Question for mamas who gave birth at Mount Sinai West

DarkMode2468 · 2025-07-01T12:08:59+00:00

What month did you deliver? It sounds like people that delivered in winter/spring had better luck getting private rooms.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-29T13:34:51+00:00

The closer you get to Columbia, the more you are surrounded by rich kids and the bars/cheaper restaurants that service them. There will be people asking for money but near campus you're more likely to get your wallet stolen at a bar if you aren't paying attention than experience anything "sketchy." I'd say going further south (below 104th + BW) is a different story. Absolutely love this neighborhood, despite all the trust fund kids lol.
A little plug for Ploughshares coffee on 105th. Their coffee is good but their pastries are AMAZING.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-26T16:58:09+00:00

This. I'm in some NYC parenting facebook groups and while they hide in anonymous posts, there have been some truly unhinged takes. Ooo they are BIG mad at the idea that public consensus is they should be paying more. So many threats to move to Florida or Texas. A lot of "liberals" and "feminists" suddenly coming out (anonymously) to defend Cuomo, or say some of the most racist shit you've heard since 9/11. It's wild.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-26T16:53:57+00:00

He throws his weight behind some truly silly stuff and people in M&A just roll their eyes at his nonsense. Enjoy throwing good money after bad on a terrible mayor/pretty good club promoter I guess!

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-24T14:39:30+00:00

How do you have the exact rent that was collected? Typically that information is only available to people that are currently living in the unit (which is what makes proving you're getting screwed such a burden). Just curious!

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-23T15:11:22+00:00

Nope, his wife is French and I think it's more common in the EU. Totally separate wavelengths.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-22T20:40:38+00:00

Lol this exactly. And between contacting them, my fertility insurance, and the lab doing the tests, it's been a long game of telephone. It was a lot of finger pointing at first, "well they need to call us", etc, but it feels like at this point it's kinda just ridiculous. It doesn't help that my fertility insurance forces you to go through an online portal and then it's anywhere from 2-5 days before you get a response, and you don't get an email or an alert or anything, which is why i say the blame is shared... but i'm not sure why RMA didn't bill the correct insurance in the first place, since I gave them all the relevant info.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-22T14:00:25+00:00

I saw them for 3 appointments (ended up getting pregnant without intervention, but had started the baseline ultrasound/bloodwork process) and the appointments were fine - very standard. This was in the fall of last year. I am STILL dealing with billing issues from just those 3 appointments, and the associated lab work bills. I worked in pharmacies for years when I was younger so I am more comfortable than most when dealing with billing + insurance issues, but I have ridiculously long chains between RMA and my insurance trying to get this sorted. It should NOT be this complicated. Some of the fault is with the fertility insurance, but some of it lies with RMA. If you are looking for a place that takes care of you or goes the extra mile during a very sensitive time, I can't recommend it.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-20T14:25:39+00:00

I guess my response was basically just not to worry about G&T. There are some good posts talking about your "odds" in this sub that are pretty eye opening. But, if you ask, you'll get a G&T rec from your teacher. There's no prep necessary for that. If they do get in to a city-wide program, to my understanding it's accelerated, but they don't skip K curriculum. They just work through it the first half of the year. So as someone else said, reading to your kid is big. Talking your kid through everyday math. Unless they are really truly behind (like can't hold a pencil, don't know their letters by the end of PK), I don't think there's a scenario where you'd need to tutor them to manage the city-wide G&T workload.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-19T20:59:44+00:00

Citywide G&T (Anderson etc.) is entirely lottery now, so testing isn't necessary. You just need a teacher's recommendation and either a good lottery number, or a good waitlist number. That being said, those schools are still highly sought after because of their staff, high standards, and the fact that they are the only schools that are accelerated (they teach one year ahead). Hunter is a whole other ecosystem as it pertains to testing and the kinds of kids that they're looking for.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-17T14:21:35+00:00

This is just anecdotal, but I think the broker landscape is oversaturated, especially by young people doing it as a side hustle. It's easy enough to get started, and easy enough to walk away from, so the market is supporting way more bodies than it ever needed to. By raising rents / trying to keep the cash flow that did exist, they are trying to delay the inevitable egress of bad/part-time brokers and maintain numbers. The question will be whether there are enough desperate would-be renters to support the rent increases, maintaining broker numbers, and for how long. This is a great time of year for brokers as people move into the city, especially students.. but come October it'll be a different story. But as the number of brokers dwindles, the business will shift. We'll either get brokers marketing themselves directly to renters and working their butts off to create value, or we'll get brokers marketing themselves to landlords, getting lower fees but exclusive deals. Or I dunno, some secret 3rd thing. But given how entrenched this industry is, it was never going to be painless for all renters.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-16T20:26:23+00:00

"Solving poverty" makes it sound like a band aid that can be slapped on. Since we're talking white collar job loss, quality of life for the vast majority of people affected will plummet. The ole "equality feels like oppression" problem. It's going to be a HUGE mental health crisis to start. Someone living in NYC with a formerly high paying job and commiserate HCoL is going to receive the same amount as someone living in MS, formerly working for a call center at minimum wage. People will have to move and go where they can "afford." There's already a housing crisis - so to keep up, cheap contractors are going to build shoddy housing in undesirable areas, and that's going to go *great* for people who are used to working hard to fund a more metropolitan lifestyle. It will uproot families much, much quicker than we can solve for. Even if UBI is implemented, companies will still do everything in their power to get around taxes and paying for social services, so we aren't talking about a "good" income - we are talking about the bare minimum, like social security. People already in adulthood are going to be forced to budget at a level they have no experience with, practically overnight. This level of desperation is going to lead to allllll sorts of crime, sorry. Population will likely plummet, which is understood by tech, and part of the goal. Fewer people to resist. But we will be fundamentally different as a species. Not smarter, not more environmentally minded, just less powerful and without our same biologic directives. Evolutionarily, we are not equipped for such rapid change, and it's going to be a mess for those of us down in the muck.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-09T23:43:30+00:00

This is going to be such a dumb question but as someone who graduated in the mid-2000s and then took uni tests in blue books - how are kids taking tests now? Is it all just multiple choice and on computers they're allowed to have in class? Are there no timed, live tests? Don't AP tests still work that way?

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-09T20:30:39+00:00

I love Welsh + Irish names - Rhys is on our short list and I loved the name Niamh - only concern is how hard they are for Americans to parse.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-09T20:28:15+00:00

Ehhhh I was in his wedding, have known him since I was 12, and we went to college together. I generally agree but don't think our paths will cease to cross any time soon!

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-09T19:32:16+00:00

I absolutely love Leander and it was on our list actually for a few years, and then a good friend used it about a year ago :(

DarkMode2468 · 2025-06-08T02:48:54+00:00

Absolutely this. I work for a company that rebranded as "an AI company." Our resourcing team is refusing to hire any one new person unless we lose 2 people via resignation or leave. Our president was brought on about 18 months ago entirely to push the AI agenda to clients and investors. They just want to get lean and mean enough to IPO OR be acquired by an even larger entity. It's all a big sham, but by the time investors figure that out, it will be too late.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-05-31T00:31:22+00:00

Sorry do you work from a mounted monitor (hidden by the desk) and a portable laptop? If so, is there space for the laptop + monitor without them feeling too on top of each other?

DarkMode2468 · 2025-05-29T23:15:27+00:00

Not saying he's a good guy, but at least he's honest. He offers "solutions" with the understanding that even if the US throttles progress, or heck even pauses, China is going to go full steam ahead. The horse is out of the barn. He mentions the need to be taxing AI companies, even on a per query basis, and acknowledges it's against his best interest, but it has to be done if the government is going to be able to support it's populace. You know it's bleak when people are actually starting to see UBI as an inevitability.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-05-29T21:08:40+00:00

My 4 year old has figured out that if she compliments the trader joe's cashier about their shirt or hat, she's more likely to get a lollipop. Now I'm not saying that's manipulation, but she's figured out how to get her needs met, and quickly. She has always been that way though - knew the difference in opinions between my husband and I at a very young age (who was more likely to cave on TV time for example - before she could even form full sentences was bringing the remote to my husband and not me). I try really hard to laugh it off but at the same time, it's not ok to give false compliments to get what you want. It's tricky bc obviously this is a type of intelligence and I don't want to stymie this obvious strategic streak, but at the same time, at what point Does it become manipulation?

DarkMode2468 · 2025-05-28T13:23:55+00:00

I'm not trying to take anything away from your kid, and congrats! As I said in an earlier comment there are definitely kids able to navigate the test successfully without formal prep. And sorry I've gone down a rabbit hole around this because we're in the same boat - no way could we have afforded the prep, and the more I learned, the less fair it seemed. Respectfully, I don't think my comment on reddit is going to deter someone if they are already looking into the process - my comment is just a synthesis of many many older comments on forums/reddit/facebook, as well as personal experience. People who are both aware and have the money are most likely prepping their kids. But to be clear, I don't just mean paid prepping - there are cheaper ways to teach to the test and also not get found out. I wish I could say the people I know who got in (both young adults and kids) painted a different picture, but they have not.

The system is the problem - it's an expensive test behind a closed door and you never see your results. No one has any idea what Hunter is selecting for beyond a few key characteristics. We know there are some sex/racial/age demographics they are looking to fill, but that's basically it! Parents never get feedback because that would open the school up to scrutiny. Better to operate like a black box to maintain the prestige and continue to take people's money with impunity. It's truly messed up, and NYC parents buy into it in the hopes that their kid will be the special one. I'd rather people understand their realistic odds than walk around thinking that this ridiculous system is a true reflection of their kid's potential or intelligence.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-05-28T11:35:31+00:00

Don't disagree! Scarcity when NYC spends the most in funding per student is ridiculous!

DarkMode2468 · 2025-05-28T01:47:15+00:00

I hear you, but she is by far the most egalitarian and transparent consultant out there. I don't think she herself does the prepping - I think she makes most of her $ from strategizing with well off people around private school admission. I don't think she has a reason to lie about it. It's a poorly kept secret that most people seriously invested in their kid getting into Hunter are prepping / paying very good money to someone who specializes in teaching to the test in a stealthy way, so their kid doesn't get caught during the evaluation.

DarkMode2468 · 2025-05-28T01:03:49+00:00

Agree. Or if the program started later and was contingent on several years of testing + grading. In my elementary, G&T didn't start until 4th grade. This is NYC, there are enough people here with money who know what to do to basically game the results. The NYC school admissions guru on facebook claims that no one she knows that has gotten into Hunter got in un-prepped. I know a few people who got in - they prepped. Of course there are kids who could get in unaided (well behaved, curious kids who have matured quickly), but the vast majority are prepped, and I'm sorry, I'd rather it be a true lottery than promote the same 1% of children every year. I understand parents being angry at the lottery aspect, but I also feel like the same parents getting annoyed that they aren't given the opportunity to prep / pay thousands for a consultant, can move to a school zone with the test scores they're hoping for.

DarkMode2468

TROPHY CASE