Relocating to New York City and Surrounding Areas : Everything You Need to Know Before You Move and After You Get There! (Paperback)

by Ellen R. Shapiro (Author) "Apart from the actual decision to relocate, perhaps the most significant and challenging decision you'll have to make when you relocate to New York is..." (more)
Key Phrases: moving task time line, apartment value, graduating high school seniors, New York, New Jersey, Central Park (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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Making the Big Move to the Big Apple Just Got Easier -- Review

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Making the Big Move to the Big Apple Just Got Easier

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Product Details

• Paperback: 4.32 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (July 27, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076152567X
• ISBN-13: 978-0761525677
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #390,650 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too shallow - not enough details, July 29, 2001

By	Mike "michael7496" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

There is a difference between giving advise and listing considerations. I was looking for specific advise; all I got was a bunch of considerations I need to take into account. I am in the process of buying apartment in Manhattan; how do I find a dependable lawyer? Which regions of Manhattan have good schools assigned to them (specific streets/avenues, please)? Which public schools are good? How much time should I reserve for finding the apartment and closing the deal? "Ask your real estate agent" - that's the best answer the author gives. After explaining you normally don't use an agent. And so forth. And in places where people are REALLY better off referred to other sources (e.g. restaurant review), instead of suggesting Zagat's, author provides a her review of restaurants - hardly justifiable since in her 2 page review of Upper East Side she forgets to mention how limited subway system there is. The latter would perhaps be of more consequence to the readers than her suggestions on where to find best hot dogs. So in short, I put this books on the shelf and keep looking for something more informative. But whatever your questions are, I believe 5 minute conversation with a New Yorker would give you tons of real advise you wouldn't find in the book. It's a disappointment.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Need more details about the MOVE, December 17, 2003

By A Customer

This book might be pretty useful if you don't know anyone in NYC. But it bugs me that the chapters on the actual move process are labeled "By MonsterMoving.com", NOT by the author, and need more tailoring to be NYC-appropriate. Sentences like "If your new state collects income tax, you'll want to figure that into your salary calculations" are not very helpful.

What I *wanted* was recommendations about whether I should start out in a furnished sublet and take time to really look for a good apartment. I WANT concrete tips like "It can be cheaper to have your moving company store stuff in your origin location than to store it in New York", "A 1.5 cubic foot box of items usually weighs 10.5 pounds but the same box full of books can weigh 50 pounds." I NEED to know, What are the pros and cons of making an advance apartment-hunting trip? How many weeks should I spend looking? What are the best times of year or weeks of the month to get apartments, sublets, etc.? How do I fill out a change of address form if I haven't found an apartment yet? How do I get estimates from my moving company if I don't know where I'm moving to yet? Will they hit me with extra prices if it turns out I rent a 5th floor walkup instead of a 1st floor apartment and, if so, what kind of price markup can I expect?

The book answers none of my questions.

Note that the only move-specific site mentioned in the book (and it is mentioned repeatedly) was MonsterMoving.com. I could've used pointers to other handy sites like www.movingscam.com.

On the bright side, the neighborhood guide is well-organized and there is a list of local telephone numbers (more than 3 years out of date though). But I can't shake the feeling that I could have gotten a lot of this information online.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Moving to NYC for dummies, March 6, 2004

By A Customer

That should be the title of this book. Although it claims to have everything you should know when relocating to NYC it focus more on advice on moving that are common sense (most part). It may be helpful for first time movers. Neverthless, It doesn't give much information to help you choose the neighborhood. If that's what you're looking for, buy Zany's New York City Apartment Sales and Rental Guide instead.