Virginia K. Smith

These days, $2,250 a month for a 1,000-square-foot studio in a building loaded with amenities (tennis court, yoga studio, parking space, the list goes on...) is as good a deal as you'll find in the city. The one caveat? You'll have to take the ferry to work because this place is on Staten Island (albeit in the part closest to Manhattan). 

More food for thought for apartment dwellers thinking ferrets are now a go: On the heels of last month's news that the de Blasio administration plans to undo Giuliani's ban on owning ferrets as pets here in New York, you'd think ferret-lovers would be ecstatic. Well, not quite. Not one ferret advocate, anyway.

For owners in white-brick buildings, here's what the worst case scenario looks like (in the form of a $30 million assessment) (NYT)

Your landlord is keeping you in the dark on negotiating rent, background checks and more (MarketWatch, via NYP)