Will my landlord go month-to-month?

Obviously, I won't know until I ask them, but I'm curious if anyone here has any experience with this. I'm in my first NYC apartment, a large doorman building managed by a large company. My lease is up soon, and am looking to find a slightly larger studio. So far, I haven't found anything I like, and I'd like to go month to month so I'm not under pressure to find something in the next 20 days, or wait a whole 'nother year. Can it be done? Should I be forthright about looking for a new place, or should I come up with a story like "my job might transfer me" or "I'm looking to buy"?