Want to Move to New York, NY?
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I probaby don't need to tell you that New York, NY (Manhattan) is one of the most desirable cities in the world to live in. But not for the clean air and quality of life. Well...certainly not for the clean air...but depending on your financial circumstances, you can have quality in your life. Actually, in recent years, Mayor Mike Bloomberg has made efforts to "green" New York City, by banning certain vehicles from entering through bridges and tunnels with less than 3 passengers, and closing off certain streets to traffic where pedestrians and shoppers can sit, chat or eat (Just don't buy that super-sized soda or the soda swat team my come after you; just kidding). Most people desire to live here because it is the Culture Capital and Fashion Capital of the World - or you need lots of capital to get the culture! :-) Some people are afraid to come here because it gets a bad rap as "Sin City". Supposedly, all the people here are very rushed, rude, or criminals. Well, in any city, you will find some rushed and impolite people. I can vouch good things about this city, including intelligent, friendly and caring people. Some of us are however hardened to the pleas of panhandlers requesting spare change, who no longer sit on the side and ask, but come right up into our faces or block us as we walk. This happens a lot to women who might be more intimidated into giving money just to get the person to leave them alone. So New Yorkers may tend to avoid someone on the street who approaches us even if they merely want to ask for the time or directions, because we think they are approaching us for a hand out. This city, as any city, has it's good and bad points. I try to focus on the good points! Manhattan is one the most expensive cities in the USA to live, next to San Francisco. Expensive because of supply and demand. So many people want to live here, and there isn't enough affordable housing to go around. Because it is so desirable, most landlords are greedy and feel they can charge what the market will bear for barely substantial living spaces. So young people generally have to "pair up" with a friend or two in order to afford a place. Many musicians, fashion designers, fine
artists, photographers, and other performing artists are
drawn to New York City because of all
the artistic opportunities here. As far as employment, NYC
has better paying jobs than most other cities. Then
again, you can end up spending so much in rent, that you may
as well be a hick and live in the sticks with a poor paying
job. Hey, and let's not forget the restaurants here. With literally thousands of restaurants and cafe's, most dining establishments keep competitiveness in mind when it comes to prices. In fact, I find many NYC restaurants less expensive than in New Jersey and CT, for the most part. It's hard to look for an apartment by going through listings in the newspapers. When you answer one of those ads, you will generally see a line of 50+ people who have shown up to look at the apartment too. The best way is to ask people you know or who you network with. Another way is to just walk around the neighborhood you are thinking of moving to, as many buildings have a sign taped to the door that reads, "apartment for rent-no fee- contact owner" with a phone number to call. Be aware of "wording" in apartment ads listed in the papers. For instance, a realtor or landlord may advertise a 1 BR apt, but it may just be a tiny 2 room studio. If they use wording such as "quaint" or "cozy", that means it's "really small". Also fully renovated places...while they may have freshly sanded floors and all new appliances, the landlord cut the previous apartment into 2 or more sections, and he/she will charge you just as much or more for the smaller space, as well as the new appliances. Also, be aware of scammers. I recall a news story how a woman was scammed out of lots of money paying someone a finder's fee and several months security deposit for a NYC apartment. She apparently signed a bogus lease, and when she showed up, she learned the apartment was not hers, and she was left homeless. These scammers are usually on craigslist. To avoid this, many apartment buildings have a sign in the front lobby as to who the owner or management company is with a phone number or address. Contact them to make certain the apartment is really available and if the contact person you are dealing with is legitamite. But sometimes owner/management info is not in the building's lobby; so what do you do? There's a NYC website where you can input the address of the building and the borough to get it's tax block and tax lot number. http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/bispi00.jsp Make note and go to the ACRIS http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/property/acris.shtml to search property records, input the block and lot number to find out building owner's name and address. From there you can contact the owner/s by googling their name or company name to locate a phone number. Be it known that nothing is 100% in the way of acquiring actual names as some buildings are owned by banks. But it costs you nothing to look this up, so you might as well. There are also certain buildings that
have reduced rents and are subsized by NY state or NYC. Your needs will govern what kind of space you can apply for/get in these reduced rent buildings. If you are single with no children, you won't get a 2 or 3 Bedroom . If you're a couple with 2 girl children, you will only be able to get a 2 Bedroom, as they will tell you that 2 girls can share a room (not unless there are *special needs* for one of the girls). But if you're a couple or single parent with a boy and a girl, you will be able to get the 3 Bedroom apartment. Reduced rent buildings like Phipps
Buildings (http://www.phippsny.org/) and Mitchell-Lama (http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/programs/mitchell-lama/) went under new
management and aren't as affordable as they were. HUD (http://www.hud.gov/local/index.cfm?state=ny&topic=renting) Manhattan Plaza, located in midtown Manhattan on the Westside in the low 40s and is specifically for people who work in theater and the performing arts. Manhattan Plaza bills you monthly at 1/3rd your gross rent. For those of you who aren't good at math, if you gross $2400.00 per month, your monthly rent will be about $800.00/month. That's still pretty good for NYC standards. The apartments are fairly modern(the complexes were built in the mid 70's). They have a lovely health club on the roof(which I imagine costs extra). However, it is located across from the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Lincoln Tunnel. If you have any kind of respiratory problems, I think it will indeed get worse living near all that pollution from buses coming and going from the Bus Terminal, along with all the cars and trucks. Places like Manhattan Plaza have a 10 year waiting list, and you can't sign up anytime you want. You have to wait till the list opens and you may not know or read it inthe paper at the time they announce it publicly. Your best bet would be to contact the managing offices of these buildings and find out when and where they usually announce the list opening, so you can be ready when it occurs. Please do not feel totally disheartened...I knew a a lady who placed her name on the supposed 10 year waiting list at Manhattan Plaza, and it only took 2 years for them to call her with an apartment available! At a building on 57th St & 10th Avenue(northeast corner), one needs to belong to some kind of actors union like Screen Actors Guild/SAG, and/or have a disability. A friend who had polio as a child; walks with crutches is roommates with their HIV+ friend. You cannot get an apartment all to yourself here, you must have a roommate. My two friends have 2 bedroom apartment they pay $1100.00 for. Split its $550.00/month. (I think it includes electric). Politics can effect rent, like when officials in NY State were going to end rent stablization in June 1997. Senator Bruno in Albany was lobbying with the NY state landlords to *end rent control & rent stablilization forever*. The public didn't even hear about it till about a month or 2 prior to the pending decision. There was only one or two phone numbers that Mayor Guiliani had set up for concerned people to call (which were always busy). Everyone who had a rent stabilized apartment was nearly having a nervous breakdown. Millions of people would've become homeless and would've had to have moved out of NYC altogether. People who lived in houses, co-ops, etc., said, "Well, it doesn't effect me, so I don't care". The way the media handled it with a minute / second countdown till the deadline in the bottom of the TV screen was really offensive. Millions of people were dangled by a literal thread as to what their fates were going to be. Luckily, at the very last minute, rent stabilization was extended for another 6 years. However, every year the landlords try to get the rent percentage increases put into effect, as landlords are always crying poverty. Anyway, rent stabilization laws were extended till 2015...and hopefully dearest Andrew Cuomo and Sheldon Silver in Albany will make certain that it is extended forever! Many people feel that if rent stabilization was done away with completely, that the prices of apartment rents would level off and be lower. But understand that landlords will still charge as much as they think they can get. I suppose it is a matter of what one gets. If someone moves into an apartment and pays $2,000.00 per month for it, and his neighbor, who has been living there 25 years, only pays $700.00 per month for the same exact space, the tenant who's paying $2,000.00 per month may feel resentment and disgruntled and want rent stabilization abolished. But if that same person got a rent stabilized, low rent apartment from an ungreedy landlord, he/she might think otherwise, and be thanking their lucky stars for rent stabilization. For lower rent, consider moving to Brooklyn or Queens (just outside Manhattan)...or Hoboken or Jersey City (just a short trip on the Path Train in New Jersey. However, if you work in Manhattan and live in NJ, you will have to pay taxes to both states. My friends Alan and Stacy, got a 3 BR place in a 2 family house in Astoria (Queens), for about $800.00 a month in the late 90s. They are also a 10 block walk from the G train. Still, considering unregulated, rip-off studios in Manhattan, you may want to make the sacrifice and go a little further out in order to have more living space. A few years ago, when I first wrote about
East Harlem, it was still rather inexpensive. East Harlem
and West Harlem are now considered 'middle-class'. Why?
Well, there wasn't really any place else to go so people
began to move in. Also when our former President Clinton
decided to have his office on West 125th St., (well, what
can I say...the landlords there felt that their ship
has finally come in!) This is good news and bad news. It is
good news as all people will be bringing their money and
spending it in that community. The bad thing is, the mom
& pop stores and shops that were paying $900.00 a month
rent for their places of business-will soon have their rents
quadrupled...and how will minorities keep their businesses
when they get astronomical rent increases?! So places like
the Gap and Starbucks will move in and the minority business
people won't be able to do their businesses in their
neighborhood anymore. And that is a shame! Yes, so quite recently, Harlem is going through some major community renewal. A lot of brand new housing is being built along 5th Ave & Madison Ave, between East 117th St. and East 122 St. East Harlem is mostly Hispanic and West Harlem is mostly African American, but there is a mix in both areas. In the past it was considered a 'rougher' neighborhood. I sometimes teach there and never had any problems. I also know caucasions who live there (both male and female), who are quite pleased with the neighborhood and it's accomodations. The Bronx is also becoming a popular place to live, since areas of Brooklyn are now as expensive as Manhattan. If you have the money, you might want to consider buying a coop or condo. Since the recession, prices have come down. I have actually seen ads for 1 BR apartments in good neighborhhoods, like the Upper East Side(East 60s - East 90s) for 250K and a monthly maintenance of $500-$600/month. If you have the 20% deposit needed. that might be worth your while. Other Housing Authority Developments in Manhattan: Amsterdam Additions, Amsterdam Houses, Audubon Apts, Baruch Houses, Bethune Gardens, Braceti Plaza, Carver Houses, Chelsea Houses, Clinton Houses, Douglass Houses, Drew Hamilton Houses, Dyckman Houses, East River Houses, Elliot Houses, F.E. Samuels Apts., First Houses, Fort Washington Houses, Fulton Houses, Gompers Houses, Grampion Apts., Grant Houses, Harbourview Terrrace, Harlem River Houses, Hernandez Houses, Holmes-Isaacs Houses, Ira S. Robbins Plaza, Jackie Robinson Houses, Johnson Houses, LaGuardia Houses, Lehman Village, Lexington Houses, Lincoln Houses, Manhattanville Houses, Martin Luther King Jr. Towers, Meltzer Apts., Metro North Houses, Mt. Morris Park Houses, P.A. Randolph Houses, Polo Grounds Towers, Ralph J. Rangel Houses, Riis Houses, Rutgers Houses, Smith Houses, Straus Houses, St. Nicholas Houses, Taft Houses, Two Bridges Houses, Vladeck Houses, Wagner Houses, Wald Houses, Washington Houses, White Houses, Wilson Houses, Wise Towers. Also, because people are running out of places to go, people are moving back to The Bronx. I don't know what to say about The Bronx--only that it is the section of NYC that has the word 'the' preceeding it. We never say, 'The Brooklyn' or 'The Staten Island'. Oh, yes, there's Staten Island. I can't tell ya too much about that either other than you have to take a ferry to go back and forth from Manhattan. The number for Ferry info is: 212-225-5368. Rooms can be rented at the YMCA's and residences specifically for men and for women. I know of 3-4 places for women. The Webster on West 34th St. The Parkside Evangeline on East 20th St, right across the street from Gramercy Park. St. Mary's Residence (where many Hunter College female students live) on East 72nd St. between 2nd and 3rd Aves. I don't know if it is still open, but I recall that the Martha Washington Hotel was also for women in Midtown. Depending how long your stay and what you can afford, you can always reside for a while at a hotel. There are some Youth Hostels around the city, if your stay is short. If you are US veteran looking for a short stay, you can get really good deals staying at The Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen's Club, 283 Lexington Ave. (Between 36th & 37th St.) in Manhattan. Other folks cannot stay here, only current & veteran Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen. This is a hotel, I do not think it is for living year round. When you're in NYC, you can call 311 and find out what apartment lotteries are available and the deadlines or go to this web page: nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/apartment/lotteries.shtml Some NYC /Housing info which may be of use to you: nyc apt lotteries: http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/apartment/lotteries.shtml http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.d32028675068b2f6a62fa24601c789a0/ more nyc apartment hunting tips: http://www.nyc.gov/html/housinginfo/html/apartments/apartment_hunting_tips.shtml nyc housing authority: http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/sitemap/site_index.shtml
Anyway...happy hunting! P.S. To find out about NYC Tenant's
rights, laws, etc., visit P.S. S. Check out "How the Other Half Lives" by Jacob A.Riis. ©1890. Text and Illustrations. |
©W. Ballard / 594, All Rights Reserved.