r and i have been thinking about moving, not necessarily to any specific location but just not staying in bushwick. where we are in bushwick, there's not much around. r likes to have a wide variety of restaurants around, cool bars to stop by, and options on how to spend our leisure time in the neighborhood. that's not bushwick. we take the train out to manhattan for pretty much everything.
so after seeing some rental listings that interested us in the financial district, we decided to explore that area a bit. we liked the architecture and sense of history that the part of town imbued, but we felt that it would feel too desolate at night, as if everything there operates on wall street hours. we were there on a sunday afternoon and there were hardly any people on the streets:
we noticed a lot of sidewalk construction going on in the area.
hidden incline
almost deserted street
a section of pearl street where restaurants set up outdoors seating
but since we were also near the piers, i suggested that we take the ikea ferry into brooklyn. after all, it was free. r was game so off we went:
looking at some buildings in the financial district from the pier
pier 11 - where to catch the ikea ferry
big boats down the pier
birds
a seagull
view of brooklyn from the pier
ikea ferry schedule
ikea ferry - "furniture purchases cannot be used as floatation devices"
the brooklyn and manhattan bridges connecting the two boroughs
cranes on the brooklyn shore
2 other boats
sails
cruise ship - i've never seen one upclose; they are huge!
ikea - ikea had made a park at the pier it took over for its store
park at ikea pier
ikea lounge chairs
crane, no longer seems to be in use, at the ikea pier
part of an old bridge in the state of decomposition near the ikea pier
statue of liberty and a bit of governor's island
one of the four waterfalls by olafur eliasson
another one of the four waterfalls by olafur eliasson
a waterfall by olafur eliasson under brooklyn bridge
approaching manhattan skyline 1
approaching manhattan skyline 2
approaching manhattan skyline 3
we had been couch shopping the previous day and had looked at several stores in manhattan. r had originally snubbed ikea because he wanted a nice couch, one of really good quality and design. he doubted ikea for being known for selling cheap furniture. but we had no luck at those fancier stores and figured we'd check out ikea's selction while we were there. just as you would suspect, it was at ikea that r found one that he really liked. he purchased it on the spot. unfortunately, ikea didn't have any of that model in stock that day. we placed the order anyway and figured we would just wait until they get a new shipment.
in the subway station on our way back to bushwick for the night, we saw this sign:
"danger: 3rd rail alive" - alive like frankenstein?
the following weekend (last weekend), we figured we should start checking out some apartments that had caught our interest on craigslist. there was one in particular that looked like it had the amount of space, light, and configuration that we were looking for. we made an appointment with the broker, and it turned out that listing had false photographs. the broker claimed that the landlord was tricking people into going to the building only to offer another unit, much dingier than the unit in the photos. so he sent us to look at three other places that fit our criteria.
out of the three, we liked the first one we saw the most. in fact, we liked it immediately and only looked at the other two places just in case they could actually get better (they didn't). it felt spacious - 2 levels with the kitchen, full bathroom, and a living area on the first floor, and a bedroom with a wall-to-wall closet, another full bathroom, and a potential work room on the second floor (basement). oh, not to mention access to a private terrace from the first floor and to another terrace shared with a neighbor from the basement. the rent is a little on the pricey side - neither of us could afford it on our own - but with our powers combined, we can make it work. it's actually about the midpoint of our budget range. in fear that we could lose it by delaying a day, we applied for it that afternoon. we've been approved and signed the lease earlier this week. we're just waiting until we can get the keys. the delivery of the ikea couch will now be diverted to the new apartment.
also, i had to shuffle around some stuff in starting work next week. i had originally agreed to work on a tv pilot with someone i have worked with before and whom i really like working with. but then, i was contacted about another job, a feature film, that would start at the same time and one that would last three times as long. being a freelancer, you have to take the long jobs when you can. (r and a friend of mine concurred with this philosophy.) once i was extended an official offer to work on the feature film, i had to pull out of the tv pilot (luckily, that person was extremely understanding about it).
it's just days into autumn, and the chill has already crept into new york. i wonder if i can hold out on unpacking my cold weather clothes...
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