Sunday, June 08, 2008

And, it's over

I saw another apartment on Friday evening that I really liked right away, and the next thing I knew, I was filling out the paperwork and texting my friends to let them know I was using them as references. One credit check later, I had an agreement to sign a lease on Sunday afternoon. This afternoon at 2 I was back in the broker's office signing the lease with the landlord and although I am now somewhat poorer than I was on Friday, I have a new apartment for the next two years. I'll be living on President Street in Park Slope in Brooklyn, between 4th and 5th Avenues. The apartment is considerably smaller than my two-bedroom on 1st Avenue in Manhattan, but I think I can shrink the amount of stuff I have to fit into the new space. I have a lot of junk I've been storing in my spare room that needs to go on Craigslist or eBay or be given away. My new apartment includes two air conditioners so I'll be getting rid of the ones I have. It also has laundry machines in the basement, as well as a private storage room for each apartment. When I heard about the storage, I was sold. Keeping my bike in my apartment has been an issue since I moved to New York. It's out of the way in the office but it still takes up valuable space. In the new apartment I'll be able to put it in the basement storage room and free up some space in the apartment proper. I even get a dishwasher! I haven't had one of those since I left DC. The only drawback to the apartment is that it's on the ground floor, with the sidewalk right outside. I'll have to be careful about what I leave out in my living room and when I leave my windows open. The landlord and broker assured me that the building is secure and that nothing short of stupidity (like leaving the windows open and my laptop out) would lead to theft. I hope they're right. I signed a two-year lease, because I knew I wouldn't want to move again next July.

After I signed the lease I spent some time walking around my new neighborhood and checking out the stores and restaurants. I already loved the area, having explored some of it with Kate over the past few months (she lives about 15 blocks away on the other side of Park Slope). I'm close to the subway to get to work, and getting home from rehearsals on Thursday nights shouldn't be an issue. Although with the longer commute I will probably not stay out for drinks as often as I do now. But I'm really excited about the move. I don't look forward to all the work I have to do here to clean out my unnecessary things but when I'm done I will have a much smaller version of myself to move, as an old roommate once said of himself.

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