It has been far too long! And you know it’s been a long time when your younger brother is asking you when the next blog post is coming out.

I was able to take a nice vacation, and have since had a bit of writer’s block, and am battling an itty bitty sickness, but I’m back in full force—don’t worry, Archie. 

The idea for this post came to me as I was twiddling my thumbs this evening waiting for the plumber to finish fixing both our bathroom and kitchen sink. He did a great job — shoutout to him; absolutely phenomenal drainage and impeccable water pressure — even though we’re still going to need new valves and yadda yadda yadda, but I couldn’t help but think to myself…

I have only lived here for three months, and we’ve already had someone come in to fix our stove (twice!), our fridge (twice!), and now both sinks? Worse yet, my roommate and I found a dead cockroach under the kitchen sink, and were convinced we saw one fly across our projector (though no finding that sucker yet, and maybe we were just hallucinating…)

And how much are me and my TWO OTHER roommates paying for this 900 square foot apartment each month? Well, a lot, but look at other skyrocketing rent prices around the city, and our rent-stabilized place is a snatch, believe it or not. 

Even now, as I justify to you, dear reader, that this place was worth it simply because it was considerably cheaper than any other three bedroom alternatives, I can’t help but think that this sounds ridiculous. Well, we might have cockroaches, but at least we don’t have rats, right? And what’s next? Rats invade our space, and then I’m like, well, it could be worse, our apartment could be on fire!

The standards are oh so low. And I don’t mean to complain all that much, because, again, I am so incredibly lucky to be living in such a nice location where I can do anything I want! But this is all to say that people looking into New York City do not have many good options, because even the seemingly best options still have you texting your landlord on a bi-weekly basis. 

Do you know what’s even more nauseating? It’s the fact that me and my roommates had to fight for this place. That 20 other people had submitted applications. So it’s also easy to think that if I do request something that is fully in my legal rights, I could be turned down and the landlord could just…go to someone else who’s willing to pay the price. Even now, as I text my landlord issue after issue, flooded with “sorry to bothers!” and “hate to ask this of yous,” I think to myself, wait…aren’t I paying him? Shouldn’t this have been resolved before I moved here?

By the way, I did some research, and according to New York City’s Local Law 55, landlords are required to inspect each space once a year. Details of this “inspection,” you ask? It “must include the visual review of each and every surface in the apartment including the interiors of closets and cabinets.” Well, gee, that’s helpful. So glad my closet is clean! Wait, does anyone smell gas, or is that just me?

So, my advice is to invest in hiring an outside inspector before you sign the lease of a place. Don’t be like me. Don’t look at the park and the green space and the good food (none of which are actually inside the space, FYI) and think you have to have it that instant. And while you’re at it, read this Curbed article and learn your freaking tenant rights!

That’s all from me. Maybe my next blog post won’t be so whiny. Thanks for reading!