By Carol Tannenhauser
Before you head for the hills or suburbs, you might want to read this cautionary tale shared by Upper West Sider Maureen Cross, who took the leap and left New York City.
“I’ve always lived in the low 80s, east of Broadway,” Cross told West Side Rag. “When the pandemic hit and everything started shutting down…” She paused. “I work at home and I’m single, so I rely on the street traffic, the activity on the sidewalks, and when that just shut down overnight, I was like, ‘I gotta get out of here. I’m going back to Vermont where I went to college.’”
Then, Maureen did the unthinkable. “I gave up my rent-stabilized apartment,” she said, ruefully. “Clearly I was losing my mind. I had COVID brain. But, anyway, I did. I gave up my rent-stabilized apartment and went to Vermont and signed a one-year lease.”
At first, everything was wonderful. “For the exact same price as I paid for my studio apartment, I got a three-bedroom apartment with a dishwasher and a backyard and lots of counter space and a driveway to park my car, all the things I thought I had to have,” she said. “But after about a month, I’m like, ‘There’s no people here. There’s nothing going on.’ And after three times of drying my clothes in the backyard on the clothesline, I’m like, ‘This is wearing off very quickly.’ After a month, I started looking at apartments in the city. It was a mess getting out of my lease.”
But what about the beauty of Vermont? “I love the Hudson River and Riverside Park and Central Park and the park beside the Museum of Natural History,” this diehard New Yorker replied. “Those are stunning to me, absolutely stunning. To see the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain feels a little sterile, like a postcard.”
“I think New York in its lockdown is better than anywhere else in full blown,” she said. “It became very clear to me. I love New York. I went to the Met yesterday. I was in tears. It wasn’t very crowded. It felt a little sad. I think the statues and paintings missed us. The naked men in the Roman gallery were like, ‘Hi!’
“New York is not going to die. It’s never going to die. It can’t die. I don’t even watch the news,” Maureen said, “because it isn’t the New York I see and feel, it isn’t. The city is vibrant compared to when I left. The stores are open, the restaurants are open, the Met is open; it feels alive.
“I’m in my place,” she concluded. “Yep, yep, yep. I don’t care about kitchen counter space, just give me a bus that takes me to the Met in five minutes.”
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“To see the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain feels a little sterile, like a postcard.”
Words fail me.
I feel the same way. Give me Central Park over the country any day of the week. I like to know there’s a coffee shop nearby and lots of incidental contact with humans. I don’t enjoy being where there’s no ‘there’ there.
I think it has everything to do with being alone. In NYC you can be alone but never lonely. The energy of the city keeps you. You don’t have that any place else. But I’m good with the mountains and hills. I would absolutely be okay with it.
Everyone is different, but…it’s pretty clear she was never going to like being away from the city.
The Green mountains and lake Champlain sterile?
Where did she think she was going?
Clearly she has her own meaning for the word “sterile.” My guess is she meant “uncrowded.”
Right? I am missing the mountains and give me a day out in nature ANY day. Some of us are just wired differently. Perhaps because I am a fan of architecture and artistic expression I can understand how the lure of NYC life can be missed. But, in architecture and art,we humans are simply trying to mimic and recreate nature, il miglior fabbro, when not expressing inner(physical) conflict or desire.
What did she expect would happen? Vermont is, quite literally, the middle of nowhere. It’s great for the outdoorsy type: hunting, skiing, offroading, mountain biking, and so on, are all activities that this particular COVID brain sufferer doesn’t seem to appreciate.
I think she would have done better in a warm Southern mid-size city with a thriving downtown. There are people around, there are arts and culture institutions, there are restaurants. Vermont seems like absolutely the wrong choice for someone who desires all of those things.
Next time try Nashville 🤷♂️
Yeah, Nashville, Tn., living in a red state would be great… until you start to have a conversation with some of your new neighbors; some of those very denizens who voted for Marsha Blackburn and other hardcore MAGAts, who demonized Bob Corker, & in a state where trump’s popularity over Biden is in double digits.
Then suddenly it’s: uh oh… what the heck am I doing here?
Red state? No way, I’m sorry to say.
Welcome to 2020 in the USA.
Nashville is a very cool city but it’s barely a city because there’s like, no public transport to speak of whatsoever. You have to own a car to get around and then what’s the point of moving go to the city?
Just what I was thinking.
Boredom is a killer, just like COVID. Welcome back Maureen.
Leaving from the city…..
Leaving for the city…..
As long as she has her health.
But really, just like that, giving up the rent stabilized apartment? Really?
And it only took one month to realize Vermont ain’t NYC?
But Vermont has good old Bernie for senator, a big improvement over the Chuckie boy and the president wanna be Giligirl we have.
Nothing is like NYC. Nothing.
Welcome back & if there’s a next time, have a glass of wine, take a long sit on the couch and say – I’m back where I belong.
Does it say she was only gone a month?
Sorry, yes it does, never mind!
For anyone seriously thinking of going. Go to your desired location and rent a place for six months or a year. DO NOT give up your NY address. After your try out period … then decide. Personally I am looking at getting a condo in Palm Springs for the winter because I am starting to get up there, I know some people in PS and nothing frightens me more than ice on unshoveled sidewalks. But give up on NYC? Never.
Yes Glen, because everyone can afford TWO rents. SMDH Youre out of touch.
Sublet your current place?
NYC is dead. This woman is whistling in the wind. Museums will soon close due to lack of contributors and threats of violence. Restaurants are dying because of the lies of DeBlasio and Cuomo who stated that they were waiting for the flattening of the curve which has been flat for a month already.
You think Communists like DeBlasio care if the city goes to hell? Just go to Caracas, Havana or any Eastern European country while they were under communism.
I just sold my coop and moved to beautiful and very cultured Florida. I will be saving sooooo much money with a far better quality of life.
Florida? Ewwwwww.
Blah blah blah
The Met is 150 years old but it will close?
I’m glad people like you have left.
So tired of all the whining
“Threats of violence”?! DeBlasio and Cuomo are “communists”?! Florida is “very cultured”??!!
I don’t know what planet you’re
living on, or even if you’e talking about the same city as I live in!
naro: So why are you still checking out WSR?
My first thought is, “who bought your apt?” Lol. I need to get out from under my mortgage, but have nowhere to go and don’t even know how long it might take to rent or sell, not to mention it needs some repairs.. And after years of hunting, I’m finally beginning to get a medical team assembled here in NY that I need and that would be next-to-impossible to find elsewhere. So many catch-22’s……. but I get it. To me, everywhere is kind of a pro/con. Good hearing your story. All the best to you. : )
Spent many years living in Florida. While an okay please to visit, to live there simply sucks. Enjoy it!
‘cultured Florida’? Oh, dear..
“Communists like DeBlasio”? Ha! His priorities are to grant favors to his donors in the finest capitalist tradition.
Bullshit…nyc will NEVER die.. right now we’ve controlled the spread of Covid drastically ..the city is coming back to life again.. actually It never died.. it was kind of just taking a break for awhile LOL. I would much rather live in a covid-19 New York City than any other boring place in Bumble fuck Town USA that’s for damn sure
Culture in Florida LMAO I spend 6 months and 1 day a year for tax reasons in Boca and it’s torture. The only notion of art in south Florida are the Bentleys and Lamborghinis in front of Max’s and the bad facelifts on the new locals. I count the days until I can get back to Manhattan with or without Covid there is more life.
the Beautiful and very Cultured Florida!? Oh my! That’s rich. Happy you feel like you’re where you belong. More space for us here in this “dying” city of ours. Don’t come back.
You’ve obviously never been to Havana. Cultural life there is on a par with New York or Paris.
Yes. Health care (free) of high quality. Wonderful music, dance, theatre, film, and everyone gets to participate. Great education. People actually read in Cuba. Imagine that. Not being glued to a cellphone. 🌞
Enjoy. To each his or her own. There is no utopia, anywhere. Period.
I hope you’ve tested Florida out before. Summer in the city far beats summer in the south. Culture? Not too many Floridians seemed big on that. NYC may never completely recover but Central Park beats the heck out of Orlando ANYTIME.
Please, stop making this a political issue.
THANK YOU!!!
“Cultured” – how so?! Come on. I have been a full time actor manager and this pandemic has hit us harder than many. Unions will now allow us to go back to work until next year. But I know theater will be back. Maybe not until January 2022 with live audiences but it will be back. Museums may have to close for another pandemic related issue. However, they aren’t going to pack up and never reopen.
This isn’t an airport; no need to announce your departure. Byeeeeeee
You do what you want and we’ll all do the same. For many of us ‘condo in Florida ” are the worst words strung together.
Amen!
“very cultured Florida”
Nice try
Good riddance, and thank you for leaving.
I love New York and would rather be here than in Florida any day. The city is alive and well.
When I was a kid and would visit New York City from my small town what most interested me was that you could see more strange and odd behavior in one day than in a whole year back home
The minute they start with that Caracas and communism comparisons in the comments you know the crackpot theories are coming.
I can literally feel the energy coming back when I walk the streets. Yes many stores and restaurants are closed but a lot are open. Wherever you are make the best of it, and don’t take things for granted.
And avoid naysayers that feed off of despair and are filled with regret.
“very cultured florida”
LOL sure, Jan.
“Very cultured Florida.”
You’re funny, naro!
Well, Redneck is a culture…
Too far, Catherine.
I live un west central Florida & there is no culture. I’m a former upper west slider.
DeBlasio & Cuomo have little choice but to remain in a holding pattern until that Devil Clown–who replaced the supposed DC swamp with his own privateering cesspool–gets gone in Nov (God willing). Any NYC vacuum created by runners will always be filled by the next wave of soon-to-be NYers, as always.
I feel you partly. I’ve been itching to leave ever since the soda tax almost happened, and I don’t even drink soda. Then, at least, we were able to share different opinions without fear of being shunned for being on the other side of whatever dogma were told to adhere to. Who thought that our mighty city would turn into just another sterile Twitter bubble? Oh well.
lol bye
Stop trying to convince everybody you made the right decision and good luck.
Naro is not trying to convince us, they are trying to convince themselves.
Ummm, more importantly what’s the super’s number for this available rent stabilized apartment?
FYI: the apartment she left was rented the day after she left.
word
No, it doesn’t go free market. Under last year’s 2019 HSTPA it is doomed to stay under RS forever.
But, for that very reason, good luck if it ever goes back on the market. More than likely, because of the ridiculously onerous rules of RS, it is cheaper for the landlord to shutter the apartment or simply let friends and family use it.
Rent-control/stabilization completely disincentivizes any landlord from willingly offering their property for rent, and that is the core problem; the state, by forcing renewal leases, has effectively appropriated an owner’s property for state use without any compensation.
Sure, man.
Landlords buy buildings knowing what the rent rolls are. It is what the building value is based on in significant part. They already did the math and decided it was worth it. Now, if they did the math assuming they would be able to illegally run out tenants for the vacancy increases and/or deregulation (as has been shown in a number of cases) and now they can’t, well, um, if you try to get over and fail, no one should care what happens to you as a result.
Why do landlords and their henchmen always assume we are completely ignorant of the way this works?
Boo hoo.
Landlords have been raking tenants over the coals for years.
Now that they can’t gouge tenants anymore, landlords have the sads.
Sell your building if you can’t afford to follow the law.
It isn’t rent stabilized once she left. It then goes to market value.
Pls don’t spread your opinions as facts since you know nothing about that apartment or why it should become market rate only bc she moved out.Thank you
Welcome Home!
If you have a chance read Governor Cuomo’s statement about New York in the September issue of Vogue Magazine.
We went through a lot especially in March and April. For those of us who stayed and were not healthcare or required service workers, we stayed home, went only to the grocery store, prayed for everyone and every night at 7pm cheered loudly for those helping the sick. We New Yorkers pulled together as we do in any crisis. For those not here, you missed the heart and dynamic of what NYC is. There is far more to accomplish, but we are strong and we make NYC what it is, was and will be.
P.S.
The new rent laws require that rent stabilized apartments stay rent stabilized!
I believe the apartment stays rent stabilized; the state legislature changed the law 2-3 years ago.
Vermont? She could have moved to a number of town in the Hudson Valley (Beacon, New Paltz, Kingston, etc.) and not be bored at all.
The locations you mention still have their original cast. People who move to any of the places you mention, constantly go into the City, or abroad. Kingston? New Paltz? You left out Rhinebeck. Well, maybe NYC has become a monoculture, too.
NYC is not dead but, under DeBlasio, it’s definitely ailing. I have no doubt that we, as a City, will outlast this Mayor’s tenure of terror and the pendulum will soon swing again in the right direction. Welcome back, Maureen…and for those who choose to abandon NYC, I wish them luck and am happy they’re making room for the new City Dwellers who will cherish and reinvigorate our amazing Metropolis.
And the people fill the city because the city fills the people, oh yeah
— Five Fathoms by Everything But the Girl
Wow, I would trade places with U in a heartbeat if I could Vermont sounds so nice & peaceful. I am tried of NY
Then why not go? There are jobs there, apartments there, whole families are highly mobile these days.
I’m thinking of doing the same for long island. need to get sense in me
Long Island stinks, I grew up there. Florida sounds better and better, their law enforcement is doing a great job and is not “hands off”.
LI is strictly for families, married couples, etc. not for single people, everything closes early and the winters are cold and lonely. I worked in NYC years ago and felt a belonging. I moved back to LI and I really regretted it. No single people to hang with or eligible men.
I think it’s a great idea for you to go to Florida. It’s quite tRumpish in most areas. You’d probably love it.
“Trumpish” is probably Florida’s ONLY saving grace
Seconded.
Start a gofundme account and I will definitely contribute….generously.:)
That’s a nasty comment to make. NYC ppl are some the most arrogant ppl in the country, which is why most of the country doesn’t like us. The ppl of NYC are no better than any other citizens of the USA. Period.
I’m in, too! Happy to fund UWSHebrew’s Florida odyssey. He can wear his MAGA hat and rejoice in…whatever the heck there is to celebrate about this clown.
I love the beach and the beaches down there are fantastic. Politically it is more my speed too. But the summers are so hot and I hate humidity. For now, I’ll keep vacationing there in February, but leave Manhattan…not yet.
Love you for that!
I will live and die in NYC no better place to live no matter what is currently happening. No mountain greenery for me.
Welcome back, Maureen. Indeed, the Met is open! A few things have changed, though. Remember all the homeless encampments on Broadway? They are back in full force; mentally ill people are allowed to use the streets as toilets, not to mention physically threaten outdoor diners and little children. You don’t sound like a drug addict, but just in case—crack, meth, and cocaine are easily available now. Feel free to buy and use on Riverside Drive. No, it’s not technically legal—but everyone now calls the NYPD racist (including all the people we voted for), so they prefer not to respond to crimes in progress. Welcome back!
None of this is true. Not sure where you live but it’s not like this on the upper west side where I live. Yes there are homeless people which is a shame, and I suppose one could buy drugs from the young folks who hang out in the bars on Amsterdam not that I’ve ever tried it.
But maybe you want to get in contact with Naro (see above) and move to Florida as well!
An accurate assessment; thank you for your veracity.
Ben, you need to change the channel. Maybe leave your apartment once in a while
All false. As anyone living here knows. Yes, NYC has homeless, who btw, ARE humans. It’s not for everyone and never has been. I cannot understand leaving for Vermont (!!??), lovely I’m sure, from NYC without a backup plan
Hey Ben, the door is open, bye.
Vermont is Canada
That’s why
“I work at home and I’m single, so I rely on the street traffic, the activity on the sidewalks, and when that just shut down overnight, I was like, ‘I gotta get out of here…”
So the answer to the loss of street traffic was to move to a place where there is even less activity? That doesn’t make any sense to me – that plan was destined to disappoint.
I was born in NYC, raised in CT, but spent muchos my childhood being ferried into the City by my commuting dad and couldn’t wait to move there. I spent nearly forty years there from college through career through raising our son to young adulthood. But then I got recruited to Mexico City for work. Fell in love with Mexico. Held onto our apartment for a year, but then lifted up stakes. We have visited several times, and will continue to do so, but happy to find that while I sometimes miss NYC, I do not feel drawn to return for good.
Mexico City is much more like NYC than any place in Vermont
Wow. She’s old enough to know better. They’ll have to carry me out of my rent stabilized apartment feet first!
I’m so sorry it didn’t work out for you in Vermont Maureen. How about renting or buying a small vacation home there or someplace that appeals to you so you can leave the city on weekends? Also, Burlington has a lot going on and has many cultural opportunities. Maybe your intuition was correct, and it was time to leave and explore a healthier environment? Go to the Vermont Wildflower Farm and grow wildflowers! Whatever you do, have fun and good luck!
I understand you Maureen as my mind has been Vermont dreaming. Wondering if you attended UVM loke myself? I still have friends and family in Burlington so i will visit them before i decide on this big change. Im sorry you gave up your great apartment but happy you are back happy and healthy😊💖
You got an Empire State of Mind @ New York….
GREAT
My family left the Grand Concourse’s Executive Towers 25 years ago. I followed and resigned from a major corporate post one year later. And guess what? I still miss NYC. The South is not all that.
Stockholm Syndrome.
I stayed during the peek of the pandemic. I was afraid,but there is not place better than New York. Viva New York.
I love NYC..l was Born here..
Carol’s portrayal of Maureen’s experiences trying to live life outside of New York was heartwarming.
It was so reassuring to know that people are moving back to New York.
It seems our city is part of the fiber of who it’s inhabitants are.
It’s graces, glories and pitfalls.
New York,a very special place. New Yorkers, very special people.
she broke the cardinal rule of any New Yorker – NEVER give up a rent stabilized apartment. The only way to leave one is FEET FIRST.
she should have chosen something with a big university
theres always something going on
New York is coming back becuase people like Maureen is back.
Gosh, what a tale. And I’ve read through all the comments. Change is not easy.
I need to share. First I’d like to know what work she, anyone is doing from home. I need reliable work-from-home work. Second, what a big leap to jump into the mountains, but understandable because it may have to do with seeking a once safe place of recognition at some other point in life.
Truth is, I wonder how easy it is to “go back”. That being said, I’ve only been here 9 years, never declared I was a New Yorker. Lady Liberty never truly welcomed me. And this location has been the place where I’ve been stripped of anything I thought of myself and thought I was bringing with me – all gone.
If one is to leave, before leaving, maybe seek a well-experienced astrologer and have them help you find an ideal location based on your birth chart. This is not a joke. I wished I had done this.
It’s not so easy for me to do this now. I have a partner who is as rooted in this city has the Lady herself perched out there in the harbor. NYC does get in one’s blood. But it has to be a two-way street, doesn’t it?
It is a very concerning time here – we must pull our heads up and out of the sand.
Great suggestion, thank you!
Welcome home Maureen,we miss you and New York love you too.
U never miss your water till your well runs dry,New York.ny big city of dreams and everything in new York isn’t always what it seems you might be fooled if u come from out of town but I’m down by law and I know my way around.Ny too many people.Never!
I feel the same as you i came from venezuela when i was a little girl grew up on 72 west end.my mom still there i livein jersey 15 minutes away andi still love my Manhattan but because i have two boys i moved here but i have a car so i visit time to time.
We left for upstate NY in March. No museums, theater, restaurants. No culture at all. So what do we do? Bike ride, fish, walk, kayak, hike, garden, woodworking. Play piano & guitar – I bought drums! We can park in the driveway – guests can park there too. We can do laundry in our house whenever we want. We’re loving it here. We probably have to go back in Oct and we’re not looking forward to it. Been in the city for 25 years and we’re definitely reevaluating.
Yet here you are, on WestSideRag, posting about your driveways somewhere far away…
No culture upstate? We have olana, norman rockwell, other museums. Restaurants? Have you been to Hudson Rhinebeck or Kingston? Woodstock? we have a drive in Opera from phoenicia. aside from covid-19 now would Hunter we have tons of Performing Arts. And if you need a day or weekend of culture in New York City you just go down.
I couldn’t wait to get out of the city last month when I went to a beautiful seaside town in Maine. Right on the water. Gorgeous harbor. Nice restaurants, beautiful shops. But after two weeks I could not wait to get back into the city.
It’s one of those things that seems like it’s a good idea at the time.
The other thing I was considering if I were to move out of town is that it’s very easy to leave New York and set up shop somewhere else- but to do it the opposite way? It’s much harder. I’d have to think long and hard before I wanted to make that difficult-to-reverse change.
Welcome back Maureen. I lived in Charlotte, NC for 10 months. As beautiful as it was, It could not fulfill my need to hear those familiar sounds of NY I grew up with. NY makes me feel alive! We will work together to make it even better than it was before COVID 19.
It seems to me that Maureen simply didn’t take the time to make a list of what matters to her, what quality of life she really wanted (and also thought that she only had *2* options: NYC OR rural VT). E.g., I grew up in WY (!!) then moved to college in Boston. Loved Boston, Philly, NYC, DC, all of it. But if I don’t get a regular dose of *seeing the stars,* breathing crisp mountain air, trekking in Nature, or finding a moose in the back yard — that’s bad for *who I am* and *what I value.* Life is never an either/or.
Kudos to Maureen…so glad she’s back where she belongs… I envy her…if it were not for my bad back I would be there as well… for whatever reason, the doom and gloom crowd always makes the news as if what they were saying was/is the gospel…New York will never die… it’s weathered bumps before and will again…but always bounces back…once they get a NEW mayor…all will be good…may not happen overnight…but the lights will shine BRIGHT once again…
I love NYC no matter what. I rented an Airbnb for a month in Florida in June and had a great time. Yet, always thinking about NYC. Now I’m back to my always place for 32 years.
Agree! Know exactly how you feel. I too was at the Met and it was wonderful seeing the staff and sculptures.
No place else like it.
I love New York,too but you have to keep moving forward see what your options are. Vermont,was just one place you have to explore. One door closes, another will open.
You have to really think of the consequences before you leap I love staying upstate but on a day to day it’s too slow for me and I love the convenience of the city more… she should of did some research and found a place that was a little more in between instead of taking the jump cause now she lost a rent stabilized apartment which she can never get back.
Vermont be like “CYA!”
I often wonder who would ever vote for the big dope from Park Slope! Finally I have my answer, it’s all the people in these comments. At least I don’t have to wonder about that anymore.
I don’t live in New York and I doubt it will ever die. I cannot wait to visit again. I’d rather live there than Florida any day not that where I live is any better. If I could afford NYC I would live there in a heartbeat. Places like Vermont are nice to visit but I agree there’s nothing like a major city. Restaurants, museums, cafes and culture. Florida only has beaches and amusement parks.
I feel the opposite. To me, the rent stabilized place place I had for many years was a prison sentence. Too scared to leave and not fulfilling enough to stay. I ended up on the NJ Shore ten years ago and never looked back. There is good pizza, good restaurants, good everything, wherever we go. Perhaps better than NY. And Costco is a real game changer in so many ways. I live with gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, with quiet, the sounds of the waves, space and civility.
Pizza and Costco. Living the American dream.
I’m from Tampa florida. I live in nyc now so convenient but dirty. That’s all
New York will keep you alive,busy,seeking,hearing,and loving!!This city wraps its arms around you.
You are so right! I am living her now and totally understand what you mean. This great energy even in bad times is still vibrant. And when the virus is under control or gone the city will come back. No doubt!
I dont miss the city whatsoever. I don’t miss the expense the overcrowding the rudeness or the apparent return of 80s type crime. Didnt people camp out in Zucotti Park to protest income inequality?.the city is the epitome of income inequality. I don’t wish the city any bad luck but maybe this pandemic will level the playing field. People should be able to live in the city they work.