Ramblings: Apartment hunting in NYC (often equivalent to hitting your head repeatedly against a wall)

I’ve lived here nearly 9 years now and the am convinced that the single most stressful part of NYC living is finding an apartment to live in. Finding a place to live, a place to call home. When I first moved here I lived in a small one bedroom apartment on the Lower East Side (corner of Rivington and Clinton to be more exact) for a month, courtesy of the company I worked for, so that I had time to find my own place. Yes, I thought that was small at the time. I loved the neighbourhood the moment I set foot in it, and spent the first few weeks walking around at all times of the day and night, grabbing a drink at random bars, observing people, buying Pringles at 24 hour delis at 4am, watching the people walk by from the apartment’s fire escape and writing poems up there. From the moment I started looking for a place to live I knew that the neighbourhood was completely out of my price range, especially after I had decided that for the first time in my life I wanted to live alone, without roommates… 

I was clueless. I had no credit (what on earth was this credit that everyone was speaking of), no real money to my name, no furniture and no idea how I was going to find a place. I had also never been to NYC before, let alone lived there, didn’t know anyone, and also had no idea on where it was safe or cheaper to live. Luckily, after trawling through Craigslist for a few days I found a 1 bedroom furnished sublet in Spanish Harlem, on First Ave between 119^th and 120^th streets. A tiny one bedroom for $900 (heat and hot water included, electricity separate) on the ground floor, with a little back yard (meaning a concrete area outside the bedroom door). It seemed pricy, but still affordable if I were careful, and it was finally my own place. Some people warned me that the neighbourhood was dangerous, but in 10 months I lived there I never had a problem. The guys who were always hanging out on my stoop were always courteous and opened the door for me, the man who ran the deli next door held on to my packages for me, and the only unwanted visitor I had was a rat, who appeared during my first week there, and after that never reappeared again (yes, you quickly learn how to plug up holes that may be found under the sink with wire…). Oh and a clogged toilet on July 4^th weekend just after I had moved in because the previous tenant thought that that was where you disposed of your cigarette butts. Lesson learned – always have a plunger at hand!

Ten months later I was able to secure a bank loan thanks to my wonderful mother (she probably wouldn’t jump at doing that again though, but that’s a whole other story), and started looking for a place that would be mine, a studio on the LES, where I was all the time anyway. With the help of a friend who also happened to be a broker I ended up finding a little rent stabilized studio in the West Village, on Sixth Ave between Houston and Bleecker, right above the restaurant called Bar Pitti. $1350 a month for a place to call my home. I spent over $7 grand on first month’s rent and security deposit and broker’s fees and furniture, and never thought about the fact that $1350 was going to be too much to spend if I didn’t curb my lifestyle in a little… And even though everything was super legit, I still felt like it was all kinds of shady, signing your life away to a management company or landlord that issues you with a lease with so much small print that your brain starts to hurt after the first sentence. Advice to all: always read the small print, especially if you have a vindictive landlord who will try to extort money out of you after your lease ends. I signed a 2 year lease on this place and although I don’t regret living there, and the experience of living in the West Village, the convenience to everything and the fact that I could literally walk everywhere I needed to go to, if I had to do it again I would have been a lot more financially savvy, and would have spent less money on rent and electricity and take-out and all the rest. But I still have fond memories of that little place, where the two windows looked out onto another building and where it got so hot in the summer there was no way you could live without AC. The convenience of the location was amazing – I walked everywhere. If I didn’t feel like getting out of bed I could call the deli down the street and they would deliver within 20 minutes. So convenient that I ended up spending most of my time outside of the apartment, and in the end it just became a place to sleep rather than a home. A very expensive place to sleep.

When the rent just got too much and my lease was finally about to expire my friend Beth and I decided to look for a place together in Brooklyn, as she was in the same situation as me, and both of us needed something cheaper.  I also just wanted more space and light in my life. We had no idea where we should go in Brooklyn, visited a few places in Williamsburg, and branched out a little to Bushwick, even though most people we knew warned us not to. This was 6 years ago when no one wanted to live in Bushwick. We saw a 2 bedroom going for $1900 in a brand new building just off the Myrtle-Broadway stop on the J and decided to visit it. The place was amazing. Huge space with stainless steel appliances (a dishwasher!!), laundry IN the apartment (yes IN THE UNIT), and huge windows. The street itself looked pretty calm and there wasn’t much around in terms of restaurants or bars, but it was $1900… Meaning that we would both be saving around $400 a month EACH. Yes, we jumped on it. I still can’t believe that I thought that the commute would be a little long after living in the West Village for ages… Then we were told we had to present first and last month’s rent, as well as one month’s security deposit before we could sign the lease. And ASAP, in case someone else wanted the unit and got in there before us. That’s a total of $5700. Luckily we managed to get them to agree to first month and security deposit and got the money together within the week. We passed our credit checks and other checks, signed the lease and had the keys within a few days. The first people to move into a brand new, empty building. We felt like queens!! We discovered the neighbourhood and watched Bushwick change rapidly over the years. We negotiated our rent down to $1,700 and it hardly went up over the years… Until last year. Last year saw a huge influx in new buildings in Bushwick, and also a huge hike in rent. Ours went up from $1750 to $2000 (and even after a meeting with our landlords they assured us that they wanted to go up to $2200 but didn’t want to lose us so agreed to $2000). People were really paying these types of rents in Bushwick?? Apparently so. 

(The story of life on Troutman St will be relayed in another, separate account. It deserves its own post).

And so now it is time to move again. For multiple reasons, most importantly because I am having a baby in April, because I want to move in with my boyfriend in OUR own home, and because I want to pay less rent. Over the years my credit has gone from being nil to passable to completely crap, and C. has no credit at all, not making it any easier to secure a place. On top of that our lease runs out on February 28^th, and I don’t want to have to move when I am ready to give birth. The stress of finding an apartment in this city makes me want to cry on a good day – imagine being 7 months pregnant and traipsing the streets looking for a place that will take you without credit and that is actually affordable… We had already decided that Queens was where we were heading this time, with rents that are still affordable and places that were still of a decent size. I walked out of the first agency in tears because the woman told me she couldn’t help us as we didn’t have good credit. Didn’t even try. So we started grabbing numbers from leaflets on lamp posts on Roosevelt Avenue, and ended up meeting some type of broker guys in the back room of an Internet café (yes sketchy it was). They took us to a few places, one being a large one bedroom apartment in Flushing. Yes, large. And quiet. And on the ground floor. And airy. And light. And large. Did I already mention large? Oh, and with a rent of $1275 a month. 

Yes, it’s in Flushing. A few blocks away from the last stop on the 7 line (but still, no buses! It’s still off the subway!!). Does this bother me? Surprisingly, no. To be honest it’s a perfect compromise. I’m tired of being in the noisy parts of the city. I want to be able to take my baby to the supermarket and to the park without feeling that I am walking a stroller through a maze of unexpected obstacles. I want to be able to relax at home without hearing sirens and car horns and people blaring their music from their car stereo. So, Flushing it is… I hope! This time it’s even more shifty as we don’t want to have to go through a credit check just to get rejected, but the lovely gentlemen who showed us the apartment are helping us through it and we will be signing the lease tomorrow… Fingers crossed as I don’t want to jinx it, but with a little help from some friends, long hours at work and the art of living off pasta for a week we managed to cobble together the funds that we need to get the keys. It appears to all be legit too as the landlord/owner of the building called our workplace to check that we weren’t lying about our jobs… Honestly, looking for and finding an apartment in NYC always feel completely sketchy, as if you are doing something slightly illegal. Even when you have amazing credit and a decent salary and enough money to pay for 3 months rent up front.

I can’t wait to take this next step, setting up our child’s first home, living in a new borough of the city (for me) and just discovering a new neighbourhood. I’m excited to decorate a new place with our drawings and photos and belongings, making it ours. And I’m so happy that I don’t have to worry about this any longer, as once the lease is signed we can focus on moving and setting up the apartment for the baby… So long Brooklyn, Queens here we come!

All images  © Jade Anna Hughes

Photography - Bushwick Street Art 2013

A few years ago I started walking around Bushwick with my camera, capturing some of the pretty amazing street art that is around the area. There are spots that are covered in murals and paintings and words, entire blocks and walls that are vibrant in colour and meaning, and then spots where you will find a small piece of artwork, hidden amongst the brick walls of a house or a warehouse. I love living in Bushwick (which is probably why I haven't moved anywhere else over the past 5 years), but I haven't spent much time walking around the neighbourhood recently, and didn't even go to any of the events that were taking place during the Bushwick Collective 1 year anniversary party this past weekend. My room mate has been much better at becoming part of the community here than I have and knows everything that is going on, where the cool bars are and what restaurants are better than others. When we moved here over 5 years ago there wasn't much around except for a few bodegas, the gas station and KFC. Now there is a great selection of restaurants on Seamlessweb alone and a bunch of cool places to hang out in.

In any case, yesterday I took a visitor from Europe for a walk around the neighbourhood and was amazed by all of the new murals and artwork that exists on my street and the streets surrounding it. I noticed a lot of new pieces, but also old pieces that have been covered up by new ones. HERE is the link to the full collection of photos I took yesterday, mainly along Troutman St and Starr St. Below you will find links to different street art sets that I put together in 2011 and 2012.

For more information on The Bushwick Collective, check out their Facebook page HERE.

Bushwick Street Art 2013, a set on Flickr.

One Block in Bushwick - Photos
Bushwick Street Art May 2011 - Photos
NYC Street Art - Photos

Photography: Spring equals Happiness

Springtime!!!

Springtime!, a set on Flickr.

Finally. This past winter dragged on and on and on and I never thought it would actually start getting warmer and brighter and more colourful outside. I woke up this morning and went for a walk around Bushwick, taking random shots of tree blossom, flowers, new and old street art and enjoyed feeling the warm sun on my face. I can't wait for it to get even warmer and for all of the adventures I aim to go on over the next six months... To be continued...

See full set of this mornings shots HERE (and link also above).

Ramblings: February Reflections

I find that the beginning of each new year is usually a time for reflection on my life, for some changes and also a time to relax a little and think about what I want to accomplish over the rest of the year. 2012 was an interesting year in terms of change and life in general and in a way I want to continue along that route, pinpointing the issues that tend to bother me and get rid of them for good, while at the same time focusing on the things that make me, and others happy. Of course there are moments when I feel like I am doing everything wrong, moments where I feel like I am a failure at everything, as well as moments when I just want to give up and go and live somewhere else away from everything. There are also moments when I feel like everything is worth it, and there is no place better to live than where I live now.

I feel like I am finally miles away from all of the gossip mongers that tend to be in any place that you live. People who spend their lives talking about other people, deforming stories and passing them along, just because they don’t know how to stop and focus on their own lives. I hear snippets of things here and there, random stories that I supposedly told someone else (how I wonder, seeing as I haven’t spoken to said people in well over six months), but I have decided that there was a reason that I moved on from all of that and decided to remove myself from it all, for better or for worse. Nowadays it doesn’t hurt me as much as it used to, because I am surrounded by people who really care about me and my well-being, as much as I care about them and theirs.

Sometimes in life you spend a lot of time with a certain person, and think that they will always be there for you, as much as you have been there for them. This person will be the first person you call to tell good or bad news to, the one who will answer your text at 5am when you are suffering from insomnia and need a friendly ear to listen to you. This is the person who you will pick up every time they fall down, even when you are tired of doing it and wish that it was the other way round for once. But you continue to do it because one day you know that it WILL be the other way round. Or so you think… Sometimes that person decides that they don’t have the time or the energy to help you. However painful that may seem at the time, in the long run it is all for the better. At least you are now aware of the one-sidedness of your relationship, and in the end, you are better off without this person in your life. It gets easier, and honestly your life takes a turn for the better. I feel lighter and happier nowadays. I’m not worried about that other person’s mood swings or anger or happiness anymore.

Hmmm… I don’t really want to finish that last paragraph anymore, as I started it last week and things have changed again. Yet another sign of how life can often surprise you, especially when you think a certain part of your life has gone forever, it pops back up and decides to give it another chance. We will see how things pan out in the long run, but in the meantime I am putting all reflection on hold so that I can see it with an open mind instead of being bogged down with past feelings of hurt and anger and betrayal as well as nostalgia and memories. Maybe that’s a sign of growing up (finally) – the ability to be able to forgive and move on and not to just cut someone out of your life for once and for all. Although I have to say, it doesn’t work with everyone. Some of the people I have cut out are never coming back in, and that is just so much better that way!

I’ve now been living in Bushwick for 5 years and in New York for nearly 8. Our landlords decided to raise our rent $250 this year, and although I feel like the raise is extortionate, it’s still going to be less than what most people are paying in this neighbourhood for the space and the amenities that we have. We were able to negotiate a complete revamp of the apartment (fixed windows, paint, bathroom regrout) and are staying another year here… I don’t want to move, and in any case, how would I ever be able to sign a lease nowadays with my credit as it is? I’m still not paying anywhere near as much as I paid when I lived in that tiny studio in the West Village, and this apartment feels like home. It’s also been incredible to see how the neighbourhood has changed over the past 5 years. Who would have thought that this quiet, not really very safe, area would become full of new buildings and interesting restaurants and bars. I never have to fight with cab drivers to get home anymore, and even more surprising, they actually know where my cross streets are without sighing and getting out a GPS or asking for play by play directions. This apartment feels like a home and looks like one. I couldn’t even imagine having to pack everything up into boxes and moving out now – so I suppose that means that I really have decided that New York is my home. As long as I balance it out with more travel and less time spent wishing I were elsewhere, I really don’t see myself moving to a different city or country anymore. 

Based on what an old (not anymore) friend told me via text message that bartending was cool when you were 20, not so much when you are 34, I should probably think about changing my line of work, but to be honest I’d rather not. In my opinion, living is about being happy and content in what you do, and my jobs make me feel happy. Maybe not the most mature of professions in some people’s eyes - but then again, what is? Are you all of a sudden supposed to remove all of your tattoos, put on a suit, stop having fun and do something boring for a living just because you hit the age of 35? I was pondering on that mean text message I received for a while, until one of my friends deleted it from my phone as there was no point in thinking about it anymore. I’m happy at work, and that’s the most important. Most days I come in with a smile. I am given different types of responsibility, now have some managing shifts at one job, and get to meet lots of interesting people (and many assholes too), and make new friends all of the time. What better job is there for a writer? I have enough material to write about for the rest of my life, and will continue to accumulate said material every day. Lesson learned – don’t read into hateful text messages that only contain a projection of the sender’s own life on your own. As long as you like what you do and you aren’t hurting anybody, there is no reason to feel like you are not living your life “properly”.

There has been so much good music released over the past few months, and I feel excited to see what else is to come this year. The new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album is epic (no surprise there), there is to be a new Suede out soon, a new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album, a new BRMC album, as well as many new bands that are right up my street. I need to start working on new playlists for the bar as well as for myself. And I need to make an effort to go to more shows again, starting with Knoxville Morning who will be playing at Mercury Lounge this coming Friday. I’m sure they are just as brilliant live as they are recorded. I have a pinboard above my desk where I stick notes of all new album releases, book releases and gallery exhibitions in an attempt to be on top of everything I want to do and see everything I want to do and see, but I’ve been too lazy recently. I feel like it’s time to go back into hermit mode for a while, finish off the pile of books that is growing by my bed, add to my poetry collection, finish off this newest collection of short stories and get some more photography collections together.

It smells like early Spring outside. I’m glad, as this winter has been a tough one again. Not really so much weather-wise, although it has been cold enough. For the second year in a row January and February have been plagued with the death of people close to me and of people close to people I know, and it just makes me really sad. I wanted to finish this piece of on a positive note, but I’m honestly finding it hard to be super joyful and happy at the moment. I think that all I can really say to this is that I need to keep reminding myself to always let people know how much I care about them, and to live life in a way that won’t lead me to regret too much along the way. Focus on accomplishing everything I want to accomplish, and help others feel happy with their lives too – that’s seems to be the most important take away from all this sadness and grief.

Ah Spring… I am really looking forward to feeling your warm sun on my face again!

Ramblings: A visit to the Post Office

Going to the Post Office around here is always an experience. I’m not going to add an adjective here, the word “experience” explains it pretty well. I live between two post offices, each about a mile away in distance. I tried the one that is a little closer (one subway stop walk away), down by Flushing on Debevoise St once. Never again. I stood in line for about an hour, while people kept pushing past me because they “only needed stamps”. Great. I “only needed to mail a letter abroad”, but that obviously didn’t mean anything.

So I tend to go to the one that is two subway stops away, on Gates and Broadway. The line is never too long, and the employees are really friendly. Which always surprises me a little, because every time I have been there there is always a customer causing unnecessary drama. Late last year I sold a load of clothes on eBay and was waiting in line to send a bunch of packages when a woman started screaming (yes, screaming) at a Post Office employee, because her social security card hadn’t arrived in her mailbox and because of that she had nowhere to stay that night. Within five minutes we had heard her whole life story twice, because she demanded to see a manager, and had to scream the whole story all over again. I don’t know if she thought that the manager was going to magic her social security card out of thin air, or miraculously create it for her, but I didn’t stick around to hear the end of the story. The screeching voice started to give me a headache. There was another time I was there and one guy held the line up for about 20 minutes because he needed to repack his package in a smaller box so that it was cheaper to send, but wouldn’t let anyone be served while he was repacking the stuff. Today someone started yelling at one of the employees because his package wasn’t there. For 15 minutes he bitched and raved about how everyone was so rude and had stolen his package, until he realised he was at the wrong post office. People really need to read things correctly before exploding into a tirade of expletives at some poor employee.

Which reminds me… What is this deal with the Priority Mail package boxes?! The “large” one is no bigger than a shoe box! One of my close friends lives in Brazil, and due to the insane import taxes slapped on to anything purchased outside of the country, she had a pair of boots sent to me, which I was then going to send on to her. I didn’t want to just send the Steve Madden box along with her address stuck on it (sure fire way for the package to disappear somewhere between here and Rio), so I grabbed a “large” box and repackaged the boots in it. When I got to the Post Office I was told that it would cost $60 as I had used a “large” box, but would only cost $40 if I used a “regular” box. There was no way the shoes were going to fit in a “regular” box (maybe they were made for sending a small book, because that’s all they will fit), so I had to just to sigh and go with it. And anyway, I didn’t want to be THAT person taking everything out of one box and shoving it in a smaller one, just to see that it would never fit.  Smart way to make you pay more than you thought you were going to pay.

I asked the woman helping me if it would be possible to have a tracking number. Her response was that it wasn’t possible, because there was no reliable internet in the destination country. In BRAZIL?! I wasn’t sending the boots to someone in the middle of the rain forest in the Congo! I was sending them to an extremely large and well-known city called Rio de Janeiro. I didn’t say anything because she gave me a customs tracking number which is all I really needed anyway. But come on… No reliable internet in Brazil?! I honestly feel like the Post Office here is still stuck in the 80’s and is having a lot of trouble catching up with today’s world. But in the end I would rather still use them that FedEx or UPS, because they are cheaper (even with the inflated box prices and the little add-ons they convince you to get every time you go there to buy a stamp). Thankfully today’s experience only took about 20 minutes and I was able to get out of there before another person came in to shout abuse at the staff. 

Oh… Has anybody tried using the machines that they finally have in some of the post offices (not in Bushwick yet, but I have seen them in some Manhattan locations)?! They are SO hard to use. Why on earth can’t you send multiple letters and packages without having to pay for each one separately?! Such a waste of time! I am so glad that nowadays I only have to go to the post office a few times a year… 

Photography: Store Fronts

Store Fronts, a set on Flickr.

I started this project earlier this year when I realised that I kept taking photos of random storefronts in Brooklyn and Manhattan. I started putting all the photos together and realised it could be quite a cool collection... I've been on a bit of a photography lag lately, not really feeling inspired, or too tired to go and find something to spike my interest. I woke up way too early this morning and just decided to go out for a walk, and found some interesting places.
This is just a small collection - I'm sure I'll be adding a lot more to it over the next few months.

Photography: Bushwick 2009-2012

Bushwick, a set on Flickr.

After posting the Harlem collection the other day, and after a comment from a friend about how I should build up the collection over time, I started thinking about all of the photos I have taken of my current neighbourhood, Bushwick, over the past four years I have lived here. I started really getting into photography back in 2009, mainly because the sheer amount of street art in my neighbourhood kept catching my eye, and I felt the need to start capturing it on camera.
Bushwick is a strange neighbourhood, part family, part warehouses. There are some very old townhouses and a lot of abandoned buildings, a lot of churches and a lot of noise, unless you live down one of the quieter streets. Over the past 4 years I have seen the area change rapidly, new bars, new restaurants, more organic supermarkets, new coffee shops, new people moving in, but it has still retained the same atmosphere and rents (hopefully, but I hear that a new music venue is going to be opening in Bushwick soon, so I'm sure that will effect rents soon enough).
I know it's not the safest, or the cleanest, or the prettiest neighbourhood in NYC, but it works for me. I don't see myself moving away from here, not anytime soon in any case.

These photos were taken over the past 3 years with different cameras, both digital and film (Canon AE-1 (one from 1980 and one from 1978; Canon Rebel DSLR; Holga). I know that I have posted some of these in other collections before, but feel like they belong in this one too.

Bushwick on Wikipedia

Bushwick Ave to Broadway

Bushwick Ave to Broadway, a set on Flickr.

From nothing for weeks to three sets in three days... I suppose I've been more inspired these past few days, taking my camera out every time I go for a walk or run some errands. I love walking down Bushwick Avenue to the Post Office at Gates Ave and Broadway. The street is lined with beautiful old buildings, some well kept, others in various stages of dilapidation. There are many different churches along the way, often facing each other on opposite sides of the street. And then there is the bustle of the walk back along Broadway, under the elevated subway tracks: fried chicken, 99 cent shops, launderettes, delis, African supermarkets, dust, noise, colours and different languages.
Lastly, a photo of the house that I have always wanted to own, from the moment I moved to Bushwick. It's so intriguing...

Bushwick To Ridgewood Via Myrtle Ave

Bushwick To Ridgewood, a set on Flickr.

It was a beautiful, warm day today, and there was no way I could sleep through it, even if I didn't get to sleep until 5am last night. I had a few errands to run so I took my camera out and took photos all along Myrtle Avenue, going through Bushwick to Ridgewood, where the nearest branch of my bank is. Today was a colour day, I needed to capture the colours of the murals, the shop awnings, the gaudiness of the Christmas decorations and the skyline.
This is my neighbourhood... I love it. I feel at home here, and always have done, ever since I moved here from Manhattan over 4 years ago...

From the trash on the street to the Wanted posters on the signposts to the street art to the colourful cheap shops to the crazy traffic to the mix of Dominican/Puerto Rican/Mexican/Indian/Polish/Ukranian food, to the elevated subways and the gorgeous skylines, I love this place.

Autumn Walk

Autumn Walk, a set on Flickr.

Some random pictures taken around my neighbourhood. Autumn leaves, painted walls, words and skylines.I've seen this neighbourhood change so much over the past 4 years, but there will always be something really special about it.