NYC: Broken Leases and Scooter Rides

For those of you who did not read my last post, I was offered a job at Benenson Strategy Group in New York as an Analyst, which I accepted.  After getting my affairs in order, I told the company that I would be all moved in to NY and ready to work by September 12^th.  To find an apartment, I went online at home in Ohio, hitting up sites such as good old Craigslist, etc.  Needless to say, apartments in NYC go quickly and without actually being in NY, it was difficult to nail down one that I wanted without actually viewing it in person and checking out the neighborhood, again, in person.

Solution: pack up all my belongings, load them in the van and hit the road with daddio down to NY to find a place and move in.  Thankfully, we have family who live in New Jersey who are not a long commute from NY.  So, last Monday, after driving 8 hours to get to NJ, my dad and I made uncle Freddie and aunt Marina’s house base camp for our apartment-hunting extravaganza.

Our first day in NYC looking for places to live was “meh.”  In other words, it didn’t produce much fruit.  I only had one person call me back from the 10 plus phone calls I made to landlords, owners, etc.  This person, Chris, was very helpful and showed me an apartment with his friend, a native New Yorker.  The apartment was very very small and quite dirty.  However, it was in a very nice neighborhood in Brooklyn, Park Slope, and I needed a place to live since I was under a time crunch.  To spare everyone the nitty gritty details, which were in some ways extremely unpleasant and a wee bit embarrassing to our manhoods, I ended up signing a lease for this apartment and writing two checks.  Then, after detecting some shenaniganery or, if you’d prefer, tomfoolery on the landlord’s and “brokers’” end of things, I decided to opt out of the lease since my comfort level with the whole deal didn’t sit well with me.  So, in less than 24 hours, I successfully had an apartment and lost an apartment (and don’t worry we got the checks back).

With Tuesday and most of Wednesday resulting in only a busted lease deal and frustration, things, in my mind, weren’t looking up.  My father was leaving Friday morning and I still had to find a place to live!  But, like always, the Lord was looking out for his sheep.

Marina, my aunt in NJ, made a few calls on my behalf to her realtor friends in Brooklyn.  These calls put me in contact with Alessandra, a realtor in the Park Slope area (the area in which I wanted to reside).  Alessandra had a wonderful studio apartment in Park Slope for only $100 more than the studio apartment I was in a lease with before.  Only problem was that I wouldn’t be able to view the inside of the apartment until after my dad left and that I also wouldn’t be able to move into that apartment (if I ended up liking it) until October 1^st.

After talking it over with my dad, my relatives and God, my aunt and uncle overwhelmingly told me that I was more than welcome to stay with them until I found a place to live.  Best decision of my life!

Not only have I been able to get to know my aunt and uncle better than I ever have before but I have also been able to interact and play with their two kids, my two cousins, Alonza (12) and Cortez (10).  This past Friday afternoon, after my dad left to return home to Ohio, I got a call from Alessandra telling me I could view the apartment that day.  I took the hour-long bus ride in from Jersey and then the 40 minutes subway ride to get down to Park Slope to view the studio.  In short, I love the place.  I was able to talk to the tenant who is moving out (of all the places in the world he’s from Ohio too) and look at the apartment/building.  Afterwards I told Alessandra that I wanted the place, plain and simple.  She and I went down to her office and I got started on the paper work towards signing the lease. 

Hopefully, if the landlord repaints, installs a new kitchen countertop and bathroom vanity quickly, I may be able to get into the apartment before October 1^st.  It would be nice to get in as soon as possible so that I can settle down.  Plus, I start work on September 12^th and the commute to NYC from Jersey will be long.  However, I know that I have a home here with the Klopfers as long as I need one.  They are truly amazing people and great Christian role models for their kids.  I’m really beginning to love it here with them. 

Cortez and I rode scooters the other day for 2 hours, played in the woods, played ping pong, played Wii, and so much more these past few days.  In fact, Alonza, Cortez and I just got done playing Mario Kart together.  My uncle, Fred, and I just took down their above-ground pool for the winter today.  Since I want to pull my weight around the house, Fred has tasked me with installing blinds in the house next week as well as scraping and painting a portion of their deck.  While I know I don’t have to do these things to stay with them, I very much want to do so.  I want to help them like they are helping me.

By the way, I absolutely love New York City, the subways, the plethora of races, accents, languages, and styles – everything.  I’ve got a good feel for the city already.  My apartment (I call it this but really I still have not signed anything official) is a mere 3 blocks from Prospect Park, a block and a half from a subway station and 2 blocks from all the restaurants, stores, bars, and shops of which you could think.  The neighborhood is extremely safe and family-oriented and the buildings are awesome old brownstones.  The picture below is my front door and building.

The steps leading up to my apartment building.

 I am constantly amazed how the Lord takes something, like a broken and shattered lease deal, and turns it into something as amazing as time well spent with relatives, a new outlook on life and a much much better apartment.  As I move and get settled in, I will be sure to share my address and more pictures of my neighborhood, apartment, and exciting New York City adventures.  I will also be blogging about my first week of work coming up soon!

Share your comments please!  Or heck, ask me a question.