>In the Heights, there are a lot of daycares. Don't freak out. You will not be paying downtown prices. You should be able to find a daycare around $1500-1700 a month.

Considering it is two kids, and if we assume 1.6K per month per kid, that still works out to a hair shy of 40K. That's not an insignificant amount for most young families. That's about the net take home amount for a 60K salary. As I posted above, daycare and childcare is probably one of the biggest challenges for young families in this city.

>This better be a f*cking error.

It probably is not. The Q4 bill is a true up for the year, which includes the increases just approved. Unfortunately, the 2022 budget was not approved until now, so this latest bill is a catch up that includes the outstanding balance from the prior three months.

Basically, your total tax bill, based on what you state for Q1 is going to be 18.5K for the year, so your property must be assessed at about 880K.

Not gonna happen anytime soon. It will be at least another 10 years, maybe 15.

Man, I hate to the bearer of bad news, but you are in for sticker shock. I don't know if you will be able to find daycare for two babies that won't run you over 36K for the year. Close friends of ours have ONE kid in daycare (not even a FULL day, more like 9 to 3, or 4) and they are paying ~20K per year. A full day with extended hours (the kind of schedule that working parents would require) would run 23K. And, it's not even that great of a daycare (based on their feedback). They had a second kid and can't really afford daycare for both, so they are doing all kinds of scheduling gymnastics to keep just one in daycare and the baby at home. Our other friends are spending the yearly equivalent of 27K, for a 2.5 year old. This is by far one of the biggest issues/challenges for young, working families in JC.

I don't know any of the recent details, gossip, or prospects. I moved out ~8 years ago. But, for certain, they are struggling where others have managed to come in much later and do much better. That says something.

Hopefully someone else with more recent first hand experience can chime in. Like I said, I really liked that place while I lived there.

I got insulted by more than a handful of people in Nextdoor shortly after the reval for stating that people seeing an increase and whining about it were conveniently ignoring the fact they had been underpaying for years and benefitted from that in the form of increased property values. The best was the many people arguing and demanding that the reval be rolled back and phased in over a period of years to allow them to better adjust. They didn't like it when it was pointed out to them that doing so meant asking poorer residents to continue to subsidize them. The cognitive dissonance when it came to the reval, and realities it exposed, was nothing short of outstanding. Particularly considering the vast majority of those clamoring for the reval to be rolled back on Nextdoor would also self-identify as white liberals with a strong commitment to social justice and equality... until it hit their pockets.

TOTALLY. And, every time someone dares speak the obvious truth, they get disparaged and ridiculed. Not because we are stating facts based on logic and reason, but rather because people don't want to hear reality and much rather rail and whine and bitch about things.

First, it was the reval. SOOOOO many people were convinced it would never get completed because it would crush DTJC homeowners and that couldn't be allowed to happen. Because... reasons.

Then, it was the school cuts, long foretold and discussed ad nauseum, but people still refusing to believe the rate would go up much soon after the reval.

And now, the whole post COVID lockdown period of getting back to normal and suddenly having to face bills, appropriations, mismanagement, and expenditures that somehow went unchecked for a few years.

I have been saying it for years: we will hit at least a 2.2% rate in a handful years, definitely by 2025. People in denial keep trying to conjure reasons to argue against that, but the writing has been on the wall since the reval wrapped up back in 2018. And, that didn't even account for recent events, like the additional increases in the BOE budget, as well as the recently proposed municipal budget increases.

This is totally on point. I lived here for almost 9 years. Really, really liked it for the community and friendships I cultivated while there. But, I was renting from an owner who eventually sold his unit not long after I moved out. As a condo project, it is a failure. They had horrendously bad luck in terms of timing but didn't do themselves any favors by the way they were running the place.

When the economy took a dive and the housing bubble deflated, they were still in the process of building out the place, but had already sold many units. Everything came to a grinding halt in that area. They couldn't move the units they had ready, and you could tell they were struggling to keep the project moving along. The few signs of gentrification in the area just stopped and disappeared (RIP MAE) and then they had the brilliant idea to change their business model and decided to turn the remaining of the project into rentals. Well, rentals have a whole slew of requirements different than condos, particularly because by then new building code changes had been implemented. Getting existing units modified to satisfy rental build codes to get proper COs was a bitch. I know for a fact that a bunch of units were inspected over, and over, and over until they were finally approved and certified. And, because they couldn't move units fast enough, the crunch must have been brutal, because they started renting out to really sketchy people, and the place became a revolving door of randos who would move in and move out in short periods. It was a real shame, because it really had an impact on the small community that was already developing there. It also didn't help that the property manager was a super young, and green, lady who had good intentions but was way over her head. After a while, I moved out and I haven't kept up with the latest developments, but I really, really liked the place and I feel it had great potential.

Seriously! Dafuq did I just read? At one point I thought it was a lame attempt at clever marketing. Might still be leaning that way. Super weird post.

Dude, if someone claims to be Puerto Rican and they don't know who LMM was, then they are full of shit. To many, he is the Puerto Rican equivalent of George Washington. Anyone flying into the island is landing at the international airport, which is named after him. A ton of roads, buildings, schools, etc are named after him. And, even in the US he was widely heralded in his lifetime, featured on the cover of TIME magazine three times, and also featured on a USPS stamp.

Ha! Bingo!!

>Wow, I learned something today, thanks!

I know... it's nuts that this stuff gets so overlooked even by locals who have been around a while.

​

>just pronounce ñ as "ni"

Not quite perfect, but very close.

That super narrow thing on the far right of the picture can't possibly be a bike lane. And, the road has to have a shoulder because of the traffic expected to travel there. The shoulder is always placed on the far right lane on roadways that have them. I am almost entirely certain that is a shoulder. And, you definitely don't want the bike lane to be to the far right lane because trucks (or other vehicles) pulling over in an emergency will do so all the way to the right and would block the bike lane.

>city council decided to rename Henderson St. to Luis M Marin blvd.

It's actually Luis Muñoz Marín Blvd. But, Americans can't wrap their minds around the concept of two last names, and the "ñ" is also a bitch to pronounce, so those signs were later replaced with LMM Blvd, and now just Marin Blvd. But, it is now so devoid of any sense that even Puerto Ricans would fail to recognize the naming as it being in honor of the island's first democratically elected governor, because no one would ever drop the first last name and use just the second last name. So, unless you know the history of the street naming, one would be more likely to assume that it is named after the same Marin as Marin County in California.

I think what you call an inside lane is actually a shoulder. Looking at the pic, what I see (from left to right) is: shoulder (emergency) lane, bike lane, northbound lane, southbound lane.

Dude, he had to come and say that. Dixon is/was a big donor for him. But, in reality, a new reval would do nothing for him, or the administration. DTJC residents are already upset and salty over their adjusted temperature tax bills. Another reval that adjusts values upwards significantly in JSQ, Heights, and/or BL will simply reinforce the narrative that the mayor is only in it for his "rich constituents" in DTJC and create *more* animosity in the electorate in the rest of the city. There is truly nothing to gain from another reval happening anytime soon. He will manage to piss off everyone. It's not like DTJC residents will suddenly turn around and be happy with their elevated tax bills, which will never come back down to the same level as before. There will not be another reval anytime soon, guaranteed.

ha ha ha! Another reval? You think we waited 30 years for one but somehow the local admin will push (or, allow) another one already? Keep dreaming. The next reval is ~10 years out, at the earliest.

Taking account the impact of inflation now, and missed potential revenue if he had sold back and invested the proceeds back in 2019, that 4 MM would be like if had sold for 3 MM back then. What a fool.

With mortgage rates so high, and taxes going up so fast locally, it wouldn't be at all surprising if the local real estate market takes a hit in the near future. We shall find out very soon.

Oof. That pie was FIRE. Their mushrooms pizza has evolved/changed, but it was a thing of beauty crammed with a ton of shrooms of various types. We are huge fans so it is disheartening to see this place get so much hate/disdain by people who take exception to their success. I get it... it sucks that it has become nigh impossible to snag a last minute reservation, and their FOH staff could be more pleasant, but the pizza is good and Dan himself is often there (overseeing things, and even working the kitchen/oven) and it shows in its quality and consistency.

Another vote for Brick Lane. In fact, they are sort of known for their "challenge". Their regular menu stuff is excellent. REALLY like this place, and I am super glad it is here because I no longer feel compelled to trek all the way to Little India to have good Indian food.

Yeah, my building offers the same service FOR A FEE. They will come and swap a lightbulb, or the water filter in your fridge, and any number of things, but each one comes with a fee, as it should. Those are normal wear and tear items for which each person is and should be responsible.

Agreed that any prospective renter should tour a property before signing a lease, or at least have a friend or relative tour it for them (I have done this before for friends) - sight unseen strikes me as a totally unnecessary risk.

BUT, definitely HARD DISAGREE about the deposit: 1.5 months is pretty much standard practice. It is not an "excessively high security". There is a more recent trend in JC for new construction to only ask for $500 or $1,000 deposits (conditioned/based on income, credit check, and possibly background check) but that's definitely NOT the norm.

INFO: are you new to renting?

No landlord or building will ever take responsibility for swapping out your water filter. That’s something that’s the tenant responsibility. Just wait until you hear about lightbulbs. Also, not sure why you think a property manager would accept responsibility for a broadband issue. Property managers could (and should) initiate a support call with the telco providing the broadband service to the building, but that’s about it. No property manager is keeping network engineers on staff.

In general, most people live blissfully unaware of shit. It’s crazy, but a fact. Come May, this will be a shit show. And, you are definitely correct that airports are just the start, but it will be the most high visibility one: the TSA screens about 2 million people each day.