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serindeSo I've looked at five apartments so far (there should have been a sixth today, but the super was MIA, so we shall have to reschedule), after a number of Craigslist and NY Times cullings; also (shhh) the use of a colleague's login on a listings accretion site.
Bachelor Apartment #1, E. 90th and First: Looked at a couple weeks ago. A 1-BR, for $TOOMUCH, with fucking stupid additional fees. The photos looked nice. This was, it turns out, because the guy hawking it on owner's behalf is a professional photographer. The bedroom, which is the downstairs, is in the basement and windowless. There are windows in the living room upstairs, which look across the street...to two car rental garages. NO.
Apartment #2, E. 59th and Third: Also looked at a couple weeks ago. Also $TOOMUCH, but can not beat the location, at least on paper. Walk to work, close to scads of trains, easy to get to Penn for NJ excursions, in the middle of Shiny Glassy Shoppingland. But...insanely small. It listed as 1-BR, and a bedroom there was, but the "living room" was, I kid you not, 8' square; the bathroom was as small as the smallest pub potty, none more small (though see below); laundry in unit there was, but it took up half the kitchen. And NO closetry. I had a case of the vapors after looking at it, because it seemed to me I was mad not to take it, but would be mad to take it. What decided me was that Midtown is, really, kind of soulless. There were some six or seven restaurants just on the block that looked excellent...and not a one of them could I afford. No place to just drop out and have a coffee or a drink. So...NO.
Apartment #3, E. 68th and First: Yesterday. Also walk to work. First thing I noticed was that it's upstairs from a Le Pain Quotidien, which is a very not-sucky thing, and half a block from the public library. Lists at $PRETTY_CHEAP and, I was told, they'd be willing to negotiate N - $100. So, fiscally prudent. Also a 1-BR, and the living room was at least, y'know, room sized, though not generous. But the place was aggy, the bathroom was THE SMALLEST THING EVER--the sink was smaller than the screen on this here low-end MacBook (that's the entire sink, not just the basin) and the body washing facility was a 3' square raised tile section with a forlorn sprinkler hanging down--, and the windows were all onto an airshaft. It was depressing. NO.
Apartment #4, E. 70th and Second: This morning. Walk, or even crawl, to work (...is it good to be quite that close?) For $OUTER_LIMIT but utilities were included. Now, it listed as a 1BR but this must be some kind of magical realtor speak because if that is a separate room, so is my dining room from my living room, y'know what I mean? There was no door. There wasn't even a doorWAY. The walls come in about a foot each side of a 10' gap. Kids, it's a studio. No separate kitchen, either, it's got the studio tradition of a couple cabinets and a stove set into one wall. I'm told that most of the units only have a half-size fridge (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sweh: like your parents'), and this one only had its larger one--not full-size, mind you! It was maybe 55" tall--because the previous tenant coaxed it out of the landlady. So. Tiny. Sucky kitchen. Pricey. This should be an immediate NO, but: There is a garden. It is a huge garden. It may be close to the size of our house's backyard. It is tended by those tenants who like to garden, and the others kick in money for supplies. It has an herb garden for everyone to use, it has cafe tables. Even in February I could see how nice it'd be. And then, as well, the apartment itself is nice. It's an old building, but it's not aggy or run-down or dogeared like the others feel. The lights are old-timey wall sconces where gaslights used to be. There's a hamper with metalwork design in the bathroom wall. There's a wooden-molded decorative shelf set into the "living room" wall. These details please me greatly. But I wonder, can I fit my STUFFist self into 20' X 12'? elibalin has, and done admirably at that, but holy Lord do I have a lot of crap, even after my ruthless book purge. But I'm thinking about it.
Apartment #5, E. 88th and Lex: Also this morning. For $NEAR_LIMIT (same price as #4 sans utilities add-on). And seeing it right after #4 was a fascinating comparison. It was listed as a studio, but actually had more rooms in it (funny, that...); the apt. opened into a sort of foyer-room from which one could go South to Kitchen, East to Bathroom, or North to Main Room. Said kitchen was large by current standards, with full appliances and space for a table & chairs; and the foyer room was of an okay size if somewhat hard to use what with all the exits; but the living area, though probably comparable, felt smaller. There is here, too, a garden, which is only accessed from this apartment, so yes, a private garden; but it is a wasteland. Would take a lot of work. (Not that I mind such; quite the opposite.) The apartment is very dim, since there is only one window, and that is heavily barred. All these things increased the feeling of being much more run-down and un-nice. Also, I find I have a slightly hinky feeling about having a door to Outside in my bedroom. Why, particularly after having slept inb00jum and catling's Park Slope greenhouse bedroom? I can't say. So, anyways, though it looks good on paper, I just didn't cotton to it. NO.
I was dithering, as I went to meetelibalin for luncheon, what to do about #4. I have real twitches about my ability to simplify my life quite THAT much. And that kitchen; oy. I scribbled in my notebook for a bit with the help of some spiked hot cider and decided to defer a few days. I still want to see what should have been #6, which is a newer studio (but two-level) (and a private balcony) on, um, 89th and First I think; it will be a useful comparison, I think. There may also be an ansaphone message at work about a 1BR on 80th and First, which is the exact bit of the UES I think I like the most; it has a few dying fragments of old Yorkville, like the Hungarian Meat Market. And depending on what I see in the next couple of days, I'll decide whether to make an offer on #4 or hold off for other prospects.
Then we went to two museums and NJ Transit fucked me around and made me and all my clothes stink of burnt rubber and I'm really, really exhausted.
Apartment #2, E. 59th and Third: Also looked at a couple weeks ago. Also $TOOMUCH, but can not beat the location, at least on paper. Walk to work, close to scads of trains, easy to get to Penn for NJ excursions, in the middle of Shiny Glassy Shoppingland. But...insanely small. It listed as 1-BR, and a bedroom there was, but the "living room" was, I kid you not, 8' square; the bathroom was as small as the smallest pub potty, none more small (though see below); laundry in unit there was, but it took up half the kitchen. And NO closetry. I had a case of the vapors after looking at it, because it seemed to me I was mad not to take it, but would be mad to take it. What decided me was that Midtown is, really, kind of soulless. There were some six or seven restaurants just on the block that looked excellent...and not a one of them could I afford. No place to just drop out and have a coffee or a drink. So...NO.
Apartment #3, E. 68th and First: Yesterday. Also walk to work. First thing I noticed was that it's upstairs from a Le Pain Quotidien, which is a very not-sucky thing, and half a block from the public library. Lists at $PRETTY_CHEAP and, I was told, they'd be willing to negotiate N - $100. So, fiscally prudent. Also a 1-BR, and the living room was at least, y'know, room sized, though not generous. But the place was aggy, the bathroom was THE SMALLEST THING EVER--the sink was smaller than the screen on this here low-end MacBook (that's the entire sink, not just the basin) and the body washing facility was a 3' square raised tile section with a forlorn sprinkler hanging down--, and the windows were all onto an airshaft. It was depressing. NO.
Apartment #4, E. 70th and Second: This morning. Walk, or even crawl, to work (...is it good to be quite that close?) For $OUTER_LIMIT but utilities were included. Now, it listed as a 1BR but this must be some kind of magical realtor speak because if that is a separate room, so is my dining room from my living room, y'know what I mean? There was no door. There wasn't even a doorWAY. The walls come in about a foot each side of a 10' gap. Kids, it's a studio. No separate kitchen, either, it's got the studio tradition of a couple cabinets and a stove set into one wall. I'm told that most of the units only have a half-size fridge (
sweh: like your parents'), and this one only had its larger one--not full-size, mind you! It was maybe 55" tall--because the previous tenant coaxed it out of the landlady. So. Tiny. Sucky kitchen. Pricey. This should be an immediate NO, but: There is a garden. It is a huge garden. It may be close to the size of our house's backyard. It is tended by those tenants who like to garden, and the others kick in money for supplies. It has an herb garden for everyone to use, it has cafe tables. Even in February I could see how nice it'd be. And then, as well, the apartment itself is nice. It's an old building, but it's not aggy or run-down or dogeared like the others feel. The lights are old-timey wall sconces where gaslights used to be. There's a hamper with metalwork design in the bathroom wall. There's a wooden-molded decorative shelf set into the "living room" wall. These details please me greatly. But I wonder, can I fit my STUFFist self into 20' X 12'? elibalin has, and done admirably at that, but holy Lord do I have a lot of crap, even after my ruthless book purge. But I'm thinking about it.Apartment #5, E. 88th and Lex: Also this morning. For $NEAR_LIMIT (same price as #4 sans utilities add-on). And seeing it right after #4 was a fascinating comparison. It was listed as a studio, but actually had more rooms in it (funny, that...); the apt. opened into a sort of foyer-room from which one could go South to Kitchen, East to Bathroom, or North to Main Room. Said kitchen was large by current standards, with full appliances and space for a table & chairs; and the foyer room was of an okay size if somewhat hard to use what with all the exits; but the living area, though probably comparable, felt smaller. There is here, too, a garden, which is only accessed from this apartment, so yes, a private garden; but it is a wasteland. Would take a lot of work. (Not that I mind such; quite the opposite.) The apartment is very dim, since there is only one window, and that is heavily barred. All these things increased the feeling of being much more run-down and un-nice. Also, I find I have a slightly hinky feeling about having a door to Outside in my bedroom. Why, particularly after having slept in
b00jum and catling's Park Slope greenhouse bedroom? I can't say. So, anyways, though it looks good on paper, I just didn't cotton to it. NO.I was dithering, as I went to meet
elibalin for luncheon, what to do about #4. I have real twitches about my ability to simplify my life quite THAT much. And that kitchen; oy. I scribbled in my notebook for a bit with the help of some spiked hot cider and decided to defer a few days. I still want to see what should have been #6, which is a newer studio (but two-level) (and a private balcony) on, um, 89th and First I think; it will be a useful comparison, I think. There may also be an ansaphone message at work about a 1BR on 80th and First, which is the exact bit of the UES I think I like the most; it has a few dying fragments of old Yorkville, like the Hungarian Meat Market. And depending on what I see in the next couple of days, I'll decide whether to make an offer on #4 or hold off for other prospects.Then we went to two museums and NJ Transit fucked me around and made me and all my clothes stink of burnt rubber and I'm really, really exhausted.
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no subject
Date: 2009-02-17 12:54 am (UTC)That part of Midtown, as I might or might not have mentioned on IM the other
dayweek, is even more so way-the-hell late at night. Because then you've got these (closed) shops for the rich, combined with bums sleeping all over the place. It was so as to make an impression, let's say.the bathroom was THE SMALLEST THING EVER--the sink was smaller than the screen on this here low-end MacBook
It had a sink. Therefore the water-closet in my first apartment beats it.
No separate kitchen, either, it's got the studio tradition of a couple cabinets and a stove set into one wall.
If it looks like what I'm imagining, it's possible that the strategic application of IKEA (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70011793) (or similar) might make it tolerable. The wheels, in particular; it seems not entirely implausible that something could be done by way of rolling the counterspace into position for cooking and then out of the way at other times. (I haven't actually had both call and opportunity to try this myself, but it sounds neat if it works.)
#4 does sound nice aside from the size thing, though. Oh, something I've noticed is more important in that respect (for me, anyway) than it might seem: closet space, for all the stuff that gets used occasionally (or will get gone through some day, no really), but doesn't need to be out.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-17 12:59 am (UTC)I did not know your first apartment was that ill-served. I learn once again that my expectations are not 100% in tune with reality.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-17 02:25 am (UTC)And, well. As for the obscenely expensive shoebox I lived in in 2004, well, such things do exist, but it is unclear whether that is the sort of reality to which expectations should be calibrated. If you know what I mean, because I'm not sure I do.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-17 02:37 am (UTC)#4 has a pantry-closet next to the kitchen, and a tall & deep but not very wide closet in the bedroom-half. There seems to be a general One Closet Per Apartment trend, which I find decidedly odd. #1 had a second one. #2 had half a closet. Furrfu.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-17 06:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-17 07:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-17 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-18 02:55 pm (UTC)BTW, a bedroom without windows is in violation of the tenement laws.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-23 01:20 am (UTC)