I've never had to scan ID or provide a previous landlord letter for a NYC rental. Also there's usually no app fee just a $50 credit check. But all the other bullet points ring true. I've also lived in trendier Brooklyn neighborhoods where the competition is high. You must be prepared with a cashiers check for a down payment. Shit goes quick here.
If your email reliability is affecting you financially maybe you should pay for a pro account?
I would NEVER use a "free" service for e-mail if I depended on it for $
This is a lesson well learned for you.
Looks like "their cloud" couldn't handle Hacker News' traffic. Had they set up their blog in an AutoScaling group in EC2 this would not have been a problem :)