NYC Apartment Move-In Checklist (Deposit-Saving Edition)

Getting the keys is the easy part. Here's the NYC-specific move-in checklist — the building paperwork, the walk-through evidence, and the first-week setup that saves your deposit and your sanity.

Before move-in day

• Read the building's move-in rules — elevator reservations, allowed hours, and COI requirements (our COI guide).
• Reserve the freight elevator at the new building — and reconfirm the week of.
• Start utilities — Con Edison/National Grid in your name from day one; book internet installation early (slots go fast).
• Get renter's insurance — many NYC landlords require proof at lease signing; it's cheap and worth it regardless.
• File USPS mail forwarding — the anchor of the change-of-address checklist.

The walk-through (do this before boxes come in)

Your deposit is won or lost here. Before the apartment fills with boxes:

• Video everything — a slow phone video of every room, closet, and appliance, timestamped day one.
• Photograph existing damage — scratched floors, wall marks, chipped tile — and email it to the landlord/management so it's on record.
• Test everything: stove burners, oven, fridge temp, water pressure, hot water, toilet flush, every outlet, window locks, buzzer/intercom.
• Check for pests — under the sink, behind the fridge, closet corners. Report anything immediately, in writing.
• Locate the breaker box and water shutoff — you want to know before you need to know.

Move-in day

• Protect the floors before furniture rolls in (crews bring padding — confirm it).
• Direct boxes by room label — 30 seconds of pointing saves an hour of shuffling.
• Assemble the bed first. Everything else can wait; sleeping on a mattress in a box fort cannot.
• Unpack the "open-first" box: sheets, towels, toilet paper, chargers, coffee.

The first week

• Change or rekey the locks if the lease allows (ask first).
• Meet the super — the most important relationship in any NYC building.
• Learn trash/recycling days and alternate-side parking rules for the block.
• Update your address everywhere else — DMV within 10 days in NY.
• Register with the building portal for packages and maintenance requests.