Where in New York City ...

JTGale · #1 08-02-2005, 09:30 AM

I have a friend who is moving to the Big City in a couple of weeks. As we were talking today about her living options (she has a broker looking for a place for her), I got to thinking about the different boroughs and realized how little I know about the sections of the city. Just curious where everyone lives at there (Ed, Ray, etc. ... ) and where the hot music spots are. Lord knows, I am just a poor, landlocked flatlander who has to live vicariously. ;-)

~ jtg

Ed Fuqua · #2 08-02-2005, 11:09 AM

Jeez, where to start? Is she renting or buying? Where's she gonna be working? Having your housing nut at about 30-35% of your income is great, if you can swing it. But that's gonna be the number you're looking at, so options at $80K+ are gonna be better than at $24K +/- 24K.

Both Ray and I got chased out of the Slope (Park Slope Brooklyn) by the precipitous climb in both rents and sales prices for real estate. All the nice and CLOSE Brooklyn neighborhoods are expensive - Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, Ft. Greene, Clinton Hill, Windsor Terrace - so some folks are moving a little farther out in Brooklyn - Ditmas Park, Kensington, Sunset Park, Bay Ridge; hell there are even parts of BedStuy that they're calling Clinton Hil East now.

Williamsburg is getting expensive, so is Greenpoint. Ray and I ended up in Queens: Ray's in Long Island City and I'm in Jackson Heights. Other neighborhoods to look at are Sunnyside, Woodside, Astoria. To me, Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens are too far out from the city. Red Hook Brooklyn hasn't really gotten hot yet, but it's pretty underserved by public transport (as are neighborhoods like Midwood and Marine Park, SheepsHead Bay etc.)

Uptown, Inwood still seems reasonable, but there are sections of Queens and Brooklyn that are closer to downtown.

Staten Island is very pretty. But the only reason it's not New Jersey is erosion...

philly · #3 08-02-2005, 11:55 AM

New york has become about two things:Money and real estate. And of course real estate is all about money. Every neighborhood is way too expensive, some are just more way-too-expensive than others. Ed points to the closer queens neighborhoods:Astoria, Long Island City, Woodside, Sunnyside, Jackson Heights as best bets and I agree totally.
They're the most "real" areas close to the city, by which I mean less hipster douchebags per capita but still have good services. All the safe areas of Brooklyn, as Ed points out are expensive, and you still gotta shlep on the train to get into the city. Queens can be a little homely in terms of its infrastructure, plain buildings, overhead train etc. Let's just say that woodside isn't the west village, but the incredible diversity is really unique. Washington heights in upper manhattan is worth a look too.

phil

abaguer · #4 08-02-2005, 11:27 PM

Yeah I got chased out of Cobble Hill about 4 years ago after 15 years there. Be prepared to pay through the nose. Lately I know a lot of people who have been buying/renting in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill in Brooklyn. Those areas haven't gone through the roof yet. Best bang for the buck though is still Queens as Ed said.

Alexi David · #5 08-03-2005, 04:57 AM

I really wish I had something else to add regarding finding a place.

The Real Estate situation is RIDICULOUS. Man I'm very lucky that I will inherit my Dad's place one day. He bought it in 1983 for $92,000. Park Slope, which wasn't so hot back in those days. Apartment, limestone. Now it's worth like $600,000!!!!.

I'm gonna stay in the dorms at the New School - it's overall cheaper for me than an apt. - and I'll be in the West Village/Chelsea, close to school, etc.

JTGale · #6 08-03-2005, 01:34 PM

Thanks for the input! She is going to be working in Midtown for a new Associated Press venture. So, she is looking to rent in west Manhattan. Does that make sense? Her last day working for us is the 12th. It doesn't leave her much time to figure out where she is going to end up, but she is originally from the Boston area and should be able to cope with the big city, right?

Lost in the corn and heat ...

~ jtg

Ed Fuqua · #7 08-03-2005, 01:40 PM

Renting in west Manhattan midtown (used to be Hell's Kitchen, now it's called Clinton) is gonna be at least $1600-2000 for a small one bedroom. NYC is different from Boston, in a lot of ways Boston is like a really big college town. But sticker shock shouldn't be as bad, true.

I don't have too much info, but if she's working on the West side, she may also want to look at Jersey - Jersey City, Hoboken (not much room left though), Weehawken, Ft.Lee etc. You have the added expense of the PATH...

Mike Goodbar · #8 08-03-2005, 02:10 PM

An alto-player friend from high school who is now “making the scene” in NYC recently bought a brownstone in Harlem.

Are these a bargain now, or is ol’ Dave doing okay?

Ed Fuqua · #9 08-03-2005, 02:23 PM

Depends on where, but Harlem prices having been coming up. Especially in areas like Sugar Hill or Striver's Row. Piano player buddy of mine, she and her husband bought an apartment in a co-op building where Roy Eldridge used to live...

Leco reis · #10 08-03-2005, 03:06 PM

for midtown I think Astoria, Queens is the best place.
Nice food 24 hours, fine transportation, very safe.
It is going up in price though

anonymous0726 · #11 08-03-2005, 03:21 PM

What's her budget/transportation plans? Where in Midtown is her job? A Midtown day-job means that she'll need good train access. Wanting to have a car and not spend a huge wad (or hassle) on parking means that she'll want to be in the burroughs or Jersey.

Ed Fuqua · #12 08-03-2005, 03:25 PM

I just did a sweep of Craig's list and the cheapest thing I saw was a small studio, 5th floor walkup for $1395

anonymous0726 · #13 08-03-2005, 03:47 PM

Another thing that I would recommend is that she find a sublet for 6mos or so. This will allow her to really check out The City and get a better feel for what her parameters for the place actually are.

One thing that I know that a lot of young office-worker sorts do is get together 3-4 people willing to cough up a grand a month and get a great place. SUbletting would also give her the time to find a good situation along these lines as well, although the idea wouldn't seem appealing to her until she'd been here a little while.

JTGale · #14 08-05-2005, 08:04 AM

I had a chance to show your responses to her yesterday and she found them very helpful (especially the Astoria comment). Sounds like she is going to put her stuff in storage for now and crash with realtives for a month until she can get a good feel for where she wants to be. I think she is going to bag the car, too, and aim at hoofing it, so the train comments are very apropo. With a day job, that is probably the best way to go (?).

As always, you guys have come through beautifully! It is help like this that makes me proud to be a Talkbasser/Doublebasser.

~ jtg