Thank you so much for all of you who have helped us to find affordable housing in New York City! I tell you what, this was TOUGH! Most rentals were going to cost us over $10,000 for the time we were going to be there, and that's just not doable when we already have a mortgage to pay!
After a lot of number crunching and weighing the pros and cons, we realized that the amount of time Matt is going to actually be up there does not warrant paying for an apartment for 3 months. While it would be nice to have a stable "home," it just isn't financially responsible.
So we started looking at Air BnBs that we could rent for just the times he would be there. That was also a challenge because the vast majority would only refund 50% of your total cost just 48 hours after booking! Since he doesn't really know when he will be there for sure, booking this far in advance is hard. We do know two dates that he will be there, so we were trying to go ahead and book those. One of our requests got rejected (I guess they didn't like the look of us?!?!)
In the meantime, I found out that there are a few rooms that are available for families in this building that is attached to the main hospital. It is not part of CHONY, but is on the same campus and you can get from CHONY to it without having to go outside. It's where the rich and famous stay when they are in the hospital, so I didn't think that they had any rooms for family members--but they have 7! These rooms are just basic hotel rooms, not the swanky rooms that the famous patients get. But I'm really hoping that I might get a glimpse at someone famous, or even just a body guard?! :)
The rooms are reasonably priced--at least by NYC standards--and the price does not fluxuate. This is a huge benefit! There is also no tax or hidden fees on these rooms, so we know exactly what we will be paying. The BEST thing about it is that we were able to book from May until the beginning of August and can cancel whatever days we don't use WITH NO PENALTY!! She said they always have a waiting list since there are only 7 rooms, so there will be no problem filling them. Matt can just tell them when he is ready to check out what day he will be coming back. He can't keep stuff there, of course, but he is perfectly fine with that. She said because they are connected with the hospital, they understand hospital life and the need for flexibility. I booked everything today and felt instant relief!
What a huge answer to prayer!! We are so relieved to have a place to stay! Again, thank you to all of you who helped us. We really appreciate it!
Abby has an MRI and CT scheduled at CHONY next month. I attempted to get them done at Hopkins, but things are much more complicated with a difficult airway. Abby must be intubated for the MRI and there are always risks when you have a difficult airway. A "simple" MRI isn't simple and it's even more difficult when the surgeon requesting it isn't at Hopkins. That, coupled with the fact that they were scheduling into March, made me decide to go ahead and do it at CHONY. This will also give us a chance to work with CHONY anesthesia and ENT during a relatively "simple" procedure before any big surgeries. It also gives us a chance to get to know CHONY a little bit.
I tried to get a room at McKeen for this one night stay, but they are booked. I put our name on a cancellation list, so we will see if we can get in. Maybe others have done what we did and will end up cancelling! I would love to get a feel for the area before we are there for the long haul.
Comments