Lucy Cohen Blatter

This $445,000 Brooklyn Heights studio may not be in one of the neighborhood's iconic brownstones, but it's surrounded by them, so getting home, as many Brooklyn Heights longtimers know, will be a lesson in the picturesque. Plus, it comes with the luxuries of a larger building: namely a doorman, live-in super and elevator.  There's even a storage, bike room and a furnished roof deck.

Is Airbnb partly responsible for New York City's exorbitant rents or is it a lifeline for New Yorkers trying to make ends meet here in the Big Apple? Depends on whom you ask.

Chris Lehane, director of global policy for Airbnb, was on  Brian Lehrer's WNYC show (a Brick favorite), arguing the latter. He says that 72 percent of hosts using Airbnb income to make ends meet, with the average person making about $5,000 a year on it. 

Westchester's Bronxville is one of those picture-perfect suburban areas that looks like it was pulled straight out of a magazine, with large houses and perfectly manicured lawns. And it appears as though this $1.995 million four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath brick colonial house fits that description to a T.

To the naked eye, this $1.695 million two-bedroom, two-bathroom at 107th Street and Central Park West seems like a classic prewar co-op, but it's actually a condo. What that means for you: You can put down just 10 percent (instead of the usual co-op requisite of 20 percent) and don't have to go through a  board interview. Win!

Our annual  holiday tipping guide is out and updated for 2015, but we've also got tons of other tipping-related advice for you here on Brick. Here's what you may have missed, but really should know.