Welcome to Best and Worst.
In case you’re new here, Best and Worst is Mamamia’s weekly Friday tradition. It’s the space where our writers and readers come together to recap our weeks, to vent our frustrations and to celebrate our happy times.
I’ll start by sharing my week’s highlight: I’m about to move to the concrete jungle. The land of bagels, baseball and alligators in sewers.
Aka my spirit home, New York City.
I’m so excited! Also confused. Because I’ve receive a barrage of well-meaning advice from acquaintances, friends and even strangers who have a ‘connection’ with the city and are self-styled experts on living there.
And every time someone imparts a word of wisdom, I think I’ve found The Answer to smoothly moving overseas — only to be given directly contradictory advice about two hours later.
The bewildering tips I’ve received so far include:
1. Without an artic-style puffy jacket, you will freeze.
2. The weather is boiling. Bring bathers.
3. Every apartment gets snapped up within hours, so don’t bother home-hunting ’til you get there.
4. But lock an apartment down like YESTERDAY, because it’s an insanely competitive rental market.
7. Williamsburg is the cool area.
8. Williamsburg is gross now, you yuppie!
9. Ship all your stuff over because it’s so damn expensive there.
10. Are you mad? It’s the fashion capital of the world, so buy a new wardrobe there.
11. Tip 15 percent.
12. Tip 20 percent.
13. Tip 18 percent.
14. You should make loads of friends via MeetUp groups.
15. Also, never talk to anybody because they’re terrifying.
16. You’ll have to go to all those classic restaurants from the movies.
17. Don’t go to Katz’s deli, you tourist!
As a result of all this well-meaning advice, I’ve been spun into a web of first-world bewilderment. My solution, for now, is to dump all my clothes into some large striped storage bags, rent an Airbnb in the East Village for the first few days and take it from there.
Is there anybody out there who can just tell me that’s a perfect plan?
Anybody?
What are the lowlights and highlights of your week?
On a related note, we bring you some very famous residents of New York:
Top Comments
1. Forget the puffy jacket. Layer, layer, layer. It might be -20 on the street, but in a crowded subway it's going to be a comfy +20.
3. Apartment hunting is tough. Craigslist is your friend. Don't pay for a broker. Do a lot of research, and have all of your documents ready when you view an apartment.
7. Williamsburg is worth checking out. But it's only a tiny area of Brooklyn. Explore! Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Park Slope, Red Hook, Fort Greene!
9. Shipping costs are insane. Unless you're planning on moving to NY forever, leave your stuff in Oz. Buy whatever you need here.
11. Tip 20% on every restaurant meal. It's not actually a tip for service, it's a pre-determined cost of eating out. It's a terrible system, but it's the reality right now. If you tip less than 20%, you're taking cash directly out of your waiter's pocket. For drinks at a bar, $1 per beer or mixed drink. 20% for cocktails.
17. Katz's makes a solid sandwich. Go there once. Then compare it to the other 1000 delis around the city that make a similar sandwich for half the price.