....well, Bushwick (Brooklyn) to be specific. I decided literally less than a month ago to move to New York from Washington, DC, and I did. To be honest, New York was always on my list of places to live, but it was at the very bottom. I had always planned, and still do, to be filthy rich and have an apartment in the city that I visited in the Spring, Summer, and sometimes fall. Never did I plan to come in the dead of winter when the temperature hits the single digits. I'm irritated at the thought of winter. Anyways, I'm here, I'm queer, and I'm ready to give you the scoop.
I have ALWAYS wondered how people just up and move to other cities. I'm the type of person who needs a solid plan of action. I need a support system. I need a job. Hell, I need to know one living being in the city in case I wake up dead! Yes, it's quite possible to wake up dead. I can't tell you how many people I've seen move across the country out of the blue and never look back. After getting over my initial jealousy, I was left with questions. How? Why? Again I ask...HOW? Did they have family in the city? Did they have a job prior to moving? How did they get that job? Did they save money before moving? How much? HOW? And most important of all, WHY WON'T COMPANIES HIRE ME WHEN I APPLY FROM ANOTHER CITY?! Yeah I'm still a little salty.
Now that I'm one of those people who just up and moved to a different state, if only a few hours away, I figured I wouldn't be that person who keeps the juicy secrets to myself. It's not as terrifying as I thought it would be, but luckily I know people in New York and am actually living with my support system. However, had I known no one in New York, these are the three areas that I would wish I had the scoop on before taking the leap and moving:
JOB
For me, a job is the one thing I need to have in the bag before moving anywhere. I have one excuse for not being able to go jobless, and her name is Sallie Mae. I always said that if I wasn't suffocating because of these damn student loans, the sky would be the limit for me. Welp, the thought of the government coming after me because I wanted to be free and a nomad is more than enough reason to keep me right here on earth and my head out of the clouds. Oh, and I like my car. I like my car so much that I think I'd hate for it to be repossessed. So, there you have my main reasons as to why a job was more important to me than even a place to stay or knowing how to get around one of the most difficult to navigate cities.
For the last few years, every time I would go on a job applying spree, I would include California, Florida, and New York in my search. I would apply tirelessly and try to stay optimistic. I figured my education and experience would speak for itself. Who wouldn't want a catch like me working for them? Obviously I never heard from anyone. I like to blame it on the fact that my resume has always said Washington, DC. I didn't want to lie and lead any potential employer to believe that I was residing in their city, let alone their state. Can you imagine living in Washington, DC and getting a call for an interview in Los Angeles? "Yeah, sure, I'll hop on the red eye and be there first thing in the morning Mrs. Jones." It wasn't going to happen and I didn't want to put myself in that position.
My friends in Philadelphia and New York always spoke of this magical land called craigslist that only exists on the interweb. They found homes and jobs on that particular site every time they needed one. After endlessly applying on the sites I normally would, I ventured over to craigslist and started applying for everything that sounded like it fit my experience and was willing to pay me what I thought I was worth. Then I noticed postings by temp agencies. Yeah I was on the hunt for something permanent, but a temporary position could be my foot into the city. Besides, I wasn't coming to the city with the intentions of even staying a full year. Temporary sounded great! If I found a job that lasted even a month, that would be enough to get me into the city to 1. have some type of job, be able to put New York on my resume, and still apply to permanent jobs/go on interviews, 2. make enough money to hold me over in case my job hunt didn't go as planned, and 3. build a rapport with the company so that they could see my work and hopefully make sure I have job after job. I'm already in love with the idea that I can take time in between jobs if I want! Once one job is over, I can take a week or more and do the things I want, and decide to pick up another job when I want. So yeah, a temp job I found on craigslist may not be so bad. I went ahead and applied late one evening, and was contacted the very next morning by a woman who was so happy to offer me a long term temporary position that she couldn't have known the favor she was doing me. I would already be visiting the city for the next two weekends so I met with her the first chance I could. She was going to wait until I moved! During our first in person meeting she immediately sent me out to meet with the company I am currently temping for. It literally could not have worked out better. Side note: I also have my information on file with another temp agency. Won't catch me slipping!
A PLACE TO STAY
Now that I had a job, I needed a place to stay. I very well couldn't crash on my girlfriends "couch" indefinitely because she had roommates. I needed a space for all of my belongings, in addition to my kitty cat, Honey. Living out of a suitcase was not the move. Well, the answer to this was not only craigslist again, but one of the best kept secrets, Gypsy Housing (Facebook). I believe this group was created for artists, mainly actors, who booked out of town shows and needed subletters, sometimes for months at a time. There is a group for the West Coast, and the original group is for New York. If you have a room to offer, need a room or entire apartment, or need roommates to sign a lease, this is the place you want to look first. I'm sure that not every situation is peachy, but so far I'm loving the duplex apartment in a popular Brooklyn neighborhood and roommates that I found through this group. Thanks be to the Gypsy Housing Gods. The best part is that you can find shorter term lodging and get out of a situation quick if you find out you don't like it. I definitely recommend becoming a subletter and while you're here, or there depending on where you choose to move, look for your dream place.
NAVIGATING A NEW CITY (ESPECIALLY NEW YORK)
Ummm, how you saaaayyy, HOPSTOP? This app is a gift from the App Gods and I thank the little infant baby Jesus for it every day. During my prior visits to New York I steered clear of the subway and usually stayed within the same area that my hotel was in. Or, I left it up to whichever friend I was visiting to get me around and not get us lost! I remember visiting last September and trying to use googlemaps to get around on the subway. I literally walked across a street 4 times and down into the subway because I couldn't figure out which side of the station I needed to be on. #HOPSTOP. Problem solved. Yeah you may need the map on your phone to guide you to the exact station, but this little gem of an app will tell you what train you need to be on, which direction you're going, every single stop you need to pass, and where to get off. It even tells you how long a taxi would take and about how much it should cost. Excuse my french but, F#@K a taxi. I have Hopstop :). I should also mention that the app works for many other cities. I even used it in DC. There's something nice about knowing exactly how long a trip will take and what time the train will arrive. That something nice is the opposite of getting lost. It's the opposite of crossing an intersection FOUR, count 'em, FOUR TIMES trying to figure out which side of the tracks you need to be on. Sheesh.
So, there's that.
During my last trip to New York, before officially moving, my girlfriend and I decided to terribly vlog our day. Check that shit out, yo. Word.
xo,
Monique
TheMoniqueMichelle.com
