Apartment Hunting

For the past month or so, Marc & I have been hunting Craigslist, getting an idea of how much our apartment would be in Williamsburg. My lease is up at the end of May, so I am really looking forward to getting out of Jackson Heights. We knew what we were looking for - a 2 br, railroad style apartment near the Lorimer or Graham stops on the L. We also knew that it was probably going to be around $1500, based on the "shopping around" that we've been doing.

So, on Friday morning, I see a posting on the list for a 2 br pretty much stating the afforementioned for $1350 through a broker: King David Realty. Sure, it's an old-school Williamsburg Hasidic office - everything is done manually, and the guy is speaking Yiddish on his cell phone. We go to the place - right off of Grand Street on Manhattan Ave. and it's on the top floor of a walk up & perfect (the only thing is, no sink in the bathroom). We took it immediately - and I'm glad we did, because there were other people waiting out in the rain to see it after we got back from our showing. That just goes to show you that the early bird gets the worm (and the sun came out after we left, so there's a sign right there!).

One thing I noticed by researching the broker afterwards - there were a couple of people that had an awful experience, but I honestly think that those 20-something hipsters are a) not native New Yorkers, & b) not familiar with Williamsburg. I think the reason why we were so comfortable with the broker was that we knew the lay of the land already - Marc has been living in East Williamsburg, further down on Grand Street for almost 2 years, and I'm a native New Yorker too. Sure, the projects aren't far from us (right around the block), but that project has recently been declared a landmark, and the Developer's Group is building a luxury condo right next to it. It's a strange juxtaposition, but it just works. I lived in Long Island City in 1997 and it was downright desolate at the time (and still is). In Jackson Heights where I am now, I feel like I don't belong - there is absolutely no sense of community. Leaving Queens after living there practically all my life (I moved to not-so-kid-friendly Bayside when I was 6) feels like a release. At least I now will have places to go after work besides my living room, plus I have a bigger buffer zone between me & my parents.

The hipsterization of Williamsburg is dwindling down, but most brokers are glamorizing and extending it. Bed Stuy is not South Williamsburg, the Montrose stop on the L is Bushwick, not East Williamsburg, and Greenpoint will always be Greenpoint (not "North Williamsburg," or "Steps to McCarren Park"). To anyone that wants to live in Williamsburg, here's a hint for you - it doesn't all look like Bedford! There are sub-neighborhoods which I like to describe as follows:
Bedford is the Soho, with high-end shopping, restaurants, and attitude.
Lorimer is like the East Village. Lots of restaurants and bars & it's accessible to pretty much everything.
Graham is like Bleecker Street - very Italian, very residential and charming.
Grand Ave. definitely has the Lower East Side vibe going, where it's slowly getting gentrified, but still edgy. This is the area we're moving into, and this is where a lot of people are moving into now - lots of bars, live music, coffeeshops, restaurants (including the infamous Mexican Diner).
Southside is also like the Lower East Side, circa 10 years ago. (ie - if you don't really know the area, you'll probably freak out and think it's a slum, but bars and cafes are slowly creeping in).

Whatever the case is, I'm happy to finally get out of Queens - it's been 25 years since I've lived there, but watch out Brooklyn, here I come.