BrickUnderground

Photo Credit /  Michael Lovitt

Drier clothes, hotter water, a ventilated bathroom and a little less "relaxing" from the neighbors. Seven New Yorkers share the ways in which their living situations could be improved.

• Ready to stage a prison break: I hate that there are bars in front of my windows! I need to stop fixating on them. - Warner, Brooklyn
• No contact highs - at least not before work: It always smells like weed in my hallways.- Sylvia, Lower East Side
• Tepid water blues: The water pressure in my apartment is non-existent. And the water takes forever to heat up. I wake up, brush my teeth, and boil water for my tea and it's still not hot!!! - Shelley, Harlem
• New floors, not new socks: There are nails in my wood floor that sometimes pop up and my socks keep getting snagged on them. - Fay, Midtown West

Photo Credit /  greckor

Moving in New York is never simple. After spending roughly $10K to move into our new tenement in Chelsea, and buying two brand new mattresses, my roommate Josh and I didn't exactly have a ton of cash to blow on stylish new furniture. A friend gave us her old white couch, which I paid movers to deliver.

It was great, but Josh and I are not exactly "white couch" people. We spend evenings drinking red wine and within weeks we had wine stains all over it. We also put our feet on the couch and invite random dogs into our house.

Let's be honest, even with the best intentions, the white couch's days were numbered. But by luck, one of my clients was getting rid of a nearly new, green velvet couch she was willing to sell me for $350.

Again I had to pay movers to pick up and deliver the couch to my third-floor walk-up apartment. When they were a half hour late, I was irritated, so I called. They assured me they were on their way, but when another hour passed, I called back and they told me they had no idea when they would arrive.

I tried to stay calm, but I was angry. When I started asking questions, the man on the other end of the line got snarky and told me to SHUT UP! I hung up, immediately flagged all of his ads on Craigslist--and totally frustrated--had to leave and go downtown for a work meeting.

No doorman to receive your Amazon shipments?  Chances are there's an AmazonLocker near you (no tipping required!).

Sure those white-gloved doormen buildings are luxurious, but who wants to make small talk every time you walk into your building? Not to mention the fact that you may need to have your feet firmly planted in the 1 percent to afford holiday tips for a fleet of doormen.

Can you tell we're trying to make our doormanless-self feel better here? It's easier than you might think, actually, because in the last couple of years, a plethora of products and services have sprung up that make the unattended life easier (and safer, too).

Read on for five to add to your personal survival kit....

This $2.35m three-bedroom, two-bathroom duplex penthouse on the UWS is big enough for the entire family. The kitchen has Caesarstone counters, a Wolf range and Miele dishwasher for mom and dad, and a chalkboard wall for the kids.

The Upper West Side made a strong showing in this week’s edition of the Open House Scorecard (the 10 open houses those browsing StreetEasy saved more often than any others this weekend, with the open houses for several family-sized apartments in the $1m+ range winding up on multiple dance cards.

Let's start with a three-bedroom, two-bathroom co-op (pictured) on West 90th between Central Park West and Columbus. The $2.35 million fully renovated penthouse duplex is located on the fourth and fifth floors of a five-story elevator townhouse. The chef’s kitchen has top-of-the-line appliances, including a Miele dishwasher. There’s also a planted, decked terrace, two skylights and through-wall a/c. 

Head a few blocks further up to skip the co-op board interview and buy a $1.2m a two-bedroom, two-bath condo sponsor unit on West End Avenue and 100th Street. The pre-war apartment will be fully renovated to feature marble bathrooms and top-notch appliances in the kitchen. Keep in mind that there's a $325.47 monthly assessment, with common charges set at $795 and monthly taxes ringing in at $639.