How we found our apartment

           In many ways, “New York” is typically meant in reference to Manhattan.  However, New York City is actually divided into five different boroughs, of which Manhattan is one.  The others are Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island.  Only the Bronx is on the mainland -- Staten Island is a small island south of Manhattan, and Brooklyn and Queens are on the western edge of Long Island, across the East River from Manhattan.  Downtown Manhattan is incredibly expensive, and was not an option.  Most of the affordable areas in Manhattan are in the northern end, including Harlem, Washington Heights, and Inwood.  We had planned to check out Washington Heights, which, although there are some bad parts, is home to lots of medical students (Columbia's med school is up there) and artists, as well as being home to a predominantly hispanic population.  To get to the museum from Inwood or Washington Heights, you do have to cross through some less desirable areas, however. On our visit before moving down, we decided we should talk to some people at the museum to see what areas they might recommend.  A fellow post-doc in the department, who is a New York native, gave us some great pointers about what the different areas were like, and told us about where he lives, which is in an area of Queens called Jackson Heights.  We decided we liked his description of the area, and got on a subway out to Queens.  We picked a stop at random, and just went for a walk around the neighbourhood.  Right away we liked the atmosphere, and we noticed signs on buildings saying that there were apartments available.  This was a huge relief, since locating a place to live in New York can be very difficult.  Many people resort to enlisting the services of a broker, who may charge a month's rent or more just to find you the apartment.  Anyway, after walking all around the area (and convincing ourselves that it was all quite nice, with no questionable blocks), we went into the first building we had seen near the subway stop (just to see what the apartments look like, and to get a feel for the price).  The super was very nice, and was quite excited to hear we were from Canada.  He's from the Dominican Republic, and he told us that most of the people in the area were from Asia (largely China and Korea), India, and Colombia.  The apartment was sunny, clean, and spacious -- and most importantly, within our price range.  We decided to take it without looking at any others.  After some minor hurdles in getting approved (there are pretty strict policies about who can rent an apartment here, and I had none of the required documents, like income tax forms, state driver's licence, etc. -- luckily a letter from the museum convinced them I was an ok person), we were set to move in.  We're actually located in Elmhurst, Queens, which is known as the most diverse neighbourhood in the United States, with immigrants from more than 100 countries living here.  There are lots of little shops, restaurants, and fruit stands, and a charming coffee shop where we ate breakfast everyday for the first week.  Ours is also a remarkably quiet street, with the notable exception of frequent car alarms and ambulance sirens (there's a hospital a few blocks away).  It also seems to be the law that you must honk whenever you brake, accelerate, turn, or move in a straight line.  Now, if you'll excuse us, we're off to get some Thai food for dinner!