Virginia K. Smith

In most cities, turning unwanted furniture into a soggy home for plant life is as simple as tossing it into the backyard and letting nature take its course. If you live in a New York apartment, however, it's a potential DIY project.

When a movie or TV show is set in New York City—and if the people making it are savvy—real estate becomes part of the story itself. In Reel Estate, we look at some of the more memorable domiciles to grace the screen.

Hoboken is family-friendly (and full of brownstones) (NYT)

Living alone is more expensive, yes, but never having to wear pants? Priceless. (WNYC via NYMag)

There are usually lessons to be learned from even the strangest of apartments, and this holds true of the rather outlandish Greenwich Village studio that artist Stuart Ross just put on the market.

If you're still putting off tipping the building staff—or are just indecisive about how much to shell out—here's one more calculator to figure out just how much your doorman deserves. (We wrote up a similar tool from consultant Spencer Greenberg before the holidays, but hey, the more advice we can get in this arena, the better.)