13 More Things We've Learned Since Moving to NYC: 8-Month Anniversary Edition

1. Don’t leave stuff in the lobby of your building (like a stroller), even if you plan to come down and get it in an hour or two, or else it will undoubtedly be gone when you return. [Author’s Note: Someone had taken our stroller and put it down with the trash cans, so there was no harm done.]
2. Snow makes the streets shrink. Piled snow prevents cars from parking right next to the curb, so where two moving cars could previously squeeze past one another, now only one car can drive at a time.
3. A corollary to #2: Snow takes up perfectly good parking places. More than once I drove right by a wide-open space because I knew that I’d have a heck of a time getting back out again.
4. In the midst of a bitterly cold winter, if the temperature rises at all out of the 20s, it feels as though everyone comes outside.



The frozen Harlem River

5. Leave plenty of time for doctor’s appointments. Yes, we can walk to their offices, but the sheer number of people in the city and the demand for medical services mean that no appointment ever happens when it is scheduled. Ever.
6. Simply being made in New York City doesn’t mean that the pizza is any good. Some of it is pretty lousy, in fact.
7. Don’t park over manhole covers during winter or early spring. Apparently the salt they use on the roads has been known to seep underground and eat away at underground wiring and – I kid you not – the manholes can explode. Check out this video: https://youtu.be/I8go5G3-J5g
8. Leave your windows open a little when you go out so that when you return to your apartment, you won’t be walking into what feels like a pizza oven.
9. Twitter is great for keeping up with what’s happening in New York City and our Bronx neighborhood. Just be ready for the bad news along with the good.
10. Mormons are vigilant in our area. We’ve had at least four pairs knock on our door since we moved here.
11. Perceptions vary: To some people our neighborhood (Bedford Park) is a nice, quiet one; others, however, have described where we live and where the Priority 1 apartment is located as “the hood.”
12. Melting snow is a blessing and a curse. It’s great that there’s more than just a narrow pathway to traverse, but every pedestrian ramp turns into a sludge-filled puddle, and all of the trash and dog poop that had collected (and been preserved) in snow banks now reappears as a disgusting obstacle course on everywhere you turn.
13. We live in a predominantly Hispanic area (and of that, the majority are Dominican), and as such, our girls get called “mami,” Bethany gets “mamma” or “mami,” and Greg has heard “boss” several times. All of these are familiar, friendly terms.