The perfect distance to walk off the extra tacos, three blocks north on 34^th and 3^rd is Babylon Hookah Lounge. With ample outdoor seating and wide open windows for those who want to be inside, this is a gem for winding down. A wide array of flavored choices for your hookah will entice and make for the perfect end to a Murray Hill night.

Clearly NY has some of the best places to spend an evening out. If you would like to learn more about living in New York City then enter your information into the box on your right and a rock star NY real estate agent will get in touch with you asap to tell you everything there is to know about the city and its available apartments!

With a modern look with a neighborhood feel, residents don’t sacrifice any style or convenience for green living. A common roofdeck with spectacular views of the the skyline offers a refuge from city life. Some units in addition have a private terrace. Access to top medical facilities is a block away at NYU Medical Center, and one of the top K through 5th schools (P.S. 116) are within a block of this Murray Hill gem.Perfect for families or singles, green living meets luxury and convenience at 303E33RD.

Interested in a private showing, just enter your information into the box on your right and a rock star real estate agent will get in touch with you asap! They can save you a ton as well as give you back 20% of the brokers fee on this or any other New York listing!

The attitude of a New Yorker toward New York City, like the city itself, evolves over time.

When I first moved to the city in the nineties, I was a hungry young artist, eager to add my name to the endless list of bohemian aspirants who have come to New York to work on their dreams. I therefore considered the East Village the ideal place to live, and all other neighborhoods, whatever their charms, felt less like home.

But I wound up on the Upper East Side instead, and after a period of disappointment, I fell in love with that district’s refined elegance. Some of my biggest heroes had lived on the Upper East Side, so who was I to reject it? But then, as more years passed, I found myself gravitating toward the west side of midtown, which currently holds the champion title for me. I’m well aware that this could change, though, and that if you asked me again in a few years, I might tell you that I felt most at home in Soho or Chinatown or Murray Hill.

Other New Yorkers I know have reported similar evolutions. As lives change, as employment changes, as marriages and children come and go, the parts of town which feel right shift accordingly.

Another part of the explanation is that unless one has prodigious financial resources, it’s not always possible to point to your favorite neighborhood on a map and then move there. Most of the New Yorkers I know well wind up moving into the apartment that fits their schedule and their price range, and hope for the best with regard to location.

The bright side of this situation: Only by living in a Manhattan neighborhood can you really get to know it. My fondness for the Upper East Side never would have come about if I had not woken up there every morning for years. A friend of mine who was apprehensive about moving to Chinatown found that she enjoyed living there far more than she’d ever enjoyed visiting.

How about you? Is there a part of town that suits you above all others, and if so, has this remained constant or changed over time?

It was another snow day here in New York City, and I don’t know if you noticed but the day was a perfect for heading to New York public parks for some fun in the snow. Minus the transit troubles, the city was beautiful. Just check out my friend Gillian’s view outside her balcony on East 89th Street, a tree line shot right to Central Park:

If you are a new comer to New York, or you are planning to buy a new condo in the area, here are some tips for adjusting to the harsh New York winters.

1) Make sure you have serious snow boots that can take the deep slush puddles on every corner as the snow slowly melts. Great snow boots are key to wintering in New York.

2) Make sure you have the proper socks, jacket, hats and gloves because you are going to need it. You never know when a the subway is cancelled or the buses get cancelled and you need to do a little more walking.

3) If you have a car, I would suggest parking it in a garage for the winter. Digging your car out in New York can be impossible. Just check out my friend Marley’s car in Chelsea:

It took my friend several hours get this car out.

4) Watch out for falling trees, icicles and the over abundance of salt eating away at your shoes. Check out what happened on my co-worker Anna’s block, a tree could not handle the weight:

I feel like I see way to many people out there that are unprepared. If you are new to town or planning on moving to New York in the future, you will look like a natural with my tips.

If you need help in your process of buying your piece of New York, contact one of our agents. We can help you save money that you can use to buy your stylish winter gear.

Central Park, December, 2010. (Photo: Noah Diamond)

Given the wintry mixes with which our city has been battered in recent weeks, it seems a good time to discuss heat, both literal and figurative.

First: Is there any area of New York that is not at least occasionally referred to as one of “New York’s hottest neighborhoods?” Google that phrase, and among copious results you’ll be told that the city’s hottest include Alphabet City, Astoria, Allerton, Arden Heights, and Annadale — and that’s just the As. Some neighborhoods, like Greenwich Village, Soho, and Tribeca, have been referred to as “one of the city’s hottest neighborhoods” for so long that they beg questions about the nature of hotness itself. Can the Village really be hot if it’s been hot since the nineteenth century? The Village was hot for a hundred years before this particular meaning of the word hot even existed. But it seems to me that when someone says, “Oh, Battery Park City is truly one of New York’s hottest neighborhoods,” their implication is that it has attained this status recently. Hot, in all its sexy, slangy glory, connotes newness, urgency, up-and-coming.

Therefore, we might immeasurably improve the level of public discourse in this town by developing a new term, to apply to neighborhoods which have been hot for longer than a decade. First a place is hot, and then after ten years, if it’s still hot, it graduates to — torrid? Sweltering? Radioactive? Suggestions are welcome in the comments section.

But that’s just figurative heat, and figurative heat, poetic though it may be, does little to improve a frigid day in January. And my inquiry into hot neighborhoods has me thinking: What is New York City’s hottest neighborhood, in the literal sense? Whether seeking heat in the winter or cool in the summer, it would be useful to know if, say, Turtle Bay is a few degrees hotter or colder than Murray Hill.

There’s been surprisingly little scientific inquiry into this question, though last summer one atmospheric physicist at Columbia University discovered that the warmest and coolest neighborhoods in the five boroughs are, inexplicably, right next to each other: East Flatbush (cool) and Bensonhurst (hot), can be separated by as many as five degrees Fahrenheit.

In Manhattan, the greatest contributing factors to heat are crowds, exhaust, skyscrapers, asphalt, and reflective surfaces. All of this points to the Financial District, but no — because Lower Manhattan is so narrow, and the water is so close, the Wall Street area is generally slightly cooler than, say, the office districts on the east side of midtown. Conversely, the western extremes of Hell’s Kitchen are close to the river and should be relatively cool — but the abundance of automotive and industrial facilities seems to negate the effect of being on the waterfront.

We could nominally point to Times Square as a safe bet. It has everything going for it, thermally speaking — crowds, traffic, skyscrapers, and more electrical wattage than any other part of town. But then again, it has less traffic now, since Broadway has become a pedestrian promenade. And Times Square is open, due to the diagonal of Broadway; it ought to be fairly breezy compared with the heat-retaining cast iron buildings of Soho or the cramped, winding side streets of Chinatown.

You know what? Never mind. I have to cool down.

The New York Times recently reported that twenty-somethings moving to New York for the first few years are doing everything they can do to survive in this expensive city during this horrible economic slump. Being a twenty-something myself, going on my fourth year in the big apple, I understand all these baby New Yorker woes.

Living in a city where you have to start out residing in a windowless box, sleeping on a twin bed with your feet hanging off one end is not the ideal situation for any young adult trying to make it on your own, but hey this is New York. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. Hang in there my fellow twenty-somethings, one day you will be able to afford that luxurious condo with a view like the this picture above.

My suggestion to those parents out there that are worrying about their off spring living in closets in the sketchiest New York neighborhoods, is to invest in the New York real estate. Why not buy a condo. If you are lucky enough to afford one, your starting out twenty-somethings can take care of your investment until they get on their own feet.

Hey it might not be the best option for everyone. But if you are parents that can afford the option, help a struggling baby New Yorker out.

If you are interested in buying a condo and saving money at the same time. Check out Condodomain. We can help you help your struggling twenty-something.

So I know people are saving the environment these days by using cloth bags for grocery shopping, all natural cleaning supplies, organic soaps and biodegradable Sun Chip bags;  but this is one big step further than turning off the water while you brush your teeth – I am talking about changing your lifestyle by buying into a green building. Are you in?

303 East 33rd street is the type of address that has a nice ring to it and, trust me, the building stands up to its cool address. We are talking about a slick eco-friendly building with luxury and amenities galore. I had the privilege to take a tour around the LEED approved building and see it with my own eyes.

First, let’s talk about the neighborhood. The charm of the tall buildings and the convenience of all the diverse restaurants; let’s be honest people, New York City can’t get any more classic than this. There is plenty of potential for buildings with expansive views and my favorite aspect about 303′s location is that it is right next to the Kipps Bay movie theater. You can catch a flick at a moments notice. This neighborhood has everything you need. Don’t be swayed by Murray Hill’s reputation of being filled with former frat boys and sorority sisters who haven’t shed their partying ways… The luxury of this building will have none of that.

My first impression of the structure was when I walked into the expansive lobby, which opened up to a courtyard and a recreation center exclusive for owners, and I thought to myself “I could live here.” The entire left wall, eventually running into the courtyard, is lined with bamboo waves giving the space a real organic feel. The waves are lined with Sansevieria Trifasciata, or what everyday people call snake plants. These plants are one of the many indoor greenery that is known for removing toxins like benzene from your living environment. A perfect fit for a LEED approved building

What is LEED?

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design. It is the U.S. Green Building Council’s verification system that requires buildings to reduce water usage, carbon dioxide emissions and the use of energy. They want to promote improvement for indoor environment quality, and have an overall awareness of how the building impacts the environment. Each building has to go through a laundry list of requirements to achieve this status.

This building has so many aspects to being environment friendly: from the four-inch bamboo floors, Bosch LEED approved energy saving appliances (including my favorite feature the washer/dryer in every unit), bamboo cabinetry, the insulated low-E coated glass window walls and much more.

The building is 12 floors high, with 128 units and options for studios starting in the high $500,000 to the three-bedroom penthouse for $4,500,000.

My favorite aspect of the building is the spacious rooftop available to all residents. There is room for entertaining, grilling, sunbathing and bocce ball. Views of the Chrysler Building, Empire State Building and the East River engulf your sight. What’s interesting is that LEED requires the rooftop of the building to be filled with plants and light reflecting materials to reduce New York’s issue of the mass production of heat. When you are up there it feels like your in a luscious garden.

If you are ready to flex your muscles or have a serious stretching session the basement is where you need to go. It has its own state-of-the-art gym, cardio-theater and yoga studio. The basement also has private storage units (important for Manhattanites) and bicycle storage (if you are interested in traveling green).

If you want to check out some of the available units here is a one bedroom available:

According to StreetEasy this one bedroom, one bathroom condo is located on the 4th floor. It covers 886 square feet and has common charges of $661 a month. It’s selling for $850,000. It has all of the luxury and features listed above.

If you are interested in living green in Murray Hill you better move fast, 70% of the building is already sold. Do you need to move in right away? Floors 1-10 are ready for occupancy and the rest of the building should be finished by October.

Interested in saving cash with Condodomain, click here

425 Fifth Avenue has 173 luxury condos, 16 extended stay residences, and retail space. The condos range from 1 to 3 bedrooms; all feature large windows, luxurious finishes and gourmet kitchens. If you’re a cook in New York, this building is for you! Check out the kitchen below – can you believe that even exists in the city? We had a hard time believing it until we saw the photographic evidence with our own eyes.

The homes at 425 Fifth Avenue also boast imported marble baths, hardwood flooring and in-home Euro-style washers and dryers. Best of all, the layouts are spacious and drenched with sunlight. With 56 floors, the higher up you go, the more amazing the views get. From the top, you can see practically all of Manhattan.

Be a king in your own personal kingdom at 425 Fifth Avenue. Purchase your home there through CondoDomain and get cash back when you sign!

Click here to tour the building and find out how to get cash back when you purchase!

The Jasper Loft Residences

The neighborhood of Murray Hill often gets a bad rap because it’s flooded with college graduates who still drink like fish and party till 6AM every night, but the truth is, if you can overlook the girls taking the walk of shame on Sunday mornings, Murray Hill’s quite a lovely place. Speaking of lovely places, we’re quite entranced with the Jasper Loft Residences in “the Hill.” Located on 32nd Street amidst millions of restaurants, a great bar scene, and Pick-a-Bagel’s on every corner, the Jasper Loft Residences offer 18 floors of boutique hotel-like living.

The Jasper Loft Residences are just a stone’s throw from the 6 train at 33rd Street, making them ridiculously convenient – you can get almost ANYWHERE on the 6 train, and even better, you can say you live “on the 6″ just like J. Lo! Location isn’t everything the Jasper Loft Residences have to offer, however. The building plays host to a variety of stunning amenities for residents, including a gorgeous lap pool, state of the art fitness room, and a playfully designed children’s room allow for a luxurious, vacation-like setting.

We can’t all be Eloise, but we can live in our own private hotel-like oasis.

Interested in a home at the Jasper Loft Residences? Click here! Purchase your home at Jasper with CondoDomain and get cash back when you sign!