Searching for a New Apartment

In New York, one does not simply reside in an apartment. One resides in a neighborhood. 

Even after all the postwar construction of interstate highways and massive public housing towers, much of New York City--and even a fair portion of the Bronx--remains unscathed. Each neighborhood has its own identity, its idiosyncrasies, and its own charms that make it special.

I think we'll pass on this one.

It is also one factor of many that makes finding a place to live so darn hard. That's okay though. We loaded up our bikes and set to explore.

Traveling by bike is usually the fastest and most cost-efficient way to travel through the city. So this Saturday, we rode through the northeast Bronx and gathered some information as we searched for our next new home. We did find some interesting, potential places to live. We also stumbled upon a horse farm. No horses though. Odd.

Other apartments looked promising, and we gleaned some information if we were fortunate enough to find a tenant who happened to walk by and answer a few questions. Word of mouth is far more effective than any other means of finding an apartment in New York, even in the 21st century. After examining our fifth potential apartment building of the afternoon, Nicole was ready to throw in the towel. "I feel like I'm going to die!" She said. She tends to exaggerate, but I got the point. All right, I said. We will head home.

The Bronx River basks in the light of the setting evening sun.

Except our route home brought us into dangerous proximity of an Italian ice vendor. And by "dangerous" I mean, Nicole saw the vendor and I was powerless to stop the inevitable confrontation
that followed.

"Two mangos, please," said Nicole.

That will be two dollars."

The pick me up the Italian ice provided, though, definitely proved worthwhile, as we found ourselves energized and enjoying the scenery of the Bronx River Bike path. I can't remember the last time we were riding our bikes on unfamiliar territory. We saw a goose swimming in the river, black squirrels leaping from tree to tree, and an assortment of robins, cardinals and blue jays. Some bunny rabbits were on the side of the path, chewing away. For us, it was an cap to an exciting day. For the rabbits, it was just another day in the park.

Whatsa matter? Ain't you ever see a bunny in the Bronx before?