I had a very negative experience with Josh Palace, as have others here. Early this month, I scheduled a tour for a suspiciously cheap studio apartment near Prospect Park. Josh confirmed the tour time and asked that I text him when I was on my way. The day came, I texted Josh, and drove an hour from Long Island to the apartment. When I arrived at the scheduled time, Josh texted and asked if we could reschedule. I was shocked and tried to call him. He ignored multiple calls before eventually picking up. He was incredibly non-apologetic over the phone. Eventually, he told me that he wasn't sure if he had locked the apartment door from a tour days ago (??) and that we could try the handle. We were thus able to enter the apartment -- his lack of regard for safety was obvious. On top of all this, he asked for a significant broker's fee should we rent. Despite failing to even show us the apartment! Once I returned home, I looked up the property and saw it had an extensive list of health and safety violations -- more than any apartment I've ever seen. The apartment was also on the market for an entire week, despite being a cheap option in a good location. It is my belief that Mr. Palace, who charges a fee for every application (which is completely illegal, by the way), attempts to squeeze out as many fees from as many people as possible before accepting a deal. Long story short, I will be avoiding Brick and Galo and so should you. Their too-good-to-be-true listings are just that. Josh Palace is not to be trusted. read more

Jeffrey Spiegel is not professional at all. Non responsive after the initial contact and no follow-up with my questions. Very negative experience with him. However, the apartments are still listed and more added under this realty company. Not sure if they are profiling but definitely not good business practice on their part. If only I could rate them a zero. read more

Definitely can agree with the other comments listed below. Sad that some are from over the past couple of years and still involve the same person. Alas, here we are. I can rant on and on about time wasted, but won't since it's been shared before. I understand there are standards to follow, but there definitely were no questions asked other than "can you provide a deposit in good faith?" Which, I let the real estate agent I had been working with convince me to do. I've now learned that good faith deposits are illegal in New York as they cannot ask for more than the $20 for a background check until a lease is actually signed. The non-responsiveness was disappointing and obviously unprofessional...so in the end I guess I wouldn't want to live in a building in business with these folks. Ultimately, I was denied the apartment I applied to and thankfully received my deposit back today. However, it was so disheartening that they never even tried to learn about/understand my situation...even with $30k to pay for rent. One would think that with all that is going on in this world, there would be a bit more decorum instead of greedily and lawlessly. Yes, I am in a chapter 13 bankruptcy...over the past 15 years, I've had to manage m mother and father's affairs after my mother was killed in a freak accident, five years after that my father was diagnosed with advanced vascular dementia and I became his legal guardian, and then when the pandemic hit, my brother and sister-in-law lost their jobs and home, all while having my niece and nephew who were a toddler and newborn at the time. I've lived in the same rental apartment for over 17 years, I even have until the end of March to decide if I plan to renew for year 18. The most amazing references, a good job, clean background and a third party guarantor qualification. Where's the heart? Where's the trying to make a difference and understand? Absolutely awful. read more

I would strongly suggest not working with this company. The realtors are nice enough but only responsive until youve signed the lease. They partner with some terrible landlords and they are either ignorant to the truth or willfully liars. When I signed my lease they made a number of claims that turned out to be completely false for my building. 1) that there were security cameras in the building. (The building only has dummies or non functioning cameras) 2) that the windows would be fixed 3) the 3 times I visited the building before signing we never used the stairs. I quickly figured out why they're filthy 4) conveniently forgot to mention the roach problem 5) the stove in the apartment has a gas leak Furthermore they cant help you after youve signed the lease and that is when you find out about the quality of the landlords they work with. My landlord does not list their phone number anywhere! Im not sure how I found it be when you can it there is a message that says to call back during business hours. They dont tell you when business hours are. Brick and Galo is a realtor you cannot trust. read more

This is for the building at 562 Flatbush Ave aka 2121 Beekman Place via this realtor/Flatman LLC/Brick and Galo/whatever they're calling themselves these days. Stay away from this building. The apartments are big, some (like mine) are renovated, with a seemingly good price. But it's not worth it. The tour will be great and they'll claim things will be fixed. This is not the case. Stay awayyyyy. - Building has severe roach infestations. Also, exterminators are not sent regularly, if at all. Bedbugs, wasps, and mice too. - Elevator has urine/fecal matter and rarely works (3/5 days per month when it's good). -Elevator also has opened to an empty shaft and the fire department regularly pulls people out. A tragedy waiting to happen as there aren't any signs when it's broken. Old people are stuck, idk what they do to go out. - Hot water shut off randomly with no warning or notice for when it's coming back. - During the winter, heat is not consistently on. As in, tenants in the building have to call 311 to get it turned on. Check the HPD site. - Homeless and non-tentant people chain-smoking/sitting in the lobby and harassing tenants entering and exiting the building, threatening violence occasionally. Have fun with that. I sure didn't. - Ungrounded Outlets. See above for lack of heat if you were thinking of a space heater. - Trash and litter/food on the stairs and hallways. This isn't cleaned. And the super (bless him for trying) is too old to maintain the building in any meaningful way considering he needs the elevator to get around and it's never working. It's filthy here. - Front door is regularly broken, propped open, or vandalized: so no safety. See above non-tenants. I've lost so many packages over the years. 311 and HPD need to do something about this place. Probably even condemn it. Leaving in a few days GLADLY for another part of Brooklyn. Don't make the same mistake. Also: there is a broker fee. They call it something else as a loophole, but there's a fee. DON'T MOVE HERE. read more

Great agency. I have worked with Josh Palace two times now and have found him as well as everybody else in the company to be very helpful and efficient. Working with them makes the process of finding a place much easier and they are very communicative about what is needed and how to move forward with the process. Not only that, but they are friendly and kind. Definitely would recommend! read more

Izzy Pruss is a terrible agent. I've been helping my boyfriend with the extremely stressful process of apartment hunting. We've seen tons of apartments with many different agents and no one has had an issue with me helping him with his search. As soon as I mentioned to Izzy that the apartment was for my boyfriend and that I was helping him with his search he replied "why didn't you tell me that? appointment canceled." I can see from the other reviews here that I'm not the only one who had a bad experience with this agent / company. Dear Izzy, if you're reading this there's no need for a rude, short, just plain mean response like this. I hope in the future you can learn a little something called kindness. read more

A COMPLETE scam of a company. Ezi Spinner was a complete hack that took advantage of myself and my roommates, assuming we were inexperienced in NYC real estate. This man lied to us multiple times about utilities, move in date, and management. The utilities for the unit he "found us" had a withstanding block on them because of prior tenants. A piece of information with-held from us after the deposits had already been made. The first lie from this company of what would become a large web of deceit Excuses are the name of the game at Brick and Galo. We were meant to move in on a specific date, he TEXTED us the night before telling us it wasn't going to happen. Upon signing the lease, he was completely unprepared for all meetings, as if it hadn't occurred to him to prepare the lease before our appointment. My roommates and I were HOMELESS while waiting on the keys for an apartment we had already paid for. In a desperate attempt he sent me a Venmo for less than 100 $ which does not come CLOSE to paying for a night at a hotel in NYC. In an attempt to tell the company how this man should be disciplined for what was done to us, we instead never hear from anyone at this company ever again, after what must have been 100 phone calls. This man and company should be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of people and misrepresenting properties. Not to mention they left us in a dump of an apartment. STAY FAR AWAY if you are looking for a reliable real estate office. This certainly isn't one. read more

Went to see an apartment and Asher stopped responding to me. I was super interested and he just never answered again after initial contact and showing of a unit on 21st in Brooklyn. Very unprofessional and annoying. I'm literally trying to give you my money. Anyway we went with another brokerage firm and are now in our new place! Stay clear read more

STAY AWAY. Nightmare experience with Josh. I get it. New York brokers are scam artists. My expectations were very low and Josh still managed to tank them. Josh was dismissive and cold to my partner and I in a baffling interaction in person. We are a queer couple and I wonder if his reaction was homophobic. Overall, unprofessional communication, zero reliability, and no accountability. He ended up ghosting us after we were the first people to submit an application for a unit. No follow up at all. Do not give these people any $$$. read more

To be totally honest, I am disgusted and traumatized by my experience with this company over the last six months. Let me chronicle the highlights of my experience renting in 2121 Beekman Place through Brick and Galo. 1. Security: The day I moved in, a lock that had been on the front door when the apartment was shown had been removed, a lit candle was burning in the living room and a burnt stick of incense was hanging from a bracket where a smoke detector had been, and another smoke detector (the only in the apartment) was non-operative with the battery removed. There was also a box of leftover chicken was in the refrigerator, leaking red, sticky fluid. When I moved in, I was also informed by a neighbor in the building that individuals had hung drapes over the windows and been "squatting" in the apartment prior to our move-in. This seemed to be confirmed when two individuals that night knocked on the door, wanting to come in and apparently believing it to still be a vacant meeting place, until the current tenant opened the door. (Our suspicion is that it was being used as a place to meet and smoke weed, which would explain the disabled fire alarm, incense and scented candle.) Management and the broker responded late and incompletely to these concerns, particularly the lock. They said that because there was one lock, on the door, it was safe (never mind the 2" hold in our front door). 2. Water Damage The reason we ultimately broke our lease and moved out was significant water damage in our bedroom, which made us fearful for our health and safety. A large water stain began spreading from the ceiling of the bedroom to the floor across an approximately 4'-wide stretch of wall. The water damage was severe enough that the paint began to bubble and the plaster molding buckled and cracked, dropping paint and plaster into the room. A black spot that may be mold is also apparent on the water stained wall. The super could not be contacted on the Friday when the water spot was identified or during the weekend. The tenants called the management office on Monday morning when they opened and management said they would send someone by to look at the issue, but no time was set and no one came to look at the issue that day. No repair work was done for two weeks, until Friday, Sept. 27. A worker came and stripped the paint from the wall, revealing a large patch of black mold. No remediation was done to address the mold and *the wall was immediately plastered over*. The wall was subsequently painted over the following Monday. 3. Transparency Finally, there is a STUNNING lack of communication, forthrightness, and transparency with this company. They will have you believe that the brokers operate independently of the management company and the landlord. This is not the case. Our lease was signed by our broker, Moshe Botnick. That means that our lease is not legally binding UNLESS he is employed by the management company. I have a lot of disdain for these jokers, but I don't think they'd be that reckless. Which means that Brick & Galo is tied in some way to the management company. What is the name of the management company, you might ask? We have gathered it is called M&I Management, but we do not know, because when we have asked, we have been told repeatedly "It doesn't matter," or "it's just management." When you call the number they give you, the automatic voicemail says "You've reached the management office." And any mail we receive from management is simply addressed as "management." Through some sleuthing of publicly available records, we found that our building is linked to someone named Steve Spera (also spelt Spira bc these people are shady as hell), who is being sued by multiple tenant advocacy organizations for inhumane housing practices. Of course they don't want tenants to know they're linked to these crooks, but that is the case. This has been a six month hell for our family, and I am thankful to be free of it. We overlooked some red flags at the beginning, and we will never do that again. Please learn from our mistakes. Do not give these people your money, and take advantage of resources like "who owns what" to learn the true state of your building: https://whoownswhat.justfix.nyc/ read more

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I don't know how they run this company. Recently I was communicating with Jeffrey Spiegel from Brick and Galo for a rental listing but after calling texting and emailing got no reply. They even have the decency to even reply to a potential client. I directly talked to Brick and Galo office twice and they told me that I have to come thru Jeffrey Spiegel and there is no other alternatives and was trying to back up that person who was super irresponsive. I would say please do not advertise the listing that you can't reply to your valued potential clients because customer is the key to a business. read more

TERRIBLE SCAM!! Extremely unprofessional, they will send you the video and the application. I had the money ready on my hand, had to chase Josh for days and the response was just unprofessional with grammar errors, and I am sorry you can't have bad grammar and provide a bad service, one of those has to be good at least. No communication at all about other applicants or at least some type of accommodation and courtesy as I had with previous realtors. Wasted my time. We all know how difficult is to rent apartments in NYC, definitely reporting them for discrimination and poor service on their end. All the 5 stars reviews I am sure are completely fake, they will not fix this reputation. read more

Looking for apartments in NYC is exhausting and, for the most part, frustrating. After seeing a listing on Street Easy, I contacted Cherna to set up a visit of what would be the 18th apartment I'd seen in 2 weeks. I applied less than an hour after touring it and within 48 hours, I signed the lease. Cherna was responsive and helpful every step of the way. Its now been a few weeks into the lease and I've texted her a few times and she's always been polite and helpful. I really appreciate her professionalism, while at the same time, being a human. I would definitely work with Cherna again. read more

Josh is the worst broker I have come across. He emailed me about viewing an apartment on Monday. I sent him 4 separate emails since letting him know I was very interested. Here it is Friday and I sent him a 5th email. His only response was "it's rented". No accountability no explanation, just "it's rented". I have never dealt with this level of callous attitude from a broker! I'm still in shock. I am more disappointed than anything. Do not deal with Josh. I'd hate to have anyone else be handled the way I was dealing with him. read more

I would give 0 stars if I could. This company tried to scam me out of a 12,000 brokers fee after promising me it was "a good deal" because I was getting a rent stabilized fully remodeled apartment. What actually was happening is the apartment was so infested with bedbugs that they had to do a full Reno to get them out of the apartment. Also they lied to me about most recent bed bug activity, and the history of the apartment. I had to check 311 public records to get the truth and then they claimed to "not have had that information" after giving me false info they made me sign a "no wrong done" receipt before returning me 1,000 good will deposit. Awful awful awful. Buyer/renter/whatever BEWARE! Thank UPDATE - I also found out after hiring a lawyer that they were in process of destabilizing the apartment and that's why they were renovating it. They were going to take my 12,000 with promise of a stabilized apartment and then destabilize it the very next year. Trash company I'm so disappointed that this type of person is aloud to do business in New York. read more

Izzy Pruss wrongfully charged my roommate $500 for services he did not complete. UPDATE: This is an update from a review I posted earlier that contained some things that were not fact-checked. The following contains my reasons for the 1-star review, both from the original review and an updated account of events for accuracy. My apartment is incredible, lived here for 4 years with little trouble. Except, of course, when we need to get Izzy involved. Our relationship with Izzy started off rocky, and has only gone downhill. He never showed up to our first apartment viewing. Called, texted for an hour. Nothing. Second viewing, he made a marked improvement and showed up an hour late. All questions about the apartment, neighborhood, and management company were met with glib, condescending answers or just shrugs. "Where's the nearest grocery store?" "I don't know." "Any good cafes in the area?" *shrug*"I don't live here." We did all that research on our own and came to the decision to move here despite his utter lack of knowledge and unprofessionalism. He showed up an hour late to our lease signing, leaving us to wait on the curb outside his office in the August heat. UPDATED: In November of last year, one of my roommates got a new job and had to move before the lease was up. My new roommate wanted to replace her on the lease. They'd hoped to do all the paperwork through building management directly, but they directed my roommates to do all interactions through Brick and Galo (already shady, many friends in the same scenario had been able to go directly through the landlord) Izzy claimed that the "fee" for replacing someone on the lease during the lease term was $500. A considerable amount of money for people like us for something that should be simple. Don't worry though, no one would be charged until paperwork was processed. Both did the appropriate paperwork and sent it to him. Then, he charged the roommate that was leaving. He charged the wrong person $500. If he'd done his job, he would have charged the incoming roommate. He made a mistake. Fine. Had he realized this earlier, and refunded her, we wouldn't be where we are now. Either he honestly didn't realize his mistake, which would make him negligent, or he did, and said nothing, which would make him dishonest. Either way, it shows an utter lack of regard for his job and my roommate. Fast forward nine months later, I receive the lease renewal papers, and nothing Izzy claims he did "everything on [his] part" to do had even been done. My old roommate was still on the lease, and my new roommate was not. He claims that this is a "miscommunication" on the part of management, relinquishing all responsibility for the deal he was supposed to broker. If $500 does not pay for confirmation that the deal had been done, then I don't know what it's for. Not to mention that the $500 was not supposed to have been charged until the deal was done. In short, Izzy 1) charged the wrong person for 2) a job he did not even complete. Perhaps it wasn't intentionally malicious, but it is certainly negligent, and further proof of his unprofessionalism. He still has yet to refund my roommate the $500 she is rightfully owed, not only because he did not complete any of the paperwork he claimed to do, but because he charged the wrong person in the first place. He has been more professional and communicative about trying to get me to take this review down than he ever was when we were signing our lease. I'd expect this is not his first time dealing with this exact scenario. TL,DR: Izzy Pruss has shown to be negligent and unprofessional, costing my former roommate $500 which he has yet to refund. Avoid Brick and Galo. read more

I'm one of the roommates mentioned in the review about Izzy Pruss. Just wanted to confirm that everything Corinne said is 100% true. I was never/probably will never be refunded the $500 "fee" I paid. Izzy has been begging Corinne to take down her review and asked me to get her to take it down "so then he could ask his boss about getting the money back." Seriously, GO ELSEWHERE. Brick and Galo seems to have a monopoly on a lot of properties in PLG, but it's possible to find a great place in the area without them. If you absolutely must use them, GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING. I don't want to ruin anyone's life/job here, but considering that I had to live in a roach-infested air bnb for about three weeks because Izzy mislead us about our move-in date...yeah. read more

DO NOT do business with Brick and Galo. Very shady the way they run their business, make sure you get EVERYTHING in writing. They will lie to you to just collect their check and then back track once they receive your money. Everything must be in writing, do not do verbal or phone communication with them. read more

Had a great experience working with Izzy Pruss. Unlike most realtors, he took the time to ask us a bunch of questions to understand what we were looking for, and used that info to help us decide which apartments to see. He was very informative, answered all our questions, and helped us understand how the application process would work. He was also very responsive throughout the application process. Definitely the best broker I worked with over the 2 weeks or so I was apartment hunting. It's a low bar, but he rises far above. read more

DO NOT WORK WITH THIS COMPANY! I am loath to leave reviews, negative reviews especially, but I feel it's necessary to warn potential renters. First of all, they charge $90 credit check fees that are now illegal in New York; you are not allowed to charge more than $20 for this. I didn't know about this law--when I worked with a different company later, one of the first things that the realtor told me was that I wouldn't be charged more than $20 for a check. That's what you get when you work with honest people! Second, the apartments they show are run by shoddy management. If you search their buildings on 'Who Owns What NYC' you can see the long lists of open 311 complaints against their buildings. Mold, bugs, water issues...the list goes on. Finally, Josh, the realtor agent with whom I worked, was very unprofessional. After finding out 1) how bad B&G are and 2) how bad the building was, I politely told him I was taking my search in a different direction. He messaged me a week later asking if I was still interested, I said no and thanked him, and he replied "damn, okay". That is not how you should communicate with renters and it reeks of unprofessionalism. In short, stay away from these guys and do your research! read more

Cherna helped me find a dream apartment! I applied very early for an apartment that wasn't going to work out and she used it as an opportunity to find me something even better! She was very up front with me about what the requirements were and walked me through the entire application process with ease and efficiency. She was very through and very response throughout the application process. I would definitely recommend. read more

The fact that this company continues to operate is an indication of how awful New York real estate is across the board. They intentionally hide information from customers and seem to have little care for the basic safety of tenants. read more

I wouldn't have found the studio I'm in if it wasn't for Izzy! He really stayed in touch around my needs and let me know about great spots as soon as they became available. He was extremely responsive to all my questions and seems to work all hours! Really a pleasure to work with, and I have no idea where I'd be living right now if it wasn't for his help. read more

Took two weeks for them to get back to me about an apartment that we approached them about, and they ended up telling us nothing and taking 3 application fees from us. Not exactly the most reliable read more

Joseph at Brick & Galo literally changed our lives with the apartment he helped us find. We could not be happier - it is so much better than what we thought we could get for our price point. Communication was on point and he kept us posted at every stage of the process. Highly recommend! read more

My partner and I were searching for an apartment to rent after having poor experiences with other broker/realtor companies. As soon as we started to communicate with Carmen Pena from Brick and Galo, we knew we would have a different, more positive experience. Carmen is everything you could ask for when searching for an apartment -- She is transparent, highly communicative, deeply helpful, and responsive to our questions and concerns. I have been renting apartments in NYC for almost 10 years, and I can confidently say she is truly the best. We appreciate you Carmen! read more

Shady company. It's incredible they have good reviews. I suggest to anyone looking at reviews to sort the reviews by lowest rated. Josh at brick and galo thought I was stupid and wanted to charge me an insane broker fee when I found the apt myself. Josh did not have the broker exclusive listing. This company also illegally charges a $90 credit & processing fee. Anyone who uses them end up hurting everyone else by agreeing to their charges. Stay away from this company! read more

Any positive reviews about Josh must be fake. He was terrible to TRY to work with. I I texted him about an apartment in Brooklyn and his responses were extremely sporadic.You assume that if a realtor responds initially, they intend to actually help you, right? Wrong! Had to call him just to get him to eventually text back more (wouldn't answer the phone), it was impossible to get more than a few words out of him at a time, he forgot which apartment I wanted to see and sent me a link to a YouTube video for something else. He wasn't able to meet after confirming, so he left the front door propped open with a piece of cardboard. I had to wait around outside the building's entrance for 20 minutes before someone walked out and I could slip in behind them. An hour after I left, the listing was updated to "Rented." So he gave me the run around for absolutely no reason, and knew he had an application in by the time I went to see the place. He should've just never responded to my initial message, or at least told me "sorry it's been rented." I know the market is tough right now but it'd be nice to be treated with some dignity, especially if I'm then expected to pay a broker fee afterward. Josh, you should work harder and treat people with more respect. If you have clients that are more high priority, fine, but don't just jerk people around if you've decided they're not worth your time. read more

After they got my money they disappeared. They maintain a relationship with Halt Management, which has a history of defrauding tenants and withholding repairs. Like a previous reviewer, I am going to end up in court because of Brick and Galo. (I never had any legal issues before in my life before I came into contact with Brick and Galo realty.) Find a broker that will help you out even after you give them your money! read more

I was still in Pittsburgh when I was looking for my apartment. Izzy Pruss hooked me up with an amazing affordable one bedroom in a safe quiet part of town. He helped me navigate the whole process, did video tours with me, and always responded to my messages/calls and answered every question I had. He even checked in with me after I moved in. If I ever leave this apartment, I'll be using him again! read more

I didn't even get to experience viewing any apartments with them because apparently they don't respond to your inquiries asking if a unit is available or not. If it's not available or you don't want to show it to me for some reason, then just say that. Don't beat around the bush and waste my time. read more

During my apartment hunting i had the opportunity to meet with joseph. He was kind and very helpful . i found the apartment i loved and through him i was able to get it. I would recommend brick and galo realty to all my friends. Thet were great. read more

This realty company charges exorbitant broker fees. In addition to paying almost twice the month's rent, they withheld crucial information about the apartment until the lease signing. I ended up only living in the apartment for 7.5 months. It was a huge financial loss and I would not trust them again to assist with finding housing. read more

I would stay far away from these people. They rented me a dump in a Harlem that had no heat, they convinced me (this was one of the first questions I asked, does the place have heat and hot water) - which if you didn't know is required by New York City law, anyway they lied to me along with the company St. Nicholas 24 LLC, who are a bunch of crooks who own properties in Harlem, and I am in court suing for my security deposit because I had to move in November because there was no heat. The day I moved it was 20 degrees outside. This was a humongous mistake on their part! Again, I would stay far away and tell all your friends to stay far away as well. They are careless, tells lies and do not do their due diligence to be knowledgeable about the places they are renting. There are much more reputable companies out there that do their diligence, move on! read more

Carmen Peña was incredibly helpful when helping us look for an apartment. We originally inquired about an apartment but when we found out it wouldn't work for us, she found us another choice. She was very responsive, even for the dumbest questions. A lot of real estate agents cancelled and were unresponsive, she was the exact opposite. read more

Had a great experience working with Izzy Pruss on our mission to find an apartment within our needs and price range in a limited amount of time. He was very quick to respond and really listened to our needs! Highly recommend! read more

I had such a difficult time looking for an apartment especially for an agent who would really care about what I really wanted and really wanted to help. We should just give Josh Palace from Brick and Galo a superhero cape and a superhero suit because he really came to save the day and was such a great help from the very beginning. Very pleasant, caring and professional and such a cool guy I give this company 10 stars I love that apartment!! read more

I've worked with Brick and Galo twice now and had a good experience both times. Izzy was professional and easy to communicate with. I found him to be very honest and forthcoming which I appreciated. I'm excited to move into my new apartment and glad to have worked with Brick and Galo in this process! read more

My daughter first time rented a studio where Izzy Pruss is the real estate agent. Throughout the process, Izzy is super responsive to all the questions we have. Signing the lease was smooth. Even when he has a flu, he arranged someone to give her the key . I will recommend having his help to hunt for apartment in NYC. read more