The lease of my worries

Yesterday I made about a zillion phone calls all over town, just cold calling apartment buildings asking about June availabilities. Brett told me some just don't show up in his database, and with the clock ticking on my month in corporate housing, I was feeling panicky.

After burning off a lot of minutes on my cell phone, about the only lead I had was at Tribeca Park, where they had a one bedroom available for June 15, but the rent was more than we wanted to pay.

I wanted to head downtown anyway for Taste of Tribeca, so I figured I'd make it a multitasking trip and take a look at the apartment.

A funny thing happens every time I go to Tribeca. As much as I like the rest of New York, Tribeca casts a spell over me. It's like that flush of infatuation when you're 15. I want to write Tribeca's name on the front of my folder and dot the I with a heart. TLF. TLA.

Taste of Tribeca was pricey but it's a fund raiser for art in public schools, so I got to do a little philathropy while nibbling on goodies from some of the best restaurants in the city. Lenny and Anne would have shaken from food orgasm on the spot. Enjoying the street fair vibe with live music and a perfect sunshiney day, I had an heirloom tomato salad by Tribeca Grill, miso-marinated black cod with shredded filo by Nobu, a smoked trout cake and fresh berries with creamy something or other by Blaue Gans, and a chocolate egg cream from my pals at the Soda Shop. (among other things. I meant to remember it all but alas, I my taste buds distracted my brain)

Belly full, skin loaded with vitamin D, I strolled the few blocks down Chambers Street to where it dead ends at River Terrace. All along the Hudson River is beautiful, bucolic Rockefeller Park, popular for everything from picnics and frisbee to wedding photos and kite flying. The whole area was redeveloped after Sept. 11 and it's so lovely. You walk across the West Side Highway and it's like a residential oasis. No sirens. No graffiti. No panhandlers. Just new apartment buildings, new retail, and loads of baby strollers.

I sat in the sun with the river breeze blowing in my face and I got giddy about Tribeca all over again. River Terrace is probably more appropriately Battery Park City, but developers are trying hard to cash in on the cache of Tribeca so they're naming all the buildings Tribeca Park or Tribeca Pointe or I Can't Believe It's Not Tribeca.

In this frame of mind, I put in an application on the most expensive apartment we've seen. At the time, I was delirious about being in that area and happy that the apartment on a perfect timeline to get me out of corporate housing.

Now I'm having buyer's remorse about the rent. An application doesn't obligate you to sign a lease, so worst case scenario we could walk away from our $100 application fee.

Still, it's reassuring to think that I'm at the front of the line on an apartment. When I looked at a place last week, the agent there told me that vacancy rates on 1 bedrooms is something like .7 percent right now, and that put the fear of God into me. As I was filling out the application yesterday, I thought paying more than we wanted is preferrable to being homeless.

There are still two other places I want to see before we sign a lease anywhere:
-- 2 Lincoln Square -- I finally have an appointment there tomorrow before work. Assuming it's the same basic layout most of these highrises seem to have, then the decision basically comes down to neighborhood and price.
-- Tribeca Pointe -- they have a 1 bedroom for significantly less than the rate at Tribeca Park, and it looks like the view would be better, too. (The Tribeca Park apt. faces the city, but at Tribeca Pointe, the 1 bedroom they list as available faces north, so that look up the Hudson)

Those are the three finalists at the moment, and Brett doesn't see anything else coming up for June or July move in. I think any of the three will have lots of upsides, so stomach knots this morning notwithstanding, I think we'll be happy with any of the choices.

OH! And we have an offer on the house, with a buyer who wants to take occupancy by June 15! It must be those great photos showing off our friends.