Apartment hunting in New York is exactly that. It’s a hunt. A long grueling, time consuming, determined pursuit. It’s not for the weak. Our years of living in downtown New York were getting old. We had become complacent. A new adventure was needed. Let the hunt begin.

Brooklyn. Our adventure in real estate would take us to the hipster stomping grounds of Brooklyn. We had our sights on a 2 bed, 2 bath. We would roam the Brooklyn Heights, the Cobbled Hills, the Carolled Gardens and inland water ways of Gowanus, the Brooklyn Riviera. From the canals of Gowanus to points of green, we would track this adult idea of an apartment. It would be elusive and sometimes we would feel as if we were the ones being hunted. We would end up recruiting guides, some would ask for astronomical fees, others for free, only to find we knew more about the hunt then they. By day the hunt was long and hot. By evening we would take refuge in local taverns, converse with the regulars, see a familiar face or two and then return to our Battery Park dwelling by underground locomotive.

Our hunt lasted a little over two months. We learned the terrain and stalked our prey on the weekends. While looking at lofts, walk ups, basement and penthouse apartments our pedometers broke records. Some neighborhoods were tree lined, others lined with warehouses and more often than not, restaurants, bars and shops. The high rises of Downtown Brooklyn had overlooks with city views for miles. We fell in love with a few but had to release them back into the wild. Nothing was quite the prize we searched for. This would need to be a successful adventure.

We exhausted neighborhoods one by one as we moved north toward Williamsburg and Greenpoint. It was a two day excursion that took us across the East River by ferry. Here we looked at a converted church, some environmentaly friendly and some newly constructed apartments. Williamsburg was a little too young and crowded for us and about to have the dreaded “L Train shutdown” for a year and a half. We tried to talk ourselves into the converted church apartment, but it seems a higher power didn’t want us to. The very next day we saw our White Buffalo.

Greenpoint had a herd to select from, and our White Buffalo was just over the rise. All together we saw seven apartments in Greenpoint and out of all forty-two apartments we saw, they were in the top ten. Greenpoint felt different. It’s mellow and easy. It was the fourth apartment we saw that day. We knew it was the one immediately. Locking our sights on it we squeezed the trigger and fired. Boom. On October 15, 2018 we signed a two year lease. We moved in on Wednesday October 17, 2018.

It’s been a long search and a stressful move. Today is the day after Thanksgiving and we are unpacked and able to use all the parts of this beast we took from the streets. We have a pool, a gym and beautiful common areas with a rooftop view. It’s been a little over a month and we feel pretty good about our move. If you are ever in Greenpoint, GET THE FUCK OUT! It’s our town now.

The White Buffalo, All Photos taken by my Amazing Wife Jen Getchell