It is a rainy day in Singapore. I am a little sad at having left Rusty, but I know this is temporary. I need to be here to tie up loose ends. I want to leave cleanly so that I can focus on being with him and getting him better. On SQ 21, I watched an in-flight movie which had this line: “All beings have a purpose.” This is mine. I will give my all for our happiness.
Renting an apartment in Manhattan is ridiculously difficult. A big part of that difficulty is just trying to cut through all the bullshit that New York real estate brokers throw at you. Here’s a quick guide.
Some real estate agents will tell you: “This apartment is an exclusive with our agency. You can only rent this apartment through us.” Actually, real estate agencies in New York are required to share new apartment listings with other agencies within 72 hours of getting on the market. In the last week, Rusty and I have been taken to various apartments by different brokers, all claiming to be sole dealers for the space.
Don’t let them fool you. Call as many brokers as you can, and make them work for their 15 per cent cut. In the last two weeks, we have met up with at least 16 brokers and seen nearly 50 apartments. Do the leg work. It’ll be worth it.
Also, purchase a copy of Shecky’s New York Rental Guide. Included in the guide is a list of no-fee rental apartments. Renting an apartment directly from the building management lets you skip out on the expensive broker’s fee. When your broker is showing you an apartment, try and find out if the apartment is no-fee rental. Rusty and I were shown at least five apartments that did not require a broker to rent. When brokers know you’re not a newbie to the rental market, they are less likely to pass on easily found apartments to turn a quick fee.
If you’re not already looking on craigslist, get on it. But be wary of “bait-and-switch” tactics by brokers who advertise “Beautiful 1000 sq ft 2-bedrooms in a pre-war townhouse with hardwood floors and high ceilings” for only $2,000 a month. It doesn’t exist. If you call them up, they’ll say that the apartment was “just rented this morning” and offer to show you other “similar” apartments that everyone should know will be tiny studios without any natural light for the same amount of money.
It is common knowledge that professionals who live here in Manhattan pay through their noses for a New York postal code, even if that means they live out of a shoe-box and eat left-over lunch specials from the corner Chinese take-out. In fact, there are a multitude of costs involved even before the first rent check - application fees, broker fees, fees for credit checks and security deposits.
But even with these prohibitive costs, the rental market in New York remains strenuously white-hot. Fresh apartments listed on the market can be snatched up in a matter of hours. So, home-hunters pack their pockets with financial documents, employment letters and check-books ready.
This is the unique New York experience all immigrants experience when signing a new lease of life in the city. You fight for every single detail - closet space, on-premise laundry facilities, even your right to a subway stop not less than two blocks from the apartment. So, to all apartment hunters out there, get prepared because getting a good rental here in New York is a full-time job. Buy a note-book, charge your mobile phones and be ready to claim a space for your inner sanctum in this crazy city.
Coming home
Here I am, sitting at the Newark Liberty airport waiting to board my flight back to Singapore. In these last weeks, not only was I given the rare opportunity to cover a murder trial, I also began a new chapter of my life. From January, Rusty and I will spend 2007 in our very own East Village apartment, in the city that we met and fell in love.
It will take a few weeks for me to put together my exit plan back to New York. During this time, Rusty will begin his new treatment. We should know if he is eligible for the clinical trial in a few days. This new drug, Medarex, is being researched by pharmaceutical company Bristol-Meyers Squibb. The trial, run by Dr Jedd Wolchok at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital, will last 12 weeks.
Every three weeks, Rusty will be given an infusion of the drug through IV. The side effects will not be pleasant. Some have been hospitalised due to severe colitis. We scan again at the end of the trial.
My sadness comes and goes. These past few weeks have been a heady adventure to prepare for living in New York again. Between the $500,000 bond and a deadly cancer, Rusty and I will need the help of giants to stay together.