If you do not have a mover yet, stop here and go back to how early to book movers in NYC. This article assumes a date is set. How long the day may run is how long an NYC apartment move takes. After you arrive, the moving-in checklist is the next page. For the in-city crew, use local New York moving.
A separate older piece, a moving day plan, covers hiring notes, boxes, and confirming ETA. What follows is the seven days immediately before the truck, in New York City terms: supers, freight, keys, and a refrigerator that should not still be full on Friday night.
Seven days out: confirm the building and the crew
Call or email the origin super, management, or doorman and the destination contact. Confirm the date, the start window, and whether anything changed: a different freight car, a closed dock, a board that now wants moves only on weekdays. If a Certificate of Insurance was requested, confirm it is on file. How to run elevator reservations is NYC elevator reservation rules. This week is only for checking that the reservation still exists.
Then confirm with Liffey. Share any new building note the same day you hear it. A window that shrank from 9–5 to 9–1 changes crew size and whether the job can finish. Do not wait until the morning of the move to mention it.
Six and five days out: finish the inventory you already promised
Walk the apartment as if you were the crew. Closets, basement cages, bike rooms, and the “temporary” pile on the fire escape that is not supposed to be there. If you added a sofa from the street or decided the piano is coming after all, say so now. Surprise inventory is how a half-day plan becomes a scramble.
Finish or schedule packing. Open drawers on moving morning are extra labor. If Liffey is packing, leave a clear path and a decision about what is going versus what is trash. If you are packing yourself, what to pack first is useful; this week is for finishing, not starting a two-week project.
Four days out: utilities, USPS, and the people who need keys
Internet, electric, and gas do not move themselves. Switching utilities is the how-to. In this window you want start and stop dates that match the keys you actually have, not the lease PDF. File a mail forward. Tell work which morning you will be late or out.
Decide who will be at origin and destination. A friend with a spare set of keys is not a plan if the destination is a doorman building that will not release the apartment to anyone but you. If you cannot be in two places, say so. The crew can often stage, but they cannot invent access.
Three days out: kitchen, fridge, and anything that leaks or spoils
Use or give away perishable food. Defrost the freezer so it is dry by moving day. Drain a washer if you are taking one. Paint, solvents, and pressured cans often cannot go on the truck; items movers will not take is the list. Better to make a hardware-store run now than to argue on the sidewalk.
Set aside a small bag that does not go on the truck: medications, chargers, a change of clothes, important papers, jewelry, and the new keys. If it would ruin the week to lose it for a night, it does not belong in a carton at the back of the van.
Two days out: curb, parking, and the path to the door
Walk outside at the time of day the truck will arrive. Note hydrants, scaffolding, a bus stop, or a film shoot. Street parking and temporary loading rules are NYC moving permits and parking. This step is only so you can tell Liffey what the block actually looks like, not so you rewrite the permit process.
Inside, empty drawers that still have clothes in them, bag the linens you will sleep on the last night, and take down anything mounted that you want the crew to take. Leave wall-mounted TVs and heavy shelves in place unless you have already agreed who dismounts them. Unclear jobs become slow jobs.
The day before: last confirmations, not new projects
Expect a confirmation call or message with the arrival window. Be reachable. If weather looks poor, still wait for the company plan rather than cancelling in a panic; winter moving is the seasonal piece. In September the issue is more often heat, a remaining summer elevator crunch, or a month-end building that is already busy.
Charge phones. Put the super numbers, Liffey number, and both addresses in one note. Tell the doorman or neighbors that a truck is coming. Finish the last boxes. Do not start packing the kitchen at 11 p.m. unless that was always the plan.
Moving morning
Be up, dressed, and at the apartment before the window. Protect the path you can protect: lights on in the stairwell, a towel for a wet lobby mat, kids and pets out of the hallway. Point out what stays, what goes, and where the elevator or the freight key lives. Then let the crew work. Hovering in the doorway slows a walk-up more than it helps.
If the date was forced onto the last days of the month, the building will feel crowded. That is why best time of the month exists. This morning you work the date you have: elevator first, truck second, destination third.
If something breaks in this last week
Elevator cancelled, lease overlap failed, or the other company dropped you: call the same day. Last-minute movers explains urgent reviews. Availability is still case by case. A clear inventory and both building rules give Liffey something to work with. Silence until Friday night does not.
Office moves use the same last-week logic with different hours. If the job is a workplace, commercial moving is the service page, and office moving tips covers the staff side. The building still needs a confirmed window and a person with access.
A simple last-week list
- Both buildings still have the date, window, and COI or elevator on file.
- Liffey has the same window and any new access notes.
- Packing is finished or scheduled, including closets and the basement cage.
- Fridge is emptying, hazards are out, essentials bag is separate.
- Keys and a person at each door are decided.
- Curb and walk-to-truck notes are shared.
- Utilities and mail are set to the real key dates.
If you still need to change the date or the inventory, request a quote or call (212) 410-3500 rather than leaving a note on the door. The rest of the library is on Moving Tips. Liffey Van Lines has been moving New York City since 1975; the last week is where that planning shows up on the sidewalk.