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Author | Topic: Queens (NY) area |
jmslsu01 Registered User
Registered: 6/9/2003
From: northern VA | posted: 11/15/2005 at 10:37:38 PM ET Okay....anyone here live in this area? Just gathering any info I can find (Lord help me).
Jenn
| Christine-NYC Registered User
Registered: 3/23/2002
From: New York City
Fav. BP Song: With So Little to be Sure Of Fav. BP Show: Gypsy Fav. BP Character: Marie (insert last name) lol There's a few Fav. BP CD: Bernadette Peters Loves Rogers and Hammerstein
| posted: 11/15/2005 at 11:49:25 PM ET I have friends that live in Astoria. Don't know if I can be much help?
<3CMH<3
| Sister Rose Registered User
Registered: 5/4/2004
From: NYC | posted: 11/16/2005 at 12:13:38 AM ET I have friends from all over Queens....what is it you want to know?
| jmslsu01 Registered User
Registered: 6/9/2003
From: northern VA | posted: 11/16/2005 at 8:36:51 AM ET If you could tell me that it's Hades on earth and that I should stay where I am, that would be most helpful. Thanks!
(Same goes for Maryland, Pennsylviania, and northern Virginia.)
Signed,
Scalawag (but northern VA is still technically South!)
| Sister Rose Registered User
Registered: 5/4/2004
From: NYC | posted: 11/16/2005 at 8:56:31 AM ET Sorry - can't tell you that! Like any city, it has bad parts, but there are many great areas too. Many are 30 minutes more or less from Manhattan by subway...some are over an hour by train or bus. It's a huge city in itself. Its also the most diverse area of the world. My friends live in Woodside, Long Island City, Forest Hills, Bayside, Flushing, Floral Park...
I live in Manhattan but will probably be priced out one of these days.
Speaking as a transplanted New Yorker from Texas, I couldn't be happier here. I love everything about NYC.
| jmslsu01 Registered User
Registered: 6/9/2003
From: northern VA | posted: 11/16/2005 at 9:01:45 AM ET Sister Rose, you're not helping!
I know quite a bit about my potential employer (QPL. BPL is a possibility as well. I'm not considering NYPL.). It's just the area I'm researching. However, I don't know in which area of Queens I would work, since the initial position postings don't tell you. Especially since I'm not even going to start applying to places until the summer (I want to get one more summer under my belt before I go for my next position.)
I'm going to call/email to see if they're going to be in New Orleans for our annual conference in June.
I'm excited, but a little sad. But I want to move on.
Where to, I'm just not sure yet.
Jenn
| Sister Rose Registered User
Registered: 5/4/2004
From: NYC | posted: 11/16/2005 at 10:17:15 AM ET Well as I told my mom when I moved here, home is just a plane ride away. You know you already have some friends up here. Its also amazingly easy to live here. Initially, its a little difficult getting set up (Moljul will attest I'm sure) - difficulty finding an apartment - but once you're in, that's it. Somebody gave me a quote from the New Yorker when I was moving up here - "people move to New York from all over the world and are suddenly New Yorkers like they were here their whole lives" or something like that. Why not NYPL? I LOVE THE NYPL!
| Christine-NYC Registered User
Registered: 3/23/2002
From: New York City
Fav. BP Song: With So Little to be Sure Of Fav. BP Show: Gypsy Fav. BP Character: Marie (insert last name) lol There's a few Fav. BP CD: Bernadette Peters Loves Rogers and Hammerstein
| posted: 11/16/2005 at 11:48:11 AM ET It's true. I mean, I've lived in NY my entire life, but the majority of my friends are all from different cities/states. They seem like they've lived here forever. I often forget that they're not from here, and when they talk about "Home" I always forget that they consider home to be someplace that is not NY.
<3CMH<3
| moljul Registered User
Registered: 4/2/2001
From: New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 11/16/2005 at 12:09:24 PM ET Jenn, I would agree that just getting to NY is the hard part and that includes finding a place to live. People aren't exaggerating when they say how difficult it is finding a good apartment. You have to be willing to be flexible and open and most important, decisive. If a decent apartment comes your way - GRAB IT! As Sister Rose said, Queens is huge and there are many, many, many different neighborhoods. And there is something for every budget especially when you are willing to look in the other boroughs (Not Manhattan). When you look for an apartment, it would be great to bring along a friend who really knows the city as they will be able to see the good and the bad that maybe you don't pick up on. And of course you know lots of people in NYC from this board. I'm sure any one of us would be happy to help you.
The one thing that I was the most struck with was the number of sacrifices I had to make which really changed the way I lived from other places I had been. They seemed difficult at the time and I had to do them gradually. But after you do it and live with it for just a short time you realized it wasn't that much of a sacrifice. It's just that living in NYC is so very different than living any place else and its hard to describe the differences. They have to be experienced. But its all very worth it. You get so much back in return. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any specific questions.
moljul@earthlink.net
"I'm one star away from Dolly Parton ... and Raymond Massey is between us. I hope we don't suffocate him." Bernadette Peters receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, April 24, 1987
| Sister Rose Registered User
Registered: 5/4/2004
From: NYC | posted: 11/16/2005 at 1:46:50 PM ET Right on the apartment situation - plus very important factor when choosing an apartment - make sure that its close to subway or bus stop (especiallys subway) because in Queens there are many areas that are out of reach of the subway. My friend lives in St. Albans, Queens - she rides the subway to the end of the line and then still has to take a bus to her home. Another thought is that most people I know who have cars only have them because they have children and consider the car a necessary evil - they are always moving the car to a different parking spot - it sounds like its a full-time job in itself. I sold my car when I moved here (God I had to so I could pay the broker's fee on my apartment!), and I have not missed it in the least - it would be too much trouble otherwise.
| Mandy Registered User
Registered: 8/14/2003 | posted: 11/16/2005 at 4:22:53 PM ET Wait...do you need info on Maryland as well? If so, let me know.
"Let's admit one thing right upfront: With the possible exception of Bernadette Peters, not everyone stays young and cute forever." (NYPost 2/2/05)
| jmslsu01 Registered User
Registered: 6/9/2003
From: northern VA | posted: 11/16/2005 at 9:08:31 PM ET Thank you, all.
1) Apartments
Yes-I know that I need to be able to put down $$ for a decent apartment when I see it, otherwise it will be gone.
2) Sacrifices
I am acting as if I am definitely moving to the area. Only necessary purchases and putting aside money every month. And if I decide not to move, it's still a good thing.
3) Car
I will probably sell my car if I move. I've never loved driving and this will be a blessing.
4) NYPL
Salaries, Sister Rose. Unacceptable. I'm not too keen on a decrease in salary.
5) Maryland
Mandy, I am still considering Maryland. Particularly Baltimore, Frederick County, Prince George's County, Takoma Park, and Anne Arundel County.
Jenn
| jmslsu01 Registered User
Registered: 6/9/2003
From: northern VA | posted: 11/16/2005 at 9:38:08 PM ET Just wanted to say....I hope my previous post didn't sound too abrupt (with the numbering and all that). I had the thread opened in another window and was responding to the posts as I saw them. I value everyone's information and input, and will certainly have more questions as time goes on. Thank you, thank you very much.
Sister Rose, I really like what you said about home being a plane ride away. I've never intended to stay my life in the Houston area.
I always had the assumption that I could go back and work at home-the New Orleans area-and was considering it for a while.
Now...that's not possible. I won't be able to go back and work. No one will be in a position to hire me for some time there.
I will always love New Orleans. I will always consider myself a New Orleanian. But I can't go back. Not for a long time. And by the time I could, I might be settled in another area.
And the fact is is that the desire to go back and live there has died. I don't want to face another ten years or so of these hurricane seasons, which is what they've told everyone to expect. I just don't. I'm fed up with the city, too. St. Bernard Parish is moving along, and that entire parish was devastated. They even have schools up and running, for the children and teachers that have come back. Parts of New Orleans are high and dry, and they can't get themselves together and open up their schools. And I've had enough. It's not funny anymore. I can't just brush it off and say, "That's New Orleans!" anymore.
I just pray that somehow...somehow New Orleans can take this opportunity to rebuild itself, literally and figuratively. But you know what? That chance is getting smaller the longer time goes on...I really fear for this city's future.
So if I can't go home, I might as well find a new home. Houston will never be home. I can make Queens home. I can make the D.C. area home (I'm not forgetting Baltimore, however.). I can make the Philadelphia area home.
Jenn
| jmslsu01 Registered User
Registered: 6/9/2003
From: northern VA | posted: 11/16/2005 at 9:54:02 PM ET Oh, and QPL offers relocation assistance, too (that is rare in this field). What that means I'm not entirely sure, but whatever it is, it's there.
Jenn
| Sister Rose Registered User
Registered: 5/4/2004
From: NYC | posted: 11/16/2005 at 11:52:59 PM ET Three books that helped me:
"How to Live the Good Life in New York" by the Intrepid New Yorker - Tory Baker Masters & Kathy Mayer Braddock
Savvy in the City - New York - a "See Jane Go" Guide to City Living by Young/Becker
"The Cheap Bastard's Guide to New York City" by Rob Grader (anybody who likes to visit New York on a regular basis and enjoy everything it has to offer, will learn from this book)
Also, you can get an idea of what to expect on apartments by using the NY Times real estate search. Look for "no-fee" apartments - that means you won't have to pay a broker.
| jmslsu01 Registered User
Registered: 6/9/2003
From: northern VA | posted: 11/17/2005 at 9:43:38 AM ET THANK YOU, Sister Rose. That is so helpful. I will order those books. Meanwhile, I will hit the NYT listings. I really appreciate the community profiles-that's great. QPL has that for their branches, so this is great info.
Jenn
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