Essentials Checklist for Moving to New York City

The dream of many people has finally come true for you: You’re moving to New York City to pursue your dreams and find yourself! Moving anywhere is a huge step to take, but that transition can be much more difficult and stressful if you’re moving to NYC. If you need help knowing what to bring with you and how to prepare for your big move, read on.

Downsize Now

A huge part of moving to NYC is finding an apartment or home to live in. Due to the huge rent prices and price tags on homes in the Big Apple, downsizing your belongings to fit into a small studio or one-bedroom home is essential. As a bare minimum, you’ll need a few outfits for each season. Try keeping pieces that can be layered to be used for all temperatures.

Purge as much other “stuff” as you can. Then, purchase shelving, hooks, baskets, and rolling carts to make up for what is likely going to be a big lack of storage space in your new place. Finally, measure all your furniture and get the dimensions of your new apartment to ensure that it’ll fit comfortably. If it won’t, get rid of it.

Consider Your Animals

One of the most important things to tick off your checklist is making sure your animals are safe and happy before, during, and after your move. Check with the apartment complex or homeowner (if you’re renting) to make sure pets are allowed. While you’re moving out of your current location, keep your pet in an empty room so they don’t get stressed with the furniture moving around. Give them plenty of food, water, and toys.

New York City is an exciting place, which can be stressful for animals (and humans). If you have an emotional support animal or service animal, do a quick search for ESA registration NY, just in case you need to know any new laws or rules regarding your animal.

Sell Smart

You can argue that selling the furniture and clothing you don’t want to (or can’t) take with you will take a week, but realistically you should allow much more time for that. You also need to research how much your belongings are worth; for instance, nobody is going to pay $100 for a stained sofa from 2004 that desperately needs to be reupholstered.

When you’re posting your belongings for sale online, make sure to post plenty of photos with descriptive captions. Make sure you shoot multiple angles, in daylight, with no clutter or distractions. Post on safe and certified websites and consider selling to family and friends before posting to strangers.

Plan Your Packing and Unpacking

Packing is arguably the most difficult part of moving, but physically moving everything up to NYC can be a huge hassle too. If you’re moving to an apartment where the only parking space you have is on the street, getting your moving truck parked and unpacked will be difficult. (It’ll also likely result in someone yelling at you for taking up too much space…)

Consider hiring movers for your big trip. They know how to pack efficiently, move everything quickly, and unload the truck so they don’t bother anyone. Also, if anything happens to your belongings, you’ll be covered. If you hire movers, you can move any pets or fragile belongings you have in your vehicle and leave the difficult stuff to the professionals.

Final Thoughts

Moving to any new place can be stressful – but moving to the Big Apple is different. It can be difficult to get there but once you’re there, it’s magical. There are friendly people, opportunities galore, and beautiful cityscapes. Moving there is just the first step!