Yes, we toured, but didn't see many other buildings.

For us, it was amenities vs. price. We've been in Newport for 5 years and our rent would have been higher than 295J if we stayed. If we stayed we wouldn't have the gym, the courtyard, the co-working space (a big plus for me). Our son has also been going to PS22 up the street—since we were unable to go to our local school, PS37—so there's less upheaval for him. He's also a water bug, so the pool (tiny as it may be) will be absolutely massive for him. My wife and I are now work-from-home full time, so being further from the PATH train isn't a big deal.

There were more pro's than con's, but there were some cons when we made the decision:

• There's no big supermarket in the area, not yet at least. We've been doing ShopRite From Home since the pandemic, but it is still helpful if you need to run out quick to get like, mushrooms. (We will miss Newport's exceptional East and South Asian grocery specialties). The same is true for a pharmacy/CVS/Duane Reade for that kind of stuff.

• The construction noise. We're on the southwest corner where one building is going up, so there will be daytime noise. Though, as my wife put it: "It's a city."

• Our new apartment is smaller by about 100 sq feet than our current place, but our hope is that we'll use the amenities as much as we can if we need to stretch our legs.

It's a bit of a gamble for us, but considering what we would get for the price we were offered, it was very hard to turn down.