, Harlem School of the Arts, El Museo del Barrio
Examples of mini-nabes within: Manhattanville, Spanish Harlem
Spanish Harlem is scary to me after dark, but I love the rest of Harlem. There are tons of beautiful deco buildings up there and I have been to "Showtime at the Apollo" several times. The food is amazing and there are parks a'plenty. The area from 110th St to 125th St on the East Side is probably my favorite. Apartments are cheaper than downtown but they are quickly catching up. The nightlife here is rumored to be great and there are plenty of weekend events.

It is not practical to live on the East side of Harlem if you work on the west side anywhere in Manhattan -- there is only one subway line (the 4/5/6) and the buses are slooooooow. I don't know much about the area west of 5th Ave. There are housing projects in Harlem but overall the neighborhood is pretty safe. Occasionally my friends who live up there have trouble getting a taxi after dark though. The area has a high immigrant population but established couples have been moving up there more recently.

Upper East Side
59th St to 96th St, East Side
Examples of landmarks within: Museum Mile, Bloomingdales, Gracie Mansion
Examples of mini-nabes: Lenox Hill, Yorkville, Carnegie Hill
I'm totally biased since I live here, but the Upper East Side rocks in so many ways. The area has a great mix of shopping (hello, Madison Ave) along with box stores. You're close to multiple parks (Central Park, Carl Schurz Park for example). The architecture is a mix of skyscrapers and brownstones. The 10021 zipcode is home to the richest New Yorkers but you can find OK deals on apartments if you are willing to live in a smaller apartment. Keep in mind that many buildings on this side are post-war which translates to thinner walls and ceilings. This area, along with the Upper West Side, is the safest area in Manhattan.

This area was the hot youngin area about 10 years ago. Now it's a lot of Park Ave mommies, their nannies, and older immigrant populations. Not as many youngins. Long Island & Connecticut transplants tend to end up here. This makes the area somewhat quieter and means the nightlife is pretty tame. With only one subway line (4/5/6) it's quite a crowded morning commute. Not that many people would know -- this is Towncar central.

Upper West Side
59th St to 110th St, West Side
Examples of landmarks within: The Dakota, Lincoln Center, The Time Warner Center
Examples of mini-nabes: ?
The Upper West Side is where most of my friends with children live. It's slightly less expensive to buy here than on the Upper East Side. Plus the buildings are pre-war which theoretically means less noise than in post-war buildings. Like the East Side, there is a mix of skyscrapers and brownstones. Jersey transplants tend to live here.

Brunch is huge on the Upper West Side. There are tons of sidewalk cafés and the shopping is pretty good over here. Uptown has less nightlife than downtown but I have been to quite a few coffee shop events on the UWS. Like on the UES, apartments are small and if you're looking for a deal your best bet is a 5th floor walkup apartment. There are plenty of trains on this side -- the A/C, the B or the 1/2/3. Getting from the UWS to the UES is best accomplished by bus, though in nice weather it's a fun walk across Central Park. This is a fun neighborhood to have your first NYC apartment in.

Midtown East
42nd St to 59th St, East Side
Examples of landmarks within: the Chrysler Building, Grand Central, the United Nations
Examples of mini-nabes: Turtle Bay, Sutton Place, Diamond District
If you're a fan of tall buildings, then Midtown should be your home. Skyscrapers galore. The East Side is home to many financial corporations, the Waldorf Astoria, great shopping on 5th Ave...the list goes on. Unfortunately, this area is pretty dead at night. Happy Hour is great and then everyone just leaves to go home or party elsewhere.

Another side effect of being in the land of sidescrapers are the tourists. If your patience for people standing in the middle of the sidewalk, walking aimlessly, stopping randomly or walking on the wrong side of the sidewalk is short DO NOT live here. Tourists everywhere. This is not a great area to have a dog in, in my opinion. There aren't really any parks. Then again, you do have areas like Tudor City...one of the coolest city secrets. Rent is high in this area (unjustifiably, in my opinion) and the people who do live here are mostly 30-something yuppie professionals who sleep at home and that's it. All the trains come through here on their way from Queens downtown so there are multiple subway lines.

Midtown
42nd St to 59th St, Middle of the Island
Examples of landmarks within: Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Carnegie Hall
Examples of mini-nabes: Theatre District
You know how they call New York the City that Never Sleeps? This is the area they were talking about when they said that. I have a friend who works at 4 Times Square and I cannot take visiting his office. Even 30 floors up the lights are incredibly immersive. You just can't look away. Do people actually live in Midtown? I have my doubts. There are tons of hotels and office buildings here. It's full of tourist traps and shopping but I can't imagine trying to sleep there.

This area is full of landmarks but only one park I know of -- Bryant Park. Not a lot of green grass. Many TV studios are here. The very northern tip butts against Central Park. This area is filled with luxury residences. If you're very very very rich you could live there. For the rest of us, it's elsewhere that we call home.

Hell's Kitchen (aka Clinton)
42nd St to 59th St, West Side
Examples of landmarks within: Intrepid Museum, The Actors Studio
Examples of mini-nabes: ?
The Theatre District kind of runs over into Hell's Kitchen. This area is a lot better than it used to be but can still earn its hard-nosed reputation from time to time. There are plenty of nightclubs and hotspots in this area, plus the Daily Show and the Colbert Report film over here. I spent a great Cinco De Mayo over here.

Living wise, it's kind of a mixed bag. Rent deals can be found but I find this area to be very loud at night. Every time I had a band rehersal in someone's apartment it seemed to be in Clinton. The area seems to filled with actors, dancers, musicians and people who are regularly up until 2 AM. There are lots of warehouse-y type lofts over here but it's a pain to get anywhere because the only subway line is the A/C/E at 8th Ave. If your life is nearby this area could work but if you need to get further out I'd say skip it.

Gramercy/Murray Hill/Kips Bay
14th St to 42nd St, East Side
Examples of landmarks within: The Morgan Library & Museum, Gramercy Park, Stuyvesant Town
Examples of mini-nabes: Stuyvesant Town
Real estate gets expensive the further south you go. Murray Hill and Kips Bay tend to be less expensive than fashionable Gramercy. In Murray Hill there are rent deals east of 3rd Ave but the tradeoff is you get tons of noise from the Midtown Tunnel. Down here most of the apartments are in high rises on the Avenues and Brownstones on the streets.

There are plenty of great restaurants and decent nightlife, especially along 3rd Ave. Gramercy is an expensive neighborhood in transition. Rentals here tend to be in co-ops rather than rental buildings. While I love Gramercy Park, I find the neighborhood to be lacking. Everything is just OK -- the shopping, the apartments, the nightlife. Stuyvesant Town was a well-known rent stabilized development that was bought by Tishman Speyer, who promptly ruined it and drove out the tenants so it could charge ridiculous rents (how's that going, Tish?). The closer to 14th St you get, the more luxury buildings you will find. As with the rest of the East Side, the 4/5/6 is your only real subway option, though there is also the L which runs along 14th St.

Chelsea
14th St to 42nd St, West Side
Examples of landmarks within: The High Line, Madison Square Garden, The Empire State Building
Examples of mini-nabes: The Garment District, Art Gallery District
Chelsea...pretty buildings...pretty hip...pretty expensive. The neighborhood has an incredibly diverse mix of residents and has some amazing nightlife. If you want to party til the wee hours, this may be the neighborhood for you. There's a unique mix of luxury living and cheap apartments that are no bigger than a closet. Your money will not go very far in terms of space in Chelsea. 200 sq feet is about average for a studio.

7th Ave is known as Fashion Ave in the mid-30s to 42nd St with good reason. Plenty of fashion warehouses are here, and there are tons of sample sales. You can do just about anything, from golf to shopping, at Chelsea Piers. The closer you get to 14th St the denser the crowds and the smaller the living space.

Flatiron/Union Square
14th St to 34th St, Middle of the Island
Examples of landmarks within: Union Square Park, One Madison Ave, the Flatiron Building
Examples of mini-nabes: these pretty much are mini-nabes themselves
The rents are high but the neighborhoods are great! Union Square is a fun NYU hangout area with an awesome Green Market and good shopping. Flatiron is kind of a weird neighborhood. 5th and 6th Ave would be fun to live off of but Madison Ave is kind of a dead zone. I have viewed a few apartments in the area but find it odd that there aren't really any grocery stores in Flatiron. Rents are quite high -- you are mostly paying for views of either the Empire State Building or the Chrysler Building. High-rises galore. One of my favorite bars -- 230 5th -- is in Flatiron, and my last job was on 5th Ave at 21st St. My old office was in Union Square and I have a soft spot in my heart for the area. Union Square Park is great and is a hub for subways. The N/R/Q/W, the L, and the 4/5/6 all stop there.

Like Chelsea, the apartments tend to be tiny unless you can afford a luxury residence. You also have to deal with a lot of night noise from the college students out and about. But if you don't want to live in the Village, this area is a nice alternative.

East Village, Greenwich Village and West Village
Houston St. to 14th St
Examples of landmarks within: Washington Square Park, Tompkins Square Park, Cooper Union
Examples of mini-nabes: Meatpacking District, NoHo, Alphabet City
I will never understand the appeal of living in the Village. The area has tons of character and unique buildings but it is always loud and crowded. As such, my knowledge of the area is limited. The Meatpacking District has many fancy restaurants and cobblestone streets. The East Village has NYU students up the wazoo while the West Village has a very liberal reputation. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Rents have dropped a bit in the village in the last two years but it is by no means cheap. Everyone I know who has lived in the village has had: 1 - roaches; 2 - mice; or 3 - both. You're more likely to find a garden apartment with a backyard down here but you're also more likely to find a shower in your kitchen. If you want to be in one of the social and cultural epicenters, then you should live in the village. As long as you can take the noise.

Soho & Nolita
Canal St to Houston, Middle of the Island
Examples of landmarks within: ?
Examples of mini-nabes: these are mini-nabes
Soho (South of Houston) and Nolita (North of Little Italy) comprise less than 50 square blocks but they are perhaps the biggest neighborhoods, reputation wise. And I am learning that these reputations are well-earned. Filled with shorter buildings and cobblestone streets, the area is reminiscient of Europe. Some blocks have bars, some blocks have shopping and some are quite cute and quiet. Almost every subway line converges in the area, making trips uptown easier.

Unfortunately, the rents here are ridiculously high. I'm looking in this area for my next apartment and it's been disheartening. You get very little space for the money and many of the buildings are older. It's the classic tradeoff: less space for a great location. The good news is that it's cheaper than Tribeca. The bad news is, that's not saying much. If you are not picky about how your apartment is laid out and if you don't mind living in one tiny room you may have luck. But if you like the shower to be in the bathroom with your toilet and sink...well, it's much more expensive.

Lower East Side
Brooklyn Bridge to Canal St
Examples of landmarks within: Manhattan/Brooklyn Bridges, City Hall, Chatham Square
Examples of mini-nabes: Chinatown, Little Italy
The food is great and the rent is cheaper than any of the surrounding areas. Welcome to the Lower East Side. Little Italy is of course famous for the food, but there is also lots of cheap touristy shopping. Chinatown is the next hot spot in my opinion. It's slowly transitioning to youngins who can't afford the neighborhoods nearby. Travel is relatively easy and you can walk to Soho, the Villages or Union Square.

The area can be dicey late at night but it's mostly safe. Every court you could ever want or need is in the area, and if you get married here you'll make a trip to City Hall for your marriage license. The population is diverse and it can be eerily quiet at night. There are a surprising number of skyscrapers. It's difficult to navigate the area by car, but by bike it's quite fun.

Tribeca
Chambers St to Canal St, West Side
Examples of landmarks within: Woolworth Building, Washington Market Park, PS 234
Examples of mini-nabes: this is a mini-nabe
Tribeca (triangle below Canal St.) is another trendy neighborhood, though its hype is starting to slow. Between this place and Soho you will see many celebrities (though you'd better ignore them, this is NYC after all). This area was very industrial and has been converted into huge, ridiculously expensive living areas. If I'm in the mood for a good laugh I'll cruise Craigslist's apartment listings for the area. It's so expensive it will make a normal person like me cry.

There are a few subway lines -- A/C/E and 1/2/3 -- and slowly the area is starting to get more infrastructure. Groceries and such. The schools down here are famously great. Most people who live down here seem to be rich familes and rock stars. If you're lucky and rich enough to rent down here I am pretty jealous.

Financial District
Tip of the Island to Chambers St/Brooklyn Bridge
Examples of landmarks within: World Trade Center, Wall St, Castle Clinton
Examples of mini-nabes: Battery Park City
Thanks to the market crash, this area will probably see a rise in vacancy. Battery Park is pretty awesome and you get great views of the Statue of Liberty. The buildings down here are all tall skyscrapers wrapped in glass. Construction of the new World Trade Center slowly progresses. Unemployed white collar employees drown their sorrows on Stone St.

I always heard this area was dead at night but I have to disagree. The Whitehall/Stone/Pearl St. area has quite a few bars and during the summer picnic tables line the streets. Even before the crash the rents were lower down here. You get a bit more space for your money but the tradeoff is that it takes a long time to get uptown -- about 30 minutes to midtown. Then again, Century 21 is down here.


If anything in this post is incorrect, please leave a comment and I will update. Again, some of this information is my best guess.

The 11 things I learned from my first NYC apartment hunt

I'm 90% sure I'm going to move. I return to apartment searching so much wiser than last time I embarked. I really hope that the rental market will quiet down a bit. Hard to say right now though. In preparation I dusted off my old bookmarks and came up with 11 tips for your first New York City apartment hunt...

1. Unless you're looking for a really expensive apartment or don't have time to search for your own apartment, brokers are useless*.

While very useful for apartment purchases, brokers are such an unneeded middleman in the rental process. So why do renters still use them? The biggest reason is because they have access to the NYC realty database -- the registry that lists all available apartments for rent in the city at any given time. You can't access the registry unless you're a licensed real estate agent, so us normal folks are SOL. Another reason is that building management companies don't want to or don't have time to show an apartment to perspective renters. It's time consuming, it's a pain in the ass and the management companies just want the apartment rented already. For many building management companies it was less expensive during the boom to hire a third-party broker then it was to retain a full-time in house broker. Trends are slow to change and it's renters, not buildings paying broker's fees right now for the most part.

If you do view broker apartments, and hey I did my first time around, don't let them push you around. They're going to tell you the apartment is in high demand and pressure you to make a decision on the spot. Don't get pressured into a decision -- there will always be another great apartment. Try to stay as rational as possible (admittedly, I made an emotional decision my first time around). Negotiate their fee before you commit to an apartment.

The first time you talk to a broker they are going to make you come to their office and fill out an informational form. They almost never take you straight to the apartment. In fact half the time their ads are just teasers to get you into their offices -- the apartment listed doesn't actually exist.

*However, if you can find a broker employed by a management company that charges the mgmt company fees and not you, I say go for it. What do you have to lose?

2. It is possible to find an awesome apartment without a broker.

OK, so 70% of available apartments in NYC are broker-listed. Guess what, though? That leaves 30% that are not. I don't know what that works out to in terms of hard numbers but I think it's safe to say thousands of apartments rent on a yearly basis without a broker. Some are referrals (hey, I'm moving out of my apartment and I know you want to live on the UES, want to take over my lease?); some are through owner/management company advertising and some are through aggregate services (i.e. nybits or mlsupdate123). For me, the bad news was that if a management company had enough money to advertise their apartments on the subway or a website like Curbed it was probably out of my price range anyway. The good news is that owners/management companies still use tried and true tactics like putting a sign on the building. Seriously. Walk around a neighborhood like the Lower East Side or the East Village and you will see plenty of apartment available signs.

Web sites are a bit more of a crapshoot. Sites like Craigslist have a for rent by owner section, but many of the apartments listed actually have broker fees cleverly hidden. Or worse, there are many scam listings. Other sites like rent direct have an equal number of success stories as scam claims and require a fee to sign up. You can protect yourself though. If something looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true. If every 1Br apartment you see in Union Square costs $2400 but all of a sudden you see 1 $1650 apartment, be very wary.

To be successful without a broker, you either need to be very willing to compromise or very patient. If you aren't too tied down to a certain location or amenities or if you have a flexible move-in date and can wait until the right apartment opens up you are more likely to be successful without a broker.

3. Know the basics about the process.

Most brokers and management companies will require a deposit right away when you say you want to rent an apartment. Never give them more than $500 cash -- it could always be a scam and you don't want to lose everything. Ask for a receipt and make sure the deposit is refundable. Almost every building will run at least a credit check on you, which you have to pay for. It's around $75 per person and will be done for everyone on the lease, including guarantors. When you pay your security at your lease signing, it must be a cashier's check. It CANNOT be a personal check, a money order or a credit card charge. Cash is also not usually accepted. Be very wary of anyone asking for cash security deposits.

Likewise, be wary of shares with strangers. One common scam in recent years is people "renting out rooms" and for one month security deposit. Then you and five other people show up on move-in day, all for the same room, and realize you got shafted. The scammer has long since disappeared with your money. (I read about this in the Village Voice, but can't find the article link. To be updated if I can locate it.)

Most landlords require you to make 40x the rent. So if an apartment is $2000/month you need to make at least $80,000 annually before taxes. Some landlords accept guarantors, which are like co-signers on loans. If you cannot pay your rent, the landlord can go after your guarantor for the money. And go after them (and you!) landlords will. Family members are preferred and they need to make much higher salaries, sometimes as high as 80x the rent. Some landlords will not accept out of state guarantors.

Some buildings have rules about which days you can move in/out on. Make sure to coordinate with your management company as necessary. No need to start off on the wrong foot. Also check building policies on pets, quiet hours and the like. Co-ops will have stricter rules than rental buildings.

4. Things like which floor you live on, your exposure and how many windows you have matter.

Ever heard the term pre-war vs. post-war? Before I moved to NYC, I thought it boiled down to pre-war meaning old and post-war meaning new. But it's so much more than that. Pre-war buildings tend to have much thicker walls and concrete floors. What does that mean? Less neighbor noise. Believe me when I say it can make the difference between sanity and calling the cops. Post-war buildings tend to have more amenities like gyms, open floorplans and floor to ceiling windows. But they also have thinner walls and less soundproofing. Families tend to live in pre-war buildings, especially families with youngins. Pre-war buildings tend to be on the west side (UWS mostly).

Want to live on the first floor? Maybe you'll be lucky like me and have access to a private backyard, but maybe you'll also be lucky enough to have mice like me. Live near the water? Be prepared for water bugs. Live above a restaurant? It's potential for rats and cockroaches, hooray! You'll have less light in your apartment on low floors and probably anti-theft window guards which let in less light. It will also be cold in the winter on low floors. Up high you'll have more light but it will be sweltering both in the summer and in the winter when all the heat rises to you. If you live on a middle floor you should be considerate of your neighbors below and hope for the same from your neighbors above.

Also, FYI, apartments usually get larger as you move upstairs. So studios down low, then 1 BRs above them and so on. One way to try to cheat the noise factor is to rent a smaller apartment below a larger one or vice versa. This cuts down on the chance of your living area being directly above/below your neighbors, but does add the possibility of Junior's playroom being right above your bedroom.

If your apartment faces north, you will get very little direct sunlight. You may as well call your apartment the Batcave. The double whammy is a northern exposure with a building right against yours. Hope you like artificial light! Southern exposures, conversely, get tons of sun and can be blindingly hot in the early evening. Eastern exposures are sunny in the morning and dark later and Western exposures are the opposite (shocker, I know). Many people in NYC have apartments with a full wall (or walls) of windows, and many people do not put coverings on them. You can see everything that goes on whether you want to or not. Get used to it. Studios often have only one window in them. If you need to do a window A/C unit, that one window becomes a half-window. It sucks.

Last thoughts for this section: living on side streets is quiter than living on Avenues. If you live on a main thoroughfare like 79th St you will always have ambient noise like car horns. Apartments in the rear of the building are generally quieter. Apartments in the front of the building generally have better views.

5. Learn your real estate terms.

I've hit on this before, but it's worthwhile to learn how to translate apartment ads. An apartment described as "charming" is tiny. If it's described as "in a great location near x, y, z chic neighborhood" it's tiny and old and possibly gross. A Jr. 1 bedroom doesn't actually have a separate bedroom -- it's usually an alcove studio (L-shaped) or has french doors separating the sleeping and main areas. Convertible likewise means that it doesn't have permanent walls, so a convertible 3 BR is actually a 2 BR that could be made into a 3 BR if you put up a wall of some temporary kind (tenants can't legally add permanent walls to rental apartments). A Juliet balcony isn't big enough for you to actually go outside onto; it's basically decorative. A garden level apartment is below street level. Loft apartments doesn't usually mean one big open area like it would in other cities. In NYC loft usually means a raised sleeping area that you access via a ladder. No, I'm not kidding.

Rent-controlled apartments' rent never increases. At this point you will not find a rent-controlled apartment on your own. End of story. Rent stabilized apartments' rent can only be raised a certain percentage per year. The percentage is decided annually by the NYC Rent Guidelines Board.

6. Educate yourself about utilities, leases and the like.

All apartments in Manhattan include water and heat in their monthly rate (or at least, they should legally). Boroughs are a toss-up. You usually have to pay for your own electricity, gas (for cooking), cable, etc. Your landlord will usually provide an A/C unit. Many buildings do not have laundry facilities. Buildings have to be specially zoned to have a washer/dryer in the apartment. If there is no drain by the washer/dryer, it is illegal! RUN, don't walk the heck outta there.

You are only required to put down one month security and your first month's rent when you sign a lease for an apartment in Manhattan. Landlords may ask for more but you should refuse to pay any additional security fees.

Read your lease carefully. I cannot say this enough! Check for clauses about landlord entry, legal fees, damage fees and the like. It is so worth paying a lawyer $200 to review your lease to protect yourself. Security deposits are often lost because landlords invoke some dumb lease clause. You DO NOT have to sign the lease the landlord gives you. You are allowed to challenge anything that makes you uncomfortable. Once you sign that's it so read it carefully and get unfair clauses removed before you sign.

Do you know your tenant rights? Yeah, me neither. Not something that really gets handed out to you when you move in. But the city does have a couple of websites devoted to the matter. The NYC Affordable Housing Resource Center has information about public housing and what to do if you lack basic services like heat or hot water. The NYC Rent Guidelines Board decides on the rent increase for rent-stabilized apartments in the city. Renters hate them, landlords hate them...it's a no-win situation.

7. Explore the neighborhood you're considering before you check out listings.

Do you like carrying groceries 10 blocks? Me neither! So I'm pretty damn lucky that I have a nice grocery store 2 blocks away. Know what else sucks? Hauling your laundry 8 blocks to the nearest laundromat or laundry service. And it's so much fun walking 7 blocks to nearest subway station when it's 15 degrees outside and icy. If you enjoy loud pulsing beats every night til 2 AM then by all means take that apartment above the nightclub. Hey, living across the street from a school is great for concentrating during the day! That scaffolding outside the building next door to the one you're considering renting in couldn't mean construction noise, could it? Nah! Are you excited about the 2nd Ave subway line? Me too, but I sure wouldn't want to live on 2nd Ave on the Upper East Side right now. If you live on a low floor in a building above a subway line, your apartment just might shake every time a train goes by.

It's also worthwhile to research each neighborhood as a whole. Want a neighborhood that's quiet at night? Don't live in Soho. Want to be close to many of the cities' museums? Try the Upper East Side. Worried your neighborhood will be dead after hours? Don't live in midtown.

8. You DO NOT need a car in Manhattan. You DO NOT want a car in Manhattan, Sell it before you move here.

Your car insurance will triple if you park your car in Manhattan. It has a better than 50% chance of being broken into. It will cost the same amount as your rent to park your car for one month. Alternate side parking rules are nightmarish. Good luck fighting an NYC ticket.

Besides the logistical nightmares, it's totally unneccessary to have a car in Manhattan. Everybody delivers; the subway and bus systems are comprehensive and if you need a car to get out of the city services like Zipcar are great rental solutions. There are taxis if you need to satiate your vehicular cruising needs.

One more reason: it takes 1 hour to get from East 77th St to West 21st St by car anytime between 8 AM and noon, or 5 PM to 7 PM. I know from experience.

9. It takes forever to get your cable/internet hooked up.

Whether you choose Time Warner or Verizon FiOS, it will probably take at least a month to get everything hooked up correctly. In the summer peak moving season it takes a month just to get an appointment. Both companies are notorious for missing installation appointments, not having the proper equipment when they do come or installing things incorrectly. Most of their technicians do a great job I'm sure but bad stories spread much faster than good ones. I personally have two hellish Time Warner stories.

Once installed, your signal will suck sometimes for no reason. Lines across your screen, channels randomly fritzing out, your Internet connection crawling at high-peak hours or overnight. Your only action is to pray to the gods of the Internets for your fiber/cable to return. If you call customer service at either company, they will instruct you to unplug your unit, wait 30 seconds, then plug it back in. If that doesn't work they have to schedule a repair appointment...which the technician will arrive for with no information about what the problem is.

10. Become handy, because your Super/management company are going to be slow to fix anything.

Luckily my Super is very attentive so this is not actually a problem for me (my non-Super is a different story). But for most of my friends, broken fridges, leaky pipes and anything else that doesn't work will usually sit for as long as possible before the landlord actually takes care of it. Sometimes it's a matter of laziness, sometimes of ignorance, sometimes of business. It is always miserable for you, the tenant. BFF M had her fridge break, so she lost $50 worth of groceries. Her management company fixed it two weeks later but it broke a week after that and she lost another $50 in groceries. During your search it's a good idea to ask where the Super lives (in your building is preferable). If you live in a doorman building you're more likely to have a dedicated maintenace crew in your building as well.

11. Don't blow all your money on rent.

One of my biggest delimas was setting a budget. In NYC it's easy to blow 60% of your income on rent, especially if you're just out of school. So how much do you need to make to live in Manhattan? I would say at least $50,000 anually to have any semblance of comfort. I do have friends who do it for less but they are taking a huge risk or living 8 people in a 4 BR apartment, and who wants to live like that? Part of living in the city is experiencing the culture. Sure, lots of cool stuff is free but lots of cool stuff is so not free. You will spend more than you think when you live here. Either learn to control yourself or budget accordingly.

When you are making your budget, consider the following:
- transportation costs (Metrocard, taxi fares, etc.)
- health insurance costs
- taxes (live in NYC? your income gets taxed by both the city and the state)
- 401k/IRA/savings
- groceries (food is expensive in Manhattan) and eating out (ditto)
- utilities like electricity
- cable/internet/etc
- gym memberships
- other basic needs
- disposable income for clothing, concerts, going out, etc.
- delivery and tip fund

Subtract all or some of those things from your monthly income after taxes. That gives you an idea of what you can afford.

Additional resources if you're thinking about moving to NYC:
Wired New York City forums (very long thread at this point, but still very valuable)
Tips on apartment hunting from Columbia University
Ben Popken's thoughts on moving to NYC without going broke
New York Magazine's real estate section (though they seem to have taken down their neighborhood guide, which was awesome)
The New York Times' community guides (click on neighborhood in the community data links for more info)
OnNYturf (find a business near a subway station)
Google Maps
Flavorpill

Review sites:
Yahoo Local
Yelp

Open House New York: Take 2

This past weekend was Open House New York (OHNY). This was my second time participating in the program and once again I completely missed any advertising for it until the day before. It was friend A who got me into gear this year. Each year, the program opens up several commercial and private interest sites (apartments, studios, businesses, etc.) to the public for two days. Some places require reservations for tours while others are open to the public during certain hours.

And just like last year, I missed out on several sites I would have loved to see. The High Line? Not even close. Not only did I miss the deadline to enter the lottery for a tour spot (!!) but I heard that they had something like 5,000 requests for 700 available spaces. Tom Otterness studio? Totally booked -- try the 14th St/8th Ave subway station instead. 7 World Trade Center? Maybe next year.

Still, I wasn't dissuaded from finding other spots to see. A and I decided to go the Broadway Penthouse, the Grand Mason Lodge, PS260 and the Chrysler Building (which I saw last year, but I never get sick of deco). Our plan was to meet at Broadway Penthouse on Saturday morning at 8:45 AM and work our way uptown.

These wood tables were a

cool accent in the Broadway penthouse.

It was raining on Saturday but I was too excited to care. I got down to Great Jones St around 8:55 (pretty good for me!) where A was queued up 3rd in line. We were the second group to go up. I learned later that we came at the right time. Not only did we get a full tour from someone from the architecture firm but I learned the site cancelled for Sunday. The place was very modern and had recently been featured in the New York Times. My favorite part was the living room, which had pillows made to look like rocks and pebbles. Minimalism has never been my style though and the place was so sparse. Not a kid-friendly place. Whether it was jealousy or shock I'm not sure, but I was kind of upset walking around. It just seemed like so...lifeless to me. It had tons of cool features but it had no personal touches. No photos or anything that says life. Maybe they were taken down beforehand? Nonetheless, I appreciate that the owner was willing to open it to the public.

The bathroom sink (yes, it's a sink
made out of wood -- teak) was
surrounded by real foliage.

The roof had a tiered garden, which the architects said the owner wanted to use to bring natural surrounds to the urbanscape. That at least spoke to me a bit.

The 2nd floor hallway at
The Grand Lodge of Masons.

From there, it was up to 23rd and 6th and the Grand Lodge of Masons. Admittedly, I was a bit confused about who the Masons are exactly. Was it Masons in the sense of working with stone? (Yes, historically.) Was it like a union? (Not really.) The Masons are a fraternity of sorts and as they explained it they're committed to bettering themselves and charitable efforts. The building is non-descrept from outside -- I know I have passed by at probably 100 times without realizing what was inside. And how cool it was; 12 floors of ornately decorated meeting rooms each set up to reflect the Temple of Solomon and by that reflect their code of morality. Our tour guides were a hoot. Each made sure to mention that Félix Chávez had restored each room over four years in 1986. And my compliments to him because each room we saw was truly beautiful.

The Tiffany skylights in the Grand Hall.

The coolest room on that tour was the Grand Hall, which was so big I couldn't capture it one photo. Our guides told us an anecdote that the Tiffany ceiling skylights inspired the Titanic designers to use the same skylights in the great ballroom. I don't know if this is true...cool story either way!

From there we headed to P.S. 260. Not actually a school. It was a video editing company meant to be young, hip and cool...and man if you've seen one of these companies (or worked for one as I have) you've really seen them all. They are awesome to work for but a bit pretentious from the outside looking in. Also kind of shitty that no one was outside as the rest of the locations had -- and there was no way to buzz up. Luckily someone who worked there happened to arrive at the same time as we did and let us up. A and I quickly breezed through the office. We were mostly interested in the rooftop view. They recently shot an episode of "Lipstick Jungle" up there. Oddly enough, I was visiting a friend who lives next to the Empire State Building for a party on his rooftop deck that night and we saw them filming (the lighting for the shoot completely fucked with the light on our night photos and I was repeatedly cursing them). Anyway, the deck was pretty cool. The view to the north was just alright but the view south was to die for. Straight shot to the Flatiron Building.

Ahoy, Daily Bugle!

We could see the new Esplanade clearly and Madison Square Park peeked in from the East. As we left, I told A, "I'll take it."

The Chrysler Building was still awesome just like last year. Go see it! Coolest clock ever in the lobby. Overall, getting an early start was key this year. The weather probably also had something to do with it (on and off rain and cold) but we hit no lines this year. Four places and done before 3 PM. I have to say, though, what the hell is up with the OHNY website? Not only is it so NOT search engine friendly (no meta tags?? spaces in the URLS?? really??) it's also not mobile phone friendly. C'mon guys. People in the 21st century do not carry around tabloid-sized guides. If you want help re-doing your site, call me. I got friends in talented places.

Me vs. ConEd, update

Well, Con-Ed never showed up for their appointment this week. I called my representative from the high bill department and he has not called me back. I have no idea what to even do at this point. I've decided to stew over it this weekend and then take action on Monday. They are really impressing me with how inept they truly are. It's enough to make me want to run for mayor.

Me vs. ConEd, again

I feel like I just can't win with ConEd. Every couple of months it seems like they are out to get me. It wasn't enough for them to screw me out of gas for over a month. It wasn't enough for them to try to trick me into changing my electricity provider to a 3rd party that charges 2-3 times more. And even threatening to shut off our building's common area electricity didn't satiate their need for suffering. No, no, once again they had to come after me.

Each month, my ConEd bill ranges from $50-$65. Sometimes the bills are "estimated usage" and sometimes they are actual meter readings. But always in the same range. This has been the case steadily for over year. So you can imagine my shock when I got a bill this month for $325. This can't be right, I told myself. The explanation was this:

Dear Customer, we know that we have been sending you estimated bills for the past few months. Well we finally read your meter and (chuckle chortle) guess what? It turns out that we underbilled you for the last 4 months. By a lot. Yeah we don't know why you used so much more electricity this year than last year. No, we don't really care why and we don't think it's our mistake. Oh, and we know we already billed you our best guess for those last 4 months but we're gonna go ahead and re-bill you now! Yeah, we can do that. Isn't it great?! It's like your name came up in the screw you lottery this month. It's like winning...for us. And there's really nothing you can do about it. We have no oversight. Go ahead and call your politician whatever person. The Public Service Commission? Drowning in complaints like yours, and for much more money. Call us if you want! We'll just yell at you and tell you you're an idiot.

Should you choose not to pay, we will send the mob after you. Whoops, we mean collections. So just go ahead and pay this bill that makes absolutely no sense. Or else. Whoops, we mean please. And could you please bend over? It makes it that much easier for us to kick you in the ass.

Love,
ConEd xoxxoxoxo

Or in more business-y terms, ConEd said that they were able to read my meter for the first time in 4 months and they are re-billing me for May-September. The new cost? About $121 per month. I LIVE IN A 200 SQUARE FOOT APARTMENT ON THE FIRST FLOOR. I have a northern exposure -- hardly any light. I barely ever have to run my air conditioning. I don't leave anything on while I am gone during the day. My refrigerator is not running all the time. You have got to be kidding me.

The total bill was $454, but they applied the amount I'd been paying on my bills each month. So I'm left owing $325. I was so unbelievably mad. I called my parents; I called T; I called BFF M; I wanted to call the cops for robbery. I emailed the Consumerist tips line but never heard back (I guess even they have bigger fish to fry). I did research and found that I am unfortunately not the only one going through this. Then I called ConEd.

I had a lovely 45 minute wait time to practice what I wanted to say. I'll just summarize our conversation: he said there was nothing ConEd could do. That was on Saturday. The next day I called back and opened a bill dispute. Today a rep from their "high bill" department called me back. He tried pulling me into an argument, but I kept calm and stood my ground: I am disputing the bill. We scheduled a meter re-read and he recommended I get my Super to check the meter while I unplug everything to see if the meter is still running (if so, something besides my apartment is running to the meter).

There are three possible outcomes: 1 - ConEd discovers the meter was incorrectly read. 2 - Something besides my apartment is running into my electric meter. 3 - I am wrong, ConEd is right and I pay the bill. Update to come after next week's meter reading. What makes me so upset is that ConEd was allowed to send me "estimated bills" on a monthly basis. Why the hell are they allowed to do that? Shouldn't that be, oh I don't know, illegal? And who do I bother who can actually do something about this?

Forced to do my laundry in the city

Ugh. I knew this day would come. After a year of going up to my old house in Connecticut once a month to do my laundry I have been forced to find a place in NYC.

I know it's weird that I was doing my laundry in a different state. It's a product of being a germaphobe. While I am able to just condone germs in most places -- the guy who sneezes or coughs towards me on the subway, the disgustingness of door handles city wide, etc. -- for some reason the thought of sharing laundry machines in particular gives me the eebie jeebies. I'm pretty sure I developed the phobia during college, where I watched in horror at the things guys would do with the laundry machines in our dorms. So sharing laundry machines with a couple of roommates? OK. Sharing laundry machines with a few hundred (or thousand) people at laundromat? Not so much.

My old roommates in CT have been quite gracious in letting me trek up there and do my laundry for free. But our third roommate moved out last month and the remaining two replaced him with two girls sharing a room. That makes four people living in a 3-bedroom house and the thought of me hogging the machines for even a day was too much. I really do understand but I was bummed when P told me, mostly because I had a month's worth of laundry to do!

Defeated, I evaluated my options. Most of my friends recommended going the laundry service route but I was nervous about having some stranger washing my intimates. Some friends said laundromat was the way to go. A few tried to tempt me with the thought of meeting a hot guy there. But laundromats in NYC aren't how they appear in the movies, or at least not on the Upper East Side. It isn't all windows and sharing frozen yogurt with your true love/arch enemy's girlfriend or finding out that your Spidey Suit got mixed in with your whites. They're dank and sometimes smelly and small and crowded all the time.

On top of that laundromats barely seem to exist in my neighborhood. I vaguely remember seeing one when I first moved in but that was over a year ago now. Using Google Maps I wrote down the address of several supposed laundromats around me. Half of them turned out to be laundry services. One-third didn't exist (commercial real estate turnover is pretty high right now). And the last third were yucky.

Nonetheless, I needed clothing. So I split my heaves of clothes into a self-serve pile to take to the laundromat and a full service pile to take to the laundry service. And then sadly I wasted a Summer Friday morning doing my laundry. The laundromat was only a block and a half away but it was very hot and I was exhausted when I arrived. It cost $3.50 to a load of wash (quarters only of course) but luckily the place was staffed and had plenty of change. The machines were good ol' Wascomats that I remember from previous laundromat excursions. At least they were kinda new. I can't tell you how many of those things have eaten my money.

I got there early enough that I was able to find 3 empty machines out of the 12 or so the place had. It was kind of weird because the laundromat was also a laundry service so I was doing my laundry as the staff did other people's. There were a few other self-serves so I didn't feel too weird. I had to wait around to put in the detergent and I decided to just wait out the full cycles. Once the wash was done it was over to the dryers. It took about 20 minutes to dry my clothes to damp-dry. Then I brought everything home and hung it on the drying rack that I am now so glad I didn't throw out. It was a pain the ass because the rack is big and took up about half the free floor space in my tiny studio. All in all, it was fairly miserable.

The following Monday I nervously put my self-service pile in my laundry bag and walked up my block to a laundry service. I was mostly scared of not getting everything back...not really sure why. The store was operated by two women. I told them there were two loads in the bag and asked them to bleach my whites. I also had a few dry cleaning items. They gave me a ticket and told me I could pick up my laundry later that day, dry cleaning the next day. Same day for laundry? Really? OK.

After work I picked up my laundry. When I got to my apartment I opened the bag and my clean clothes were wrapped inside a bag. And amazingly, they had made everything the same rectangular shape. Even my socks. It was like they had put my clothes through a haybaler to get the shape. It was kind of awesome! I would pick up an item and it would open back out to it's natural shape. My first fear of things missing was qualmed after a quick survey of the items. My next fear was shrinkage. Luckily my clothes seemed to have been spared. I missed my normal laundry smell of mountain spring detergent and Bounty drying sheets but the clothes smelled clean and I guess that's all that matters.

The final tally: laundromat cost $17.50 and was a pain in the ass. Laundry service caused $14.50 for laundry and $3.50 for dry cleaning and was easy. The decision was made: I'm using the laundry service from now on. This is probably why there is only one laundromat in my neighborhood.

From 72nd St to the Brooklyn Bridge, and not a car in sight

That, my friends, is Park Ave

closed to vehicles.

Ever since Mayor Bloomberg announced the Summer Streets program I have been counting the days. Seven miles of city streets closed to vehicles? Bikers, skaters and pedestrians welcome to take over? Count me in!

You see, I would totally would bike to work except there is no safe route. I am not crazy enough to bike on New York City streets. And unlike my co-workers on the west side I don't have the safety of the West Side bike path here on the East Side. So I walk home sometimes but no biking. And on top of that, there are so many cool buildings on Park Ave that I've never taken proper photos of because you can't just stand in the middle of a busy street aiming for the right photo.

Someone must have heard my whining, because for three consecutive Saturdays in August the NYC DOT is closing Park Ave south of 72nd St and Lafayette to the Brooklyn Bridge to vehicles and opening it to cyclists and pedestrians. And it is nothing short of awesome. I missed out on the first Saturday but went this weekend with three buds.

The beginning of the street closures at 72nd.

My friends are all regular cyclists and I am...not. So I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep up with them for too long. Asthma and all that. They all came from Brooklyn and met up with me at 72nd and Park. I was impressed with the police effort -- police at every block uptown with barricades on all side streets. You really get a sense for the lay of the land on a bike. Who knew NYC had hills? Not me, until I was biking up them. We had to stop a few times for designated car crossings but for the most part it was smooth sailing into midtown. The DOT had helpfully coned the middle of each side of Park. Bikes on the left and runners on the right. Of course, not everyone was listening. But for the most part it was quite pleasant.

Biking up the Park Ave overpass
towards Grand Central.

God bless my friends; they stayed with me all the way to Union Square even though I stopped every couple of blocks to take pictures. I kept myself mostly in check until we got to Grand Central. It was just such a riot being able to bike the underpass under the Helmsley Building and then around the Park Ave overpass that I had to take tons of photos. I heard a bunch of people remark that it was like "I Am Legend." Only, you know with way more people. No sign of the mannequin in front of the station. I'd give the mannequin a name drop but his role went unlisted on IMDB...ha.

We also made a pit stop in the 20s at one of the rest stops set up along the way. On the downtown side we grabbed free bike maps and signed a petition to make the program an annual event. Then we got free (badly needed, in my case) water bottles and filled them up on the uptown side. Once down at Union Square, I could tell my friends were itching to go and I was starting to tire. So I told them to go off with out me. After some slight protesting we agreed to call each other in 1 hour to decide what to do. I wasn't sure how much further down the course I could go anyway.

Union Square was the end of Park Ave as well and the course moved onto Lafayette, which was narrower and without an island between the directions. It also seemed a lot more crowded down there. I met up with several large packs of runners that were hard to maneuver around. I'm sure they would have complained about the crazy bikers, but they were taking up both lanes even though they only were supposed to be in the right hand lane.

This one group of about 15 or so runners kept catching up with me. By that point I was taking breaks every few blocks to catch my breath and by about the fifth time it was almost funny. I say almost because the runners were giving me a hard time about it. I decided to take a longer break to let them get a good distance in front of me. When I first started the course my goal was to make it to Union Square. Then I wanted to go 5 more minutes. Then 5 more. Well those damn runners really lit a fire under my ass and I decided to go the whole way.

The Brooklyn Bridge walkway
was very crowded.

A little while later I surprised myself when I realized I'd made it to the Brooklyn Bridge. At that point the traffic pattern narrowed from two wide lanes in each direction to a very narrow one. But I pressed on as far up the ramp as I could before I felt like my lungs were on fire. I dismounted and walked the rest of the way, pausing to take pictures along the way.

The view of NYC from the Brooklyn Bridge.
Wow.

At the second tower I was taking shots of the skyline when I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was friends J and J. They had passed the rest of my group a little while before and congratulated me on making it all the way down the bridge. They were going to brunch on the Upper West Side and invited me and my group to join. Ha, if I made it that far! Truth be told I had no idea how I was going to make it home.

Rested a bit, I started back. I was determined to bike the whole way back home even though I knew I faced a long ride with some uphills. Toughen up, sister! Downtown was rough but once I made it back to Union Square I felt re-energized. At least I was until that damn running group from my downtown plight caught up with me again. I was slightly mortified. But this is New York, so when they started giving me a hard time again some guy came to my aid, saying "Every time a jackass runner gets run over an angel gets their wings." That shut them up. The voice sounded familiar, and I turned around and it was my friend H who had come to my aid! Like a corny movie or something.

I paused at the water station in the 20s to refill my water bottle. My friends had biked around Brooklyn for a bit but decided to take the Js up on their brunch invite. What the heck, I was in too. We were about to get started again when two guys came running up to me. "Your tires are low," they said. "Can we help you pump?" Awesome. Turns out they were with the Five Borough Bike Club and they were pretty amazing. One guy took my front tire and the other took my back tire. They gave me their spiel ("Do you offer rides for severe asthmatics?" I asked half-jokingly) and a couple of minutes later I was ready to roll again.

And wow what a difference. I realized I was an idiot for not checking my tires before I left that morning. Suddenly it was smooth sailing. I kept up with my friends (though I'm sure they slowed for my benefit too) all the way up to 72nd. Then it was decision time: bike to the west side or drop our bikes off at my place and bus it?

Bike it was the consensus. We cut across the loop and met up with the girls at Cafe Lalo. We were not the only bikers there and we traded stories with another group that had also just finished the tour. Then we had to bike back...oy. When I finally got home, I calculated that I'd biked close to 20 miles. I collapsed on my bed and I don't think I moved for a couple of hours. That is until my lovely neighbors started crashing around. This is NYC, after all.

I made a slideshow in my flickr account of my best shots from the day. Enjoy! Also, a big thank you to all of the volunteers who manned the intersections. It was a safe and fun day and I cannot wait to do it again.