So how did we end up in Bed/Stuy? Well…there’s a story.
Since Glen and I had been talking about this trip for years, I’d off and on been checking the usual apps for Brooklyn rentals. I’d also done some research on the different neighborhoods, but not much. As we got closer to thinking it was a good time to go, I began searching in earnest and wasn’t finding much on the market.
Meet Tiffany, a NY realtor. (And so much more. She’ll be playing in the poker tournament in Las Vegas this fall!)
Somehow I had been following her on IG (not a stalker) and I thought…why not reach out?!? Maybe she’d be interested in helping or give us ideas of other rental resources. What did we have to lose? She kindly set up an appointment to FaceTime with her while we were in Charleston with our Texas friends, Brian and Joan and man o’ man! Tiffany was a bundle of energy and positivity! She offered to help by using her network resources, quickly discovered that Airbnb was the way to go, and the way that she could help us was to go and check out the units and the neighborhoods in person. So we narrowed the options to five units and the morning of our call, 3 of them were off the market so things got urgent! Luckily, Tiffany quickly contacted the owners, was able to get to the two addresses and sent us videos of the exterior of the houses, the streets, and the neighborhoods. Boom! Bed/Stuy it was because as Tiffany said, there was lots of activity, lots of people walking dogs – so many dogs – and a vibrant, energetic community vibe.
That brings me to today. While on our quest for the best breakfast tacos (it’s a thing here and also we are researching for a visit from Brian and Joan), we walked through the neighborhood that we didn’t choose, Crown Heights. We crossed the actual street of the house that we were looking at though it was likely a couple blocks away. And while we were only one neighborhood away, it was completely different from Bed/Stuy. As Tiffany had reported after her visit – Few people out and about. No one sitting on stoops – in fact in places – NO stoops! Blasphemy! Few brownstones. No bodegas on all the corners. Restaurants only down the busy business streets, not on every neighborhood street. People seemed to be in a hurry to get to work and didn’t make much eye contact. Not so friendly. Not so “neighborhoody”. Not so “communityish”.
Now, was I just back to the unfamiliar thing – it being a new neighborhood and all or had we just made a better decision for us? The answer – we made a better decision. Bed/Stuy just feels right. For all it’s quirks – trash, homeless (unhoused?), sirens, loud music, loud cars and motorcycles, etc. – it’s our neighborhood and we’ll take the bad…with ALL the good.
And…Full circle. I had lunch with the fabulous Tiffany today! (Sadly, forgot to take a selfie.) So…reach out. Take a chance. You never know who’s gonna be there to help you when you need it!
Can We? Will We? 