What's New in New York City - Costco Comes to Manhattan

Whether the news makes you cheer or grimace, Costco is finally opening in Manhattan. The East 116th Street store opens Thursday, November 12th at 8am (this is a special time for opening day). A basic membership is $50 for a year. I think I audibly gulped at the price.

Until the end of the year, there's a special offer if you bring a friend to sign up with you. Maybe the $10 (or $20 if you can convince 2 people to sign up) sweetens the deal a bit. (Click here for the original email that you'll need to take with you)

Costco is the first store to open in the long awaited East River Complex. The New York Times reports that the others (like Target, Best Buy and Marshall's) will open next spring.

Columbus Day Weekend on the Cheap

4 Years ago today Columbia and I got married. Every year since then we have gone away to celebrate. This year is no different (well, a little different, but that's okay), meaning we'll miss all of the fun and free activities in NYC. Such is the bane of having a (semi)romantic weekend away (with a now 19 month old).

• TONY Kids has posted Free Events for Columbus Day Weekend. This is a great list, divided by day to help with planning.
• Don't forget Open House New York is this weekend. There are still LOTS of amazing tours available. Check out their list here.
• Just incase you need a new dress shirt (ehem, Columbia), shoes or a cute Martha Stewart baking dish, Macy's is having a big sale. You can take an extra 15% off with this to help keep your wallet a little more plump (or that credit card bill a little lower).

Happy long weekend and Happy Anniversary Columbia!

We Moved! Just not to our new home...

Goodbye Upper West Side, Hello South Harlem!

Our previous landlords were unwilling to extend our lease for a month or two until we close on the new apartment we are buying. We needed a place to stay temporarily and we miraculously found it in the same building we are buying in, and even on the same floor!

It's not an ideal situation (we really are mostly living out of boxes) but it's better than we could have hoped. This also means we'll probably push the closing date back a bit on the new place so we don't have to pay rent and mortgage for an entire month.

There's been so many fun things to post, but no time. Hopefully life will settle down a bit and we can get back to all of the wonderful (and cheap =) things that happen in New York City!

Free Kids Stuff:

The Children's Museum of Manhattan (83rd b/w Broadway and Amsterdam) has a program where admission for adults and children (all ages) is free on the first Friday of every month. We took the pumpkin last month and she had a blast. As it gets busy fast, we recommend getting there as close to 5 as you can, especially if your little one is under two.

Target First Free Friday! (Next as of this writing: Friday, September 4, 2009)
Children's Museum of Manhattan
(212) 721-1234
Admission is free from 5—8pm

Extra bonus? During August's event, there was a Time-Warner ice-cream truck outside (that isn't a typo) selling cups and cones of soft-serve for a buck!*

* More info on that TW ice-cream truck: One hundred percent of the proceeds will be donated to nonprofit organizations that offer science, technology, engineering and math programs for kids. Cool, huh?

Tax Lot Photographs

If you're a fan of "old new york," you might get a kick out of the City's "tax lot photographs," which are now are now available for sale. For $80 total, you can have a black and white 8x10 of your building of choice taken around 1940 ($35) and a color 8x10 taken in the mid-80s ($45). There is also mention of being able to view low-res images of the Manhattan collection for free if you make a visit to the archives.

From the site:

Between 1939 and 1941, and again in the mid-1980s, the city photographed every house and building in the five boroughs. Photographic prints of these unique images are now available for purchase.

Link: Tax Lot Photographs

The Municipal Archives is located at:
31 Chambers Street, Room 103 · New York, NY 10007
Open to the public Monday through Thursday 9 AM to 4:30 PM, Friday 9 AM to 1 PM

Manhattanhenge 2009

You may remember when Columbia first told you about Manhattanhenge, when the setting sun falls directly inline with the street grid that is New York City. While there are 2 days a year when this magnificent event occurs, in truth, for several days around each set day are also breathtakingly beautiful.

2009's 2nd and last 'henge of the year is July 12th at 8:25pm.

Be sure to check out Hayden Planetariums's page on the phenomenon that is Manhattanhenge to satisfy all of your sun-worshipping curiosities.

NYC is Safe (Until You're A Victim)

I came across a piece the NY Times put together called the NYC Homicides Map. You can look at murder data mapped out across the city, each grim event appearing as a pinpoint with correlating data (victim/perp age, method used, date, etc). It's not pretty to look at, but it is incredibly informing. If you are willing to understand this as a reality where we live, you might not avoid the data, but rather try to find a use for it. Just as you could get hit crossing the street or end up with a cessna flying into your bedroom, danger can happen anywhere. This data doesn't say that you'll be murdered in one particular area; it just shows where to go to increase your odds.

My immediate application for this map was to help me understanding relative safety of neighborhoods with which I'm less familiar. One such neighborhood is East Harlem, said to be one of the last good deals in Manhattan Real Estate. So we bought in to the hype, and visited an open-house that looked promising. Outside the very charming apartment, my comfort-level was challenged (especially in thinking about my girls), and this was during daylight hours. I thought maybe the map could help inform me: was it really unsafe or just my lack of knowledge of the area?

Neighborhood of the open house:
Each dot represents a murder at that location (Since 2003)


For comparison, I looked at my neighborhood.


While it's true that where we live is very quiet and safe(comparatively speaking), it's affirming to know my sense of discomfort in East Harlem had some grounding in reality.

For the a God's eye view, here's the big picture of NYC:



The map and data is really interesting and slightly disturbing all at the same time. We've already looked at other areas where we are (were?) considering buying and are wondering the following:

1. Will we let this information effect our home-buying decision?
2. Is the "sense of the neighborhood" more meaningful to us than these statistics?
3. Is there any way we can keep our families from finding this map?

Link: NYC Homicides Map [via StreetEasy Talk]

Lost their Lease (NYC Economy Snapshop, Part 1)

The picture on the left is of the Health Nuts, formerly at Broadway and 75th Street. I always loved this store, with its shelves stocked to the 14' (at least) ceilings. It was a small store, where you knew the people and things were still priced with a sticker gun. This picture was taken on Feb 28th 2008. The store closed shortly thereafter and has been vacant since. The manager, David, opened up the Vitamin Peddler on Amsterdam after The Health Nuts closed, though the variety of his offerings is significantly smaller than before.

I was searching for a little more information about David, and found an incredible article from the West Side Spirit called "Closed For Business," which looked at how many stores in the UWS are sitting empty:

To discover exactly how the financial climate has affected businesses, West Side Spirit conducted a survey on Feb. 20 of Broadway, Amsterdam and Columbus avenues from 59th to 110th streets and discovered a total of 103 empty, on-the-avenue lots. Five more had announced their imminent closure and 11 others were closed but planned to open with new shops in the month ahead. Overall, 8.44 percent of individual stores on these three avenues stood empty that day. Amsterdam was the worst off, with nearly a tenth of its lots unoccupied. [Full Article]

I always find it a cruel twist of fate when a store, like the Health Nuts, closes from being being priced out. The area is what it is (desireable, profitable, etc) because of places like this: Small shops with good products, salespeople with heart and experience that offer solid advice, yet somehow don't need to mark up everything to a "luxury" price point. In short: Stores with a soul.

So now The Health Nuts is gone, which is clearly a loss for the neighborhood. With nothing in its place, there is a loss for the local economy, the neighborhood offerings, neighborhood appeal, security and other intangibles. Whoever owns 2141 Broadway has lost over a year's worth of rent due to greedy aspirations. And now the market has taken such a hit that they'd be lucky to get a tenant to pay whatever the Health Nuts was paying before, and surely would have continued to pay.



Link Closed For Business [West Side Spirit]

The True Cost of a Membership

Just about a year ago, JC and I decided that it would probably be worth it to buy a membership to the Central Park Zoo. We looked at the price for the two of us (Children under 3 are free) to get in and it was $20. We decided to get the Individual Premium membership, which would pay for itself in 4 more visits on admission alone. For $90, we'd get free admission to all five WCS wildlife parks (including the NYC Aquarium at Coney Island) for one adult and a friend plus unlimited access to Bronx Zoo attractions. We also have had a membership to the Museum of Natural History, which is a stones throw from our place. With both memberships coming to a close, and our plans for an upcoming move by October, the idea of renewing these memberships has been brought to the budgetary table.

We decided that the zoo membership would be worth it for admission. The AMNH membership is a little more difficult to value, since a non-member can enter via a donation. In trying to crunch numbers and be wise with our money, I have to remind myself about the value from which we benefit with a membership:

1. Unlimited Access to The Collections
Want to see dinosaurs today, gems tomorrow, and maybe a deciduous forest on a whim? Do it. It's already paid for, so use it as much as you want. Zoos, museums and the like give us a view of something we don't have access to otherwise, and it's an exciting way to learn for Pumkpin and ourselves.

2. Significantly Shorter Lines
The next time we went to the Zoo after getting our membership (Labor Day Weekend maybe?) we almost turned around because of the lines to get in. It was bright out, and our pasty pumpkin would have looked like a cooked lobster before we even got through the gates. I thought, nay - I hoped! -- that maybe, just maybe, there was a members' line. Sure enough, there was. We went from a line of about 75 to a line of none and walked right in. I remember thinking at the time, "that just made the membership worth it." That line has been a very nice perk, and saves us time waiting on line that could be better be spent admiring the new Snow Leopards.

It should be mentioned that JC finds the non-members' lines to be very mild during the off-peak weekday hours, so this might not be a huge factor for stay-at-home-parents, or zoo-goers with non-traditional work hours.

3. Energy Savings
With a little more groundwork, I could put this into dollars, but I'll say this: Last year one hot month with two air conditioners running left us sweating a $300 electricity bill. Since the home is occupied during the day now, we use more electricity than if the house were empty; the hotter months exacerbate our electricty use. Turning off all the lights and AC for an hour a day while walking around the climate-controlled AMNH can only have a positive effect on our wallet.

4. Free Parking
While we've only benefitted from this once, but the membership to the Zoo came with 4 FREE parking passes for the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium. A free parking pass at the Aquarium saved us $12 while were we galavanting around on four wheels.

5. Developing Curiousity and A Love for Learning
Definitely an intangeble, but really priceless to me. I wonder how much Pumpkin picks up at the AMNH, but I do believe she knows that it's an important place with experiences she gets nowhere else. She's just starting to love the Central Park Children's Zoo, and is excited just to explore its grounds. At 15 months old, her curiousity and cleverness makes it clear that before long she'll be asking to go pet the animals, see the big whale, and asking the favorite question: "what's that?". I honestly can't wait!

Our memberships run out around the end of june, at which point we will hopefully be narrowing down on our future home. It sad to think that we might lose accssibility to these excellent resources if we leave our nabe', but I'll have to remind myself that similar options exist throughout the city and beyond. So until July 1, we'll party like it's the Mesozoic Era.

* Pumkin explores a "Sea Turtle's Egg" on May 30, 2009. Picture by Columbia.

What's New in New York City - the June 9, 2009 edition

Today the long awaited High Line in open for business or rather park-ness. It's a little sad that the weather was not more cooperative. Maybe all of those thunderclaps and lightning flashes were really just part of the celebration of the train line-turned-park, and greening of an eye-sore. While their are many places to access the park, an elevator is located at 16th & Washington St. for the handicapped and those of us with strollers.

Yesterday marks the start of an open air art installation in Central Park known as the Central Park Sound Tunnel. It's located in the tunnel by the Central Park Zoo's Tisch Children's Zoo and plays every half hour for 20 minutes from 8am until 8pm. As it plays so often (and for so long) and runs through September 10, 2009, it seems impossible not to hear it if you're anywhere in the area. That doesn't really stop me from wanting to run over there as soon as the weather clears. =)

Free Movies in Manhattan this Summer (2009)

The June '09 issue of Time Out New York Kids showed up the other day, and the issue is fantastic. Lots of great articles and lots of FREE stuff to do this summer. Below are a list of places to get your cine fix.

The last movie JC and I saw together in the theater was Wall-E (matinee, natch), so as former movie regulars, we're looking forward to some free entertainment this summer.

Summer 2009 Free Movie Schedule

Thursdays at
Clearview Cinemas Kids' Club
Thursdays at 10:30 am July 2nd - August 20th

• 260 West 23rd between 7th and 8th - Clearview Chelsea
• 400 East 62nd Street (The Clearview 1st and 62nd)
  [Check their site for Schedules]
  

Sony Wonderlab 500 Madison Ave @ 56th Street
As there are only 73 seats in this hi-def theater, you'll want to call the Monday before to make a reservation (212) 833-7858.

Movies for Adults Saturdays at 2pm
May 30th - Paul Blart: Mall Cop
June 6th - Winged Migration
June 13th - Not Easily Broken
June 27th - GhostBusters

Movies for Kids Saturdays (plus one Thursday) starting at noon
May 30th - Sesame Street: Elmo Visits the Firehouse

June 6th - Elmo & Zoe's Scientific Exploration
June 13th - Dora the Explorer & Go, Diego Go! (Double Feature)
June 18th (Thursday) - Elmo's World: Wild Wild West
June 27th - Sesame Street: Zoe's Dance Moves

HBO Series at Bryant Park Not really family entertainment, but I used to love this series regardless of what's on the screen. Bring a blanket, a couple of bottles of wine, and bribe your slacker friend to get there and nab a spot at 5pm (when the lawn officially opens for the screenings). Bring a friend from out of town, and they'll remember it for life.

(http://www.bryantpark.org/calendar/film-festival.php)

June 15th - The Sting
June 22nd - Breaking Away
June 29th - Gold Diggers of 1933
July 6th - Dog Day Afternoon
July 13th - How Green was My Valley

July 20th - Harold and Maude
July 27th - The Defiant Ones
August 3rd - Kramer vs. Kramer
August 10th - The Magnificent Seven
August 17th - Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Hudson River Park - River flicks (for Kids and Grown-Ups) Even as partial as I am to Bryant Park, the films chosen for River Flicks are (IMHO) just more fun. :) I've never been, but I imagine watching a movie on the edge of the Hudson has to be incredibly peaceful. Movies begin at dusk. Seating is available (but we'd bring a blanket just in case). Free popcorn. Beverages and Snacks are for sale.

RiverFlicks for Kids (Fridays)
Pier 46 at Charles St.
July 10 - Wizard of Oz (G)
July 17 - Kung Fu Panda (PG)
July 24 - Ghostbusters (PG)
July 31 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars (PG)
August 7 - Muppet Movie (G)
August 14 - Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (PG)
August 21 - Curious George (G)

RiverFlicks for Grown Ups (Wednesdays)
Pier 54 at 14th St.
July 8 - Iron Man (PG13)
July 15 - Vicky Cristina Barcelona (PG13)
July 22 - The Dark Knight (PG13)
July 29 - Hancock (PG13)
August 5 - Tropic Thunder (R)
August 12 - Sex and the City: The Movie (R)
August 19 - Pineapple Express (R)

Regal Entertainment Group's Free Family Film Festival
Every Tuesday and Wednesday select Regal Theaters offer free movies at 10am. There's only 1 location in Manhattan but several Regal Theaters in Brooklyn and Queens
are offering these free movies as well. It's so nice that the theaters offer a choice of movies... so nice you may have to go both days. =)

Battery Park Stadium 11, 102 North End Ave. 212-945-4370
June 30th & July 1st - Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G) & Inkheart (PG)
July 7 th & July 8th - Clifford (G) & Evan Almighty (PG)
July 14 th & July 15th - The Tale Of Despereaux (G) & Barnyard (PG)
July 21 st & July 22nd - Charlotte's Web (G) & Star Wars: Clone Wars (PG)
July 28 th & July 29th - Horton Hears A Who (G) & Spiderwick Chronicles (PG)
August 4 th & August 5th - Polar Express (G) & Kung Fu Panda (PG)
August 11 th & August 12th - Wallace And Gromit (G) & Surf's Up (PG)
August 18 th & August 19th - Mr. Bean's Holiday (G) & Firehouse Dog (PG)
August 25 th & August 26th - Space Chimps (G) & Nim's Island (PG)

Kid's flicks at Maclaren
According to TONY Kids, the Maclaren showroom in Soho (150 Wooster Street, 212-677-2700) will be showing kids movies (e.g. Kung Fu Panda, etc.) on Wednesdays 11-2. I can't find anything about it online, so I'd call for info if that's a desireable spot for you. It's worth noting that the space is quite intimate from what I recall.


So that's what we've got for Summer 2009 Free Movies. If you hear of any not listed here, please add it to the comments!

A Housing Update - the big wait is over... at least for now

We'd told you that Columbia went to an informational seminar with ACORN Housing in February. Our union has an agreement with the non-profit that makes going through ACORN's house buying program financially beneficial if you qualify (which we do). However, the process has not been especially expedient.

- February 10th: Columbia attends ACORN's mandatory information session, which was very informative and allowed for Columbia to ask a lot of questions.

- April 2nd: We mailed ACORN a detailed history of every purchase we have ever thought of making since the day of conception. In all seriousness, it's a lot of paperwork. We waited so long because Columbia got another raise that showed up on March 16th's paycheck and because we wanted our tax return to be in our bank account. At the February meeting, Columbia was told to expect a phone call about 2 weeks after ACORN received the intake packet.

- April 4th: ACORN received our paperwork. We paid for tracking. We didn't want to risk all of that paperwork getting lost in the mail.

- Then began the phone calls. Columbia's. The poor guy kept calling, and calling and calling. He left a dozen messages and never got anywhere.

- April 30th: Columbia calls again and explains to the receptionist how long the paperwork has been there and that he can't get anyone to return his calls. The person responsible for processing paperwork then takes Columbia's call. She explains that they have been working on a grant proposal and apologizes for the inconvenience. She said that she hoped to process our paperwork and call us back tomorrow (which would have been May 1st).

- May 12th: Columbia calls ACORN again and explains our saga to the receptionist, including the fact that this agency has had all sorts of personal information for 6 weeks and has not contacted us to discuss it. We received a call back within an hour informing us that our paperwork had been processed and we had been assigned a loan counselor.

- May 13th: Columbia calls the loan counselor and leaves a message (I begin this post...).

- May 14th: Columbia finds the email address for our loan counselor - the man's a sleuth! He decides not to write on a Thursday night as we think they may not work on Fridays and he doesn't want the email to get lost in the cluster of weekend emails.

- May 18th: Columbia calls and emails the loan counselor, asking her to call him.

- May 19th: Columbia gets a call from the loan counselor at ACORN and sets up an appointment for... May 20th - TOMORROW!

He scheduled it for after work and mentioned he may bring his wife and daughter with him. The counselor didn't seem thrilled. I would love to be there, and Pumpkin is very well behaved for a 14 month old, but... We'll decide tonight.

We are hoping tomorrow will bring us big answers... especially the amount of the loan for which we are eligible. The bigger answers might be 1) Should we continue to try to work with ACORN? and 2) Are the benefits from going through their process worth the hassle? I would also be happy to know if I can finally start making plans for this summer.

Thank You ConEd Solutions, we will GLADLY pay you less for green energy

While Columbia has posted on our decision to choose green energy, and last years rise in cost, I am THRILLED to report that even ConEd's green users are now paying less! While there have been numerous reports that ConEd customers will actually be paying less this summer, we weren't sure how that would effect those who chose one of their green options for fuel. Then came the glorious letter:

"ConEdison Solutions is offering you GREEN Power at a fixed price of 11.90 cents per kilowatt-hour, excluding sales tax. This price will be in effect for a 12-month period beginning on your meter rea date for June 2009..."

Yahoo!

We have currently been paying 18.000000000000002¢/kWh and we can't wait for the break in our electric bill. We'll let you know what the actual difference is - while not the 60% from kWh price once all of the other add-ons are tallied it will hopefully be a significant change.

Spring in the City

While Christmas may be the most glitzy time of year to be in New York City, Spring is definitely the prettiest. Trees are blossoming, grass is covering up the muddy spots created during winter, flowers are blooming and hiding the rat holes, it's warm but not hot enough to make heat rise from the sidewalks or the garbage smell: it's a glorious time to be in the city! Below are some pictures from the many excursions we've had over the last week while Columbia was on break and the weather was nice.

America's Favorite Pastime has me Cheering (at the Radio)

For Christmas '07, JC gave me $50 worth of "Bomber Bucks" to use towards buying some Yankee Tickets. We didn't get a chance to use them last year, so I went up on Friday to see what I could get for their first year in the new stadium. You might have heard that the prices in the new stadium are not entirely in line with our economic situation. Catch a game on TV, and you'll see a lot of empty ($375) field level seats. Last year, sitting with the bleacher creatures would set you back $12, while hiking up to the nosebleeds would cost $19/seat. This year, bleacher tickets are $18 and upper level start at $23. Happy to watch any game, I thought I'd go up to the Bronx and just pick up two tickets to any game. I got to the window and found out that the lowest priced ticket left is $60... for the rest of the season. All the "cheap" tickets are sold out until the 2010 season.

How has the national pastime become so expensive? I guess it could have something to do with a 1.5 BILLION dollar stadium. When JC lived in the Bronx, she could show up on game night and pay $5 for bleacher tickets. Today, if a family of four decides on a whim to catch a game (given what's left), you're talking $240 before you walk in the door. It makes me more and more interested to watching some local minor league games, like the Brooklyn Cyclones or the Staten Island Yankees.

My first few games cost me more in sausages and beer than the ticket price, but I later got wise to going for the game, and learning the stadiums rules on bringing in outside food. At this point, I can't justify spending an extra $70 for "free" tickets, so looks like I'll have to hold on to the gift certificate until next year. This year I'll have to enjoy the new stadium through the magic of my AM radio.

Paying too much for produce? Try your green grocer

One of the best parts of my commute to Elmhurst is passing by the local fruit stand, "Mango Rico". I stopped by one day because the produce I needed was so expensive at the nearby Associated Supermarket that I couldn't bring myself to buy it. So I thought, eh -- I'll try it. Now I can't remember the last time I was in the Associated.

CBS News ran a video the other night -- it seemed a fluff piece, easy to ignore -- but I looked over at JC and we both nodded a telepathic "that's what I'm talking about" at each other. The piece was about knowing where to get groceries in this time of recession. (You can watch the video or read the transcript if you missed it.) It claims the best places to get produce, fish, meats and more are:

• Chinatown
• Astoria
• Flushing
• Arthur Avenue
• Flatbush Avenue

I can attest to the deals around Canal Street and Mott streets too. Perfectly high-quality produce for insanely cheap prices. Big bunches of slim asparagus for $1, gorgeous bundles of baby spinach for $1.25... While most people try to get out of jury duty, my recent stint on Centre Street might have been the best thing that could have happened to dinner.

link to video
link to article / transcript

A Home of Our Own, not just a home: how we've been doing and our future plans.

Columbia and I were talking last night and decided we needed to set a reasonable goal for ourselves. 1 post a week. It's not much, but it's SO MUCH more than we've been doing lately. Before we share our plans with you, here's how we've been doing:

Living on One Income in NYC

• Even though Columbia completed 30 credits above his masters degree (the top salary in the doe) this past summer, it took a couple of months for the transcripts to come through... then processing time... FINALLY at the end of December we got the raise, and the retro-active pay (for the day he completed the last credit). We had been just learning to break even (and not dip into our savings anymore) when this happened, so we were overjoyed for the new monthly cushion and to be able to pay back some of our savings.
• We've cut out spending even more. It's funny how frugalness really leads to more frugalness. And we don't feel like we're depriving ourselves or Pumpkin. Our families also gave us quite a few gift cards for Christmas and birthdays (Columbia's is November, Mine is in January) so we've been able to use them for special treats as well as necessities like clothing.
• Columbia found an awesome produce stand near his job in Elmhurst. He is at that school on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, so twice a week he stops there. He spends about $10 each time and gets their best deals on the best looking fruit and veggies. This week one of his hot finds was 2 quarts of beautiful strawberries for $2. His purchases there have become what we base our menus around.
• We have actually started paying into our savings again each month. Yep. We're working with an excess. I'm feel as if I should maybe erase that - just incase typing the words jinxes us or something (so the bold and italics was probably really overdoing it =). I was looking through our bank statements in February and realized that we are at the same place we were last year at this time when we had 2 salaries. We feel so blessed that I am able to stay home with Pumpkin without putting us into debt.
• Cha-Ching! Tax refund! We realize we will not get this windfall next year, but it is nice to have such a big addition to our savings. We even got a good amount back from the state, which is unheard of for us.

Our Plans

• At this point, all signs point to my staying home another year. I am thankful that the NYCDOE lets me decide on a year-by-year basis. I'm still a commitment-phob at heart, so this makes it easier on me mentally.
• We are looking to buy an apartment. Yep. Really. A 2 bedroom at that. No, I'm not kidding! The housing market has hit NYC and we are in a place where we can take advantage of it. Columbia even went to TWO open houses last Sunday and we plan on going to at least 2 more this week. Last year at this time I was telling friends that 1 bedrooms were finally coming into our price range. Now, we are seeing twice as many 2 bedrooms for that same number! Our union has worked out a relationship with Acorn Housing (they are NOT Acorn) so that we get extra perks (lower interest rates, etc). We'd went to an informational seminar several years ago and thought they were a great resource. Columbia went to another in January to start the ball rolling this time. We are nearly ready to send in our paperwork and see what our loan pre-approval number is. This will decide a lot for us. Including if we continue to look in Manhattan or start searching the outer-boroughs (Columbia, stop crying, it will be okay =). A good reminder for me has been that the apartment we buy does not need to be our home forever, just the next 5-6 years at least. This realization takes a considerable amount of weight off of my shoulders.
• One post a week. It will probably revolve around apartment hunting, where we are in the process, or how our 2 cats are not only the bane of my existence, but are crippling our chances at getting approved by a coop or condo board. Just kidding about the cats... sort of. :/

On another note, Pumpkin turned 1 March 9th! She is such a joy.

Our Birthday Girl!

(Note: this is not our apt, but a family member's home in LI)

Out with the old... tree, that is

It's that time of year again. Time to reclaim your living room and throw out that holiday tree. You won't miss it too much. After all, you'll be finding it's needles until next Christmas. Here's the news release from New York's Strongest:

Sanitation Begins Christmas Tree Recycling on January 5th
Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty announced today that the Department will begin its annual Christmas tree curbside collection and recycling program on Monday, January 5, 2009. The program will run through Friday, January 16th.

Residents should remove all tree stands, tinsel, lights, and ornaments from holiday trees before they are put out at curbside for removal. Trees must not be placed into plastic bags. Clean, non-bagged Christmas trees that are left at the curb between Monday, January 5th and Friday, January 16th will be collected, chipped, and made into compost. The compost will be processed and subsequently spread upon parks, ball fields, and community gardens throughout the city.

In January 2008, the Department collected over 160,000 discarded Christmas trees.

"The Department is very pleased to offer this special recycling service. Providing collection and recycling options for residents is environmentally valuable and benefits our neighborhoods. Working in conjunction with the City's Parks & Recreation Department allows residents to take part in the recycling process and permits them to even reuse their composted Christmas trees to fertilize for the spring. Compost is a natural fertilizer and is an excellent soil enrichment that promotes the healthy growth of plants and grass," said Commissioner Doherty.

The Parks & Recreation Department will be hosting Mulchfest 2009 on Saturday, January 10th and Sunday, January 11th from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. at more than 80 sites throughout the city. To find citywide locations, visit the Parks & Recreation website at www.nyc.gov/parks. The citywide service allows New Yorkers to drop off their holiday trees at designated parks for mulching and event attendees can pick up free mulch. All lights, ornaments, and decorations must be removed from the trees prior to drop-off.

For more information on Christmas tree collection and recycling and/or Mulchfest 2009, visit www.nyc.gov/sanitation or www.nyc.gov/parks or call 3-1-1

We'll be getting ours out to the curb this Sunday. Not to beat the rush, or to be the cool ones who do it first, but to end the constant struggle between Pumpkin's natural curiosity about an indoor pine tree and the dubious structural integrity of a $4.95 tree stand. At this point, the stand has become less a water dish for the tree, and more a water dish for the cats. Disposing of the tree will be our first act of simplifying in 2009... until the end of the year when we do it all over again.

Free Museum Friday... and Saturday and Sunday and....

I was all set to post about the great free opportunities for visiting Museums on Friday evening, when lo and behold I discovered that there are museums offering free entrance everyday of the week!

NewYorkology posted a comprehensive list that you can access here, but I've posted the museums offering free Fridays below. We are taking Pumpkin to the Children's Museum of Manhattan tonight. While it's free for her until she's one, Columbia and I would have to pay $10 each if it weren't for there free hours the first Friday of every month.

Free Museum Entrance of Fridays

• Museum of Modern Art - Free from 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $20)
• Guggenheim - Pay-what-you-wish from 5:45 to 7:45 p.m.; last admission at 7:15 p.m. (normally $18)
• Whitney Museum of American Art - Pay-what-you-wish from 6 to 9 p.m. (normally $15)
• International Center of Photography - “voluntary contribution” admission from 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $12)
• Morgan Library & Museum - Free from 7 to 9 p.m. (normally $12)
• NY Hall of Science - Free 2 to 5 p.m., but only September through June (normally $11)
• New-York Historical Society - Free from 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $10)
• Rubin Museum of Art - Free from 7 to 10 p.m. (normally $10)
• South Street Seaport Museum - Free Fridays from 5 to 9 p.m. on the third Friday of each month, sometimes with free harbor sails (museum admission normally $10)
• Children’s Museum of Manhattan - Free the first Friday of each month from 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $10)
• The Noguchi Museum - Pay-what-you-wish on the first Friday of each month, all day, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (normally $10)
• Asia Society - Free 6 to 9 p.m., but free Fridays are suspended July 4 to Labor Day. (normally $10)
• Folk Art Museum - Free from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (normally $9)
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day every Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but only from Nov. 20 - Feb. 29 (normally $8)
• Bronx Museum - Free 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (normally $5 suggested)
• Museum of the Moving Image is closed for renovations, except for the “Behind the Screen” exhibition which is free with an “optional contribution of $5”

Anyone still remember Thanksgiving?

Is Christmas coming earlier than ever this year? I don't ever remember hearing holiday music before Thanksgiving, but it's being piped in already. It's a shame that Thanksgiving kind of gets overlooked.



One of the most fun things about living where we do, is waking up Thanksgiving morning, grabbing a bagel and heading out to the Macy's parade. Since it starts at 77th and Central Park West (which is 40 blocks or about 2 miles) from Macy's, the event is still exciting but a little less "showy" than what you see on TV. The stars don't sing, but the floats go past, the dancers and musicians are giving it their all, and of course, the balloons are the stars of the show. It makes me feel like a little kid each year, and it's so exciting to see and hear the (um, actual) children voice their amazement.

Our locals' tips:

1. Bring a knosh. Bagel, coffee, egg sammie... gotta fuel up before hand.
2. Don't even try for the park-side of Central Park West -- in fact, I have no idea how to get there if I wanted to.
3. Go to a wider street -- 72nd has always been good to me. Because the street is wider, you get to see the balloons for a longer period of time, and it helps alleviate any claustrophobia...
4. Get there at least 15 minutes before start time on a cold morning, a little earlier if it's unseasonably warm. Although one rainy year, we showed up at go-time and walked up to the street.
5. Go the day before.

What?? What does that mean, "go the day before?". Watch the balloons get blown up on 77th and 81st streets between Central Park West and Columbus (the side streets to the American Museum of Natural History). The earlier you show up, the better, as it gets PACKED just after work. It is one of those wonderful things we found out about by accident. Take someone who's never gone to the Macy's Parade "behind the scenes."


This is Columbus Avenue at 79th street, 8:30pm in 2005. Two blocks to go in these throngs before we see the first balloon (the yellow star in the distance, left).

I realize that the economy isn't necessarily driven by Thanksgiving, though it might help out the travel industry, and turkey (and tofurky) farmers. Any holiday where you're expected to eat stuffing seems deserving of my attention. Well, at least until International Bacon Day gets officially recognized.
(I had to look. Of course there is one, and of course I missed it this year. Rats.)

link: Thanksgiving Day Parade [on Macy's site]