Tag: nyc

How to Move to a New Apartment in NYC: A Professional Moving Guide

Moving is never an easy task, but doing it in New York City presents some unique challenges. If you’re a native, you already know the drill. If moving in and around New York is new to you, know that getting the job done will require lots of planning and a dash of intestinal fortitude.

Line Up a Car

Having a car in NYC is generally an unnecessary expense. On moving day, however, you’re going to want one. You don’t want your expensive flat-screen bouncing around in the back of a moving truck, but lugging it to your new home on the L train isn’t any better.

To make gently moving valuables and pets easier, borrow a car from a friend or rent one for the day. If you only have a few items to move this way you can call a cab or an Uber, but remember they’ll keep the meter running while you’re unloading.

Make Handles

A large number of NYC apartments are walk-ups without elevators. That means you and your helpers will have to carry all of your moving boxes up several flights of stairs by hand. You can make doing so a lot easier if you get moving boxes with handles.

If your boxes lack them, make your own by cutting a triangle into each side of the box and pushing the flaps in and up. You’ll be glad you did.

Leave It on the Curb

Moving is a great time to clean house. Donate items you’re not taking with you or leave them on the curb for the trash man. If you’re already living in NYC, you know that the trash service is excellent and will take almost anything.

There are a few exceptions, however, and it’s important to know them. If disposing of a mattress, you can place it on the curb, but only after sealing it in a mattress bag. You can get one at a local hardware store.

The law also forbids New Yorkers from placing certain items in the trash. You must instead drop these items at a disposal center. These forbidden items include:

  • Batteries
  • Electronics
  • Auto parts and fluids
  • Mercury-containing bulbs and products
  • Flammable and corrosive liquids

Man Your Truck

Unfortunately, moving in NYC often involves double parking a moving truck. If you’re lucky enough to find a space, it’s important to make sure you’re allowed to use it. If you’re not careful, you could come back to your truck only to find that it was towed away – along with most of your earthly possessions.

Professional NYC movers know how to work around city parking issues. If you’re moving by yourself, always keep at least one person with the truck so they can move it quickly if they have to.

Of course, moving to NYC also requires the same basics as any move. Label your boxes, stay organized and make sure heavy furniture is where you want it before your helpers leave. With some solid basics and a bit of NYC insight, your move will go off without a hitch.

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Lighthouse on a Storage Company? Another Built by an Asylum Patient? Your Guide to NYC’s Historic Lighthouses

With a maritime history that includes travel up and down the Hudson and East rivers, New York City has long relied on lighthouses to direct and warn vessels. Sadly, many of these structures have been lost to history, such as the Elm Tree Beacon Light which had humble beginnings as a tall tree, but which was later torn down when the structure was moved in 1939. More recently, the Old Orchard Shoal Light was obliterated by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Many of these wonderful structures remain, however, and several of them are still in use today. If you’re in New York City and want to glimpse one of the remaining structures, here are a few of the best:

The Staten Island Light

Built in 1906, this stately, 90-foot beacon on Lighthouse Hill has a base of limestone bricks that rises to an elegant and traditional New England styling at the tower’s apex. The interior of the tower has 104 steps in a gently spiraling staircase that is lined with red brick. This lighthouse is still in use today, although its functions in directing any ships in Ambrose Channel are fully automated. The former lighthouse keeper’s cottage nearby is now a private home.

The Little Red Lighthouse

This charming structure guarded the banks of the Hudson River near a dangerous section of water known as Jeffrey’s Hook. Painted in striking scarlet, it stands today in Fort Washington Park, just underneath the George Washington Bridge. The 40-foot beacon began as a simple red pole designed to alert boat captains, but in 1889, a light was added. The current structure was built in 1921 and is famous for its mention in The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge, written by Hildegarde Swift in 1942. Although it is no longer functional, it is a listed building with the National Register of Historic Places and is still lit each night.

The little red lighthouse that now sits in the shadow of the Washington Bridge, might be tiny, but it played a big role in helping guide many a ship. Photo credit Flickr user CPW View.
The little red lighthouse that now sits in the shadow of the Washington Bridge, might be tiny, but it played a big role in helping guide many a ship. Photo credit Flickr user CPW View.

Coney Island Light

Standing 75 feet tall on the western tip of Brooklyn’s Coney Island, this lighthouse was first built in 1890, although the current building dates to 1921. The solid steel structure is painted in stark black and white and is characterized by its red light, which shines for five seconds at a time. It is still in operation today, meticulously maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Blackwell Island Light

Gracing Roosevelt Island’s northeastern end, the Blackwell Light is an octagonal tower built of craggy gray stone in 1872. While it’s rumored that the Blackwell Light was constructed by an asylum patient named Thomas Maxey, no one really knows the whole story. The light stands 50 feet in height and for decades guided ships traveling in the East River. It ceased official operations in 1940, and restoration efforts were completed in 1998. Today it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and can be visited on Roosevelt Island, although its interior is closed.

Perched at the end of Roosevelt Island, the Blackwell Island Light was supposedly built by a patient from a nearby asylum.
Perched at the end of Roosevelt Island, the Blackwell Island Light was supposedly built by a patient from a nearby asylum.

Lighthouse on a Storage Unit at 950 University Ave

This lighthouse might cause one to do a double take, because of its odd location. This lighthouse is perched on top of a storage facility. While not functional, this Bronx landmark was built as a nod to the H.W. Wilson publishing house that offices in the building below. This company was known for such publications as Reader’s Digest, and the lighthouse was meant to symbolize giving guidance to the many readers of Wilson’s publications. Today, the lighthouse can be seen by perched high above the bumper to bumper traffic on the Major Deegan Expy, helping guide customers to their overfilled self-storage units.

The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse

Built in 1913 solely to honor those drowned in the Titanic sinking in the North Atlantic, this 60-foot-tall memorial stood on the top of the Seamen’s Church Institute in Lower Manhattan. Its white stucco exterior featured a metal pole at the apex with a ball that would drop every day at noon as a signal to harbor ships. In 1976, it was moved to the South Street Seaport Museum entrance, where it can be visited today on Pearl Street.

 

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