Research: Question for NYC Residents

[Selena_Kitt]

Never been there...

Poshest areas to live?

Do the subways go there?

How much do the houses go for in the poshest areas?

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Good luck finding a house within the city. It's mostly brownstones and apartments. I don't know the prices either, but they are expensive.

There are subways all over the place, but I have never been on them. There are also trains that run from New Jersey to New York, but I have never been on them either.

I really don't like the city. And as a Jersey resident, I avoid it as if it were a 3rd world country.

 

[Liar]

Yeah, I'm guessing the fanciest NY living you can get is somerthing like this.

http://www.locationsmagazine.com/display.php?id=927

Although not5 that one specifically, which seems to be rented for parties and stuff.

And it's central Manhattan so yes, there be subways.

 

[R. Richard]

Never been there...

Poshest areas to live?

Do the subways go there?

How much do the houses go for in the poshest areas?

There are several NYCs. In Manhattan, the poshest areas are generally on the upper West side. However, if you go too far up the West side you get into Dominican areas that are not exactly posh. Some other posh 'NYC' areas are Yonkers, which is a separate town, North of the Bronx. Also Rye and vicinity in East N is posh.

You can take a 1 subway train up the West side or an A train. Usually, the residents of Rye drive to a train station and then take a train into Manhattan.

If you have to ask how expensive are the houses, you can't afford it. The penthouse at The Pierre Hotel [upper West side] can be obtained for seventy million [$70,000,000] dollars. HOWEVER, it is possible to obtain a charming pied-a'-terre for as little as five million. If you want to rent, posh digs may be obtained for $30,000 per month.

Down in lower Manhattan, there were apartments in Battery Park at the South end of Manhattan for rent for some $2,500 per month a few years back.

You can find chaeper rents in places like Brownsville and Bedford-Stuyvesant. However, those neighborhoods are largely populated bigots. A white boy come down to shoot a little dice is often accosted by hoodlums wearing cheap plastic watches and little money in their wallets.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Never been there...

Poshest areas to live?

Do the subways go there?

How much do the houses go for in the poshest areas?

Selena, the most expensive area to live in NYC is in the middle of Manhattan in the general vicinity of Central Park. Central Park West, Fifth Ave (on the E side of CP) and Park Ave are THE addresses. These run through the pricey Upper East Side and Upper West Side area. But as RR said, if you have to ask how much it costs to live there, you can't.

In addition to Manhattan, there are four other "boroughs" in NYC (Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. The Forest Hills area of Queens may be the most upscale of the in-town neighborhoods.

Subways are virtually everywhere. Subway maps are available online.

Good luck

Rumple Foreskin

 

[WRJames]

Actually I used to live on the Upper West Side, on 93rd between Broadway and West End -- in those days it wasn't so posh -- it was referred to as Spanish Harlem. But times change.

If you are willing to part with several million dollars for an apartment or house, Manhattan might be for you. Otherwise, something less posh might be in order.

 

[neonlyte]

I stayed on 5th and 85th when I was in NYC last year, views from the 18th floor to downtown and across Central Park. The apartment was just north of the Met, and about 200 metres from the Guggenheim. It was leased by a friend as a 'guest apartment' for visitors, though one of his sons was living there temporarily. The father occupied the entire 20th and 21st floors. Woody Allen lived in the building, so I'm guessing it was about as up-market as they come. The metro was one block away, lines 1,4, 5 can't remember the rest. His son told me at Christmas he was looking for a place of his own as his father was going to switch the lease to him at 50k a month. For that money you get 24 hour concierge, contract cleaning, laundry but basement parking was an outrageous 7$ an hour.

It was fun, I might have enjoyed it less if I'd known how much it was costing

ETA: From a research POV, the building itself was very ordinary. The fittings and finishes were nothing particularly special, and the heating system either boiled you or you froze. The apartment was quite small, two good sized bedrooms, both en-suite; and surprisingly, for that money, the entrance opened into the main sitting dining room. No hallway, so you'd hear the lifts trundling past. The opulence was almost reserved for the building entrance, capped long coated doormen, a carpet where you sunk ankle deep, and massive fresh flower displays. And a lift man... sometimes. It was opposite a fabulous organic food shop/deli with bitchy staff and outrageous prices, but irresistible eye food. Without any doubt, one is paying for 'location' rather than anything else.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I stayed on 5th and 85th when I was in NYC last year, views from the 18th floor to downtown and across Central Park. The apartment was just north of the Met, and about 200 metres from the Guggenheim. It was leased by a friend as a 'guest apartment' for visitors, though one of his sons was living there temporarily. The father occupied the entire 20th and 21st floors. Woody Allen lived in the building, so I'm guessing it was about as up-market as they come. The metro was one block away, lines 1,4, 5 can't remember the rest. His son told me at Christmas he was looking for a place of his own as his father was going to switch the lease to him at 50k a month. For that money you get 24 hour concierge, contract cleaning, laundry but basement parking was an outrageous 7$ an hour.

It was fun, I might have enjoyed it less if I'd known how much it was costing

ETA: From a research POV, the building itself was very ordinary. The fittings and finishes were nothing particularly special, and the heating system either boiled you or you froze. The apartment was quite small, two good sized bedrooms, both en-suite; and surprisingly, for that money, the entrance opened into the main sitting dining room. No hallway, so you'd hear the lifts trundling past. The opulence was almost reserved for the building entrance, capped long coated doormen, a carpet where you sunk ankle deep, and massive fresh flower displays. And a lift man... sometimes. It was opposite a fabulous organic food shop/deli with bitchy staff and outrageous prices, but irresistible eye food. Without any doubt, one is paying for 'location' rather than anything else.

Ahhhh thank you!!

All very helpful...

70 million is just the figure I was looking for!

now... another question...

where would a young person (20 or so) be able to live in NYC that wasn't in TOO bad a neighborhood, but ya know, for poor student-like folks... I assume it would be a ways from Manhattan?

(Thanks for the tip on the subway maps, Rumply! I'll google! )

 

[neonlyte]

Around Chinatown you'd still find cheapish rents, accommodation would be pretty squalid. My cousins originally lived near Perry Street when they moved to NYC, trying to be independent of 'dad'.

If you google map for NYC, it has a great pavement (sidewalk) level viewer, that will give you a good idea of what it's like to be on ground level in the city.

 

[Huckleman2000]

Around 15 years ago, I had a friend who worked in Manhattan but lived in Brooklyn Heights, which is just across the river from Lower Manhattan. He said it was a great neighborhood, but I don't know what rents would be like there.

Years later, I also went to a party in a decrepit brownstone in Harlem, somewhere around 118th or so if I remember correctly. Everyone in the building knew each other, it seemed like an urban Bohemian community. I can't imagine paying much to live there.

If I recall correctly, the NYTimes has a good real estate utility on its website.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Ahhhh thank you!!

All very helpful...

70 million is just the figure I was looking for!

now... another question...

where would a young person (20 or so) be able to live in NYC that wasn't in TOO bad a neighborhood, but ya know, for poor student-like folks... I assume it would be a ways from Manhattan?

(Thanks for the tip on the subway maps, Rumply! I'll google! )

Around Chinatown you'd still find cheapish rents, accommodation would be pretty squalid. My cousins originally lived near Perry Street when they moved to NYC, trying to be independent of 'dad'.

If you google map for NYC, it has a great pavement (sidewalk) level viewer, that will give you a good idea of what it's like to be on ground level in the city.

Or a basement apartment in Queens, or the Bronx.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Or a basement apartment in Queens, or the Bronx.

Or Jersey, right? It's not too far?

 

[DesertPirate]

Get the Friday Wall Street Journal, they have a reelestate section that normally has Manhattan apartments for sale.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Or Jersey, right? It's not too far?

Some parts of the bordering towns of New Jersey are right up there in Price. Hoboken, Cliffside Park, Edgewater, have apartments and houses right up there in the millions of dollars range. You have to have a decent commute of about a half hour to get into the city before you start finind more affordable housing (slums of Patterson ).

Although I should point out, even though I live right ovcer in Jersey, I don't know too much about the areas outside of it. I'm not very well traveled, even in my own areas...

 

[CeriseNoire]

Or Jersey, right? It's not too far?

When I was living in Jersey, a lot of students lived in Newark, but in the areas close to Rutgers University. That way they could hop on the PATH train and get into NYC fairly quickly. Also, by staying near Rutgers, they benefited from the campus security since Newark can be pretty dangerous. Otherwise, Jersey City is pretty close, but I'd advise living with a roommate for added safety; it's not that bad, but you need to be street savvy.

Also, within the boroughs, there's Canarsie in the outskirts of Brooklyn. It's about an hour by subway (L train, then the 1 or 2 last time I was up there). I remember that my uncle used to rent the outside apartment to students who couldn't afford living in the city proper or didn't feel safe there. I know a few people in the neighborhood rented their extra rooms as well.

 

[R. Richard]

If you want a place for a young person to live in NYC, try Staten Island.

The situation with Staten Island is that Staten Island has no subways. To get from Staten Island to Manhattan, you take the FREE! Staten Island ferry. From St. George to Southferry. The ferry trip normally takes 20 to 25 minutes and is the reason why Staten Island rents are cheap.

Just to completely cover the situation, you can take the Verrazano Narrows bridge [toll] from Staten Island to Brooklyn. You can then wend your way through Brooklyn [the closer to Manhattan, the expensiver] and into Manhattan. There is no free place in Manhattan to park your car. Thus, you park in a pay lot and buy your car back at the end of the day.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I suggest not having a car if you are going to be living IN the city. If you are going to be within walking distance of a train outside the city, I suggest leaving the car at home.

 

[R. Richard]

I suggest not having a car if you are going to be living IN the city. If you are going to be within walking distance of a train outside the city, I suggest leaving the car at home.

One thing that is often surprising to USA westerners is the fact that well-to-do New Yorkers often don't have/ drive cars. A car is a feedom machine that lets you go where you want to, when you want to. NOT in NYC!