Hi Bluesky! What are some items a new New Yorker might need moving to the city for the first time? I’m putting together a list.
Replies
Lots of money
jul 6, 2025, 12:52 pm • 0 0 • view
A REALLY good bike lock, or a way to hang their bike inside
jul 5, 2025, 4:09 pm • 5 0 • view
Our buildings are old, with thick walls! If you can’t place your router somewhere central, you’ll need a WiFi extender to get service in the more-remote areas of your apartment.
jul 5, 2025, 4:48 pm • 3 0 • view
Agreed, WiFi all over the apartment is a must. Lots of pre-war buildings aren’t built for cell phone service, and poor reception will wear down your phone battery.
jul 5, 2025, 7:35 pm • 1 0 • view
Added to that: some older buildings have been retrofitted for cell service, but it’s often proprietary. My first apartment was wired by Verizon, so my phone worked fine, but my roommate could only get a signal on her AT&T phone right next to the window.
jul 5, 2025, 7:35 pm • 1 0 • view
A scarf and gloves to take on outings where maybe it's not that chilly, but then it is. Recommend multiples if you're prone to losing them. Some kind of carrying bag comfortable for walking along with good shoes. Raincoat!!
jul 5, 2025, 4:30 pm • 1 0 • view
Depending on where your place is, earplugs or white noise machine for sleeping.
jul 9, 2025, 10:59 pm • 0 0 • view
When I moved to NYC decades ago, it took a few weeks to get used to the sounds. When I visited my parents back in NC a few months later, the crickets kept me awake. I'd never noticed how loud they are before.
jul 9, 2025, 11:34 pm • 1 0 • view
I grew up in a city. When my family moved to the suburbs I couldn't sleep because it was so quiet. For a couple weeks I had to sleep in a room on the side of the house with the road so I could hear the traffic to get to sleep.
jul 10, 2025, 12:49 pm • 1 0 • view
A Vick’s sniffer because there are going to be some days/places when you just don’t want to smell what’s around you.
jul 5, 2025, 6:24 pm • 5 0 • view
Peacoat for the fall and winter, especially if someone's moving here from a city / state with different weather / climate
jul 5, 2025, 4:07 pm • 2 0 • view
This is brilliant. I didn’t have a winter coat for the first two years and it was life-changing.
jul 5, 2025, 4:08 pm • 0 0 • view
Thanks! My peacoat is my favorite piece of clothing now that I've been in NYC for a couple years. I don't know how you survived your first two years here without a winter coat! Wow!
jul 5, 2025, 4:11 pm • 1 0 • view
Can confirm you'll want a good parka in January-February and a good rain coat for April-May.
jul 5, 2025, 4:12 pm • 3 0 • view
Right???
jul 5, 2025, 4:17 pm • 0 0 • view
Really good rain boots, coat, or umbrella.
jul 5, 2025, 4:17 pm • 4 0 • view
I’m also going to add cash. Things get done in the city faster if you have coins or cash on you at all times. Reusable coffee cup, portable fan, the ac unit that doesn’t hang out the window but the one you can have in your living room, a fire bag for essentials, peppermint oil for bedbugs, rodents
jul 6, 2025, 3:22 pm • 1 0 • view
Agree on the cash. Apps on the phone are OK, but for bodegas, food carts, cabs, small trips to the store, etc....having a roll of $1's and $5's are much easier. Faster.
jul 6, 2025, 3:47 pm • 1 0 • view
I would get a job with someone who doesn’t suck shit, personally
jul 9, 2025, 10:09 pm • 0 0 • view
Good walking shoes, appropriate recycling bins and download the MTA app.
jul 5, 2025, 4:24 pm • 1 0 • view
Comfortable walking shoes
jul 5, 2025, 7:10 pm • 4 0 • view
YES
jul 5, 2025, 7:42 pm • 0 0 • view
Alligator repellent but make sure it’s for sewer gators and not regular gators.
jul 5, 2025, 4:11 pm • 1 0 • view
Window AC unit on day one if you’re moving in the summer and there’s no central AC!
jul 5, 2025, 4:08 pm • 13 0 • view
We bought one before we moved and took it with us. Stores sell out this time of year.
jul 6, 2025, 2:59 pm • 0 0 • view
Patience
jul 6, 2025, 1:36 pm • 0 0 • view
A sense of humor and an appreciation for the absurd and tolerance.
jul 6, 2025, 12:59 pm • 1 0 • view
A durable backpack. You’re not going to be able to leave things in your car and you won’t go back and forth to your apartment. So you need a backpack that you can take all your necessary items for the day.
jul 5, 2025, 4:37 pm • 1 0 • view
A little foldable wheeled cart for laundry or groceries
jul 5, 2025, 4:11 pm • 1 0 • view
Always have something to read and/or listen to; if digital, download it. Good earbuds.
jul 5, 2025, 10:28 pm • 0 0 • view
A pair of really waterproof boots. I spent my first NYC winter with only some cute little faux leather booties.
jul 6, 2025, 1:22 am • 0 0 • view
$$$$$$$$
jul 6, 2025, 1:16 pm • 0 0 • view
Laundry bag
jul 5, 2025, 4:25 pm • 0 0 • view
A Freshdirect account
jul 5, 2025, 4:12 pm • 3 0 • view
We’ve only been here two years, and most of my recs have already been mentioned, but my list is: 1) Granny cart 2) Hats and scarves 3) Reusable shopping bags 4) Personal mini-fan for subway in summer
jul 5, 2025, 5:10 pm • 1 0 • view
if you are coming from a warm state and you hate spending money, you still need shoes. when I first lived in nyc, I only had some cloth shoes and sandals for some reason??? & it took forever for me to cave and buy boots and warm, dry feet.... sensational.
jul 10, 2025, 12:11 am • 0 0 • view
The basics: Grocery cart Combo laundry hamper/cart Cute walking kicks A light backpack or cross-body bag NYPL library card + CulturePass Winter gear that protects against cold wind Hand fan for the heat MTA apps MetroNorth and Amtrak apps for day trips away
jul 5, 2025, 6:39 pm • 7 0 • view
Can’t emphasize the cart thing enough for laundry and grocery. And the library card - heck yes.
jul 6, 2025, 5:48 am • 3 0 • view
Laundry/grocery cart. Good walking shoes. Water bottle. Nice, comfy to wear bag to hold your stuff while getting around the city. A few of those reusable bags that fold up into their own pouches, grocery/bodega/etc charge $$ for bags. Start thinking about small space living, storage containers, 1/
jul 5, 2025, 4:56 pm • 2 0 • view
vacuum bags for seasonal wardrobes. Most importantly, start thinking about COMMUNITY. Study the subway & bus maps in your area. Look into the local Open Street in your area. Get on your neighborhood reddit, look at local events, craft markets, open mic nights, game nights, etc. You don't need to 2/
jul 5, 2025, 4:58 pm • 2 0 • view
feel alone or be lonely. Finally, facebook does have one use, the local Buy Nothing groups are *amazeballs*. I have gotten so much amazing stuff, and given away everything from appliances to doors. Welcome to New York!
jul 5, 2025, 5:00 pm • 3 0 • view
(Please don’t say a trust fund)
jul 5, 2025, 4:07 pm • 25 0 • view
Four million dollars (USD)
jul 9, 2025, 10:09 pm • 2 0 • view
It will rain and you will be in it. Highly recommend a pair of Blundstones for fall / winter / spring bc they are mostly water proof and the 500’s are good for the rain, snow, office or dinner. You have to decide if you are an umbrella person or a raincoat person. Feel this answer in your soul.
jul 6, 2025, 3:16 am • 2 0 • view
Are you only asking about products? As a native Brooklynite, I have a lot of practical advice about what people need re. mental preparation, unspoken rules of surviving and thriving in this idiosyncratic city, etc. Do you want those bullets? Otherwise: -Granny cart -Citymapper app for transit -And:
jul 5, 2025, 4:13 pm • 11 1 • view
Fahgeddaboudit lock for your bike.
aug 3, 2025, 8:57 pm • 0 0 • view
Yes please!! Feel free to DM if it’s too intense haha
jul 5, 2025, 4:18 pm • 1 0 • view
Follow-up: turns out I can't DM because you aren't following. (I'm a media critic and media literacy educator, but no pressure to follow -- everyone should curate their feeds as tightly as they prefer.) If you'd like, either follow and I'll DM, or let me know where I should email you.
jul 5, 2025, 4:50 pm • 4 0 • view
Ok, I'll DM a little later. (Preview: a lot of variations on unspoken rules of engagement, especially how to not gum up the works so much that someone inevitably screams "GTFOH!" at you.)
jul 5, 2025, 4:34 pm • 1 0 • view
A map of the city. Get a real one and put it up on a wall until you learn the city. And the subways and bus lines.
jul 6, 2025, 6:44 am • 1 0 • view
1) Congrats! 2) Patience! 3) A mini-vacuum 4) Window AC unit 5) A *really* good pair of walking shoes 6) KickMap for the subways (only app I've ever bought that was worth the money) 7) Set up an auto-filter for day-of apt listings with photos on CraigsList to cut down on the junk
jul 5, 2025, 4:11 pm • 3 0 • view
Honestly, some books so that you can understand the place. If I had to pick just two —
jul 9, 2025, 10:45 pm • 0 0 • view
(1) The Power Broker. a.co/d/1eGFGob
jul 9, 2025, 10:45 pm • 0 0 • view
(2) Wallace. a.co/d/hYXtj1L
jul 9, 2025, 10:45 pm • 0 0 • view
A mattress bag to prevent bed bugs
jul 6, 2025, 1:29 pm • 3 0 • view
A collapsible grocery cart that fits in between the wall and your refrigerator in your apartment.
jul 5, 2025, 4:11 pm • 5 0 • view
Good, comfortable walking shoes.
jul 6, 2025, 12:21 pm • 4 0 • view
Patience 😁
jul 6, 2025, 1:16 pm • 1 0 • view
A wind-vented umbrella—and don’t lose it! You can always get cheap umbrellas at any Duane Reade or CVS, but the wind really whips between the buildings, and one good gust can invert those cheap umbrellas in a second. You’ll see more than a few broken umbrellas in trash cans after a good storm.
jul 5, 2025, 7:48 pm • 4 0 • view
Small stuff.
jul 6, 2025, 2:28 pm • 0 0 • view
Foldable cart for laundry/groceries?
jul 5, 2025, 4:07 pm • 20 0 • view
This is the one
jul 5, 2025, 4:09 pm • 2 0 • view
Fantastic idea
jul 5, 2025, 4:08 pm • 1 0 • view
Wish someone had told me that one…took me 4 years into living in East Village, ha
jul 5, 2025, 6:11 pm • 2 0 • view
Yes, that’s a good one.
jul 6, 2025, 6:46 am • 0 0 • view
Came to say this!
jul 6, 2025, 2:04 pm • 0 0 • view
Yes! This became an essential item when I moved to an apartment with no laundry in the building.
jul 5, 2025, 7:08 pm • 0 0 • view