Finding Housing in NYC

[Mjr Lee Fat]

Hello everyone! My girlfriend will be moving to New York City soon (as in, at the beginning of September, hopefully) for a 10-month acting apprenticeship. Now, being as we're both from Wisconsin, and have lived there all our lives, we're a little unsure about how to find subleases for the time that she'll be there. We've been working with her director and some of her friends in the area to try to find her something, but we're not sure that we're using all of our resources. Here's what we've used so far:

Facebook (especially a page called NYC Housing Helper)
Her friends
Friends of her director
Friends of friends

Thankfully, a lot of her friends who are in the city who don't have space available themselves have been reaching out to others or posting Facebook statuses looking for people with rooms. The biggest problem that we've been encountering is that housing opportunities don't last long, and even if people have places that aren't taken, they have had to pull their offers because of other reasons.

So my request for help is this: What are some other places that I don't have listed that you have successfully used or know that other people have used to find sublease housing in NYC? How well did that work out? Where else should we be looking? Thank you Playgrounders!!!

(Note: We are aware that Craigslist is a place to check, but we're both a little leery about it, due to the fact that it's completely anonymous until you actually have a chance to meet a poster. Her director also said to avoid it. That's why we've relied so much on Facebook.)

[Flickerdart]

Ah, New York housing. The worst thing in the world.

StreetEasy has subleases listed, but you're not supposed to post subleases on it, so I don't know if there's a way to filter for them. Same deal with the other sites (Trulia, Naked Apartments). As long as you're on Facebook, try to get in university housing groups, especially ones for Columbia, as its neighbourhood is much more affordable than the area around, say, NYU. In these groups, students will frequently post seeking roommates.

Since most leases in this city are on a yearly cycle, you may be better off just getting a 12 month lease. At the cost of some money it will give you a much wider choice (there are variable length leases, but many fewer than full term ones).

Don't be afraid to look outside of Manhattan. Your most important metric is how long it takes to get somewhere by subway. Astoria/Long Island City is technically Queens, but it takes less time to get to anywhere in Manhattan than from somewhere like Central Harlem. Sunnyside is another good Queens neighbourhood for this, everywhere else is probably too far. Staten Island is too far, the Bronx is a little shady (but very affordable!) and Brooklyn ranges from basically Manhattan (DUMBO) to basically Bronx (Bed-Stuy, Flatbush) to Little Moscow (Brighton Beach). In Manhattan itself, the further you go above 125th St (West Side), Central Park (center), or 96th St (East Side) the cheaper and shadier it gets. Surprisingly, the very north tip of Manhattan (Innwood) is very safe for the price, since it's mostly co-ops.

[Scarlet Knight]

Hahahahahahahahahaaaaa! Oh, wait, you're serious?

Consider the suburbs along train lines, but that sadly will also be expensive.

[Flickerdart]

Hahahahahahahahahaaaaa! Oh, wait, you're serious?

Consider the suburbs along train lines, but that sadly will also be expensive.

From what I understand, the suburbs don't actually get cheaper, they just get bigger - so you might be paying $1500 for a studio in Harlem, or a 2BR in Yonkers, but Yonkers just doesn't have studios. Then again, getting roommates is cheaper than scaling down your room count, and there's definitely more demand for that sort of thing in the city.

There's also New Jersey, but, you know.

[Mjr Lee Fat]

I mean, I've never been to New Jersey, but from everything that I've heard it doesn't sound like a great place (unless Megas XLR becomes a real thing, but that's also really dangerous).

I should've included more information earlier. The theater she's working at is in Queens, Woodside specifically, so whatever we can get that's close to that or cheap enough to make travel costs not an issue would be ideal. Does anyone have any sort of advice on traveling in the city at lower prices (artist wages)?

[Murk]

Is it possible to ride a bicycle in New York City without dying?

[Flickerdart]

Is it possible to ride a bicycle in New York City without dying?

Yes, but subway is much better. NYC employers are required to provide workers with the option to buy a pre-tax subway pass. Woodside has a couple of subway lines passing through it, but depending on where the theatre is, she might have to walk a bit.

The good news is that Queens is cheap, and Woodside isn't exactly an expensive area. Living near work (and taking the train into the city for when you want to get out of Queens) is a good option.

[Mjr Lee Fat]

Wait. This is a real question. Is biking in NYC dangerous?

[Flickerdart]

Not really. The speed limit is very low, so even though there are a lot of cars, you should be okay. There are cycling paths in a lot of areas (alongside the Hudson, all through Central Park, and so on) so you don't even have to be on the road all the time.

Out in the boroughs, cycling is no more or less dangerous than anywhere else. The speed limits still exist, but it's a lot more like any other city.

[Murk]

Oh, sorry if I made it look like cycling in NYC was dangerous - I honestly didn't know. If someone asks me "What is the best way to move around in [...]?" my first thought is always "On a bike" (probably a Dutch thing).
In the NYC case, though, I only know what the city looks like from cheesy sitcoms (so, well, two blocks around Times Square and no further), so I was honestly wondering if there were any bicycle lanes and any cyclist respect.

Glad to hear there is, though!

[Scarlet Knight]

I mean, I've never been to New Jersey, but from everything that I've heard it doesn't sound like a great place...

Having lived half my life in NJ, it's a great place, and in most ways much better than NYC to raise a family. Thus many young people try to start in NYC, but the minute they have kids, move to NJ.


Oh, sorry if I made it look like cycling in NYC was dangerous - I honestly didn't know. If someone asks me "What is the best way to move around in [...]?" my first thought is always "On a bike" (probably a Dutch thing).
In the NYC case, though, I only know what the city looks like from cheesy sitcoms (so, well, two blocks around Times Square and no further), so I was honestly wondering if there were any bicycle lanes and any cyclist respect.

Glad to hear there is, though!

There are some bicycle lanes, but not a lot of cyclist respect, and there is the problem of winter blizzards that make bicycling difficult.