<p>One of the schools my daughter is considering is in midtown Manhattan. Can anyone suggest safe, moderately priced neighborhoods for her to begin her apartment search? I’m thinking she probably needs to look somewhere like Brooklyn or Queens, but I’m looking for more specific recommendations of where to look. Thanks!</p>
<p>No dorms at her school?</p>
<p>Is she a grad student or undergrad? NYC apts. are pricy by most measures and knowing budget, acceptable commute times and if she is planning to live alone would help people guide you. It is quite a hassle to secure housing in NYC, so if dorms are an option it may be worthwhile. For example, apts. usually come on the market one month (sometimes 2) ahead of time and are highly competitive, therefore usually requiring time on the ground in the city. Additionally, any required co-signers often must document income of 80 times the rent, providing considerable financial info and tax returns. We found good information by googling for apt. rental information and procedures in NYC. If you are going in that direction it will help you to know in advance what forms and documents to assemble.
Good luck with your daughter’s choices.</p>
<p>Her potential school has dorms and I would prefer that she live there, but she is an older undergrad, so doesn’t really want to live with a lot of much younger students. It sounds like apartment hunting is going to be extremely difficult long distance. We would probably have to cosign, which is going to make this even more difficult.</p>
<p>She will have more luck looking for a room in an apartment. Her school should have a message board that posts roommate requests. Renting an apartment solo anywhere in NYC is a daunting process. Most kids share until they land that primo job or get married (whatever comes first!) I would suggest checking with the housing dept at her university and on Craig’s List. Also, she needs to decide how much of a commute she is willing to do - affordable apartments may be a loooong way away from campus.</p>
<p>We looked around in NYC as well for our D and found that most aapartments actually needed you to go through a Broker (extra cost to you). We were looking at a tiny bachelor (i think our walk in is bigger) and it was going for 1650 a month + utilities +cable +phone +internet. and this was in a resoanable part of Manhattan. Our D is making her final decision this weekend where she is going so I called the aprtment building today and it is gone already (it was Monday when we looked). If D decides to go to there I think we will be looking in Jersey.</p>
<p>She should look in Williamsburg or Greenpoint in Brooklyn and Astoria in Queens, near a subway line that will take her close to her school, and on Craigslist for a share. Also in NJ, near the PATH train. </p>
<p>Unless you’re prepared to spend a <em>lot</em> of money, finding a solo apartment will be very expensive everywhere in Manhattan and in the nicer parts of Brooklyn (i.e. Park Slope, Cobble Hill, etc.)</p>
<p>D (who is 25) started out in a sublet room in Astoria, then got a lovely bedroom in a brownstone share with two other girls in Park Slope. Her share is $1,050 and the room is huge, with an enormous closet. Living on her own was out of the question, especially on her salary!</p>
<p>Williamsburg and Greenpoint are very expensive, hip neighborhoods in Brooklyn at this point. Craigslist is your best bet to find an apartment share, or looking on your school’s res life postings- maybe kids post their needs for roommates. Also you could check to see if the management company has posted a sign on the side of the building where there are apartment rentals. Sometimes that’s easier than going to real estate brokers, and you can save the broker’s fee. The management office has the inside scoop to what’s available, and might own more than one building.</p>
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<p>Compared to what they used to be, sure, but not compared to Manhattan rents.</p>
<p>i also suggest looking in the Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights neighborhoods . They are both up way past Columbia. Both are filled with lots of theatre gypsies as well as college students… Washington Heights more so and because of that it is a bit more pricey. </p>
<p>My son had a 2 bedroom ( with 2 room mates who shared the second bedroom) … total rent was $1700 and it was newly renovated. it i snow in a much more expensive area of NYC but it is walking distance to his school so there is give and take. </p>
<p>Unlimited subway monthly passes are now $114/ month so that need to be figured in to your monthly expenses if she is going to live a distance from her school. </p>
<p>We found it helpful to use a broker who charged us 1 months rent. well worth it if you are form out of town.
Be prepared to make a decision on the spot. Affordable apartments in NY go extremely quickly!</p>
<p>My son started out in Manhattan in a share – 3 BR plus storage loft. He had a mattress in the storage loft. The LOFT rents for $800, while the bedrooms are $1200 each. He was walking distance to NYU – I think his building backed up to an NYU dorm. </p>
<p>After about 6 months, he got together with some other friends and was living in the Gramercy area. For a 3 BR 2bath nice walk up, the boys were paying about 1500-1800 each. </p>
<p>It’s ridiculously expensive to live in Manhattan, but that was the only way for him to go apparently. It was ridiculous (according to him) to live in a (currrently empty) furnished 3BR house in the burbs with some roommates that he could have for the cost of the taxes, insurance, and utilities and a little sweat equity (plus train tickets of course).</p>
<p>Is FIT or Parsons or SVA the college your d is considering? There really aren’t any colleges in midtown Manhattan. All of these are Midtown and on the West Side so affordable housing options would likely be in Washington Heights or coming crosstown from Astoria.
Williamsburg is too pricey but Greenpoint is doable, Park Slope and Cobble Hill too pricey but Prospect Heights and further out, Bushwick are good… gotta love the L train. Don’t forget NJ and Hoboken…</p>
<p>D2 has had good sublet rooms in Washington Heights and Brooklyn, and now shares a relatively inexpensive apartment in Jersey City. She works in Midtown and finds the commute very easy.</p>
<p>I’d say stay in the dorm the first semester and take time to look around. Once she sees what’s available, she may decide to make the best of a not ideal situation.</p>
<p>What do you mean by “moderately priced?” By NYC standards, my neighborhood is moderately priced. By the standards of most of the US it isn’t. </p>
<p>Is she willing to share an apartment? </p>
<p>How much can she pay?</p>
<p>There is a huge property management company that leases to a ton of college students in the city. There are often students from several universities living there and that might be more palatable for your student than the traditional dorm situation. Not sure if they have singles, but might be able to match her up with another student who is a bit older. I think it goes by “EHS” for educational housing service? Does anyone else recall? Brooklyn college and Marymount Manhattan and Baruch all use this company. You can probably google it. Also, when my niece moved to Manhattan after college about twenty years ago, she rented a great room at the YWHA(Young Women’s Hebrew Association) for her first year. I think a year is the max. No idea if you have to be Jewish or not. I also agree with e poster who suggested living in student housing first to get a sense of the various neighborhoods before making a commitment to an apartment. I’m guessing there are message boards at all the schools so try to post on those too?</p>