NYC IKEA Trips

No one drives in New York. Lots of people know this, but I didn't realize the gravity of that truth until a couple days ago. I was walking down the street and noticed that I lost all of the guilt I used to associate with buying a new car. Before I left for New York I was very much in "buy a new car" mode. I was looking at a sexy little coupe that was horrible on gas, and while I loved it, I always felt guilty about its flagrant over-use of fossil fuels. To that end, whenever I thought about getting a Prius or a Highlander Hybrid I wondered if I was missing out on something that the coupe offered--some degree of excitement that my "green guilt" wouldn't afford me. I'm a big fan of renewable energy initiatives, but I also like going really really fast, so there was this constant back and fourth. Ultimately, the choice was made for me when I moved to New York and no longer had to think about transportation other than the subway.

There are both very positive, and very irritating aspects of not having a car. I love not paying insurance or car payments, it's pretty sweet. Additionally, gas is expensive and another thing you have to worry about. Then there's car maintenance, which I always hated doing--even routine oil changes made me feel "put out." Also, by relegating yourself to only use public transportation you never wind up in a place longer than you want to be because you're too drunk to drive!

But not having a car can be frustrating too. Often you have to wait for subways, which isn't so bad, except when it's late at night. Occasionally I'll find myself standing on a platform at 4am, tipsy and tired, waiting for a transfer train for a half-hour. You're also kind of stuck on a subway too if it's late, which means if you have to pee you're gonna' hold it in. If you're gonna' get sick, you gotta' wait until the stop then wait for another train. If you're gonna' fall asleep, you shouldn't (because you might wind up in Coney Island).

Trips that were previously really casual and easy are instantly more difficult as well, if you've previously had regular access to a car. I eat out a lot more now. This is fundamentally because I don't like to cook, but the second reason is that in order to buy food at reasonable prices I now have to walk about 3/4 of a mile to the grocery store. "Now Marc," you say,"that's not far at all. In fact, don't you like taking walks?" Yes, dear reader, I do, but when it's this cold outside, and I have to carry bags walking is something I'm not really interested in doing. And then there's IKEA.

IKEA is a pretty sweet deal. You drive down there, get a bunch of cheap and "all right" furniture, load it up, drive it home, build it, and enjoy your new Iklorp entertainment system, or whatever you got. But when you don't have a car you either have to A) find a friend with a car who can take pity on your rideless ass and go with you, B) hire a U-Haul (which is or is not cost effective, depending on how far you're going), or C) take a shuttle bus down to IKEA and ship your purchases from the store.

Option C is actually really convenient, as it's flat $100 fee (+$10 for boroughs outside of Manhattan) to have up to 17 boxes delivered. If you go with a couple roommates, that shipping cost becomes MUCH more reasonable. This is much cheaper than shipping things through the website because shipping costs on IKEA.com are calculated per item. Additionally, your things will be delivered same day, or next day!

Editorial Note: If the New York City Marathon is on the weekend of your scheduled delivery you will likely get your IKEA purchases the following weekend.

I mention IKEA specifically because it's an ideal place to buy furniture for a New York apartment. The space is small, and changes drastically depending on where you live and what your budget is. If you move from, say, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to Gramercy (for example) you'll probably wind up wind up with a completely different space. Because IKEA stuff is so relatively cheap, you can just Craigslist your old stuff easily, and buy new stuff that fits your new space!

That said, I also highly recommend getting furniture on Craigslist. About 2 days after I bought my loft bed, I found the exact same one on Craigslist for half the price! Keeping the shipping costs of IKEA in mind, I was planning on buying an IKEA desk for about $40, but after shipping it would have been much much more. Instead, I bought a cool secretary desk in my neighborhood from Craigslist for $50. The guy even helped me get it to my place!

Editorial Note: I wouldn't have been able to get it up my stairs without the help of everyone's favorite bartender at a Vietnam-themed restaurant, Rohan.

Having a car definitely has it's advantages and disadvantages, that's pretty obvious. But what I can say is that a car in New York City (and most surrounding areas) is just really really difficult. It's expensive to pay for parking, and if you can find free parking you usually have to move your car every other day because of street cleaning. Cops around here LOVE giving out tickets too, so if you're kind of a space-cadet parker like me, you'll easily rack up a month's rent in parking violations.

If you absolutely need a car in New York, I'd recommend getting together a bunch of your closest friends, finding one with optional monthly garage service in their building, pulling your money, and buying a cheap 1989 Bronco or something, that everyone can take turns using. But that's if all of you decide you really need a car. I say a Bronco because they're American and easier to get fixed/find parts for, you can haul a lot of stuff in one, and they have really great clutches (in my experience). But I that's a lot of organization, and I don't know anyone who needs a car that bad.