On the NYC Real Estate Market and Rapid Realty...

I did something a little out of character today. I turned into a nag and put a company on blast for scamming me.

It's not that I don't like to stand up for what's right or whatever, it's that I don't like to cause a scene. I weigh my options very carefully when I have to throw a lot of energy behind something. And I hate doing something half-assed. I would rather not do something at all than not give it everything.

So lets rewind to December 2011 when I started a whirlwind adventure called, "So You've Landed A Job In New York City." This midwestern kid was aiming to get her first apartment on her own and had no idea what to expect. I had about two weeks to search for a place, and from what everyone had told me, this didn't seem like an issue considering how fast the New York City real estate market moves. I spent every free minute I had looking at Craigslist ads, researching neighborhoods, getting advice, trying to be as prepared as possible. And then I had one day to go down to the big, bad city to look at places and find the Prince Charming of apartments.

Possibly one of the most stressful trips of my life up until that point (my LA trip from June still beats it). We worked with one realtor who was a friend of a brother of my boyfriend's sister's boyfriend, and she was extremely nice but nothing she showed me was a great option. Especially not the place she showed me in East Harlem.

So a guy from this little company called Rapid Realty had contacted me when I started this search back in Buffalo. He had spent some of his childhood in Buffalo, so I immediately thought he would be trustworthy. I managed to get in touch with him as my mother and I sat exasperated and exhausted in a Starbucks near Penn Station, and he was able to set up an appointment to see an apartment out in Queens. I was relieved to walk around in a neighborhood where I didn't feel like I was going to die, and to see an apartment that actually worked for me and was within my price range.

I was ready to get paperwork and payments rolling since I needed approval as soon as possible so I could have a place to live once my job started. The realtor was informed of this before he even showed me the place. Rather than getting down to business and applying right then and there, he was all like, "I'll have our closer call you tomorrow." I was so tired and happy to have found a place I almost didn't care.

And then I learned what a nightmare it is to apply for an apartment in New York City, especially when you need to be approved within days. I went back and forth with this closer dude, trying to get bank information to wire over my security deposit, making sure I had all the necessary documents. And of course he would always forget something and we would have to run back to my mom's office to use the fax machine and send another document over. To say it was draining would be an understatement.

After all this, I still didn't know if I was approved. I was packing up my Uhaul and didn't know if I was approved. We made it to Staten Island all the way from Buffalo before I knew I was approved.

My parents and I ate at a local diner that night after finally unpacking the truck. It was a pretty standard diner, and my dad proclaimed that the burger there was the best thing he's ever eaten. It's amazing what a lack of sleep and stress can do to your mind.

Fast forward three months, everything seems to be fine with my first apartment. I still feel like a kid living in a dorm given how tiny my little studio was, but overall it was fine. And then a leak developed in the middle of my ceiling and it was never properly fixed. For nine months I dealt with buckets on my coffee table, having my laptop and other electronics get drenched, and not once was I reimbursed for items that were damaged (like the carpet I brought to the apartment) or for rent I was paying in order to live in a place that was uninhabitable.

I learned very quickly how shady my management company was, especially when they switched the building manager without informing us, and then also changed the name of the company altogether without any notice. My superintendent was the only good person who worked for that company and he fought so hard to have my ceiling fixed or to get me reimbursed, and when I would call them to check up on it, they would said he didn't do any of that.

Needless to say, I knew I was moving when my lease was up. I started looking for a new place four months in advance. I can't tell you how happy I was to sign the document saying I wouldn't renew and telling the new building manager that there was nothing he could do to keep me with their company.

I hoped the last contact I had with him would be when I gave him my new address where he could send my security deposit. Three months passed before he told me they were keeping it since I never paid my last month's rent.

Huh?

Right.

Going back to the initial deposits on the apartment. I was told I needed one month's security deposit ($1250), first and last month's rent ($2500) and a one month broker's fee ($1250). I paid all of these and had the receipts for them. I told the management company this…and they said they only required one month's security deposit and first month's rent. So I go back to Rapid Realty and ask if they can provide any documentation showing that they also gave the management company my last month's rent. I gave them the benefit of the doubt, wasn't at all on the offense, just stated that I wanted their help in showing that the management company owed me the security deposit. I spoke with an agent there that seemed like she wanted to help me, sent over all the receipts, told this whole story. She said they would get back to me. I check a month later, because why not give them plenty of time, and all she says is that corporate is still looking into it.

I have emailed at least once a month since this started in April, and that is the only response I've ever received from them. There is $1250 missing that belongs to me, and they couldn't care less and have probably pocketed it as some undocumented profit.

I wish I could tell you I don't need that money, but I live in New York City where prices constantly go up and where my paycheck is sucked dry before it even hits my bank account. I don't even live anything close to an extravagant lifestyle, but that is money I most certainly need.

Today I decided I had had enough of them ignoring me. I wrote a Yelp review exposing what they did to me, and it sits alongside many other poor reviews of others getting swindled out of money and baited. I have emailed that agent again and copied the guy who closed the deal for me back in December 2011. He conveniently no longer works for them. She has yet to respond to my email. I emailed their generic email address asking how I can get in touch with corporate, given that the number listed on their site has led me nowhere. I sent them a Facebook message asking the same thing.

Where do I go next? I'm sure Gothamist has covered this more than enough times for it not to be newsworthy. I could probably submit a list to Buzzfeed of why you should never work with either of these companies. I think NY1 has more important stories to cover than a young girl from Buffalo getting scammed by Rapid Realty. I need to do something to get their attention though, and legal action might be too expensive if it's not worth it. God knows they probably wrote some loophole into something I signed that allows them to keep my money.

As I sit here typing this, I can't believe it's allowed to happen. But these types of things just go unnoticed in a city as big as New York that has much larger problems. In Buffalo, all I would have to do is call up my local TV news station or get in touch with my newspaper contacts, and as a community we would bring these crooks to their knees. In New York City, no one cares. They've probably also been scammed and dragged through something much worse than I have.

I'm hoping that something I've done today will get their attention and convince them to get in touch with me before I start screaming louder. I know many people don't read my blog, but perhaps it will show up in someone's Google search and they won't make the same $1250 mistake that I did.

Or hey, maybe someone in that company will have a heart and give me my money back. Doubtful.

On What I've Been Doing Lately...

...because I know you're all dying to know.

I've been busy, guys. That's right, I've been busy.

I didn't do much running last week because the humidity reared its ugly head for (literally) a hot second, and I was not prepared to deal with it. I am not a damn toucan.

I did run 10 miles on Saturday though, and that went really well. I managed to wake up early by setting my alarm to Beyonce's "Love On Top" and changing the alarm's message to, "Beyonce would wake up early," and so I woke up early. And I ran before it got too hot, and it really didn't get too hot because guess what guys? Fall is here. Fall. is. here. and I'm stoked. STOKED.

So I ran 10 miles and felt like a superstar because I did pretty well and didn't have to walk at the same parts of this route where I had to walk the previous week. Then I got home and cleaned myself up and settled in to watch more Breaking Bad than one should in one sitting. But then my friend offered me a free ticket to the Mets double header and I decided to join because, why not be social and catch up with a friend I haven't seen since we both went to see the Katy Perry movie in 3D last year? Super fan right here. Don't judge me, the movie was awesome and I also own it on DVD.

The outing was a lot of fun. I saw her dad and uncle run around the nearly empty sections of Citi Field trying to score free T-shirts and fly balls. I managed to "catch" a free T-shirt by trying to catch it, letting it fall in front of me and then snatching it from the ground before anyone could think of beating me to it. It's an XL and it almost reaches my knees when I wear it, so I wear it to bed like I'm a kid again.

I sat in the seats at Citi Field for about six hours with a few stretching and walking breaks, but having my legs bent for that long after such an intense run earlier in the day made them stiffen up. Which was fun when I had to climb the stairs up to the train to go home. Except that it wasn't.

Sunday was spent at a bar with new friends, watching football, drinking beer, eating food and throwing popcorn. We ended the night by eating ramen and I was pretty happy about that. I won't turn down non-microwaved, legit ramen.

Then the weather decided to be even better starting yesterday and I've had two incredible runs in a row. Whaaaaaat??? Tonight I decided to see how fast I can run 5 miles, because why not? I can run 5 miles in 41:13. That's not bad considering Central Park is hillier than Buffalo, and the Turkey Trot is in Buffalo and I would like to run that as close to a sub-40 time as possible. Last time I did that I was 20 lbs. lighter than I am now. And I looked weird.

I haven't been doing much cooking lately because I never have time to grocery shop. I'm dying to make a huge pot of soup to bring in for lunch everyday. I could go for something hearty, like butternut squash soup with apples in it. Or this awesome escarole and sausage thing my mom makes. Or pretty much anything my mom makes.

Guys, I was thinking about Thanksgiving the other day and thinking about the awesome meal my mom makes...and my mouth started watering. It just did again.

That's all that I've been up to. I'm really not that busy. I just haven't written in here because I didn't have anything exciting to write. But this update was super exciting, yeah?

On What Happened 12 Years Ago...

I was in 7th grade. It was kind of a big year for me. My school didn't have a modified field hockey team, so during the summer I had to pass a physical test in order to try out for the JV team as a 7th grader. By some miracle of god, I passed what seemed to be impossible tests, including a bent arm hang (with palms facing outward) and a mile and a half run (which at the time seemed like a marathon). After passing the test, I still had to try out for the team, and I made it.

I had maybe one or two high school games under my belt by the time September 11th came about in 2001. The team had decided we would wear our uniforms to school that day since we had another game on our home field, and even though me and my middle school friends who were also on the team wouldn't be around all our teammates that day, we still wore ours. When you're in middle school wearing a high school uniform, people view you as kind of a badass.

One of my early morning classes was chorus. Being that I'm not a morning person, I was still sleepy and not quite comprehending what was being communicated to me. And then I heard my teacher say, "two planes flew into the Twin Towers."

I didn't really know what the Twin Towers were at that time. I had heard their name before, I knew they were in New York City, but I couldn't point to them on a map or even draw a picture of them if you asked me to. I also didn't understand how planes could fly into buildings. In my decaffeinated morning mind, I saw the planes bounce off the towers and go off on their merry way. I made it through that class and possibly another before the announcement was made.

"All after school activities are cancelled across the district." What? How could they be cancelled? I had a game to play! I had goals to score! What is even happening??

My mom worked in the district so I was able to call her from a classroom phone. I expressed my anger at my game being cancelled and she calmly said, "Brianne, the Twin Towers are gone." All I could say was, "Oh..." The rest of the day was kind of a blur. Apparently middle schoolers were too young to be shown the footage of what happened that day, so we were kept in the dark.

Upon entering my house, I plopped myself in front of the TV to get a better understanding of what was going on. I watched the footage played over and over and over again. Planes crashing into towers. Gigantic buildings falling to the ground as if they were made of paper-mache. People literally running for their lives through the streets of New York, some covered in dust and debris. I had not been to New York City at this point in my life, but I knew what I was seeing before me was the thing horror movies were made of.

Thinking back to these moments, I remember how scared I was. It wasn't something that happened just in New York City. A plane had hit the Pentagon and one went down in Pennsylvania, too. As an American kid, you're brought up to believe that nothing bad can ever happen to us, because we live in the US...and that day every shred of security I had here was stolen from me.

I remember sitting huddled up in the recliner of my family room, still in my field hockey uniform with my hair in two French braids, my backpack haphazardly tossed beside me, and my eyes staring wide at the TV as tears began to fall. My mom was upstairs and the rest of my family wasn't home yet, and I sat there in my family room silently crying at something that to this day, I can't fully understand.

Ever since I was a kid, I've always made sure I had a plan to get myself out of dangerous situations as quickly as possible. I call it my "GTFO plan." Suddenly, I was aware that there could be situations I wouldn't anticipate where I couldn't get out alive. Every time I heard someone's story of a loved one calling them from one of the top floors to say goodbye, I became more scared of being in a situation like that in my life, and what would I do?

I think everyone can agree that all of our lives changed that day. The US was no longer invincible. Security was heightened everywhere. We couldn't just go after a country that was attacking us. It was a group that was hidden throughout many countries.

I know what I went through that day was nothing compared to what those in the New York City area went through. I try to put myself in their places when I walk around the southern tip of the city where the streets are narrow, and you're bordered by water on all sides and a wall of skyscrapers to the north.

I try to imagine what the World Trade Center was like when the buildings stood there. I go there now and see beautiful reflecting pools in their places, and it puts into perspective how big these buildings were, even though I'll never get the chance to see them in person.

I've never felt the need to post my "never forget" sentiments on social media, and I don't have any disdain for those that do. At age 24, 12 years after my world was changed at just 12 years old, I just felt it was time to get my feelings and memories about it out on the internet.

[photo by Bri]

On My Mood Today...

It's actually impossible for me to wake up on the wrong side of the bed, because one side of my bed is against the wall. But that didn't stop me from being moody today. And oddly enough, my morning was not what did me in today.

Let's back up to last night. Considering how exhausted I am every morning and throughout my day, I decided to use a sleep calculator to figure out the best time for me to go to bed. Given that I try to wake up at 7am each morning (I have a fairly long commute and I'm a snail as far as movement goes in the morning), the calculator told me to either fall asleep (this is fall asleep, not go to bed) at 11:30pm or 1am. So I tried 11:30...to no avail. I was wide awake straight through midnight. And so I attempted 1am. That worked, and I woke up feeling less tired than usual, but I was still sour.

This was slightly alleviated by a breakfast of toast with Justin's Nut Butter Company's Hazelnut Chocolate spread on it. Anything remotely close to being Nutella can always make me feel better.

As per usual, I didn't get a seat on the subway. This normally doesn't bother me, but I was carrying more than usual today and kept getting cut off for seats by people who weren't carrying anything, and did not seem physically incapable of standing. Common courtesy, people. C'mon.

Work was stressful in the way that the day flew by and I felt as though I couldn't get anything done. Then I left too late to run, which resulted in me being frustrated with no outlet for said frustration.

I walked to the subway so fed up with people for the day...only to be met by throngs of people all three blocks to the train, because Fashion Week is terrible and ruining EVERYTHING. I looked a lot like Bjork did before attacking a reporter at the airport all those years ago.

Someone's purse was bumping my arm the entire ride home.

Slow people were in front of me on the stairs coming up from the train.

Thankfully I was greeted by a cat that was stoked to see me home earlier than usual.

Nothing particularly horrible happened today, but I was just so mad. Is this just a case similar to that of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?

[image via childrensbookalmanac.com]

Is this what happens when a girl in training misses her run?

Is this the result of eating chicken wings two days in a row? Nah, it's definitely not that.

This got me thinking of surefire things to put me in a good mood.

Cat Time
One of the reasons I sort of prefer animals to people is because they love you unconditionally. And I love them unconditionally. My cat hates when I leave, and loves when I have lazy days with him on the couch. Coming home to him, and seeing how excited he is that I walked in the door is enough to make me smile. I mean, he cuddled up in my arm after I plopped on the couch. He's the best.

Good Deeds
There was one moment on my walk to the train that actually made me crack a smile. There's a homeless young woman who's always in the same spot, which is sometimes outside of a food truck. There have been many times when I wished I had food to give her, because she holds a sign that just says, "A little kindness goes a long way." She's not even asking for anything except for people to be decent humans. So as I walked by her today, the burger truck was next to her, and one of the cooks came out and gave her a big bag of fresh food. The look on her face was priceless.

Good Food
This is probably a given. But I'm serious when I specify GOOD food. I'm very picky about my food when I'm in a bad mood, because if the food isn't up to my standards at that time, I will have a toddler-style meltdown where I fall to the floor and just start crying. I opted for Thai food tonight at a place that has yet to let me down. Tonight was no exception.

Matt in Cleveland
It's never not funny. You can stop listening at 00:36.



A Good Run
Again, emphasis on GOOD. And today would've been a wonderful one. I'm not sore from my 10-miler on Saturday. The weather was perfect. I was in a good mental state to set a personal record (though my personal record at 5 miles is sub-40 and if that ever happens again it will be a miracle).  Now that I've missed tonight's run, I have to reschedule it for Friday which makes me feel like...

That's about all that's on my mind tonight. I've got to send the rest of my good vibes to RGIII so he can generate more fantasy points for team Sweet Breezus.

One more pet peeve: I almost always type out "fantasy" as "fantasty" first. Ugh.