Apartment Hunting: A New York Nightmare!

Anyone who has ever lived in New York City knows the grueling difficulty of the apartment-hunting process.  I remember when we first moved here, we knew very little about the city. We searched everywhere for apartments.  And, oh the horror stories that came with that search process. There was one apartment that we saw in which the owner was the son of a family that clearly had some sort of mob connections.  After elucidating all of the apartment's selling points, he pointed out that, rest-assured, the doorframe to the hallway would soon be fixed and told us, "There are some people with a vendetta against my parents who tried to burn the place down last month. Don't worry. It's taken care of." Needless to say, we didn't take that apartment.  From apartments with clogged toilets to closet sized bedrooms, I can't say that we enjoyed the hunt.  When we finally found the place that we eventually moved into it was such a relief, even given that the we were unsure of what pronoun to use when discussing our realtor.   I'm still not entirely clear if he/she wanted to be viewed as male or female. Sigh.
So...eight years later, our building is undergoing a Cinderella style transformation to luxury apartments and I am dreading the inevitable apartment search.  Maybe if I put my dream list out here in blogland, the universe will send the perfect apartment my way--preferably minus any burned doorframes.
Dream Apartment Attributes:
Let there be light!
Our current apartment is filled with sunshine...sunshine that dances on my cheeks to wake me up in the morning, provides the perfect napping atmosphere for my dog, and, overall, makes the apartment far more cheery. This is a must for any new habitat.
Let there be (the New York City version of) space!
While I know that this is not the suburbs, and space is always at a premium, I can't help but hope that an apartment comes along that accommodates Me + Boy + Dog + Furniture. Fingers crossed.
Commutable: I have been super spoiled this year with an amazing commute. I walk home through Central Park each and every day. No matter what kind of day I have had, my serene walk home always rights any wrongs of the day and makes me a happier person by the time I arrive home.

via pinterest 

Please, oh please, no sixth floor walk-ups...while I am sure there is nothing like a required daily workout, I would prefer to get mine on a daily run or in yoga class...
If you want to send me an apartment with a fireplace or outdoor space, I won't turn it down! I have always dreamed of decorating a fireplace like Joanna Goddard's (as seen on her blog A Cup of Jo): Love...

Wish me luck!