Apartment search in The Big Apple

My name is Katie, I'm a 23 year old American female who has recently become a Manhattan transplant with my hubby Jacob.
Here's an account of our beginning days in the Big Apple...

August 15 2011 5am

We're 3 hours into our 5 hour flight to Boston and continuing to Laguardia. I can't sleep on this plane with no headrest, plus my body's still sore from sleeping on the floor last night. We packed our house, ultimately our life, into an 8x8x16ft PODS shipping container in Lake Forest, Ca. Until we locked the POD I didn't believe all of our treasures would fit, granted we left our three piece bedroom set behind and a twin bed, dresser and computer desks in the spare room of our 1800sqft, 3  bedroom house that sits pretty on the end of a cul de sac. We rented in Orange County for 28 months, suburban living at it's finest. Believe me, there's no poetic licensing in the various TV shows about "the OC", there are a good many residents that live in delusions of grandeur hence we escaped the warped lifestyle of the not so rich not so famous.
Back to New York City, we are mid Jet-stream on our 5 day apartment shopping excursion. The goal is to find a real one bedroom apartment, not a studio, in Upper West Side, Murray Hill, Upper East Side, or Midtown West. Here's the catch, our budget is $2500 a month for rent and $400 a month in garage parking for my SUV. I wouldn't divulge my monthly expenses on the reg but I need to, to create an idea of the current housing market in the city. If you haven't lived in Los Angeles, The Bay Area, Chicago, Miami or other cities in high demand you probably find that amount monthly repulsive, but that's supply and demand for you. In a perfect world I would find a 700sqft 1 bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side,  between 86th and 96th off Columbus Ave.  A 10th floor apartment with an elevator, a non obstructing east facing view of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. We practically live in the kitchen so utilization would be key, while painting this fairytale lets throw in a doorman and balcony that fits a French cafe style two chair and table with a fern. In all likeliness we'll probably end up in the Lower East Side of a 23rd story walk up without washer dryer facilities, west facing view of Chinatowns Kaslapis smelling fish market listening to drunken howls of childish 20 somethings roaming bars and brothel lined streets at three am. Wouldn't we be living the dream! All bets are off, I suppose we'll have to wait and see what we find.

Aug 19th 2011
We signed a lease! After walking the nabes of Manhattan, taking the subway & also accidentally riding the express train from w23rd to w123 North Harlem:{ we got good vibes and decided where we had to live to be comfortable, safe and happy. Upper West Side is our nabe of choice, having the opportunity to walk between Central Park and Riverside Park is phenomenal. We got the doorman Jake requested, and a beautiful park view. It's about 600sqft 1br1ba on the Second floor and to our moving relief there are two elevators.  Meg our pup will have many friends in the building and the residents and employees we met were very satisfied with the beautiful pre-war apartment building at 84th and Riverside Drive.
"Other cities always make me mad, other places always make me sad, no other city ever made me glad except new york, new york, it's a wonderful town (new york)...
I LOVE NEW YORK, New York, New York."