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Topic: NYC or bust?
| Author | Message |
| Newzaroo | Posted – 8/30/2007 11:22:14 PM | show profile | email poster I am anticipating a huge move to a news job in Manhattan on Avenue of the Americas and I'll be a fish out of water. How much money will I need to live nearby conservatively. What is apartment availability and price? What about my car, necessity or liability? What are the costs of life in the big city, commuting, restaurants, bars, groceries, cigarettes (yes, I smoke), etc. Any insights you can offer will be greatly appreciated, and who knows... I may be hiring you next. Please help, the life you save could be your own. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 8/30/2007 11:41:14 PM | show profile NYC Factoids ... Rent for one-bedroom apartments "nearby" to Sixth Avenue start at around $3500/month. The multiplier most landlords use for minimum income requirements (40x the monthly rent) means your salary needs to be at least $140K. You could probably score yourself a decent studio nearby in the $2700-$3200 range, however. A car would be a definite liability, unless you'll need it for your job. Diner dinners in Manhattan run about $15/person ... decent restaurants are around $20/person and up. WAY up. As a single person, I usually spend around $150/week on groceries. Cigarettes start at $7.50 box. |
| Newzaroo | Posted – 8/31/2007 12:19:45 AM | show profile | email poster Keep those factoids coming... Thanks ManhattanMatt, I too am single and that's exactly the kind of info I'm looking for. What about living in the burroughs and commuting on the subways. How long does it take, is it a hassle. Is there a minimum salary threshold just to exsist in NYC. If so, what is it? Will my days be filled with fending off panhandlers and crack heads or is the legend true, NYC is the safest big city in America? Please, colour my world with insights. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 8/31/2007 1:02:55 AM | show profile Boroughs ... What is your budget? |
| Newzaroo | Posted – 8/31/2007 1:18:07 AM | show profile | email poster Oh yeah, burroughs are for chipmunks. Don't know my budget yet... still negotiating. |
| EVOMR | Posted – 8/31/2007 1:44:30 AM | show profile You can find a place in Queens, much much much cheaper then take the subway or LIRR into the city. Save $$$ and real easy ride into the city. |
| Bleak Spouse | Posted – 8/31/2007 1:51:23 AM | show profile the good thing is most print media jobs in nyc pay way over 140k a year. Editorial Assistants at most divisions of Penguin start at 350k a year. Editorial Assistants at magazines like Popular Mechanics start at 570k a year. So basically you got it made if you move to NYC for a media job. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 8/31/2007 4:20:34 AM | show profile Bleak .... S/he's posting on the TV news board, so it's a safe assumption it's a TELEVISION job. |
| duty_calls | Posted – 8/31/2007 10:53:34 AM | show profile your questions You might want to try harder to hide your "fish out of water" roots. I mean, crackheads and panhandlers? This is not the NY of the 1980s. Neighborhood blogs have all kinds of info about their areas--crime, gossip about the new restaurant/boutique opening up, real-estate stuff. Also, alt-weeklies can be helpful. The NY Times and New York magazine tend to focus on affluent Manhattan (kinda redundant, I guess) and nauseatingly-hip Brooklyn. Benefits to borough living: lower rent for more space, so it's easier to live like an adult and to save money. Time for reading on the train--I had a boss who sometimes missed living outside of Manhattan because she didn't keep up with her book and newspaper reading anymore. Less-crowded streets, grocery stores, restaurants, movie theaters, etc. Benefits to Manhattan living: less money spent on cab fare after a late night out. You can technically walk to work. The snob factor, if you care about that sort of thing. More hustle and bustle around you. Easier access to goods and services because residential and commercial areas are so much more dense. Minimum-salary "requirements" vary from person to person, depending on the creature comforts you want, your spending habits on food/drink/clothing/etc., and your tolerance for a roommate, to name just a few. You don't give your age, so it's hard to throw out a number. Sell your car--NY has Zipcar, so you can rent a car as needed. |
| rulebook | Posted – 8/31/2007 11:10:40 AM | show profile Hilarious as always, Bleak. How your off-the-wall sarcasm escapes most people on this board, I'll never know. Matt, per usual, your NYC real estate sentiments are spot-on, but the proportions are off the charts. We have no idea where she's working on 6th, but even if we did, the community should be advising her that moving to an affordable place trumps walking distance to a job in this city, particularly a job in Midtown. Further, Chelsea/Hells Kitchen is "nearby" and $3,500 a month is crazy talk for those neighborhoods, particularly for a share. Even without a share, you can find studios for in those 'hoods for $2,500 fairly easily. By NYC standards, anyway. Bottom line, dear poster: If you want to live by yourself, you're not going to find a place in a decent neighborhood on the island for less than about $1,750. And even that will be tough. If you can swing $2,000+, you should be able to find a place...it won't be pleasant, because apt hunting in NYC isn't regardless of budget, but you will find a place. If you're willing to share, price drops and space betters. Oh, and this board is full of opinions, information, and rants on NYC housing...the search function can be an asset. |
| RandyHumphries1 | Posted – 8/31/2007 1:15:00 PM | show profile In reality Newsaroo comes across as a self-centered, self-important asshole, you should do well in NY media. You might want to tone down the ego a bit or I hope they eat you alive. |
| rulebook | Posted – 8/31/2007 1:44:24 PM | show profile Fair point, Randy. |
| voracious reader | Posted – 8/31/2007 3:11:30 PM | show profile check out streeteasy.com |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 8/31/2007 3:15:05 PM | show profile Rulebook ... I was talking about *nice*, grown-up sized apartments. Sure, you can get a craphole in those neighborhoods for under $3K. But in a relatively new, full-service doorman building you're looking at $3500K to start for a one-bedroom for anything within walking distance of Sixth Avenue ... ANYWHERE along Sixth Avenue. |
| chucho | Posted – 8/31/2007 4:45:10 PM | show profile > What is apartment availability and price? Solo: At least $1,500 a month in midtown, $3K to $4,500 to move in. You can get some tight roommate situation for less. > What about my car, necessity or liability? Sell it before you get here. Please don't bring your car. You don't need it, esp. if you're going to live close to work. If you want to drive to Vermont once in while, then rent one or park your car in storage in Jersey. It's a useless liability. > What are the costs of life in the big city, commuting, restaurants, bars, groceries, cigarettes (yes, I smoke), etc. Food and restaurants can be quite reasonable. If you live in midtown, you walk to work (like I did for two years, which was great). Expect $5 a pint in decent pubs. Cost of going out depends on how much you drink and the relative fancy-ness of the establishments. Obv. if you go to theater every weekend and eat out every night, it can get quite expensive. If you eat out in Chinatown, eat at home a lot, don't get wasted in bars all the time, and get a free hobby, like bike riding the boroughs with a camera (my favorite), then it's quite affordable. I lived well on $2,400-a-month take-home. I didn't (don't) have debt. I paid $1,400 a month for a preposterously small one-bedroom on 25th, worked in the Empire State Building. I found a one-bedroom apt. once a block from the ESB that was $1,500 with exposed brick (in 2004) that I should have taken. NOW: What news organization is on Ave. de las Americas? Is this Facts on File? Curious. |
| chucho | Posted – 8/31/2007 4:55:50 PM | show profile >> If you want to live by yourself, you're not going to find a place in a decent neighborhood on the island for less than about $1,750. << That's not true. $1,500 will get you a place in almost any area if you look hard enough. Might be very small. I looked at a brand new studio with a lofted bed and a patio on Easy 67th in a high rise in 2004 that was $1,650, and this was a doorman building in the Upper East Side (UES proper, not Spanish Harlem). It was too rich for my blood, but it was really, really nice for a single who could afford that. Also, if you bite the one-time bullet of using a broker, you will definitely find something really nice in an ideal price range. (Landlords that use brokers generally have the nicer places for the same price as the crappier no-fee stuff you find on Craigslist.) The problem is the one-time hit that can be as much as $3K (for a reasonable one-bedroom in an ideal area) so I would do that unless you are planning a longer-term stay. I live in NYC as a young child, when there were junkies and panhandlers everywhere. I moved there as a young adult, failed miserably to "attach", so to speak. I may go back in a couple of years (or not) and when I do I'll have at least $40K in cash and two CDs. I would say you can do this comfortably with $10K or reasonably with $5K. If you have a job lined up, you can do it for less. Without a job lined up, doing it for less increases your chances of ending up with three strange roommates working at Barnes & Noble and being fairly unhappy and neurotic is -- too risky for anyone over the age of 25. Put it this way, if you want to live alone in a decent place, I would be prepared to drop $4,500 on a moment's notice to grab it. |
| rulebook | Posted – 8/31/2007 5:08:06 PM | show profile Two extremes here... >>>Sure, you can get a craphole in those neighborhoods for under $3K. But in a relatively new, full-service doorman building you're looking at $3500K to start for a one-bedroom for anything within walking distance of Sixth Avenue<<< No one said anything about new, or doorman, or full service, or a 1br. Not everyone needs all of thise amenities, or any of them for that matter. Regardless, I have friends in Chelsea who pay less than 3k for a two bedroom in a walkup with an elevator btwn 7th and 8th. It's not new. But it's a far, far cry from a craphole. >>>That's not true. $1,500 will get you a place in almost any area if you look hard enough. Might be very small. I looked at a brand new studio with a lofted bed and a patio on Easy 67th in a high rise in 2004 that was $1,650, and this was a doorman building in the Upper East Side<<< You'd be absolutley astonished how much has changed in NYC real estate since 2004. I agree that $1,500 used to be good enough. Not now. Those apts still exist, but good luck finding them. And without contacts, luck is basically what it takes. Not luck like one in ten, (2004 ratio) but luck like one in 100. |
| Newzaroo | Posted – 8/31/2007 5:28:12 PM | show profile Some clarification needed... obviously. You have all pleasured me greatly with your invaluable insights into my anticipated move to NYC. They are genuinely appreciated. I want to work, live and play in Manhattan, otherwise what's the point... right? I am 43, male and gay, I cannot cope with roommates and I want to enjoy the lifestyle NYC offers. I do not troll bathroom stalls, but I will troll the various websites for apartments, restaurants, etc. But I thought I'd start the moving process by asking you. The beautiful people who live there. It has been noted here that I appear to be an asshole with enough attitude to do well in NYC. (that astute observation was made long ago, and it didn't require a New Yorker) I stated earlier, "I'll be a fish out of water." This is not to say I am unfamiliar with the ways of the world, Rather I am unfamiliar with the 24/7 excitement and vitality of NYC. When I bite the Big Apple, I want to taste it. And I'll enjoy it more if it bites back. |
| Newzaroo | Posted – 8/31/2007 5:37:25 PM | show profile By the way Chucho... Lets leave my future employer out of this for the time being...OK. Let's just say I earn a living with my mouth. |
| Nikongirl | Posted – 8/31/2007 6:06:29 PM | show profile Hey Newaroo... Congratulations on your new gig >>>Lets leave my future employer out of this for the time being...OK. Let's just say I earn a living with my mouth.<<< ...just make sure not to put your foot in it! ;0 Stick to your guns stay in Manhattan - like you said, why move to New York if you are not going to live in the city. I didnt think youre an asshole, you sounded friendly and excited to be moving to a great city with a brand new job. You will most definitely love it. **Dont be alarmed by my lack of punctuation but I am dreadfully tired of all the question marks that show up instead of the proper |
| Nikongirl | Posted – 8/31/2007 6:08:35 PM | show profile ............Punctuation. |
| Newzaroo | Posted – 8/31/2007 7:54:15 PM | show profile I'm Watching You... I cannot help but notice that it's been in excess of 2 hours since the last TV newser viewer posted a response to my plaintiff cries for help. (yah, that's a bit much) I have deduced from the evidence at hand, that all of your previous helpful entries occured within a 2 hour window. Except for ManhattanMatt, who offered all of his advice by the light of the moon. (does he work during the day or slumber on Transylvanian soil?) Don't stop writing grasshopper(s)... I have much to learn. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 9/1/2007 12:38:23 AM | show profile Hey Newsaroo ... Working in network television, I do in fact keep vampire hours. BTW ... 38, male, and gay here. ;) |
| chucho | Posted – 9/1/2007 5:28:14 AM | show profile Gee . . . thanks Newsaroo! Some of us view these posts as, um, reference material so to speak. Not necessarily with the mind of giving advice to one specific person, but rather to bounce ideas off others. (That some of us can reference later.) Like, for instance, I have learned that perhaps $1,500 doesn't go as far in 2008 as it does in 2004. So it doesn't have a whole lot to do with you. |
| Newzaroo | Posted – 9/1/2007 8:49:59 AM | show profile Breaking News... It's all about me. |
