Where to live in New York City?

Everywhere in New York is expensive. What is your price range – what is the maximum you can afford to pay? Tell us more about your situation and interests – are you going to be working in Manhattan, i.e. is the commute distance important? How old are you and do you want to be where nightlife is, etc? Are you planning to share a room with a roommate or are you looking for an apartment with two separate bedrooms? Most leases are 12 month leases so you will need to find someplace to sublet – it may be slightly more challenging to sublet a 2 bedroom than 1 bedroom. Cheapest option will be to sublet a 1-bedroom in a multiple-bedroom apartment, so sharing with other people.

Hi @DiApple Welcome to Fluther!

What is your budget? That matters a lot.

Things will be easier with a roommate, so think about what matters to you.

Do you want to be near the hip and trendy people, cafes and nightspots? That’s the East Village and Lower East Side in Manhattan or Williamsburg and Greenpoint in Brooklyn, or Astoria and Long Island City in Queens.

Do you want to be near the water? That’s The Financial District and Battery Park City in Manhattan, or parts of Queens, like Far Rockaway.

You could live in Morningside Heights, near Columbia University. It’s pretty cheap up there and there’s lots of young people around, thought there’s also more families. Lots of people also live in Inwood, though the train ride will be a little long at night. Apartments in Inwood are pretty big compared to many parts of the city.

You could live in Harlem, or the Upper West Side. If you want a similar neighborhoods that are a little quieter, there’s Fort Greene and Clinton Hill or Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn.

The Upper East Side is OK, but the transport options there aren’t as good, and the apartments are more expensive for less space.

I don’t know much abut the Bronx, to be honest, though I’m sure there’s great neighborhoods there, too. And I think St. George on Staten Island is nice, and it’s right by the (free!) ferry, but that’s the only neighborhood I know there.

i think about 900–1500, maybe it will be more with roommate i think, i’m like tourist, i don’t know USA at all, i’m from russia, student, and so i’ll be working where, now i don’t know where, and so i want to see the hole city, i’d like to be near the “the hip and trendy people, cafes and nightspots” as @aprilsimnel sad. and i think i search apartment with 2 beds

Ok, if you can pay 1500 per month per person you will not have a problem finding a good sublet. The thing to do is search craigslist.org – that is a site that people use for sublets. One challenge for you might be that people do not often post very far in advance, and they do frequently want to meet the person who they will be subletting from before they agree to rent out their place, to make sure the person seems trustworthy. Some people may not want to do a sublet agreement over email with someone who is abroad. So you might want to plan on staying in a youth hostel for the first week you are there so that you can go meet with people in person and find a sublet.
If you want to be near hip and trendy people you might want to look in the east village, alphabet city, lower east side…or in Brooklyn – Williamsburg. The Williamsburg spots may be slightly cheaper than Manhattan.

@occ, thanks, i’ll look, maybe you can help me with some sites where i can find some couple friends from NYC, that can help me with that in future, and another question, where i can find youth hostel? And there is the good one? And another question, whats with furniture in apartments?

and another question, prices per week? month?

Hostels

Couchsurfing probably would also be a place to look into at least to meet people, otherwise, I don’t know how you can make friends here without meeting them face-to-face first. Perhaps New Yorkers here better versed in social networking can help you. Or maybe you can find a Russian expat community in NYC online?

Rent here goes by the month.

Couchsurfing is a good idea – you can find people who will host you for free and that also means you can meet local folks who can give you advice, etc. If you need furniture in the apartment, then you want to look for furnished sublets. I think most 3–4 month sublets are furnished. One other option is a site called airbnb.com where people rent out rooms in their own homes – check it out, either as an option for the week or two while you are looking for a longer-term rental, or as an option for the whole 3 months. For an official sublet, it would usually be paying by the month. For airbnb, you can find places to rent by the week or by the day, as an alternative to a hotel.

My main concern is that you want to live in New York City. What is your problem? Haha, really, it just seems like a terrible place to live to me. If I were you, I would do as my sister did and live in a suburb just over the river. That’s about as close to living in NYC as I would ever feel comfortable with. It’s overpriced and overrated to live in NYC, from every source I’ve ever heard. However, when my sister lived in NJ, she loved it and was only a 30-minute train ride from the city. I’d go for that option.