Housing in New York

[Viet Hoang]

Hi everyone, I will be enrolling in the Baruch MFE program this year, starting with the refresher courses this summer and I'm looking for housing in NY. I'm currently going to school in Minnesota so I'm not very familiar with the New York area. Could you please give me some advice on housing options in New York?
My ideal place could be:
- Not too far from Baruch (maybe 45' commuting at max?)
- Safe
- Cheap (500-800 max?)
- Not too tiny.
I'm also thinking about finding a place in NJ but I don't know about the transportation costs to NY City and how long it might take to commute.

Please give me some thoughts, I really appreciate your help

 

[alain]

- Cheap (500-800 max?)
- Not too tiny.

What's your definition of tiny? These two are usually mutually exclusive.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

You want to go to new york city rooms & shares classifieds - craigslist and familiarize yourself with the cost of housing in NYC. You should look into sharing a room with someone else as it would be least expensive. The 3 boroughs you should into is the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. New Jersey is not a bad choice but if you are going to spend through your nose for housing, at least you can brag that you live in New York City
A relative of mine just rented in Queens and they paid 1200/month for 1 bedroom apt.
Prepare for a sticker shock. For the amount that you pay to rent a whole house in MN, you can only get a kitchen in NYC (for comparison effect, of course).

 

[bigbadwolf]

Could you please give me some advice on housing options in New York?
My ideal place could be:
- Not too far from Baruch (maybe 45' commuting at max?)
- Safe
- Cheap (500-800 max?)
- Not too tiny.
I'm also thinking about finding a place in NJ but I don't know about the transportation costs to NY City and how long it might take to commute.

I doubt you can get all four (but you're welcome to try). Staten Island is a possibility. It's a 25-minute ferry ride from lower Manhattan, and then maybe another 10-minute subway ride to Baruch. So that should be at least one hour door-to-door from your place in Staten Island to Baruch. Alternatively you might find a place, say, in a place like Hackensack, NJ. A bus from Hackensack will get you to the Port Authority Terminal in about 45 minutes and then maybe another 15 minutes by subway, so maybe one hour and fifteen minutes door to door. So off the top of my head I'd suggest New Jersey and Staten Island. They're a world removed from high-octane Manhattan, which can be either a plus or a minus: the former if you need time to recover from the frenzy, the latter if you thrive on a permanent adrenaline rush.

If you have no luck finding anything, send me a personal message on this forum and I'll give you the name of a place where you can get a room that will include meals and utilities for $800 on Staten Island. It's not in the most salubrious of neighborhoods (it's near the ferry terminal, in fact), but you should be all right there.

 

[alain]

... A bus from Hackensack will get you to the Port Authority Terminal in about 45 minutes and then maybe another 15 minutes by subway...

There is no way you can get from Port Authority to Baruch by Subway in 15 minutes.

 

[Viet Hoang]

Thanks a lot Andy, alain and bigbadwolf for the quick comments. I just went to Craiglist and was shocked with the rent... I'm paying $420 for a huge apartment in MN so my definition of space will definitely change once I get to NYC .
I was looking at google Map and it seems Jersey City, Hoboken and Weehawken are not that far from Baruch. A friend of mine has a friend going to Baruch (some other programs) and he said it only took 15' from Jersey City to Baruch?
With the rent that I saw on craigslist, I think it's better to look for a shared apartment... Since I won't get to NYC until the end of May, do you think I can find a place within a week (I can crash in a friend's place for a week or so)?
Thanks a lot

 

[bigbadwolf]

A friend of mine has a friend going to Baruch (some other programs) and he said it only took 15' from Jersey City to Baruch?

There are PATH trains going from various places in NJ (including Jersey City) to Penn Station, but I don't think 15 minutes is possible. Time spent commuting is a problem for people in NYC and its environs. Some people spend 90 minutes one way, maybe even more.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I just went to Craiglist and was shocked with the rent... I'm paying $420 for a huge apartment in MN so my definition of space will definitely change once I get to NYC .

Out of town friends laugh in disbelief when hearing what I paid for rent. That's what they pay for mortgage in other parts of the country. Your dollar won't stretch very far housing wise in NYC. That's why I don't tell you to search for housing in Manhattan where studio costs several thousands a month.

I was looking at google Map and it seems Jersey City, Hoboken and Weehawken are not that far from Baruch. A friend of mine has a friend going to Baruch (some other programs) and he said it only took 15' from Jersey City to Baruch?

NJ city is just across the river but we are not birds and can't fly in straight line :D
You gotta take the path to Wall Street station and transfer to local subway uptown to Baruch. It takes more than 15 minutes, definitely.

With the rent that I saw on craigslist, I think it's better to look for a shared apartment... Since I won't get to NYC until the end of May, do you think I can find a place within a week (I can crash in a friend's place for a week or so)?
Thanks a lot

Craigslist is a hit or miss kind of thing. A shared room will save you the hassle with signing a long term lease and dealing with landlord. Don't pack a lot of stuff. Better get a friend to check out the place before you rent. Make sure it's close to a train that takes you to Baruch (1,6,F,N,R)
Finding housing will take weeks or months so you gotta start NOW.

 

[alain]

he said it only took 15' from Jersey City to Baruch

Only in Fantasy Land... I have done this commute and it's way more than15 minutes.

 

[doug reich]

You're probably here by now, so the question is moot, but...

Definitely look into different neighborhoods both in and out of Manhattan. Obviously, the best deals are out, but if you expand your options to include places further uptown (outside of the financial ghetto that is east midtown), including the upper west side, far west side (40s near 10th & 11th), and especially Harlem and Washington Heights, you can find something cheaper.

My advice, though, is that you absolutely have to visit an apartment at different times and on different days, because you can get a totally different feeling for it then. I rented a place that seemed great in the afternoon in the summer... and turned out to be miserably dim and depressing the rest of the time (it was a great price for a reason, as it turns out).

For example, the financial district is a ghost town (or overrun with tourists) on nights and weekends, but also expensive.

One place I've never heard anyone say they didn't like is Astoria, Queens: multi-ethnic, reasonably priced, close to Manhattan. Also, it has the Bohemian Beer Garden.