Virginia K. Smith

Why the rent is so damn high, where to find new bars, and other key lessons for Bushwick newbies (Bushwick Daily)

In NYC's luxury buildings, you'll pay a whopping 65 percent more to live in a building with a doorman (WSJ, previously)

Greenpoint has long lost its rep as Williamsburg's cheaper, sleepier cousin, and has the prices to prove it. And while this one-and-a-half-bedroom has plenty of details that could charm renters—hardwood floors, tin ceilings, a funky little decorative fireplace—a railroad layout for $2,000 a month is not exactly a quirky outer-borough bargain, either.

Too often, landlords and management companies don't bother updating (or safety testing) their fire escapes until lo and behold, there's an actual fire. Such was the case with a Hudson Heights building whose tenants  found out their building's escape system wasn't much of an escape at all after a fire broke out this week.

Even if you think you're looking at real photos in a listing, well, you might not be (WSJ)

The feds might issue soundproofing grants for New Yorkers who live under airplane flight paths (Newsday)