Virginia K. Smith

Q.  I own a condo, and I just bought the apartment next door for my mother. One part of the shared wall has closets on both sides, and we'd like to open a doorway through the closets for easy access. Does this count as combining the apartments and, if so, how would that affect the renovation? Would we need to remove a kitchen? How would this impact the sale of the apartments down the line? 

Sometimes, spending years in a rental with a rat problem and holes in the floor can really, truly pay off—to the tune of $112,000, in the case of one lucky (and persistent) Hamilton Heights renter. 

Small-space horror stories to make us all feel better about our own digs (Curbed NY)

Finally, a map to help you find all the single people in New York (Visualizing NYC via Gothamist)

Buck up: just because you can't afford the $250,000/month "Champagne apartment" at the Palace Hotel, doesn't mean you aren't already living in the lap of New York "luxury." At least, luxury as it's shakily defined by optimistic brokers.

Now this is how you renovate a galley kitchen (Sweeten)

How to live not just comfortably, but stylishly, in 90 square feet (Curbed NY)

Choosing a neighborhood based on its most popular dog breed is perfectly valid (Gothamist)