My plan is to live in Manhattan, I’m trying to identify which neighborhood would suit me. I’ve heard the upper west side is relatively inexpensive (compared to the upper east side) and is where lots of young professionals live. What’s the general street range I should be looking within? I heard from about 50-ish street up to 90’ish street. Also, any other neighborhoods you guys think I should look into? I’ve been using craiglist and avoiding the apartments listed by brokers in order to sidestep ridiculous broker fees. Any other websites you guys can recommend? Thanks!
I really like the East Village. You can look for management companies in NYC that have apartments to look for non-broker fee places.
How’s the East Village? Is it artsy/college crowd or young professionals?
Try Harlem (below 125th). The area is now safe and trendy and you can pick up amazing deals because of the overbuilding. There are many apartments that were built to sell but are now rentals. Craigslist is your best bet. I would not pay brokers fees in this market. Also many landlords are offering incentives. Good luck.
PhillyBanker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My plan is to live in Manhattan, I’m trying to > identify which neighborhood would suit me. I’ve > heard the upper west side is relatively > inexpensive (compared to the upper east side) and > is where lots of young professionals live. What’s > the general street range I should be looking > within? I heard from about 50-ish street up to > 90’ish street. > Thanks! The upper west side start’s at 60th and runs up to the 90’s. You shouldn’t discount Brooklyn though. I personally really like Park Slope, it’s a youngish area, and there is plenty to do. The park is very close, and it is not as crowded as central park and is an excellent place to chill, jog, or just go for a walk. Most things are cheaper, and it’s more convenient getting to most parts of the city than you will find in the UWS for example (to get downtown from park slope will take you about 20 minutes max). That said, it really depends on your personality. There’s a neighborhood for every type of person. The best way to do it is just wing it for a few months in a sublet and decide where you want to live. I originally wanted to move Manhattan, but I really like Brooklyn and there aren’t many neighborhoods in Manhattan that I would want to actually live in, in retrospect. If money is no object then I would certainly look into the far west village, Chelsea and certain parts of tribeca. If you want to be near Central park, you’re restricted to the UWS and UES. There’s a very cool and young crowd down in battery park city, but I think they might be leaving in the next year or two when the post 9/11 subsidies expire. I wouldn’t consider the UWS to be that much younger than the UES though. But a lot of theatrical artists live in the UWS and so the bar scene has a very different feel. As far as food, I like them both about equally, but most people prefer the 2nd ave / 1st ave strips in the UES. Though, the only time I’m eating up there is if I’m on a date with someone who lives up there, otherwise, I like to stay downtown.
PhillyBanker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > How’s the East Village? Is it artsy/college crowd > or young professionals? Yeah it is a mix of the above. There are a ton of great places to go out at night as well as a good amout of cafe’s that are pretty chill during the day. East river park is right by there and there is a nice path/trail to run/bike on the river. There are some really diverse shops in the area and it is just nice to walk around. I used to live in UES in the 60s and thought it would be convenient as I used to work in the east 50s. It was nice walking to work, but it was boring up there at night and I usually went out with friends downtown. The East Village feels more like a neighborhood to me, while it really felt like a group of buildings up in UES if that makes any sense. If looking for cheap places, you will learn pretty quick that most places are pretty expensive, no matter where you look in the city. You just have to start seeing a lot of places and then when you see that good find/deal or good place to jump on it, as they go quick in NYC.
Madmike - Heard the Harlem area is still kind of dicey? This is from a friend of mine that’s going to Columbia so he’s familiar with the area. He told me once you get up past 105th or so it starts getting a bit shady… Eire - Great summary, that’s kinda what im trying to get a sense of, the personality of the neighborhoods. Money is def. an object, I’d really prefer not to pay more than 1,500, though I know that may not be realistic. I like the sublet idea, I may look into that… Philip - Great summary as well. I know I’m going to be challenged finding a decent place considering my cap on monthly rent. I’ll look into the East Village as well… What’s a good sense of what % your income your monthly rent should be? I make $80K at the moment, dont want to overspend on rent. Personally, considering the state of the market I’d really like to avoid a yearlong lease. Good stuff guys, keep it coming.
PhillyBanker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Eire - Great summary, that’s kinda what im trying > to get a sense of, the personality of the > neighborhoods. Money is def. an object, I’d really > prefer not to pay more than 1,500, though I know > that may not be realistic. I like the sublet idea, > I may look into that… If you are looking to get a place without roommates, you are going to find a serious challenge with your price points. Even certain parts of Brooklyn are out of your price range for a 1 bedroom - though a studio is possible, you will be living in a real deal NYC studio. In Manhattan, you should look around battery park city, certain areas of the east village, the far west side of the upper west side and I think that is about it. Occasionally, you can find a deal in the UES in that range (far east). Remember - the closer you are to the park, the more costly everything is. If you’re in the city sometime and would like a small tour of Park Slope shoot me an email eire1130 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you don’t mind living with a roommate (and most people I know have at least one roommate) then your possibilities are much broader. > What’s a good sense of what % your income your > monthly rent should be? I make $80K at the moment, > dont want to overspend on rent. Personally, > considering the state of the market I’d really > like to avoid a yearlong lease. Sometimes, you can find a 6 month lease place. I’m on a 6 month lease, for example. I know plenty of people that spend more than 50% of their base on rent in your salary range. I make less than you do and I spend around 20% base of my net. Again, it all depends on what you like, what you want, and what your personality is. That said, I think as you make more money in New York, a greater proportion goes towards rent, in general.
The UWS is most definitely not cheaper than the UES except for areas like the W. 90s between Columbus and Amsterdam where there are a lot of housing projects. Otherwise the UWS is more expensive in general. And Harlem is not the best place for a yuppie light-skinned banker to live no matter what the liberal guilt-trippers try to tell you.
I found what appears to be a decent place in the 60’s on the west side. I’m talking in the $1,600 range for a studio. seems like a steal. The offer is being made available through NYC Housing Development Corporation, I guess this is what you’d call subsidized housing. Is there a stigma attached to these types of places? Like, I wouldn’t expect there to be a housing project in that part of Manhattan, but is it usually substandard apartment complexes?
Have you visited the building yet? I have a friend who lives somewhere in the W. 60’s (63rd? 64th maybe?) near Columbus or Amsterdam, there is a very sketchy project somewhere around there. She doesn’t live in the project but in a building nearby and gets a pretty good deal on the price, but of course it comes with a catch. If she’s coming home from work late at night she won’t even walk down the street, she takes a car service or cab from her office like 10 blocks away.
You are going to ‘see’ tons of awesome deals in ads when looking for apartments. Sadly, the great deals only seem awesome. Once you actually see the place it is usually disappointing.* There is usually something off in most places you find in NYC - ie. bad location (in projects as JTLD said above), on an avenue (avenues are louder than streets), 1 bathroom, 6th floor walk up, etc etc -you will usually have to compromise in some way or another - and if you find a place that you don’t compromise on, you have to spend a bit more cash or spend a bit more time looking for a place. *Funny story - I went with some friends to see a place in Chelsea. They said it was a 4 bedroom, had good square feet, high ceilings, triplex, great pictures of the place on the website, etc - turns out that one of the bedrooms was an extension of another, the triplex part was only this one little storage area with 5 foot high ceilings that had a fancy wooden ladder type staircase thing leading up to the room. The broker had the nerve to call this a ‘bedroom.’ Seriously. You are going to laugh at some of the places you see in this city.
^agree. Another funny story, my gf and I were looking at an apt in Gramercy around 27th and Lexington. Pretty reasonably priced for the size and the ad made it sound like a steal. The location is not too far from Gramercy Park, the one where you need a key and a $10,000,000 apartment to access, and a bunch of high end restaurants and bars. Show up, and the apartment is across the street from the frickin’ ghetto!! I mean, out of nowhere, surrounded by nice buildings and businesses, is a housing project with I kid you not, h0’s standing on the street corner in their hot pants looking for a hit in the middle of the day.
PhillyBanker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Madmike - Heard the Harlem area is still kind of > dicey? This is from a friend of mine that’s going > to Columbia so he’s familiar with the area. He > told me once you get up past 105th or so it starts > getting a bit shady… > Harlem is very big and not all of it is the same - there are some bad areas on the far east or far west side and above 125th. It has also changed enormously the last few years. I had some friends who lived in a beautiful Brownstone the gentrified Mount Morris park area on Lenox Avenue. I think they were paying well under $2K for 1000ft2. That is not bad for Manhattan - also considering it is only 15 minutes to Times Square and only a few blocks up from Central Park. I recommend you go to the area and see it.
Actually the most crime-ridden areas in Harlem these days is not the far east or west sides but straight up the middle – 120’s through 150’s above Central Park. Far west side is Washington Heights which isn’t that bad. Far east side is Spanish Harlem which is still not that great but less gang activity than straight up the gut.
Starting to see concession of 2 months free rent. It’s a renter’s market, so make sure to negotiate.
I live in the UES and I pay less than friends living in Chelsea, Murray Hill, UWS, Midtown West/Clinton. I pay less than a few friends living in stytown you just have to find the right apt
JasonU Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I live in the UES and I pay less than friends > living in Chelsea, Murray Hill, UWS, Midtown > West/Clinton. I pay less than a few friends living > in stytown > > you just have to find the right apt So you live in a box?
I lived in NYC for nearly six years, and you really need to see the apartment in person before you commit to anything. I once checked out a place that had a bathtub in the kitchen. I lived in Battery Park City and Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan, and Park Slope and Cobble Hill in Brooklyn. I thought Brooklyn was so much better, and you’ll certainly get more for your money there. You haven’t said where you work, but I’d assume downtown or midtown. From Brooklyn it’s 20 minutes on the subway to downtown, a bit more to Midtown, but it’s an easy ride.
Take a look into Financial District area, Williamsburg, and Hell’s Kitchen (Clinton) Financial District area is 2nd cheapest in Manhattan after UES, and you can find some nice apartments there. The downside is that it’s practically dead in the evenings. Williamsburg is in Brooklyn, right across the bridge from 14th street. If you work in Midtown your commute should be short. It’s mostly hipsters area, but they have been pushed back into the depth of Brooklyn recently, so there are more young professionals now. There are both highrises and brownstones in the area. Hell’s Kitchen is all the way on the west side starting from 42nd street. If you are willing to walk extra 5-10 minutes to subway, you can get amazing deal in a luxury highrise. I lived there last year with 2 roommates in a 3bd 1700sq ft apartment and payed $1500.