Ellen R. Shapiro - Relocating to New York City and Surrounding Areas: Revised and Updated 2nd Edition

For my father

New Yorkers can be the most generous people in the world, and I was the grateful beneficiary of that generosity when I researched and wrote this book. Id like to thank all the people who were so giving of their time, expertise, and support.

Thanks as well to my agent, Michael Psaltis, and my editors, Lindsay Orman and Brandi Bowles; to my mother-in-law, Penny, who provided hours of babysitting when I was down to the wire, and to my mother, who jumped in for babysitting over the phone. Thanks also to Wayne and Julie Shovelin for the use of their beach house as a writers retreat.

Dave Scantlands skillfully designed charts have helped to bring many dry statistics to life, and Nathaniel Levinewho also did the maps for the first editionhas once again made the city comprehensible through his great cartography. Robin Slutzky did a bang-up job with copyediting and fact-checking. Im indebted to all of them, as well as to Ben Dominitz, the original publisher, who took a leap of faith by contracting me to write the first edition of this bookwhich was my first bookas well as the others that followed.

My son, PJ, and my bulldog, Momo, provided indispensable companionship and ample distraction throughout the writing and editorial process. And finally, thanks to my husband and unofficial editorial assistant, Steven Shaw.

PART ONE

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

PART TWO

Chapter Five

Chapter Six BUYING AN APARTMENT IN THE CITY OR
A HOME IN THE SUBURBS

Chapter Seven

PART THREE

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

PART FOUR

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

PART FIVE

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen VOLUNTEER AND COMMUNITY
INVOLVEMENT

I f you want to become a real New Yorker, theres only one rule: You have to believe New York is, has been, and always will be the greatest city on earth. The center of the universe. The Big Apple. Every native New Yorker absorbs this knowledge in the womb, and every successful transplant acquires it upon arrival. This is a key part of the Citys strength and attitude.

Whatever your dream, you can realize it in New York City. Theres nothing the City doesnt offerif you want it badly enough. For those willing to clear the hurdles and beat the odds, New York City is the last true bastion of the American dream. In this town, opportunity is limited only by imagination.

New York is that rarest of things: a real city. People work, live, and play in the same physical space, bringing the City alive at all hours of the day and night. There are no cloistered neighborhoods or gated communities. Supermodels strut the streets like common folk, and big stars take their kids to the neighborhood playgrounds and schools just like you, me, and the nanny up the block. Many of them came to New York with nothing more than empty pockets and overflowing ambition. Look at the lives (and lifestyles) they created for themselves in the City.

Opportunity is knocking. Now its time to answer the door.

The events of 9-11 struck the City and its citizens hardright in the heart. But New Yorkers are a tough bunch and rather than being brought to our knees, we pulled together, strengthened by the outpouring of support and love of people around the country and the world. As a result, New York City is now stronger, better, and still growing, despite the tragedy that befell us all.

In four centuries, there has never been a better time to live in New York. Tourism continues to grow and thrive despite the events of 911, and crime rates are the lowest theyve been in over four decades. Unemployment is shrinking; industry is booming; construction is growing (up, of course); and every nook and cranny of the City is blossoming on account of it all.

A revitalized Grand Central Station has exceeded the expectations of even the most optimistic New Yorkers: It has even become a favorite dining destination (with the views it offers from restaurants like Charlie Palmers Mtrazur and Michael Jordans The Steak House N.Y.C., how could it not$$). Combined with other standout projectslike the building of the Time Warner Center (opened in 2004), Chelsea Piers (opened in 1995 and still growing in 2007), the Hearst Magazine Building (an Art Deco skyscraper whose construction was interrupted and finished to only six stories due to the Great Depression, and has now been completed with a grand tower of 596 feet), and the groundbreaking One Bryant Park building, which houses the Bank of America (its the worlds most environmentally responsible high-rise, made primarily from recycled and recyclable materials)the City is enjoying an unprecedented rate of renewal, expansion, and growth.

Most of the action in New York City happens on a tiny island, Manhattan, which occupies only 22.7 square miles of spaceprobably smaller than your hometown. The total area of all five boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island) is just 301 square miles. Yet the City has 6,374.6 miles of streets, and annually hosts around 40 million tourists from every nation on earth. They spend more than $23 billion here each year.

With 714 miles of track, 469 stations, and 6,089 subway cars, NYCs subway system is the largest in the world. The subways run 24 hours a day and carry 1.2 billion passengers a year, while the Citys public bus system consists of 300 routes and carries 600 million people a year (by far the most in the nation) on 4,200 buses.

With immigrants continuing to pour in, the City boasts more than 100 ethnic newspapers, including 25 catering to the Russian community alone. And the public schools are microcosms of the worlds population, with truly multiracial, multilingual student bodies. The languages spoken in the hallways range from Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, and Korean to Chinese, Hindi, Hebrew, and Russian.

A major boost to the Citys image, and celebrity status, the film industry also plays a major role in the New York economy. There are 60 to 90 productions filmed here daily, with a total of 34,718 aggregate shooting days per year. Just walk around the City any day of the week and youre bound to bump into a film crew, walk onto a set, or spy a star. If you arent willing to leave it up to chance, simply plan a trip to Long Island City (which is actually located in Queens) and visit one of the Citys television and film studios.

Culturally speaking, you cant do better than more than 150 museums, 38 Broadway playhouses, scores of Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions, more galleries even than museums, hundreds of dance clubs, music clubs, poetry readings, and book-storesand thats just the tip of the mainstream iceberg.

Since its inception, New York has been a key locale for commerce and trade, primarily on account of its strategic location.

The area we now call the City was first inhabited by Native Americans and later discovered by Giovanni da Verrazano, in 1524. In 1609, when Englishman Henry Hudson (employed by the Dutch East India Company) reported back on the beauty of Manhattan and its ample natural treasures (furs, birds, fruits), news spread and all of Europe began to make significant investments in the new land.