Can anyone familiar with the NYC government hiring process?

Well I am truly in the same boat as you, I received an offer in November with the DEP, the problem I have is the fact that I at present live in Alabama and have to transfer, but I have no start date, now the lease in my residence is up and I don't want to renew and then have to pay to break it when they call. The thing is the final word is approved down from the dept. of human resources and not from DEP, so the hiring supervisor in DEP has no idea when the final word will come down, I think it is a shame to have somebody on hold for 6 months waiting for the hiring to be approved.