Apartment Moves in NYC: What You Need to Do and What Your Movers Handle

When you’re moving apartments in NYC, there is a lot of stuff that you will need to take care of on your own, while there is a lot that your movers will help you with. If you are a first-time mover, or if you’re just not accustomed to the process well enough, your role and the duties of the movers can be a bit confusing.

But don’t worry. That is why we’ve created this post. We’re going to help you understand apartment moves in NYC in terms of what you need to do and what you can leave for your movers to handle.

Let’s get started.

Quick Overview of the Movers’ Responsibilities and Your Responsibilities

Before we delve into them in detail, here is a table that briefly shows the things that you have to take care of during the move and the stuff that you can leave for the movers.

Stuff you need to do yourself	Stuff your movers will handle
Decluttering items, getting rid of unnecessary stuff	Packing your belongings, such as furniture and appliances (if you’ve chosen this particular service)
Packing the valuables (which the movers will not touch)	Loading and unloading all the cargo (doing all the heavy lifting)
If you’re packing your other stuff on your own as well, you’ll have to label it carefully for each room	Disassembling and reassembling your furniture, such as your bed, table, etc.
Talk to your apartment building’s management about the move	Transporting your stuff from your old place to your new place
	Providing storage services, if specified

Now let’s discuss all of these in a bit more detail so that you can learn more about them.

What Are the Things You Need to Take Care of in an NYC Apartment Move?

Let’s first talk about the stuff that’s on you.

Decluttering items

Your movers won’t exactly declutter your stuff and get rid of things on their own. If packing services are included in your move package, you will need to make sure that every unnecessary belonging is removed from the apartment before the movers show up. If you don’t take care of this in time, the movers could pack everything in sight and end up including the extra items, thus charging you for more labor and materials.

Packing the valuables

Movers will be fine packing your furniture and appliances, etc., but they won’t touch any valuables you have in the apartment. This is often due to company policy. When we say “valuables” here, we refer to any jewelry, delicate ornaments, and documents such as your passport, ID, etc.

You could be wondering how your passport and ID would end up in a place where the movers might be expected to handle them. Let’s elaborate.

For instance, you could have such documents of yours sitting on the living room table along with some less important items. Your movers could pack the latter but leave the documents. In such a situation, you could fall under the impression that everything on the table would be boxed, but that’s not the case.

Labeling the boxes

This applies if you’re packing your stuff on your own and the movers are simply expected to pick up the boxes and transport them. Or, you may have acquired the “unpacking” service only.

Make sure to label each of the boxes according to the rooms that they’re supposed to end up in. This will help the movers unpack everything efficiently. The labels can be general, as long as they indicate the destination of each box, such as “Upstairs bedroom” and “Study,” etc.

Talking to your apartment’s management

Many NYC apartments aren’t that big. The buildings are accessed through side streets, and the hallways themselves are narrow. In a building like this, the arrival of a moving team along with all of their equipment can cause quite a disturbance. This is why it is important to talk to your apartment building’s management (your landlord, basically) and inform them of the planned move.

Once they know about it, they won’t raise an issue with it on the day of the move. You will also be able to get a parking space for the moving truck/van without a problem.

What Are the Things Your Movers Will Take Care of?

Now let’s move on to the stuff that you can leave for your movers to take care of.

Packing (if the service was hired)

If your moving package includes packing services, your movers will safely wrap and package all of your belongings. You will still have the responsibility of organizing and decluttering everything, as mentioned earlier. But once you are done deciding on the stuff you want to take, you can leave it for the movers to pack.

Reliable and high-end apartment movers in NYC will provide packing services to ensure maximum convenience for their customers.

Loading and unloading

Your movers will load all of your belongings in the truck, with all the accompanying heavy lifting and heaving. You don’t have to worry about physically assisting in this process. If your building has stairways or narrow corridors, it’s the mover’s headache to decide how all of it has to be navigated.

When arriving at your new place, your movers will also unload everything and place it in the respective rooms.

Transportation

Of course, the main element of your move is the transportation. This is the primary job of your movers. They will safely get your belongings from the point of origin to the destination. The checks in the route, tolls, truck weighing, etc., will all be handled by the moving company.

Unpacking (if the service was hired)

Your movers will, on arriving at the destination (your new home or office), unpack everything and place it according to whatever configuration you specify. If you want everything to be placed as it was previously, your movers will do it.

The unpacking services will only be provided by your movers if you initially booked them. These aren’t provided by default.

Storage services (if hired)

The same is the case with storage services. If they were booked beforehand, your movers will take your belongings to a safe storage location. Here, you will be able to keep everything for some time before moving it into your new home or office.

Storage services can come in handy if you need to move on a certain date, but you can’t shift everything into your new place instantly. You can rest assured that your possessions are safely stored by your movers until you’re ready to receive them. Storage units offered by moving companies are temperature-controlled and are securely protected against theft and damage.

Disassembling and reassembling furniture

Your movers will do the basic disassembling and reassembling on their own, such as taking apart furniture (beds, desks, etc.) and putting it together at the destination. Disassembling large objects like beds and tables is necessary so that they can be moved efficiently.

Disconnecting and reconnecting appliances, electronics, gas, etc. (if handyman services are included)

Normally, movers don’t take the responsibility of disconnecting and reconnecting your electrical appliances like fridges, computers, etc., or gas appliances like stoves or gas heaters. However, if you’ve hired handyman services, the experts will disconnect everything on their own and set it up again at your new home/office. This can further decrease the load on your shoulders.

Final Thoughts

Managing an apartment move can be very easy if you know what stuff you’re responsible for and what your movers can do for you. In the post above, we’ve outlined both. We hope you now have a good idea of what to do and what not to do when you have to move apartments in NYC.