Virginia K. Smith

If all your friends moved to Queens this year, you're not alone (AM NY)

Live in Manhattan? Amazon's now offering one-hour booze delivery (Gothamist)

Who says tourists can't write Goodbye to All That essays when they leave NYC? (The New Yorker)

It's not news that your average worker—let alone one making the current minimum wage of $8.75/hour—can't afford the sky-high rents that have become typical in New York (not to mention most other big cities). But just looking at the median rent you see in market reports doesn't tell the whole story. As we've written before, there are still cheap deals to be found if you're persistent and know where to look.

There aren't a lot of ways to get a discount in New York's overheated condo market, but finding a seller who'd like to get the deal wrapped up ASAP will always work in your favor. Such is the case with this two-bedroom FSBO in Long Island City whose owner has put it on the market sans broker and writes in the listing, "I am willing to sell for below market value in order to have a quick sale, avoid paying the brokers fee and pass the savings to the buyer." (Full disclosure: One of our contributors knows the seller.)

A very important seasonal guide to the city's best hot chocolate (Flavorpill)

NYC's deed theft problem is getting worse, not better (WSJ)

Are NYC landlords finally paying attention to all our collective complaining about astronomical rents? Maybe. A bevy of November rental market reports dropped today, and while prices won't be plummeting anytime soon (sorry), all signs point to rental prices gently easing away from their insane,  unstoppable surge of recent years.

Most New Yorkers only head to Coney Island when the mercury gets up past a certain point, but as the unofficial face of the neighborhood, Dick Zigun is down by the boardwalk year-round. It's only fitting—Zigun's the founder and artistic director of Coney Island USA, the arts nonprofit responsible for the Mermaid Parade, the Coney Island Circus Sideshow, and the Coney Island Museum and Burlesque at the Beach, and might be the neighborhood's biggest booster.