The Ghost of Foley's – General Chat

Now I'm in the mood for ox tail.

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Happy Chi see New Year to those that celebrate or care about other cultures traditions.

Year of the Ox for 21.

 

What to eat if Friday night is open for ideas? Noodles. Doubt you find and place that sells longevity noodles which is one long giant noodle but still. Any noodles can work but don’t cut them. Long noodles symbolizes long life. Also leafy green vegetables like spinach, bok choy, etc symbolize money and prosperity.

 

I’ll teach you a simle Mandarin phrase. gong Xi Fa cai (English it’s gong shi fah t-sigh). Or in Cantonese in gong ay fat Choi (English is gong hay fat choy)

 

Enjoy. If anyone has any other question I’d feel free to answer.

Well in that case I will save my dinner for tonight, last night's leftovers, for tomorrow night and I will get some Chinese tonight. You have me graving some lomein now. Since you're giving free pronunciation lessons, what is the proper pronunciation of Tso in General Tso's chicken? I say "So" but I have heard "chow", "choe", "Teesoe" and I am sure there are more that I can't think of.

Well in that case I will save my dinner for tonight, last night's leftovers, for tomorrow night and I will get some Chinese tonight. You have me graving some lomein now. Since you're giving free pronunciation lessons, what is the proper pronunciation of Tso in General Tso's chicken?

LOL it wound be like T-soh but there there is no generals chicken in China. Thays a made up American dish. Still delicious though!

LOL it wound be like T-soh but there there is no generals chicken in China. Thays a made up American dish. Still delicious though!

I assumed that lol. I've heard most dishes you find in an American Chinese restaurant aren't very close to what you would actually find in China. Dammit, I have been saying it incorrectly for so long. I even told my cousin there is no way it is pronounced the way it looks(he says Tee Soe). Fuck me, eh? :palm:

I assumed that lol. I've heard most dishes you find in an American Chinese restaurant aren't very close to what you would actually find in China. Dammit, I have been saying it incorrectly for so long. I even told my cousin there is no way it is pronounced the way it looks(he says Tee Soe). Fuck me, eh? :palm:

to be honest, it probably can be pronounced many different ways and be accurate in some dialect in Chinese. I can speak parts of two dialects, not fluent though (but man does it look funny seeing my lily white boy face speak some Chinese lol) and some words in Chinese such as good have very different sounds in different dialects.

Good

Mandarin - how

Cantonese - ho

to be honest, it probably can be pronounced many different ways and be accurate in some dialect in Chinese. I can speak parts of two dialects, not fluent though (but man does it look funny seeing my lily white boy face speak some Chinese lol) and some words in Chinese such as good have very different sounds in different dialects.

Good

Mandarin - how

Cantonese - ho

Hahaha no problem. I'm starving now. I convinced a few of my coworkers to order too. We're actually going somewhere that is pretty local to my house in Ronkonkoma that I have been wanting to try but my wife is too boring to try new places. I'm pumped...and starving.

Hahaha no problem. I'm starving now. I convinced a few of my coworkers to order too. We're actually going somewhere that is pretty local to my house in Ronkonkoma that I have been wanting to try but my wife is too boring to try new places. I'm pumped...and starving.

Nice. Which place? I’m not far from Ronkonkoma. We do Little Vincent’s sometimes out there.

Nice. Which place? I’m not far from Ronkonkoma. We do Little Vincent’s sometimes out there.

Feng Yi, right across from Kohl's. We ended up not going there because they don't deliver out of the shop. Seamless almost doubled the price. We ended up going somewhere closer to work.

Nice. Which place? I’m not far from Ronkonkoma. We do Little Vincent’s sometimes out there.

1) Vincents is awesome

2) Looking for a place in Suffolk- How is Ronkonkoma? We saw a house out there that was phenomenal but I dont know the area too well

1) Vincents is awesome

2) Looking for a place in Suffolk- How is Ronkonkoma? We saw a house out there that was phenomenal but I dont know the area too well

Ronkonkoma isn't bad. It's not amazing but it's a decent middle class area.

If you don't m ind me asking, whats your budget and what are you guys exactly looking for in the area specifically? Do u have a long commute?

Ronkonkoma isn't bad. It's not amazing but it's a decent middle class area.

If you don't m ind me asking, whats your budget and what are you guys exactly looking for in the area specifically? Do u have a long commute?

We're kind of up in the air with a few things at the moment. We have gone to a few open houses just to prepare and know what were in for but havent been to a mortgage specialist yet- We were going to start seriously looking in March but I think we may push that back to September/the fall since the housing market seems to be insane right now. I work from home 85% of the time (even pre-covid) so for me its not an issue if I have to drive to Manhattan once or twice a week.

Were trying to get my wife a job on the Island so that she doesnt have to travel to the city for a number of reasons, one of which is her health- so in the long run I dont think commute will be too much of an issue. We have family in Nassau right now which we dont want to be too too far away from ideally. The Ronkonkoma area is probably as far as we wanna go realistically.

Were in our early 30's so our budget isn't great- if we can keep it at 400 we'd be thrilled though we know we will likely have to go above that a bit.

Any suggestions on area would be welcome- we dont need anything fancy just want a nice neighborhood where a buck can go a long way.

We're kind of up in the air with a few things at the moment. We have gone to a few open houses just to prepare and know what were in for but havent been to a mortgage specialist yet- We were going to start seriously looking in March but I think we may push that back to September/the fall since the housing market seems to be insane right now. I work from home 85% of the time (even pre-covid) so for me its not an issue if I have to drive to Manhattan once or twice a week.

 

Were trying to get my wife a job on the Island so that she doesnt have to travel to the city for a number of reasons, one of which is her health- so in the long run I dont think commute will be too much of an issue. We have family in Nassau right now which we dont want to be too too far away from ideally. The Ronkonkoma area is probably as far as we wanna go realistically.

 

Were in our early 30's so our budget isn't great- if we can keep it at 400 we'd be thrilled though we know we will likely have to go above that a bit.

 

Any suggestions on area would be welcome- we dont need anything fancy just want a nice neighborhood where a buck can go a long way.

I think you definitely need to meet with the mortgage expert first to see what you can afford. I do have a good mortgage specialist out here in Suffolk I could recommend that was pretty great. We had met with him and honestly were shocked with what we could comfortably afford. He really did a good break down for us. I’m sure they all do but it shows how important it was just so we knew.

As for neighborhoods, def stay in Suffolk if you are looking for best bang for your buck with more property especially. Nassau is nuts price wise. You can mostly put a lineal relationship to houses in LI based on school districts so the better the district the more expensive the house usually. Also taxes are kind of all over the place out here. I live in a village so I have an extra 3k village taxes on top of my 15k a year regular taxes. Very nuts.

Ronkonkoma, Lake Ronkonkoma (can get pricey), Hauppauge, Commack (some parts get pricey), Lake Grove, Holbrook, Holtsville, Deer Park, Oakdale are all central/western Suffolk reasonable middle class but you do have to pay attention to where specifically where in each place.

Places to stay away from are Huntington station, Brentwood, central islip, lindenhurst, Coram, Selden, centereach, wyandanch, Medford, farmingville.

Some higher end places I’d def just look for deals in are Setauket, Stony Brook, Port Jeff village, East Islip (can get deals there), Dix Hills, Islip, Smithtown, Bayport, Northport, hungtinton village.

Closer to each shore gets more expensive. South shore has more flooding problems from my experience than north shore but also has more boating vibe. North shore has more trees and more historic, older houses. We are in the north shore in port jeff village which is off exit 62 off expressway and north until you hit water butit is a pain getting back to the middle of the island lol.

Feel free to ask any questions.

1) Vincents is awesome

2) Looking for a place in Suffolk- How is Ronkonkoma? We saw a house out there that was phenomenal but I dont know the area too well

Little Vinny's pizza is trash for the most part unless you're there in the late night hours after a night of drinking. You rarely get a fresh slice since they make so many pies in mass amounts. Their heroes are great though. If you are lucky enough to get a fresh pie it is quite delicious though.

What part of Ronkonkoma was the house located? Ronkonkoma is quite a large town, it has its own little towns inside of it. Some areas way nicer than others. Some areas real shit holes. I live in the Brookhaven and Sachem school district part of Lake Ronkonkoma. There is also the Islip side that has some in Sachem and some in Connetquot school district. Living in Brookhaven, I am bias that Brookhaven is the biggest piece of shit ran town on the planet. I have friends that live in Islip that will say the same. They're wrong, Brookhaven is the worst lol.(They're honestly probably equally as corrupt and broken).

I live literally right off of the LIE service road so its nice to be able to just drive to the end of my block and I am on my way to wherever. I am centrally located to the LIE, Ronkonkoma train station, MacArthur airport, Sunrise HWY isn't very far either, and there is tons of shopping all within short driving distance. If you/your wife have to commute it is nice to be able to hop on the train and pretty much always have a seat in the morning since you're the first stop. If you have to drive then I am sorry to hear that. Good luck.

If I could give you my best advice, don't move here lol. Its too expensive, taxes are astronomical in most places, it is overpopulated as it is and they just keep knocking down every tree they find in order to keep building more houses. I would leave in a heartbeat if I could but like you, we're too chicken shit to leave our families(I'm not calling you chicken shit lol). If you really want to be in this area though its is a great location, you're near everything.

I think you definitely need to meet with the mortgage expert first to see what you can afford. I do have a good mortgage specialist out here in Suffolk I could recommend that was pretty great. We had met with him and honestly were shocked with what we could comfortably afford. He really did a good break down for us. I’m sure they all do but it shows how important it was just so we knew.

 

As for neighborhoods, def stay in Suffolk if you are looking for best bang for your buck with more property especially. Nassau is nuts price wise. You can mostly put a lineal relationship to houses in LI based on school districts so the better the district the more expensive the house usually. Also taxes are kind of all over the place out here. I live in a village so I have an extra 3k village taxes on top of my 15k a year regular taxes. Very nuts.

Ronkonkoma, Lake Ronkonkoma (can get pricey), Hauppauge, Commack (some parts get pricey), Lake Grove, Holbrook, Holtsville, Deer Park, Oakdale are all central/western Suffolk reasonable middle class but you do have to pay attention to where specifically where in each place.

 

Places to stay away from are Huntington station, Brentwood, central islip, lindenhurst, Coram, Selden, centereach, wyandanch, Medford, farmingville.

 

Some higher end places I’d def just look for deals in are Setauket, Stony Brook, Port Jeff village, East Islip (can get deals there), Dix Hills, Islip, Smithtown, Bayport, Northport, hungtinton village.

 

Closer to each shore gets more expensive. South shore has more flooding problems from my experience than north shore but also has more boating vibe. North shore has more trees and more historic, older houses. We are in the north shore in port jeff village which is off exit 62 off expressway and north until you hit water butit is a pain getting back to the middle of the island lol.

 

Feel free to ask any questions.

We have held off on going to a mortgage specialist until my wife gets her job/health stuff in order which by the summer it should be (though we have been told not to look in the summer because inventory is low?) but from what I have gathered and based on the fact that we both have excellent credit I dont think we will have issues getting a mortgage in the 500k range, though I prefer to buy a something in the 400k range just to be on the safer side. Send me a PM with your brokers info- word of mouth is always good in these situations. I will look into those areas- How is North Babylon? We saw a house there that was nice as well and the village looked nice as well just from driving through it.

Curious why you said to stay away from Lindenhurst? Have distant family who just moved there and they love it.

Little Vinny's pizza is trash for the most part unless you're there in the late night hours after a night of drinking. You rarely get a fresh slice since they make so many pies in mass amounts. Their heroes are great though. If you are lucky enough to get a fresh pie it is quite delicious though.

 

What part of Ronkonkoma was the house located? Ronkonkoma is quite a large town, it has its own little towns inside of it. Some areas way nicer than others. Some areas real shit holes. I live in the Brookhaven and Sachem school district part of Lake Ronkonkoma. There is also the Islip side that has some in Sachem and some in Connetquot school district. Living in Brookhaven, I am bias that Brookhaven is the biggest piece of shit ran town on the planet. I have friends that live in Islip that will say the same. They're wrong, Brookhaven is the worst lol.(They're honestly probably equally as corrupt and broken).

 

I live literally right off of the LIE service road so its nice to be able to just drive to the end of my block and I am on my way to wherever. I am centrally located to the LIE, Ronkonkoma train station, MacArthur airport, Sunrise HWY isn't very far either, and there is tons of shopping all within short driving distance. If you/your wife have to commute it is nice to be able to hop on the train and pretty much always have a seat in the morning since you're the first stop. If you have to drive then I am sorry to hear that. Good luck.

 

If I could give you my best advice, don't move here lol. Its too expensive, taxes are astronomical in most places, it is overpopulated as it is and they just keep knocking down every tree they find in order to keep building more houses. I would leave in a heartbeat if I could but like you, we're too chicken shit to leave our families(I'm not calling you chicken shit lol). If you really want to be in this area though its is a great location, you're near everything.

The house we saw was practically on the lake- right near Lake Ronkonkoma Park (just south of it if I remember, I think we actually drove right by little vincents pizza about 5 mins before we got to the house- real nice house, big yard, great price but we weren't ready to pull the trigger and quite frankly only went to look at it because our friends were looking and asked us to go with them but thats what sparked our interest in the area.

I hear you though, I would gladly buy upstate or out of state if it was up to me but were at that point in our lives where kids are on the horizon and my wifes family is in nassau and my parents are looking for places out on the island too so it makes sense to stay for baby sitting alone plus if we do end up having kids I want them to be around family. On top of that my parents are in their 70's, the travel alone to see them often for various reasons would be too much for me if we did move away.

Thanks for the recommendations both of you

We have held off on going to a mortgage specialist until my wife gets her job/health stuff in order which by the summer it should be (though we have been told not to look in the summer because inventory is low?) but from what I have gathered and based on the fact that we both have excellent credit I dont think we will have issues getting a mortgage in the 500k range, though I prefer to buy a something in the 400k range just to be on the safer side. Send me a PM with your brokers info- word of mouth is always good in these situations. I will look into those areas- How is North Babylon? We saw a house there that was nice as well and the village looked nice as well just from driving through it.

 

Curious why you said to stay away from Lindenhurst? Have distant family who just moved there and they love it. If you are looking at areas like Babylon, i might recommend Sayville, Islip or East Islip more. My in laws live in Islip so im there a lot. Overall, as like most places, School district is going to rule over whether an area is nice or not as well. A great school district holds the value of homes a lot higher than an awesome house does in a shitty district. That's just the overall jist of things. Here's a list of best

 

 

 

The house we saw was practically on the lake- right near Lake Ronkonkoma Park (just south of it if I remember, I think we actually drove right by little vincents pizza about 5 mins before we got to the house- real nice house, big yard, great price but we weren't ready to pull the trigger and quite frankly only went to look at it because our friends were looking and asked us to go with them but thats what sparked our interest in the area.

 

I hear you though, I would gladly buy upstate or out of state if it was up to me but were at that point in our lives where kids are on the horizon and my wifes family is in nassau and my parents are looking for places out on the island too so it makes sense to stay for baby sitting alone plus if we do end up having kids I want them to be around family. On top of that my parents are in their 70's, the travel alone to see them often for various reasons would be too much for me if we did move away.

 

Thanks for the recommendations both of you

North Babylon isnt bad, but it can get a bit sketchy here and there. For that area, including Lindenhurst, the best parts of them are south of Main street and the closer you go into the middle of the island there, the sketchier it gets (at least in my opinion). There are great areas though which is the case for most towns tbh. Lindenurst is the same way. Problem with that south shore too is that its more prone to flooding than the North Shore so a lot of those areas make you pay for extra flood insurance and its not very cheap. If you are looking North Babylon, I would suggest also looking Sayville, Islip, and East Islip. I would look at areas south of rt 27A for the best areas in those towns/villages. When it comes to LI, like most places, school districts are going to really rule whether or not an area holds its value. A good house in a great school district will hold its value better than a great house in a bad one. Heres a link where you can search higher rated public school districts just to get an idea.

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-school-districts/?centroid=41.1206,-71.80127,40.5261,-73.41108&map=true

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-high-schools/s/new-york/

Ill pm you the guys info. LI is a weird place because its so hard to judge what is a good area and what is not because some areas are great with pockets of crap and some areas are crap with pockets of great especially the south shore and areas from the Long Island Expressway south up until southern state or rt27A.

North Babylon isnt bad, but it can get a bit sketchy here and there. For that area, including Lindenhurst, the best parts of them are south of Main street and the closer you go into the middle of the island there, the sketchier it gets (at least in my opinion). There are great areas though which is the case for most towns tbh. Lindenurst is the same way. Problem with that south shore too is that its more prone to flooding than the North Shore so a lot of those areas make you pay for extra flood insurance and its not very cheap. If you are looking North Babylon, I would suggest also looking Sayville, Islip, and East Islip. I would look at areas south of rt 27A for the best areas in those towns/villages. When it comes to LI, like most places, school districts are going to really rule whether or not an area holds its value. A good house in a great school district will hold its value better than a great house in a bad one. Heres a link where you can search higher rated public school districts just to get an idea.

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-school-districts/?centroid=41.1206,-71.80127,40.5261,-73.41108&map=true

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-high-schools/s/new-york/

 

 

 

Ill pm you the guys info. LI is a weird place because its so hard to judge what is a good area and what is not because some areas are great with pockets of crap and some areas are crap with pockets of great especially the south shore and areas from the Long Island Expressway south up until southern state or rt27A.

I'd prefer to stay mid- island or north of the island so that works out.

And yea I see what you mean im having a hard time just trying to pick neighborhoods out it seems like its either kind of sketchy, schools are bad, taxes are high, or its out of my price range.

I am also seeing taxes in Suffolk that seem to be on par with Nassau- People have always told me Suffolk has lower taxes but unless I am missing something this is not correct? (I know its hard to generalize but im not seeing huge differences)

Ill keep all that in mind when looking- thanks for the link and the broker info

The house we saw was practically on the lake- right near Lake Ronkonkoma Park (just south of it if I remember, I think we actually drove right by little vincents pizza about 5 mins before we got to the house- real nice house, big yard, great price but we weren't ready to pull the trigger and quite frankly only went to look at it because our friends were looking and asked us to go with them but thats what sparked our interest in the area.

 

I hear you though, I would gladly buy upstate or out of state if it was up to me but were at that point in our lives where kids are on the horizon and my wifes family is in nassau and my parents are looking for places out on the island too so it makes sense to stay for baby sitting alone plus if we do end up having kids I want them to be around family. On top of that my parents are in their 70's, the travel alone to see them often for various reasons would be too much for me if we did move away.

 

Thanks for the recommendations both of you

I was being tongue in cheek when I said to move elsewhere. Its a great area despite its negatives. Both Sachem and Connetquot are good schools and that is what is most important with kids on the way.

I was being tongue in cheek when I said to move elsewhere. Its a great area despite its negatives. Both Sachem and Connetquot are good schools and that is what is most important with kids on the way.

Thanks! Ill let you know when we're neighbors :rofl:

Thanks! Ill let you know when we're neighbors :rofl:

There are a few houses up in my neighborhood. Just saying lol

I'd prefer to stay mid- island or north of the island so that works out.

 

And yea I see what you mean im having a hard time just trying to pick neighborhoods out it seems like its either kind of sketchy, schools are bad, taxes are high, or its out of my price range.

 

I am also seeing taxes in Suffolk that seem to be on par with Nassau- People have always told me Suffolk has lower taxes but unless I am missing something this is not correct? (I know its hard to generalize but im not seeing huge differences)

 

Ill keep all that in mind when looking- thanks for the link and the broker info

Taxes are all over the place. My village I pay a ton but the other side of the village pays less. It doesnt make sense sometimes. Also depends if they have been previously grieved or not. Taxes overall are a bit lower in Suffolk but not low by any means. It’s Long Island.

On average expect most places taxes are anywhere from 7-10k. They go up from there. Just make sure you ask because as I said, I pay around 15 and I’m nowhere near the high end of taxes lol.

Taxes are all over the place. My village I pay a ton but the other side of the village pays less. It doesnt make sense sometimes. Also depends if they have been previously grieved or not. Taxes overall are a bit lower in Suffolk but not low by any means. It’s Long Island.

On average expect most places taxes are anywhere from 7-10k. They go up from there. Just make sure you ask because as I said, I pay around 15 and I’m nowhere near the high end of taxes lol.

It's never easy, huh?

This will be a fun few months of looking haha

Taxes are all over the place. My village I pay a ton but the other side of the village pays less. It doesnt make sense sometimes. Also depends if they have been previously grieved or not. Taxes overall are a bit lower in Suffolk but not low by any means. It’s Long Island.

On average expect most places taxes are anywhere from 7-10k. They go up from there. Just make sure you ask because as I said, I pay around 15 and I’m nowhere near the high end of taxes lol.

This. LI taxes are high pretty much everywhere. On average, Suffolk is lower than Nassau, but it is still high though. I am in Lake Ronkonkoma, I think mine are supposed to be middle to high $8k. With all of my various Veteran perks I am in the mid $6k range. My sister in law was in one of the nicer areas of Farmingville(they do exist too lol), beautiful home with something like $12-15k taxes. They recently sold and moved to the Setauket area and now they're around $22k I think. Its astronomical and it really is a shame when you drive around this area and have to deal with the large craters we have to avoid in our roads. It is absolutely pathetic.

It's never easy, huh?

 

This will be a fun few months of looking haha

No, it is never easy lol. And try to avoid Brookhaven if you can. Islip isn't much better but Brookhaven is a literal nightmare of a town to deal with.

This. LI taxes are high pretty much everywhere. On average, Suffolk is lower than Nassau, but it is still high though. I am in Lake Ronkonkoma, I think mine are supposed to be middle to high $8k. With all of my various Veteran perks I am in the mid $6k range. My sister in law was in one of the nicer areas of Farmingville(they do exist too lol), beautiful home with something like $12-15k taxes. They recently sold and moved to the Setauket area and now they're around $22k I think. Its astronomical and it really is a shame when you drive around this area and have to deal with the large craters we have to avoid in our roads. It is absolutely pathetic.

 

No, it is never easy lol. And try to avoid Brookhaven if you can. Islip isn't much better but Brookhaven is a literal nightmare of a town to deal with.

Any tips on winning the lottery? :rofl:

This might be a stupid question but anyone know where you can find a map of taxes in different areas of long island? I cant seem to find anything. I know it may depend on the specific house but im sure there is a range areas fall within.

Any tips on winning the lottery? :rofl:

 

This might be a stupid question but anyone know where you can find a map of taxes in different areas of long island? I cant seem to find anything. I know it may depend on the specific house but im sure there is a range areas fall within.

If I had tips I would have hopefully won by now lol. Actually, yes, I do have a tip. You have to play to win...I should follow my own advice more often lol. As far as a tax map, no, not that I am aware of.