A Blog Re-Purposed, A New Look and an Adventurous Year Ahead

Changes, Changes, Changes, but all for the best, and all to share our experiment.  JC is taking the year off work to raise Pumpkin.  That means Columbia will be the sole bread winner.  How is this even possible in New York City, let alone Manhattan?  We're not sure... but we're willing to try.  For a year anyway.  

As we chronicle this time, we'll share the ups and downs, the deals we find, our love for the city and the cuteness that is Pumpkin.  The banner's changing, the theme has been tweaked, but our lives and our ramblings will forever be about a home in the city.

Where do you rent a car in NYC?

A little over a year ago, I wrote that Enterprise was getting a fleet of green cars. Looks like they haven't yet made it to the Enterprise that I use. Despite my near-obsession with Priuses, here's why I'll still be renting from the same Enterprise this summer.

With a baby, baby gear and various "stuff" in-tow this summer, our trip to Pennsylvania will be in a full-sized car. While I'll be happy for the cruise control, I know I'll have to pay for the luxury at the pump...

Momma Columbia hooks us up with an Entertainment Book coupon, which gives us 10% off. With this discount, let's how much a full size car would cost for the week at NYC Enterprises:

Brooklyn (My alma maters' 11205): $364
Queens (renting from my new job in Elmhurst):$377
Bronx (DW's old stomping grounds): $387
Manhattan (upper west and upper east): $416 (no discount available)

Then again, how does $257 for the same car sound? Here's my NY car rental advice: If you take the 1 train 242nd street, the Enterprise at 230 Mclean Avenue in Yonkers will pick you up at the station and charge nearly half their Manhattan counterparts. They've also dropped us off at the 4 train before, if that's a better train for you. We've been renting there for the past few years, and have found the $2 trip to get there a bargain, even if the time commitment is greater than walking to your local rental place.

Update based on the search above: The same car goes for $282 at LaGuardia, and that includes the airport fee! While the MTA to LaGuardia can be long and frustrating, it still might be worth it. Since the Yonkers enterprise is so small, choice of cars might make this a better option than Yonkers.

If you've rented a car in the city before, where have you gone? Do you pony up the $$ for the local convenience?

Summer Streets -- coming to an avenue near you!

(excerpt from the Summer Streets Website on nyc.gov:)

"NYC DOT and our partners are proud to present Summer Streets. We will temporarily close Park Avenue and connecting streets from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park to motor vehicles and open it up to people on three consecutive Saturdays in August (August 9, 16, & 23)."

I missed this yesterday, and will be away next week, so I'll have to live vicariously through the stories. Looks like bike helmets were fitted and given away(!!) yesterday. And if you never learned to ride a bike as a kid, there's a course for that too. Just as with street fairs or the loop in central park, there's something kind of magically fun about ambling down a paved street.

Why did I miss it yesterday? DD had her 5-month-iversary yesterday and we celebrated with a trip to the central park petting zoo.



More Info: Summer Streets Website
Article: City Will Close Five Miles of Manhattan Road to Car Traffic [NY Sun]

Reading the Electric Bill: Supply and Delivery

Rejected post title: "Coned to customers: Just send cash."

A little over a year ago, I posted Choosing a Green ESCO, and subsequently changed my energy SUPPLIER to Con Ed Solutions, which generates energy from renewable resources (wind and large water hydro mainly). Of course you notice no difference in electricity (the lights may be a little greener, but we try to keep the smug index low) and the bill is combined so really nothing to do it but sign up. I knew that I was going to pay a little more for the service, but I agreed with the hope that I somehow helped out... somehow.

So my most recent bill comes today, and I nearly snarfed coffee when I saw the amount. Guess we should have spent the $$ and replaced the old carbon belching air conditioner downstairs (like we claim to do every year)... Oops. Next year, honest. We're doing it.

So to get to my concern, I pay 18.000000000000002¢/kWh for supply from my ESCO. Delivery is still by ConEd (6.89¢/kWh), and I can't change that. But with all that talk about ConEd's rates going through the roof last month, I wondered what con ed charges for supply. Does it finally pay to be green? Transparent information on the web and coned's site is hard to find.

If you are a regular con ed customer (supply and delivery) and your bill states the supply cost, would you share it in the comments? If you are a reader from a far away land, I'd love to hear what power costs in your neck of the woods.

Dancing your way to a greener you!

"If 10,000 NY Biters turn off their A/C for three hours, two nights a week, we'll save enough collective cash to buy 475 pairs of dance shoes."


While I may not be into dancing, the idea of saving money to buy more shoes sure is alluring! (You'll now note that this is Columbia's DW writing, as Columbia doesn't buy more than 3 pairs of shoes a year.) The fact above came from ideal bites, a site dedicated to providing bite sized tips for living a greener lifestyle. This is the perfect amount for me... too much information and I'll never remember it! Better yet, they'll even email me their daily tip! You can sign up for their regular daily tip or one just for New Yorkers (like the one above).

Thanks to Heather at Freebies 4 Mom for spoiling me with another free idea! Now maybe I should take DD out and introduce her to Filene's Shoe Department...