Good news, I found housing! I won't mention the name of it or where it is but I will say that it is in a nice area for a reasonable price by NYC standards. It's around $800 per month if they don't raise the rent if and when I move in.
Since it is a women's residence, it is not the ideal place to live since it has community bathrooms and a shared kitchen. They also don't serve meals as part of the rent price (meals are standard at women's residences) but it will do for a semester or so. The upside is that I can have my own private mini fridge if I choose to!
I applied back in September for a second week of January 2012 move-in date. Hopefully, I will be approved for a room before Spring semester starts in late January. If and when I move in, I will post periodic reviews and updates of living there including the good, the bad and the ugly. Stay tuned!
Showing posts with label New York City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York City. Show all posts
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
New York or Bust!—My Favorites Places in NYC
I have many favorite places in New York City. Just thinking about them makes me nostalgic for the good old college days I spent in the city! Here is my top ten list of fave places, in no particular order of importance.
- The Shops at Columbus Circle: This place was one of my after school hangouts. I’d check out the latest stuff in different stores like Sephora, J. Crew, Esprit, United Colors of Benetton, Sisley, Borders and Whole Foods Market.
- Whole Foods Market: This was my definitive grocery store because it was inside The Shops at Columbus Circle and so quick and easy to get to after school. I love the ambiance, the healthy food and selection there, I also like the other location in Union Square and I like how they have different things in the hot food buffet, salad bar and hot food serving station.
-Fairway: Fairway is my second favorite grocery store that I often frequented at night after school. It was closer to where I used to live than Whole Foods Market and I would walk home from here many times. I loved the hot and cold food buffets but the selection is quite limited though. I love the atmosphere here, it's very lively but it doesn't have an elegant ambience like Whole Foods Market. The layout is very cramped and the floor is always dirty, which is standard in the majority of grocery stores in NYC that I've been in.
-Fairway: Fairway is my second favorite grocery store that I often frequented at night after school. It was closer to where I used to live than Whole Foods Market and I would walk home from here many times. I loved the hot and cold food buffets but the selection is quite limited though. I love the atmosphere here, it's very lively but it doesn't have an elegant ambience like Whole Foods Market. The layout is very cramped and the floor is always dirty, which is standard in the majority of grocery stores in NYC that I've been in.
- Borders: I came here every night on my rounds through The Shops At Columbus Circle and I’d usually buy a book. (Since I’m such a bookworm, I signed up for the Borders Rewards program, which has saved me countless dollars as a member). I’d also buy a magazine, some cute note cards, notebooks and other things. I really loved the events here as well. They’d have guests from all corners of the culture hawking their latest projects. My faves were Rocco DiSpirito and his mother. Chris Kimble founder of Cook’s Illustrated and host of America’s Test Kitchen, at the time was speaking about his latest series Cook’s Country. Michael Medved, radio talk show host, pop culture expert, political commentator and movie critic. Travel guru and author, Peter Greenberg. Nina Garcia, fashion director of Marie Claire and Project Runway judge. Carmindy, makeup artist and the resident beauty consultant on What Not To Wear. Thom Filicia, interior designer, host of Dress My Nest and former decor guru for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. The former lead singer of Savage Garden, Darren Hayes and Hungry Girl cookbook author and TV show host Lisa Lillien. Editiorial Note: As of September 30, 2011, the Borders company has closed shop on all of its stores nationwide and is now a fond memory :-(
- 5th Avenue: Posh shopping destination, what more can I say!? I love the H & M and Gap on 5th Ave, both are some of my fave locations of these stores in Manhattan. These locations are expansive and have a great selection. I also love the upscale stores, just to browse in and live my aspirational fashion dream.
- Union Square: The first time I went here was when I volunteered at Tribeca Film Festival. I was just passing through on my way to East Village Cinema where I would do a few hour’s worth of volunteer work at Tribeca Film Festival helping out with screenings. My other fave Whole Foods Market location is here as well. I also shot a video promo for Volvic Water here for a school project.
- Rockefeller Center: I walked all around this place my last night in NYC in May 2009. All I can say is that it was a magical, larger than life experience because it is one of those iconic places you hear about and see and you never think you’ll actually see it until of course you actually see it!
- The Upper West Side: This is where I use to live! West 88th near Riverside Drive baby! LOL. I liked the area except for the massive amounts of dog feces and urine polluting the sidewalk and air! Dog owners were SO DARN inconsiderate about leaving their animal's waste on the sidewalks and they were too lazy to pick up the poo with a plastic bag! I found myself constantly looking down in order to dodge "s" bombs on the sidewalk, which basically created a poop minefield. Very annoying and disgusting! But other than that the Upper West Side was amazing and it was a grocery shopper and restaurant patron's paradise. With all the great little food shops, markets and eateries one could get lost in food for years without having to try the same thing twice.
- Saint Esprit Church: Free French classes take place here on Sunday. It's located at Park Avenue near 60th street. I went to a few sessions my first and second year of school but I decided not to go back because I wanted my Sundays free. I went to one of their October Fest celebrations and they had a few different selections of tasty quiche.
- The East Village: I loved the grittiness of this neighborhood. The old remnants of an era of punk rock, shady, sketchiness still remain yet wiped clean of all the real meaning from when it was first established. The store fronts are rife with tatoo parlors, peep shows and alternative apparel and of course restuarants. I liked Trash and Vaudeville, the neighborhood salwart and punk rocker apparel heaven (website after all these years! Yay!). Another cool place was Bamn Automat, an interesting dining concept where the inside of the restaurant had a life-sized vending machine style wall that dispensed all sorts of fried food goodies and the other side had a place to sit, sad to see it's gone now (but the website is still up). Last but not least, Pommes Frites, I loved this place, they sell great substantial fries and portions (AMAZING frites and creative sauces).
Thursday, May 12, 2011
New York or Bust!—Finding Housing, Part 1
In my last installment of New York or Bust!, I mentioned my mission to return to New York City for my final year of college. In this installment, I will be going over my housing search. My search has truly been an epic saga. I have been researching temporary housing in New York City that is suitable for students for about 10 years now and surprisingly I have still not come to any definitive conclusions!
My search began long before I wanted to attend my current school. The housing hunt began in 2001, when I wanted to take a summer class at New York University and possibly get an internship. I didn't end up taking the class at that time since I couldn't find housing.
For the first several years of my housing research I pretty much only turned up a few possible options. These included Sara's New York Homestay, a hand full of independent homestay search websites, a few very expensive temporary corporate housing options and New York Accommodations Centre.
I read the information provided on the websites of each organization very carefully and I found that Sara's New York Homestay had reasonable rates, meal options and seemed to be what I was looking for (at least on paper it was perfect). So I did research on the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and other websites to check the reputability of this place and absolutely nothing came up!
I searched the organizations that they claimed to be members of, which were listed on their website and still no information regarding their track record or reputability. Finally, I contacted the owner to ask more questions. Well, the answer's that I received from them were a little iffy.
It ended up that the owner seemed to have a shady, corner-cutting way of doing business and it showed in their responses to my inquiry. In addition, I took to the internet message boards to ask if anyone had any experience with them but no one else had dealt with them. I did, however, receive generally helpful advice in looking for housing in the city.
Also, one interesting person responded to my inquiry and sent a link to Sara's Homestay. It was, wait for it.... none other than the owner himself, I was flabbergasted!! And another member of that message board who gave me some advice had private messaged me later and said she saw the owner's iffy response to me so she clicked the link that he gave and said she read the website and found that the name of the owner matched the name of the person who responded to me! It was beyond weird! But kudos to the lady for informing me.
From then on I knew something was up with that business. Years later I Googled them again to see if anyone has had written any reviews of their experiences with them and sure enough now every single review I find on them is very negative. But I'm not surprised at all. Here's are some links that I found on Yelp.com and InsiderPages.com that showcase the poor business practices of Sara's New York Homestay.
Needless to say that my New York City housing search had proven to be fruitless for my first few years on the hunt. But I have pressed on all these years and found some different options along the way. Stay tuned for next week's post, where I will share my other NYC housing finds. Will I successfully find housing before Fall 2011? Only time will tell.
My search began long before I wanted to attend my current school. The housing hunt began in 2001, when I wanted to take a summer class at New York University and possibly get an internship. I didn't end up taking the class at that time since I couldn't find housing.
For the first several years of my housing research I pretty much only turned up a few possible options. These included Sara's New York Homestay, a hand full of independent homestay search websites, a few very expensive temporary corporate housing options and New York Accommodations Centre.
I read the information provided on the websites of each organization very carefully and I found that Sara's New York Homestay had reasonable rates, meal options and seemed to be what I was looking for (at least on paper it was perfect). So I did research on the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and other websites to check the reputability of this place and absolutely nothing came up!
I searched the organizations that they claimed to be members of, which were listed on their website and still no information regarding their track record or reputability. Finally, I contacted the owner to ask more questions. Well, the answer's that I received from them were a little iffy.
It ended up that the owner seemed to have a shady, corner-cutting way of doing business and it showed in their responses to my inquiry. In addition, I took to the internet message boards to ask if anyone had any experience with them but no one else had dealt with them. I did, however, receive generally helpful advice in looking for housing in the city.
Also, one interesting person responded to my inquiry and sent a link to Sara's Homestay. It was, wait for it.... none other than the owner himself, I was flabbergasted!! And another member of that message board who gave me some advice had private messaged me later and said she saw the owner's iffy response to me so she clicked the link that he gave and said she read the website and found that the name of the owner matched the name of the person who responded to me! It was beyond weird! But kudos to the lady for informing me.
From then on I knew something was up with that business. Years later I Googled them again to see if anyone has had written any reviews of their experiences with them and sure enough now every single review I find on them is very negative. But I'm not surprised at all. Here's are some links that I found on Yelp.com and InsiderPages.com that showcase the poor business practices of Sara's New York Homestay.
Needless to say that my New York City housing search had proven to be fruitless for my first few years on the hunt. But I have pressed on all these years and found some different options along the way. Stay tuned for next week's post, where I will share my other NYC housing finds. Will I successfully find housing before Fall 2011? Only time will tell.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
New York or Bust!
New York City has been a huge theme throughout most of my life, first as a 13 year old wanting to attend Fashion Institute of Technology's fashion design program. Then, my restlessness and longing for the city permeated my 20s. When NYC became a reality and I landed at JFK International Airport for the first time to begin my journey as a communications student at age 26, at that point I knew my career and life, as it were, would begin right then and there.
As a small town girl from Washington state, I always had big plans and dreams to do something big with my life in New York City. I always wanted to have a career in fashion design but I realized in time that I just didn't have the chops to be able to design whole lines of clothing, make patterns for all the pieces and sew samples of them all nor did I want to.
Even so, I still loved fashion but as time went on I realized my true career calling--journalism/media--even before the age of 13, I loved to write and had a knack for language. Now, I know I can still do fashion as a career, but as a fashion writer/editor and stylist, these jobs would still allow me to work with clothes but in a slightly less involved manner by working with words and finished products, which is just my style. In addition to that I would like to become a part-time professor and college student media advisor.
My road to New York City not been easy by any means and I've had a few set backs along the way such as having to come back home and taking a 1-year break and then taking a year of online classes with my New York college but I am as determined as ever to make my dreams come true and I won't give up!
Fall 2011 will kick off my final year in the communications program and I will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Arts in May 2012 (hopefully)! I'm hoping to get back to my school's NYC campus to complete my degree. I'll be sharing my journey, insights and NYC retrospectives in the New York or Bust! section of this blog. Stay tuned, because you know I'm all about NYC or Bust, baby!!
As a small town girl from Washington state, I always had big plans and dreams to do something big with my life in New York City. I always wanted to have a career in fashion design but I realized in time that I just didn't have the chops to be able to design whole lines of clothing, make patterns for all the pieces and sew samples of them all nor did I want to.
Even so, I still loved fashion but as time went on I realized my true career calling--journalism/media--even before the age of 13, I loved to write and had a knack for language. Now, I know I can still do fashion as a career, but as a fashion writer/editor and stylist, these jobs would still allow me to work with clothes but in a slightly less involved manner by working with words and finished products, which is just my style. In addition to that I would like to become a part-time professor and college student media advisor.
My road to New York City not been easy by any means and I've had a few set backs along the way such as having to come back home and taking a 1-year break and then taking a year of online classes with my New York college but I am as determined as ever to make my dreams come true and I won't give up!
Fall 2011 will kick off my final year in the communications program and I will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Arts in May 2012 (hopefully)! I'm hoping to get back to my school's NYC campus to complete my degree. I'll be sharing my journey, insights and NYC retrospectives in the New York or Bust! section of this blog. Stay tuned, because you know I'm all about NYC or Bust, baby!!
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