Moving in New York is harder than finding a boyfriend.
1) You pretty much have to do it once a year. Even on the off chance that your current apartment(/boyfriend)'s quirks haven't driven you into the arms of another apartment(/boyfriend), your landlord* will probably realize he's not demanding enough of you raise the rent or kick you out or make you sign a two year lease or buy your apartment or something insane.
2) You pretty much have to make a year commitment. There is no such thing as an apartment one night stand (unless it's a sublet and you flee under cover of darkness, which is tricky and maybe almost as illegal as the fact that the person you're fleeing is subletting the apartment in the first place).
3) You can't do it drunk or at night. Realtors frown on this, I suspect.
4) Your friends will not help you (much) or offer support (much). Sometimes they'll even be too hungover to help you move, and you will have to accept this because moving is more miserable than first dates, by like a hundred-fold. And whereas most decent friends are willing to hear amusing dating anecdotes, you pretty much have to sleep with someone to get them to help carry your sofa.

On the plus side, it's way less sordid to pay someone to help you find an apartment. By like a hundred-fold.

*This analogy breaks down almost immediately, as I can't think of the boyfriend's landlord analog.
Nb. I'm writing this post and I'm still a full 2 and a half months from the end of my current lease. Very bad sign.