A savy and amusing navigation of the perils in store here for those who just can't take it elsewhere any longer, and it's not just for gypsies.

I can't help quoting from Kirk Wood Bromley's recent play about The American Revolution:

Admiral Howe- Tell me, Major Andre, of yon Manhattan,
Where I expect to sleep tomorrow night.
Major Andre- You will, sir, I'm afraid, get no sleep there.
Cornwallis- For yon Manhattan is the noisiest,
Filthiest, sleaziest, sauciest mess
Of anti-civilized, counter-cultural,
Money-grubbing yahoos ever festered
Unflusht in the devil's antique outhouse.
Madness and mayhem, sir, that is Manhattan.

I know dozens of people who leapt at New York City, but couldn't get a toe-hold, and so fell back to where they came from. Thinking over these experiences, I've concluded that the three tricks to successfully living in New York are to find:

1. An apartment you can tolerate,
2. A job you like,
3. A community you love.

Focus first on these things, not on getting an acting job right away. There's no sense getting cast in a play if you don't have an apartment and a job. You'll be distracted and may even be forced to drop out of the show (a real career killing move, by the way) if you find you can't make it in the city.