2015

Oh the wonder! The awe! The elves! The New York City holiday season officially kicks off on Thursday, Nov. 26^th with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This New York tradition has been around since 1924 (89 years!) and has inspired millions of families and a classic movie, Miracle on 34^th Street. You’ll be giving thanks that you are renting an apartment in Manhattan when the floats, balloons, and celebrities come marching through.

The Stats — It takes a city like New York to put on a parade this spectacular!

• 8,000+ participants
• 16 giant character balloons
• 27 floats
• 12 marching bands
• 1,300 cheerleaders and dancers
• 1,000 clowns
• 2.5 miles
• 1 Mariah Carey — this year’s headliner
• 20 other celebrity performers

The Route

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade begins at 9am at Central Park West and 77^th Street. This is a fantastic viewing opportunity for our No Fee Rental clients in our Upper West Side rental apartments. The parade continues down CPW to Columbus Circle where the parade turns onto Central Park South on then to 6^th Ave. to 34^th Street and Macy’s Herald Square. The great part about this central location is that it’s convenient to virtually all No Fee Rental buildings and our rental apartments – especially those in Murray Hill, Waverly Place, Washington Square. You can walk or take any one of seven train lines to the Herald Square Station – D, F, N. Q, R, B, and M.

The Giant Balloon Inflation

One the most special parts of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is the Giant Balloon Inflation from 3pm to 10pm on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. The Giant Balloon Inflation takes place in the areas surrounding the Museum of Natural History beginning at 79th Street and Columbus Avenue. To be this close to the giant balloons is incredibly memorable. You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy it. We guarantee, your friends on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat will light up seeing you up close with SpongeBob, Hello Kitty, and Snoopy. The balloons can be as high as a 5-story building!

New York is a special place, and no more so than when Santa lands his sleigh to kick off the holidays. Give thanks — you have a NYC rental apartment and the parade is coming to town!

photo credit: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade via photopin (license)

With the beginning of daylight savings time, it’s getting dark a lot earlier. But don’t let this put you into the wintertime blues. New York is fabulous after dark! Get out of your rental apartment and experience some of the best nightlife in the world! Here’s a few ideas for fun after the sun goes down.

The City of Lights – U.S. version

Paris may be officially known as the City of Lights, but here in the states, New York City dazzles with light at night. Let us recommend the sky high views from The Empire State Building, the observatory at One World Trade Center, and at Top of the Rock (30 Rockefeller Plaza) to see the lights of Manhattan. If you want to make it extra special, go at dusk and watch the skyline change from majestic breathtaking color to inky black and see the lights grow in intensity. If it’s intensity you are after, nothing beats the energy of Times Square at night. The billboards, the buildings, the illuminated bright pink staircase – it’s colored light and images on steroids.

The Happiest Hour(s)

When the sun goes down, the happy hour lights up. Whether you have a studio in the East Village, a two bedroom in the West Village, or a multi bedroom share in Chelsea, there’s a restaurant or a bar with a happy hour near you. Happy hours usually run from 5:00 – 8:00pm, but some establishments have extended happy hours that can go as late at 10pm.

The Club Scene

Some of the best NYC clubs are right near some of No Fee Rentals’ downtown buildings. In Greenwich Village, Le Poisson Rouge is hot. In Chelsea, crowds flock to Marquee. The Meatpacking District’s Le Bain and Cielo are hugely popular, while Pacha and Space Ibiza in Hell’s Kitchen bring their international reputation stateside.

Seasonal Specials

With the holidays coming, New York really ramps it up at night. The Union Square Holiday Market opens on November 19^th. Catch the glow! Or try ice skating at Wollman Rink in the middle of Central Park – it’s open until 10 PM most nights, while The Rink at Rockefeller Center stays open until midnight.  These are iconic NYC venues that you have to experience at least once.

It’s dark, yes. But look on the bright side – there’s so much to love about New York – day and night.

photo credit: ‘Urban Jazz’, United States, New York, New York City, Saxophone Player, Highline via photopin (license)

This Sunday, more than 50,000 runners from all across the world will line up for the New York City Marathon.  Now add to that all the cheering fans and spectators and you have one gi-normous event that covers 26.2 miles and all five boroughs of New York City — Staten Island up through Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, across to Harlem in Manhattan, and ending in Central Park. It all starts at Ford Wadsworth on Staten Island, with professional women beginning at 9:20 AM, professional men at 9:50, and all other runners in waves after that.

Watch it live!

Television coverage begins at 9 AM on Channel 7. But why watch on TV? You’re in a NYC rental apartment — go out and join the fun! If you are a college student or first time renter, you shouldn’t miss this opportunity to watch one of the greatest spectator events in the world.

The weather — with light winds, cloud cover and a moderate 60 degrees (albeit a little on the warm side for November) — should bode well for the runners, and it’s perfect for being outside and watching the marathon. Renters in No Fee Rental’s Upper East Side apartments are closest to the action on First Avenue along miles 16 and 17. And it’s a quick walk across Central Park to the finish line area for our Upper West Side tenants. Note: the NYC Marathon finishes at 68^th Street in Central Park, but for security there is a frozen zone, so plan in advance to meet runners away from the frozen zone.

Speaking of frozen, that’s one way to talk about the traffic on Marathon Sunday. We strongly recommend that you give yourself extra time to get around, and opt for either walking or subway. Surface transit will be slow!

And if you are lucky enough to have received a number to run in the 2015 New York City Marathon, No Fee Rentals would like to wish you the best of luck in your run. This is certainly one day it’s nice to know that your rental apartment isn’t too far from the finish line!

We know. When you think of New York City you think skyscrapers, Fashion Week, museums, fabulous food, and even more fabulous people. But did you know that Manhattan is also home to two wild and wicked Halloween traditions? So get out of the studio apartment, grab your roommates in the multi bedroom share, say hasta la vista to the two bedroom for a few hours, and join the fun at the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade and the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade.

Greenwich Village Halloween Parade

New York City’s 42^nd annual Village Halloween Parade kicks off at 7p.m. on Saturday, October 31^st.  You have to see it to believe it! The event is billed as “the nation’s most wildly creative public participatory event in the greatest city in the world”.  Only those in a costume of their own making can be in the parade; enter on 6th Avenue at Canal Street between 6:30pm and 8:30pm.  This year’s theme is “Shine a Light”, but really, any creative costume of your own imagination will do. (Bonus: there’s prizes for the best costumes!) If getting into costume isn’t your thing, than make sure to watch. In addition to thousands of costumed New Yorkers there are also hundreds of puppets, 53 bands with all kinds of music, dancers and artists.  It is a true New York spectacle and super, super fun!

Keep in mind though, if you are going to be in Greenwich Village on Halloween night around parade time, crossing streets will be a little tough. Please add extra time to get where you are going.

Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade

Dogs, costumes, parades – put them all together and you get one of the wackiest and woolliest New York City traditions: the Tomkins Square Halloween Dog Parade. This year the parade kicks off on Saturday, October 24^th at noon and runs (pardon the pun) until 3p.m. A dog turned into a tarantula or tricked out as a British biker — the competition is ruff for the prizes. CNN calls it “the largest dog costume parade in the world” with hundreds of dogs in costumes and thousands of spectators. No need to register. Just show up and enjoy the festivities and the fur!

photo credit: Halloween Parade 2014 via photopin (license)

Shelter. Food. Water. Some say that’s all you need to survive. But if you are renting an apartment in Manhattan, you’ll need a lot more to make life comfy cozy, if not clean. Here’s a few quick tips to what any NYC dweller with a rental apartment would consider the essentials.

Food

Welcome to the greatest place on earth for fabulous food and endless variety. Along with neighborhood markets, there are fantastic places to get fresh and prepared foods.

• Whole Foods, Union Square – If you live in the East Village or West Village, Chelsea, or Lower East Side, it’s worth getting to this Whole Foods outpost. The store is big, modern, and had a reoccurring role in Top Chef, New York.
• Trader Joe’s, East 14^th Street – Known for great food at surprisingly affordable prices and a rockin’ wine store. Be prepared to wait in line during peak after-work hours.
• Union Square Greenmarket – Famous for fresh, sustainable veggies, dairy, and baked goods. Dozens of ways to say “yum!”
• Fairway, 74^th Street – This Upper West Side location is where Fairway began with its renown selection of cheeses, baked goods, meats, and fish – fresh and smoked. It’s a New York institution not to be missed.

Fitness

While New York is a mecca for urban walkers, if you want to build up more of a sweat and for NYU students who want an alternative to the Coles Sport Center and the Palladium Athletic Facility, there’s the hot, hot, hot Soul Cycle with locations in the West Village, NoHo, and Union Square, as well as the new Peloton Cycle in Chelsea. For cross-fitters, there’s Brick New York in Chelsea. At the other extreme is the zen-derful Pure Yoga with locations on the Upper East and Upper West Side. Many of these fitness centers/studios offer student discounts so don’t forget to ask in you are an NYU student.

Clean Clothes

Whether you are living in a studio, one-bedroom, or two-bedroom apartment, space is at premium, so that last thing you need is piles of dirty laundry around.  No Fee Rental elevator buildings usually come with coin-operated laundry facilities (remember to hoard your quarters!); our other buildings generally have a laundromat located close by. Then there’s also the app-based Cleanly and FlyCleaners to get your washing done.

Well-fed, well-toned, well dressed – in New York, that’s considered essential.