In the summer of 2012 my then fiancé (now husband) and I began our search for an apartment here, blindly assuming it would be as easy as anywhere else: show up at an apartment complex, go to the leasing office, ask what’s available, and decide. It would be our first time renting in NYC and we were aiming for a cozy one-bedroom with closet space somewhere on the Upper West Side. We planned to head up from our home in Virginia and get the job done in the 2.5 weeks before our wedding.