04 Jun 06 House-hunting in New York City (pt 3)

Brooklyn was great! In fact, we’re going back today to spend more time in Park Slope. We went back last night as well for dinner. We ate at a great bistro called Bellevue at 5th and 5th.

Yesterday when we surfaced at the 9th Avenue stop on the F subway line, both Karyn and I turned to each other and smiled. It was one of those moments where you know you’re both in sync. We’d found the place that felt most like home.

The first place we saw was on 9th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. It was good. The ad billed it as a “garden duplex”. This means the tenants get the main floor and basement, plus a small garden. It was funny though. When we first viewed the apartment, we didn’t even notice that the kitchen was in the basement. Apparently this is quite normal. The apartment had a good-sized principal room, a bathroom, three bedrooms and two closets on the main floor. The basement contained the kitchen, a pantry, a second bathroom, a laundry room, a small spare room and an eating area. It also had the walkout to the garden. We could see ourselves there and asked Henry to express our interest.

We then carried on to Williamsburg for lunch and to view another apartment. We ate at a very cool spot called “Lodge” and then made our way to a beautiful duplex apartment. It was incredibly finished, with a great backyard, but the neighborhood was a little dodgy. Nice but not ideal for where we envision ourselves living.

This afternoon, we made our way back to Roosevelt Island to see another new building called the Octagon. It was good, but expensive. Par for the course. There was one thing that bugged me though, and I think it’s just a personal pet peeve. Parquet floors. I don’t know what it is about parquet floors, but I don’t like them. The ones we saw creaked and crackled beneath our feet. I much prefer planked hardwood floors or broadloom.

Today is our last day in New York. Hopefully we luck out with the place on 9th Street. It’s really close to Prospect Park, which seems to be quite beautiful and is a stone’s throw from great shopping and restaurants on 7th Avenue.