The Hunt, Part VII (Signature Please)...

I signed a lease this morning and possess a new set of keys. I will write about it over the weekend and post a few shots by Monday.

Let me just say.... It is in Magic Land.

The Hunt, Part VI (Wonkyness, Not OK)...

Well now that it has been a week since I put in an application on the apartment I fell in love with, I feel as though I have been left at the alter with no explanation. Absolutely nothing has come of my application, and I must move on. But before doing so, I hadn't shared one primary detail (I so very much didn't want to jinx it) about this place and why I so very much wanted it. That detail was location. Location in this case was worth more than the apartment (although is was quite nice), and the sole reason I was willing to pay an extra hundred bucks over my budget. The apartment was located in Greenwich Village, just south of 14th Street and just west of Sixth Avenue. I would have been within walking distance of the world (as well as Whole Foods and Trader Joes), and had easy access to several neighborhoods. Quite simply, It was located in Magic Land. It would have been my ultimate Carry Bradshaw apartment, and I would likely have stayed there for years to come. Unfortunately, apartments in my price range in this area are a very rare breed, and I have had to let go of my fantasy of living in Magic Land for now. Maybe someday...

So, Yesterday I met up with Marcus and we went to look at a nicely priced ($1,500) unit on West 56th St near 9th Avenue. The block was not one of the more attractive ones in Hell's Kitchen, but that is to be expected. The apartment was a fourth floor walk up two room studio. As we were walking there, Marcus got a call about getting the keys to another place he had been working on since the previous day and he had the chance to get them in just a few minutes. So basically, we had a very brief time to look at the apartment on W56th, and my walk through produced two memories. The stairs in the building were weirdly out of alignment (coming home at 3AM, it could be difficult to navigate them, photo above) and the shower was large but kinda icky.

After a quick walk through at the place on 56th, we rushed back to the office a few blocks away where Marcus got keys to an apartment on Columbus Ave between 82nd and 83rd. Apparently this place was popular as we had two other agents go up on the train with us, and there was another person waiting to see it when we got there. So the five of us ascended the stairs to a third floor unit and when the door opened, it was beautiful! The main room had very high ceilings with a white painted brick wall (which I like), it was almost loft like. As I went back to investigate the bathroom and closet situation, I discovered to my amazement a real bedroom! Yes a bedroom about 10x12 in size with a window and a closet. WOW!!! Of course I signaled to Marcus that this was a keeper, and we headed downstairs as quickly as we could to call in and get the ball rolling. Marcus made the call, and before we got to the corner, he got a call back, the unit was gone. No surprise with a rent of $1,650. It was at least 500 square feet.

Well, once again, we just missed a place. We headed back to the office to check for more listings, and basically came up with nothing. I decided to head out to lunch, Marcus said he would keep looking, and that was that.

I went to lunch, and kept thinking about the first place I had seen and about the location and price. The location is pretty good, near trains, near the park, near all the 9th Avenue restaurants, and at $1,500, it really might be workable. If only I could remember the details. I decided I wanted to see it again, and this time I wanted a second opinion. I called my best buddy (and host) and he said he could be there by 6:20, I called Marcus and he said he would arrange to be there as well. I walked the neighborhood for an hour or so to get a feel for it. At first I wasn't sure about the block, there were some folks hanging around that made me question the block, like many other Manhattan blocks, just because it looks kinda scary doesn't mean it is.

Stefan (his real name) meet Marcus and I at 6:20 on the dot, and we proceeded to walk up to the fourth floor. Now I actually had the time to look the place over more closely. The shower was still icky, but I could probably have dealt with that... Same thing with the ickyness in the kitchen. The deal breaker was that while standing at the back of the apartment looking toward the windows, it became clear that the wonkyness of the stairs (photo above) leading up to the place translated into floors that were literally twisted. One side of the room tilted one way, the other side tilted the other way, a bucket of water would flow in an "S" shape. Not good. I began to have an uneasiness about the place and the real fear that the building could/would collapse made clear that I don't want to live there. I told Marcus I would sleep on it, and call him in the AM.

So, there we have it, nearly two weeks, and a dozen apartments... And still no home. I have the luxury of flexibility in my schedule, I don't know what I would do if I were working and trying to find a place.

So today, I am looking again... October first is next week. I will keep you posted as the saga continues.

Live Update

Blogging from midtown on my iPhone, I have seen two places so far
today. One was amazing and unfortunately taken by the time we finished
viewing it. The other... Well, it was just wonky.

We are trying to get into two other places this afternoon. I will post
more details later.

The Hunt, Part V (Maybe Not)...

Wednesday morning and still no answer. After speaking with Camille yesterday, we decided it was time to keep looking. I am going out with Marcus this morning to see several more places. I will post about them soon.

The Hunt, Part IV (Maybe This Time?)...

Well, as I write this, it is Monday night and time to catch you all up on the search.

Going back to this past Thursday, I got a call from Camille in the AM asking if I could get to an address within about an hour. She had a really nice studio for $1,700 ($100 more than my $1,600 budget) in Chelsea. I was hesitant at first (Not sure I wanted to live in Chelsea), but after she gave me the address, I said yes...

I arrived at the location to meet up with Marcus. The unit was another first floor overlooking the sidewalk, only there are stairs leading down to a lower level business so no worries about people walking up and looking in, and as you can see in the photo, there is a double set of bars on the window (window on the left in photo). The street is reasonably quiet, and quite pretty. Marcus buzzed the super and she let us into the unit. Well, it wasn't the largest unit I had seen, but it certainly was nice enough. I would guess 325-350 sq ft, it has three closets, and actual windows in both the kitchen and bathroom in the back of the unit. Having looked at eight other units the previous three days, I decided I would be happy here. Actually, I would be happier here than at any other place I had seen. So I told Marcus that I wanted to go back and put in an application.

We hopped on the subway and headed up to their office in Midtown. I spent the next hour filling out paperwork giving a cash deposit, and waiting for my credit report to come back. Now normally, there is an answer relatively soon... My credit came back golden (all those years of on time payments helps at a time like this), but it turns out that the person in charge of making the ultimate decision was unavailable due to the Jewish Holidays (Yom Kippur). Camille said she would let me know as soon as she did. I headed home to wait by the phone.

I got a call on Thursday evening from Camille letting me know that they have the application, and the decision makers assistant said it looks good, but I will need to wait it out, most likely until Monday. I spent the entire weekend trying not to get too excited, I don't want to get my hopes up only to be let down.

I spent the weekend recovering from a small bout of bronchitis (this is becoming a bit too regular). I am feeling much better now, and am thankful I didn't need to see a doctor for antibiotics.

This morning (Monday), I left a message, and Camille called back a couple of hours later to let me know the decision maker hadn't come in to his the office yet (his office is not the brokers office but the building owners office... Sorry if this is confusing), and to hold on and keep waiting. She said she would call as soon as she knew...

Well, I am still waiting and yes, the suspense is killing me. As of this writing on Monday evening, I do not know if I have it yet, and I am doing everything I can think of to avoid being completely consumed by the stress of it all. I just have to accept that I have done what I could, and it is out of my hands. I have to just let go.

To be truthful, there is more to reveal about this place and why it is so important to me to spend more than my budget for it (it is so worth the extra)... But, just like I am being held in suspense... So will you!

Stay tuned!

The Hunt, Part III (15 Minutes Late)...

(Buckle-up, it's going be a long post)
Just a few minutes before my noon meet-up at the brokerage on Wednesday, I came up from the subway a couple of blocks from their offices and had a voice mail on my phone from Marcus (also not his real name). Marcus said he was calling me at the request of Camille and had several addresses for us to go out and view today. I returned his call, we spoke briefly, met at the office and within minutes was headed out the door to see apartments.

The four properties on his list were all east side, and while he thought it best to start farthest north in Yorkville (Upper East Side) and work our way down, I saw that he had one in Murry Hill (Midtown East) and that I wanted to see that one first. Murray Hill has actually been my target area because it so centrally located. From there I can walk nearly anywhere. I also love it because it is an easy ride on the "6" train to Union Square where I can get to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. Another nice thing about the area is the shorter distance to everything means smaller cab fares.

We arrive at a nice looking building on 29th between 2nd Ave and 3rd, and take the elevator to the top (5th) floor. Marcus opens the door, and I fall in love. The place is huge! At least 400 square feet and only $1,645 ($45 over my budget). It had a very large foyer/dining area, nice closets, a lovely kitchen with a pass through to the living room, and the windows overlooked the tree lined street below. Before even looking at the bathroom, I said "I want this place!" I spent another four or five minutes looking around and told Marcus I wanted to put in an application. We headed back downstairs, and he called the office to let them know we were headed back in to put in an application. He said clearly to me "Finding the right place is but the first half of the process, we still have to apply and get accepted" Those words are so true.

After quickly taking the subway back uptown to the offices, we got up to the street and Marcus had a voice mail on his phone. It was Camille letting him know that an application for that apartment had arrived fifteen minutes earlier and the apartment was gone. I was crushed. Just in the time we were on the subway, the place was gone. Marcus' words from a few minutes earlier hit home.

Well, we were less than a block from the office so Marcus suggested we go upstairs and look to see what else there may be in my target neighborhood. The harsh reality is that with my meager budget of $1,600 (which is a lot of money to me), the average Manhattan studio pushing $2,100 and a vacancy rate of less than 1%, my chances of finding a place in an area I want to be is slim to none. When we went back upstairs and I sat with Marcus and did a search on their database (one of the largest in the city) there was just nothing. NOTHING. So I reluctantly agreed to see a place in Yorkville on 90th btwn 1st and 2nd. As we were getting ready to go see it, Camille came over with another listing in Murray Hill. I was elated.

We decided to go see the Murray Hill property and then head up to Yorkville to see the one we previously had planned to see. After repeating the exact same subway ride we had done only minutes before, we landed at 31st btwn 3rd and Lex. Wow, what an area... We get to the building and it is a lovely brownstone with a gorgeous red door. To get to the apartment though, we needed to go down to the basement door, and ring the first buzzer. This is when the weirdness begins. The apartment is located on the first floor, but to get to it, you first must enter the basement door, walk through an office which looked to be the private office for the landlord, then through another door, up a flight of stairs and at the top of the stairs is a small vestibule and two doors. We walk in, and the 12x18 room is dark. In one corner, the one and only window (facing north) is under a set of stairs outside, so the only light is filtered through the stairs. In the opposite corner there is very dark but glowing hallway which resembles a tunnel. Upon approach to the hallway, a bright light at the end beckons and turns out to be the kichen, a 5x5 affair with no cabinet space or any space really, it's only redeeming feature is the two large windows which let in tons of light that doesn't reach the rest of the apartment. Parallel to the long hallway is the bathroom. At about ten feet long, and only about 30" wide (seriously), it contains the toilet, sink and stall shower (no tub) all laid out in tandem with a window under the same set of stairs as the main room. To add insult to it all, I then found out the ample closet space is not in the actual apartment but just outside the front door in the little vestibule. It was ample in size, but not really secure except for a small section behind a locked door at the back of the closet. Now, I don't know about you, but generally, I like to keep my clothes and other hidden posessions inside my apartment, and not have to leave my home to go get a pair of undies after my shower.

To sum this place up... Walk downstairs and through a private office to go upstairs, a bathroom shaped like a hallway, dark foreboding main room, and closet outside of the apartment.... All for the sum of $1,700 a month! A hundred bucks over my budget. I don't think so. With that, we headed up to Yorkville to see the next place.

We arrived at 90th between 2nd and 3rd (close to 2nd, damn that is a long walk from the subway) to a building that was just plain. This apartment ($1,550) was located on the second floor, and was about as uninteresting as could be. It was also shockingly small for the neighborhood (they tend to be a bit bigger up here in the far northern reaches up the Upper East Side) with the main room being maybe 12x16. The deal-breaker (besides the location) was that the kitchen was covered in wall to wall tile of a color and pattern that only somebody from the former soviet republic could appreciate. I mean it was everywhere. I suspect this was to prevent you from hanging anything on the wall without a suction cup. The bathroom was just as bad. It was completely tiled everywhere but the ceiling in a weird blue/green/grey tile, the likes of I have never seen. (Do landlords ever think about the fact that people have to live in these places?) At that point, I was tired, and hungry and the only other places on Marcus' list were also in the Upper East Side, which I really don't want to live in. So, I said lets call it a day, and try again tomorrow.

We parted ways, and I headed back down to Murray Hill thinking maybe my just being there would open up opportunities (and there is a nice Cosi on 31st and Park with free WiFi). Sitting and eating my sandwich, I surfed Craigslist for new postings and came across an ad for a "Railroad 1 Bdrm" in Hell's Kitchen at 45th and 10th. (The apartment has retained it original detailed floors, high ceilings, commecial style kitchen, spacious rooms and unique French style bathroom arrangement.) I called the number and found out it was listed by a different broker at the same office as my broker(s). I then called Marcus and left him a message about seeing the place. I also called about another place having an open house that evening in the mid 50s near 3rd Ave. I told the lady that I would be there at six.

Fifteen minutes later, Marcus called me back, and said he got a showing for the Hells Kitchen place at 5:30, could I meet him there? I had a good feeling about this place, and felt it was worth the effort to get there, and skip the open house. (I did call her back and cancel.). I met Marcus a few minutes early, when I got there, he was on the phone with the other broker who was informing him that he was running late... 45 minutes late. Even though the building wasn't gonna win a beauty contest (see image above), I decided to wait it out, and Marcus agreed to wait with me. We hung out and chatted in the sun (He was a bit chilled), and waited.

Finally at about 6:30, the other broker was there as well as another person to look at the unit. Well, sadly it was a waste of time. The apartment was not a one bedroom, but a two room studio. And it also wasn't a railroad apartment (Well, it was when the building was built, but it was cut up into smaller units long ago). It had not retained it "original detailed floors", the "commercial style kitchen" meant that there were no cabinets, and the sink was a porcelain one from the 1920's, I never figured out what the "French style bathroom" meant, and spacious rooms and high ceilings are completely based upon an individuals perception.

Now, in NYC, for a room to be called a bedroom, it must possess three things; a door which closes it off from the rest of the home, a window in which you can obtain ventilation, and a closet. This two room sudio possessed all three of these things, but not in either of the rooms (in fact, the wall btwn the rooms was a more recent addition). The front room had windows, the back room (kitchen) had a closet, there was a door on the apartment. The deal breaker was that it on the first floor with garbage cans under the windows (the two windows on the left of the front door).

At that point I'd had enough. I was disappointed that I didn't get that first apartment, and I had seen enough dumps that I decided to call it a day.

Stay tuned, this saga is to be continued...

The Hunt, Part II (Ultra Spacious)...

To pick up from yesterday... The hunt began on Monday. I took bundles of cash out of the bank (because if you don't have a job like myself, you will need to pay at least six months rent up front) and carefully hid it in my bag (more on that later) knowing that if I hit upon the right place, I would need to have immediate money to ensure that it was mine.

I headed to Midtown to one of the more notorious brokerages (they have the most listings) fully expecting to feel slimy and dirty afterward. I didn't have an appointment, so on my way up to the office, I had my first encounter with a broker asking me questions. "Maria" (not her real name) said follow me, we will go look at properties today. We went back to her desk in an open office sea of other desks with dozens of other brokers in various states of activity and started the search. After several questions, discussion of my budget ($1,600) and the intervention of her "partner" (I will call her Camille), she had written down three places. She "checked out" the keys from the key keepers (with a 20' wall of keys behind them) and we were off.

We rode the subway up to 72nd and Broadway, and wandered up to 75th Street near Columbus (great area!) to look at a ground floor front unit ($1,650) in what was a brownstone. The building looked nice, but unfortunately I never got to see the unit. The tenant had apparently changed the lock, and we couldn't get in. Too bad... While I hate the idea of being on a ground floor (mostly for security reasons), this place was on a beautiful quiet block.

Next we took the subway down to 50th and walked over to a doorman building on about 48th between 8th and 9th. This is the one I wrote about yesterday (back of the building, second floor, 175 sq ft, $1,625) This place was such a sorry excuse for an apartment (it was worth perhaps $1,200 just because of the neighborhood), the realities began to settle in. This was going to be a hellish process.

The next place we went to was on 48th between 10th and 11th (outside of where I wanted, and a real schlep to the subway). It was actually within my budget ($1,550), and at an "Ultra Spacious" 275 sq ft, not completely out of the question (the location still sucked). We get there, take the modern elevator to the top (5th) floor and behold... a bright sunny apartment (see above photo). Now if you look at this picture closely you will see that the room is long enough, but if you look closer you will also see that it is quite narrow. Turns out the room is about 8 feet wide and 20 feet long. But the real deal breaker is that for some reason the building owner decided that a utility closet housing a hot water tank should be placed along the outside wall narrowing the room down to about six feet, rendering the space useless. Now I suppose if you were say 20 years old, slept in a twin bed, and had no real furniture, it could work. The only advantage this place had was that it had a rather nice view of the city from the large windows. Otherwise it was a joke.

I was now feeling even less enthusiastic at this point. Maria said she would call me the next day (Tuesday) at noon with an address to meet her at 12:30, we then parted ways.

The next day, I was running a bit late, and didn't get up to the street from the subway until about 12:15. There was no voice mail when I came up so I called and left her a message. She called me back in about five minutes, and said she was sorry but she couldn't go out until 4:30 ("Will that be OK?"). So instead of heading back to Brooklyn, I decided to hang out in the city and wander around. I ended up spending the last hour waiting in Central Park as it was a short walk to the brokers office, and when 4:30 came around, no call. I decided I would be a trouper and wait it out until 5:00, then head back to Brooklyn. At 4:50 Camille called and said she was sorry but Maria was tied up and couldn't get out. But, she had a property for me to go look at on my own but I needed to get there quickly.

This place (at $1,600) was on W 64th Street between Amsterdam and West End Ave. It was also located adjacent to the projects. Now NYC's public housing is nowhere near as horrendous as Chicago's public housing is, none the less, I wasn't sure I wanted to live directly next to it, nor did I want to walk alongside it every day. Call me a snob, but this was not the New York experience I wanted. Well it turned out that I got there at 5:08 and the super had already locked up and left for the day. I called Camille, who in turn called the building because the super had told her he would wait (which he didn't). He was gone, and the front desk person (not a doorman) wouldn't do anything about it. So, that was a wasted trip. Camille called me back and apologized (which I actually appreciated very much) for wasting my whole afternoon waiting around. She asked me to come in at noon the next day (Wed) and she promised she would have several more places for me to look at.

Stay tuned as this saga is to be continued...

The Hunt, Part I (Chef's Kitchen)...

The hunt is officially on... The hunt for an apartment in Manhattan is considered to be one of the most challenging experiences a New Yorker must endure, and I will testify that there is a lot of truth to that. I have been looking at the ads for the past two months, but it wasn't until this week that I started making the phone calls, and treading the pavement to go out and see what there is available.

My budget is a max of $1,600 (which is paltry by NYC standards, given that the average studio in Manhattan is more than 2k a month), and I am pretty adamant about living as close to the center of it all as possible. That means that I want to be below Central Park (59 St) and prefferably between Third and Ninth Avenues. Of course, nearly all of what is available that I can afford is outside of those parameters, but apartments do pop up. I want to be as close to the center of it for the simple reason that you can walk to nearly everything from the middle of Manhattan. Uptown, Downtown, anywhere... I want to be able to walk out of my front door with my camera and wander around my 'hood (or others close by), and take pictures like I did in the Loop in Chicago. Thats important to me. Of course, finding a place in the center means I must be willing to compromise... A LOT... Especially on space.

So after looking at literally hundreds (if not thousands) of ads on Craigslist, and elsewhere, I have come to the conclusion that everything they say about a place is a bold faced lie, including the price sometimes. The photo above was pulled from a Craigslist ad which was headlined "$1600 GREAT STUDIO-GREAT PRICE-GREAT LOCATION-CHEFS KITCHEN-MUST SEE NOW!!!" Upon clicking on the ad, there are two pics. One featuring the corner of a room (no visible windows) and the other this lovely chef's kitchen. Now I don't really know any chefs, but I would guess that there isn't a chef on the planet that would see this pic and think "Hmmm, I could really do some fancy cookin' in this kitchen!"

Of course this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the claims made on rental ads. The use of adjectives is criminal, and in any other industry, it would be considered completely unacceptable. Back in the days of yore, grocer's sold the "Jumbo Gallon" A gallon is a gallon, and there is no jumbo about it. Well, in apartment ads, jumbo could mean that the apartment is 150 square feet. Ample closets can be a closet that is two feet wide, just as a walk-in closet only means that you could stand in the empty closet and close the door. Of course, it they were forced to tell the truth about places, they would never be able extort the rent out of them. People see a half dozen apartments, and out of frustration take what ever they can get, and put up with the results.

Well, as I noted earlier... I fully began my search for my home this week, and at this point I have seen seven places. One place (a second floor back of the building unit) was about 175 sq ft for $1,625 in Hell's Kitchen (48th btwn 8th and 9th). The kitchen looked very much like the one in the photo, only with even less counter space. The unit looked to be in an old hotel, and the kitchen looked to be in what was once the closet. The main room was about 10x12 with a cheezy closet added in the corner. The only good thing about the place was that it had a normal bathroom. Again, it must have been a hotel.

Stay tuned as this saga is to be continued...

The Roller Coaster

I'm Back!

OK, so I started this site out with the intention of posting a few times a week about my experience of moving to New York City (after having wanted to do so my whole life). It all started out well, and then the past four weeks happened, and this site (TNNY) dropped to the bottom of my priorities.

So, I am going to have a go at this again… Not guarantees, but I will try… This past month has been a roller coaster to say the least. Looking for work, and dealing with my worldly goods, and having family in the hospital have consumed this past four weeks. After all that, doing posts on TNNY was just not on my radar. (As for 24gotham, I can set it on autopilot by creating several posts at a time, and letting them publish on a schedule.)

After a couple of price cuts, and a lot of stress, I sold my loft in Chicago. I got a contract on it after having it on the market for ten weeks. I didn’t get quite as much as I had hoped for, but in the current market, I was just glad to be done with it. The time between my accepting the offer, and closing was a short 23 days. That meant that I had to fly back to Chicago (Love Jet Blue!), pack up my place and move it all here in what amounted to a marathon of activity. And while I did have some help, for the most part, I did it alone (but still with lots of support). All the while, I was stressing because my Father was in the hospital overnight for a procedure (which produced good results), and a week later my Mother was in the hospital for several days after having knee replacement surgery (She is home and recovering now). [Love you Mom and Dad!]

I am back in NYC, and my stuff is finally here as well. The move was a lot of money for me, and unfortunately one of my most prized (and valuable) possessions was broken. I won’t go into the details of the disappointing experience with my moving company (yet), but suffice to say, I would be hesitant to recommend them.

Now that I am finally and fully here, I only have to find a job and an apartment… Which almost seems minor at this point.

Stay tuned for the apartment and job hunt!