Day Five (slow day)

I think N and I are definitely slowing down in our apartment hunting, having exhausted most of our resources and our morale! We focused our efforts in Williamsburg (near Bedford, Lorimar, and Greenpoint) today.

We met up around 9 a.m. with ambitious plans: (1) meet with “no fees” company that acts as a middleman between apartment owners and potential tenants, (2) meet with Chinatown real estate agency, (3) meet with Williamsburg real estate agencies.

The “no fees” company had no listings that were in our price range or interesting for us. We decided that the novelty of living in Chinatown would eventually die down and then we’d be stuck in a dirty area of town in a tiny apartment with no closets.

So we headed to Williamsburg and found that none of the agencies opened before 10:30 a.m. Instead, we went to a bagel shop and got breakfast. I had an amazing everything bagel sandwich with eggwhites, cheese, and ham all for $3.00! It was large enough that I was able to save half and eat the rest for lunch! Hmmm . . . New York bagels are really significantly better than those in the West Coast!!

After killing time, we went to various real estate agents and over the course of the day looked at three apartments.

Apt 1. Essentially the same layout, in the same building, as the RR-style apartment on N5th near Bedford. Great location. Beautiful, dark hardwood floors and quite spacious.

Apt 2. On Bedford. Larger than Apt 1 but much more open and more difficult to divide into a share. Moreover, the apartment wasn’t as well maintained.

Apt 3. Greenpoint. Beautiful large apartment. Perhaps the largest apartment we’ve seen in New York. Large kitchen, and three rooms that could be used for bedrooms/living room as desired. The ceilings were high and it had been recently renovated. The only downside was that it is a fifteen minute walk to the L-train which would be a pain late at night and during inclimate weather.

Basically, I’ve decided that I have a stronger preference for living in a hip area of town vs. living in an awesome apartment that is farther from the hotspots. At the end of the day, I’m moving to New York so I can experience city life not to have a great apartment.

By 5pm, N and I were beat. So we rewarded ourselves with yummy frozen margaritas and the best chips and salsa I’ve had in awhile (Vera Cruz). Later we met up with J for dinner at the Sea. A great Thai restaurant, quite affordable by any standards, and which is beautifully designed. After dinner, we had a drink at Laila’s that was just a hop skip and jump away from the Sea. . . and on my way back on the L to the 6 Express uptown, I realized how nice it was to be able to be in walking distance to all of that and be a fifteen minute train ride back to Union Square. . . so tomorrow is another day, and hopefully the last day of searching!