r/Upperwestside

Just moved to the Upper West Side a couple months ago from a really small town and I genuinely cannot get over this city. Everything moves fast here, everything is available, everything has a solution. Back home if you needed something done you either figured it out yourself or you waited. Here I keep discovering that someone has already built a service for literally every problem you could have and it works and it's on your phone. I've been having these moments every few weeks where I find something that just didn't exist where I grew up and my brain short circuits a little.

Most recent one was finding out laundry pickup is a thing here. I work night shift so my whole schedule is flipped awake by 10pm, asleep by 8am and dealing with laundromats on those hours is its own special kind of miserable. Started using Poplin a few weeks in and just moved on with my life. That's kind of the thing though, I keep finding stuff like that here where something that would've been a whole ordeal back home just quietly gets handled. Feels like I'm still barely scratching the surface of what this city has figured out that most places haven't.

Genuinely curious what else is out there that I am missing

I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve lived in the neighborhood, which I love, for about 8 years now and I’ve never truly explored the restaurant scene here. I’ve always gone downtown or Brooklyn for nights out. Any recommendations on some nice, cozy spots? I love all types of food! Two that I’ve been to that I’ve really enjoyed are Sushi Kaito and Osteria 106.

I'm considering moving to an apartment that faces amsterdam, on a relatively high floor (10-20th). Info vague for safety.

I've been in it twice during the day and there is some audible street noise, but my one reservation is that I know amst is a truck route so trucks are generally driving up all night.

I can't get into the apartment at night, there is someone else living there currently.

I just want to know if you can hear each truck passing at night, I'm particularly sensitive to sound when sleeping and this is a deal breaker for me.

anyone with a similarly situated apartment - could you comment the noise you experience, day vs night and windows closed vs open?

Thanks so much!

Looking for someone to hem a gown - alts wanted $225!

Just moved to the Upper West Side a couple months ago from a really small town and I genuinely cannot get over this city. Everything moves fast here, everything is available, everything has a solution. Back home if you needed something done you either figured it out yourself or you waited. Here I keep discovering that someone has already built a service for literally every problem you could have and it works and it's on your phone. I've been having these moments every few weeks where I find something that just didn't exist where I grew up and my brain short circuits a little.

Most recent one was finding out laundry pickup is a thing here. I work night shift so my whole schedule is flipped awake by 10pm, asleep by 8am and dealing with laundromats on those hours is its own special kind of miserable. Started using Poplin a few weeks in and just moved on with my life. That's kind of the thing though, I keep finding stuff like that here where something that would've been a whole ordeal back home just quietly gets handled. Feels like I'm still barely scratching the surface of what this city has figured out that most places haven't.

Genuinely curious what else is out there that I'm missing.

I was walking a dog earlier (around 1am) for like 5 mins just the dog can pee

And this guy literally out of nowhere, coming out from the bar and yelling at me

“Get the fucking your dog out of here”

And for the second I thought “oh he was joking” and realized he actually meant it and stormed out and walked to north

I am still confused, but also if you are scared of the dog under 10lbs and yell at people who are just passing by… I really don’t know what to say 🤷‍♂️

Thanks for ruining my Sunday night

A few days ago a critter made its way into the interior wall between my bedroom and my closet. It doesn't sound like it's a large rodent, I think perhaps just a mouse (I hope!), but it's definitely scurrying back and forth in there and it seems to be potentially stuck. In the last ~12 hours it's seemed to have gotten amped up and sounds like it's trying to gnaw its way out. It's driving me insane.

I reached out to my super and they said there's nothing they can do, that they don't open up walls. They suggested I reach out to the property manager, which I've just done but am not hopeful. To be honest I can understand not necessarily being able to open up the wall if it's unclear where it's come from/if it'll bolt to somewhere else. I guess I'm wondering if there's anything I can do on my own?

I've considered drilling a small hole near the baseboard and sticking some peppermint balls in it to try to drive it out, or even drawing it out with a trap. Has anyone else had a similar issue? Any trusted pest control recommendations? What I'm trying to avoid is it dying in the wall. I'm extremely sensitive to smell, and it's right in my bedroom. That along with it getting hotter, I feel more inclined to have a mouse come out of the wall into my apartment than to hope it goes away and it end up dying.

Thanks so much!

Okay if you don’t know, please do not ever consume the product Feel Free!. It’s a tiny blue bottle and contains kratom. There are horror stories about opioid-like effects including addiction and withdrawal. It looks like it’s just any other supplement, often sold next to 5 hour energy which makes it easy for someone to consume it without knowing the risks.

The reason I mention this at all is because yesterday I was at the location of a local but popular grocery store chain and they were selling it right at the register! The worker said he knew of customers coming in to buy multiple a day. I called them this morning to explain my concern and the manager seemed like he was going to make a good faith attempt to research and take it off the shelf if that seemed appropriate. I’m not naming the store in hopes they’ll do the right thing. Between the halfway house a block away and a university in the other direction, I’m very concerned about people upending their lives unknowingly.

This post is mainly asking for help in being vigilant. If you see it anywhere and it concerns you as much as it does me, please say something!

I’d like to send a really creative floral arrangement to a friend who lives on the UWS. Any recommendations?

Y’all, this place is a goldmine. The food is fresh. The place is clean. The staff is incredibly nice. The prices are great. It’s open 24 hours. It’s been decades since there’s been a 24 hour deli on the upper Westside. It’s at Broadway and 99. Highly, highly recommended!

We are looking to move back to the city after a couple years off. We found two apartments that check the boxes. We are bringing kids now so priorities have changed. When it comes to accessing outside and activities for kids, safety and schools which area would be better for a family of four?

1st grader is in gifted and Spanish immersion program back west and other kid is pre-k if that helps.

Mamdani and Hochul just rolled out a proposed pied-à-terre tax aimed at foreign buyers and people who keep NYC apartments as second homes. Politically, it’s a strong headline. Economically… I’m not so sure it plays out the way they think.

Quick rundown:

- Right now: There’s basically no penalty for a second home. Someone using a $20M apartment a few weeks a year pays the same base property tax rate as a full-time resident.

- Proposed change: For non-primary homes over $5M, there’d be an extra tax starting around 0.5% and going up to 4% for properties above $25M.

- Expected revenue: Around $500M a year.

On paper, that sounds like easy money. But zoom out a bit:

First, $500M isn’t nothing, but NYC is staring at a $10B+ budget gap next year. This barely moves the needle.

Second - and this is the bigger issue - it assumes those buyers will just sit there and pay it. That’s not how this part of the market works.

People who actually live here are “sticky.” You can raise taxes and they’ll complain, but they’re tied to jobs, schools, family, etc.

Luxury second-home owners? Not sticky at all. If holding a $10–20M apartment suddenly costs a lot more every year, they can just sell and park that money somewhere else like Miami, London, Aspen, wherever.

If enough of them head for the exits, you could see prices at the top of the market drop. And if that happens, the city’s existing property tax base drops too… which kind of defeats the purpose.

TL;DR: Great politics, but as a revenue strategy it’s shaky. It targets a group that can actually leave, and the upside ($500M) is small compared to the risk if the high-end market softens.

If you’re into this kind of policy/econ breakdown, I go deeper into it in Red Mayor, Green Money.

Link: https://a.co/d/0bpIC1Us

Does anyone have recommendations for private LSAT tutoring. Ideally in-person, but open to other neighborhoods!

My renewal offer is +$275 this year (last year was +$275 and the year before was +$100) - is this normal for the market? I attributed the increase last year to the change in broker fees / the landlord building that into the rent. I’ve been in a Brusco owned apartment for 3 years and wanted to know if this was normal for the market right now or is it because they used to profit heavily from broker fees and don’t any more (in house they used to be the broker, the maintenance, etc and now are losing the money they used to bring in from their broker operations)

This is for a studio apartment for context

2026: +$275

2025: +$275

2024: +100

2023: +75

What can I do about this situation?