The Big Apple Beckons

by Ravi on 17. Dec, 2003 in Everything

When I left the story off last, I had had a rather interesting trip to New York for an interview with a reputed firm. What I didn’t reveal was which firm I interviewed with on 49th St. and 7th Ave. I also did not happen to reveal that the very next day after I got back from NY, I flew into DC for yet another interview with a company based in the area. Well, it finally is time to reveal what must be revealed!

Come February 2 and I start work at Morgan Stanley as an IT Analyst in their NY office on 49th St. and 7th Ave. The decision to join Morgan Stanley was certainly a tough one given that my other offer was an equally good one from the startup firm in DC but the choice had to be made and I can only hope that what I chose was the right thing to do! Needless to say, I am thrilled about landing such a nice offer and of preparing myself to enter the corporate world on Wall Street!

I remember that Friday as I walked up and down Times Square at 8:45 in the morning having arrived a full hour early for my interview, I looked around to take in all the images of NY City as it went about its never-ending bustle and business. NY never fails to overawe me every single time I step into the streets of Manhattan. That morning, something inside me said that I would love to live and work in NY. I don’t imagine I gave it much thought before I went back to thinking about how the interviews would go, but now that I think about it, that feeling was almost prophetic!

So next stop is New York and all I need now is an apartment. It took me a while to recover after hearing about the ridiculous cost of renting the crappiest of studios in Manhattan but I think I have pretty much come to terms with it now. Currently, I am looking at apartments on the West side of Manhattan and in areas across the Hudson river in NJ (Hoboken, Newport, etc.). What really matters to me is that I live within a half-an-hour of my office (and I am talking about door to door time!) and as close to all the action as possible! If you know anything about living in and around NY, please let me know

In all this action, I decided that I didn’t want to leave St. Louis without having been to the places and having done the things that St. Louisians do! So Tuesday night saw Vidya and me at the Blues game in Savvis Center, courtesy of Ron. Now I haven’t been to watch any kind of game in the US so this really was the first time and boy, was it a lot of fun! I enjoyed the fast-paced action and some of the fighting on the rink (something I am totally not used to having spent most of life watching Cricket!). The best part was when the Blues, having equalized at 1-1 in the 3rd period, scored a goal in the last 20 seconds of the sudden death phase!

Having struck down one item from my list, some of the other things that remain to be done are going to the Missouri Art and History museums (in Forest Park, right next door to my house!), going ice-skating in Forest Park, and taking lots of nice pictures.

Oh and I’m going to be in NY/NJ for 4 days (Nov 20-Nov 23) so if you are in the area and want to meet up, drop me a line.

I should be pretty jobless starting tomorrow so this blog should definitely see a little more action than usual and possibly updates right from the Big Apple!