A new law has gone into effect requiring landlords to disclose to prospective tenants any history of bedbug infestation in the apartment building and individual unit within the past year. The law has some people in the real estate industry a tad concerned that the stigma of bed bugs will leave them stuck with empty units, but at least nobody's resorting to hysterical hyperbole. "This is like AIDS in the beginning," says Gus Waite, vice president of rentals at The Real Estate Group of New York. "They just skeeve people out totally." (Somewhere in New York, an aspiring playwright is hard at work on Bedbugs in America: Millennium Recedes) more ›

It's the eternal question for real estate obsessed New Yorkers: should you rent or buy? Now, we might finally have an answer. The New York Times created this awesome, interactive graph that calculates common expenses of buying and renting, spitting out precisely at what year you would be better off buying your apartment. For instance, if you're paying $5,000 in rent, and your place costs $1 million, you should think about buying after 11 years. But if you're only paying $700 a month for a place that costs $175,000, you'll pretty much never be better off buying. more ›

The real New York Post (not the far superior, global warming hoax edition) is reporting that the NYPD has cracked down on illegal bike rental vendors. Apparently, you need to be licensed to rent out bicycles, but some illicit pedal pushers have been running their businesses from the sidewalks around Central Park. more ›

The New York Times has an interesting piece of service journalism for upcoming college graduates around the country planning on moving to New York. As a recent college grad, you are likely to be poor; and getting an apartment will likely be far more expensive and disappointing than you could ever dream. Fueled by expectations of a New York portrayed in the media, people imagine themselves living in neighborhoods like the West Village in a cute one bedroom apartment with lots of closet space. more ›