Kitchen Remodeling NYC

New York City started in 1624, but was founded under the name New Amsterdam and then renamed New York as the English took control in 1664.

During the American Revolution, the largest battle of the war was the Battle of Long Island which was fought in August 1776. In the 1800’s, the city was transformed by the large waves of immigrants coming to America and by the development of the city and the country in general. In the 1920’s, NYC overtook London as the most populous city in the world.
New York City (NYC) is one of the most fascinating cities in the world. It’s also one of the most diverse with London being the most diverse city I’ve been to. NYC has a lot of titles from being the largest city in the United States to being home to more billionaires than any other city in the world. NYC isn’t the most expensive city in the world, but it’s certainly in the top 5. Of course, where there is a lot of money, there are high prices in real estate and NYC is not excluded.
NYC is a diverse town a bit different from most cities in the United States. NYC is the only US city where the percentage of non-car owners is greater than the percentage of car owners (55% of NYC househols do not own a car). Also, NYC is a very environmentally conscious city. The average NYC resident consumes half of the energy of a typical San Francisco resident and a quarter of the energy of a resident in Dallas, TX. As far as ethnic diversity, more than 12 million European immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924. In fact by 1900, there were more Italians in NYC than in every city in Italy except for Rome, more Poles than any city except for Warsaw, as many Irish as in Dublin, and more Jews than anywhere else in the world. Among the population, 36% of the residents are foreign-born, only behind Los Angeles and Miami in that category.
NYC is broken up into 5 different boroughs and are: Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Each of these boroughs are very different and contain many different neighborhoods within each borough.
Somewhat like the style of Los Angeles, there are a lot of things that will fly in NYC compared to other cities because of the vast diversity of the population. When remodeling a NYC place, there are a lot of things to consider. For instance, do you plan on staying there long term, short term or are you flipping the place. Depending on your answer, there are different ways you might want to go. If you plan on staying in the home long term, you could be more liberal with your design choices than you could if you planned on staying there for a short amount of time. Why? Well, if you are staying there long term, you can design for you. If you plan on selling sometime in the near future, you are not only designing for you, but for your potential buyer in the future. If you will be living there short term, you will most likely want to be a bit more neutral in your design. I would also suggest not putting a lot of money into the place unless you really have to do so. If you are flipping the property, I assume you have some money to work with, equity on the property, and money set aside for holding costs. If you are flipping the property, you will be doing more things to the property, but I would also want to stay neutral so you don’t scare away too many potential buyers.
Before spending any money on a remodel, you will want to go see homes in your neighborhood. In most other cities in the country, you can look at houses within a mile and be safe. In other, denser cities, you can stay within a few blocks and be OK. In NYC, you really need to pay attention to the street transitions. NYC can change from block to block. For instance, you could be in the Italian section of NYC on one block and Chinatown in the next section. The differences between the streets are night and day so you’ll want to pay close attention to that.
When deciding on a design, as said a little earlier, look at what your neighbors are doing. If you see some places for sale, go look at them. Also, whether you are staying long term in the home, short term, or flipping, be sure to focus on the kitchen and master bathrooms. If you want a good return on your money, those are the two rooms to focus on. This point cannot be stressed enough. When doing a remodel in NYC, whether it’s the whole home or a kitchen, know your audience. There are some features that a Jewish section of NYC might prefer that a Latin section of NYC might not prefer and vice versa. When deciding on a contractor, you will want to get at least three bids, maybe more. Getting three bids does a few things: 1. You might learn something 2. You will be giving your potential contractor competition. This will not only give you a better price, but will let the contractor know that you have a backup plan if they don’t work out.
Before actually hiring the contractor of choice, ask for references and actually CALL the references. I would also check with the better business bureau on the company and on the owner of the company if possible (sometimes owner change company names after screwing people over). If you have access to county records in NYC, I would check there. In some states, counties, cities, you are able to see if the company/owner has liens against other people or themselves. This will help you avoid stepping into a messy situation. When you do decide on a contractor, I would work it out to pay the contractor as little as possible until the work is completed. Offer to go with the contractor to pay for the materials if they say they need money up front to pay for the materials. If they ask for a substantial amount of money up front, they are probably floating other jobs, which is a bad way to run a business.
When deciding on a design for your kitchen, you need to be practical in what you can afford and the space you have to work with (most kitchens in NYC are not known for their abundance of space). If you are looking to put in new kitchen cabinets, you might want to consider refacing them or have the cabinets stained a new color (provided they are wood and not particle board). One option for cheaper, stylish cabinets is IKEA. IKEA is great because they have many examples of extreme space efficiency, which is great for many homes in NYC.
There are many things to consider when remodeling a home or kitchen in NYC. Remember to set a budget and stick to it. It’s not worth going into deep debt because you want granite counter tops.

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