New York

pretty much every 1 bedroom apartment has some shitty little extra room that was probably used for the baby or storage in the early 20th century but is now being sold as a second bedroom, so a 1 bedroom is 1300 but for 1500 you get a 2 bedroom where the second bedroom often sucks.

This is disturbingly OTM. I recently tromped all over Bed-Stuy to a place that was about 6 blocks farther from the train than the ad said it was, only to be told that the "second bedroom" was a small alcove off the living room that wouldn't fit a double bed and didn't even have anywhere to hang a DOOR.

The apt was incredibly beautiful and well-restored but under no possible circumstance was it a 2-bedroom.

this picture in times real estate this weekend was lolz

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/05/17/realestate/17cover650.5.jpg

Michael Robinson checks out an alleged bedroom in Manhattan. He is still looking.

^^^^^^ Jamiroquai video?

HAHAHA

would that even fit a twin bed???

a hammock maybe

it wouldnt even fit jay kays hat

haha as soon as dan posted abt tiny bedrooms i thought of that picture

I do own a car, which makes living in Queens much easier. These areas aren't for everyone. If you like to leave your house and walk down the street and go to a record store or a cool bar, you can forget about it. If you do nothing but eat tacos and empenadas and comparing where to get the best thai crispy duck salad, then you're golden. A lot of people who end up in queens are domesticating, like moving in with a significant other and decided that cheap rent is more important than hanging out at a crowded Williamsburg bar.
- dan selzer

HA HA yeah, not looking to settle down anytime soon. Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll just make a mil a year and live in the upper eastside.

Or stay in Portland and keep my 40k a year job. ;)

if you have a 40k job of the type that your salary would jump up in nyc, you'll be perfectly fine. you'd be fine with 40. not like, super luxuriously comfortable, but definitely not dirt poor.

im makin a little more than half that and beyond the stuff i listed above im not making any major sacrifices to live here!

tho i dont know--one of the big elephants in the room is also your social life, your friend circle, i.e. what kinds of restaurants and bars your friends will want to go to. i do OK cuz most of my friends are making similar amnts of money and have similar budgets; kids i know who are brokers/i-bankers (or WERE brokers/i-bankers, HA HA HA HA HA HA) & spend time w/ their co-workers or others from similar social circles tend to spend a lot more on a weekend/night out than i do

yah being realistic i would be... stretched on under $40K of course its totally doable but im not exactly sharing a studio apt in brklyn idk

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/05/17/realestate/17cover650.5.jpg

this man is 9ft tall btw... liberal media...

I know that's not true because Uniqlo and H+M don't even make pants that fit me.

And I'm only 8ft tall.

Though that guy is a lot more slender.

special ordered from the serbian uniqlo!

tho i dont know--one of the big elephants in the room is also your social life, your friend circle, i.e. what kinds of restaurants and bars your friends will want to go to. i do OK cuz most of my friends are making similar amnts of money and have similar budgets; kids i know who are brokers/i-bankers (or WERE brokers/i-bankers, HA HA HA HA HA HA) & spend time w/ their co-workers or others from similar social circles tend to spend a lot more on a weekend/night out than i do

― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Monday, May 18, 2009 1:14 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Well, if I moved to NY, I wouldn't have any friends. Problem solved! And that makes it a little intimidating. Are a lot of you guys from NY originally?

I grew up 30 minutes away in New Jersey, but I never say I'm "from New York". Which is funny because people in other cities tend to say they're from that city even when they live 2 hours away. Poseurs.

im from NJ too and i always say im from NJ--partly because if i pulled the "im from NY" card and ppl found out i was from NJ id get no end of shit, and partly because, fuck you, NJ rules

Agreed, but despite all this NJ love, I would recommend against living there if you're goal is to live it up and party in NY. Yes, Jersey City is pretty cool and has come a long way...but it's not MUCH cheaper then Queens or Brooklyn, while it is MUCH less cool and much less convenient.

otm

totally better options for getting across the East river then the Hudson. especially late night

and cheaper options...

for now.

http://www.pixelcase.com.au/vr/2009/newyork/

ooooh!

Michael Robinson checks out an alleged bedroom in Manhattan. He is still looking.

i could probably make it work, but yeah, forget about a "bed"

I work in the public sector for a comparatively low to middling salary and share a two-bedroom in Queens for a very reasonable rent. (That makes me sound so boring!) I'm not really pinched financially, though I would be more so if I had my own apartment, which I would like to have, someday. You could find a studio in Queens for around $1,000, so that wouldn't be much different than your Portland rent, though it would be surely lesser in space and amenities. I don't have a car--not having to drive (or own a car) is for me, one of the most convenient aspects of NYC living. There's a large middle class in Queens--not so much in Manhattan anymore.

Thanks Virginia Plain! I wouldn't be opposed to having a roommate, assuming it wasn't a psycho (I had some pretty nutty roomies in college). I have about 9 more months until my lease is up to figure it out.

did the pollen etc kill anybody today? i thought first it was my acid reflux, but since noon I've been coughing myself to tears.

i can't tell if i'm dry and scratchy bc of pollen or because i shredded documents for like 4 hours and have kicked up a lot of dust in my packing.

Having lived in Jersey City I would maybe recommend it over the further parts of Queens, although even then there's just something about New York that feels like New York, and something about Jersey City that feels like imitation New York.

i'm not even comparing Jersey City to the further parts of queens (college point? flushing?)

Astoria/Sunnyside/Woodside/Jackson Heights should be considered more nearer then further.

i just sold my dresser to a hipster dude with an asian girlfriend and i just... felt so right about my decision to move.

I'm not even comparing Jersey City to the further parts of queens (college point? flushing?)

Astoria/Sunnyside/Woodside/Jackson Heights should be considered more nearer then further.

― dan selzer, Thursday, May 21, 2009 10:44 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark

For someone who works long hours in downtown manhattan and cares a lot about convenience, Jersey City is probably a better lifestyle than Jackson Heights, Astoria etc. That said, no one works in downtown manhattan anymore and I never knew many of the kind of people who fit my description.

i just sold my dresser to a hipster dude with an asian girlfriend and i just... felt so right about my decision to move.

― ricardos montalban (tehresa), Thursday, May 21, 2009 10:57 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark

Tipping point?

how much did they get you for?

in re: rents and real estate, i have no idea how representative this is, but we just knocked $250/month off our rent in negotiating a renewal, without even trying hard. our landlord is one of those big asshole companies that own lots of buildings, so obviously they have access to all sorts of info on rent trends and whatnot, which means it's probably a good renters' market. (or we were just overpaying by so much that they felt bad for us. or they just really like us. but neither of those seems awfully likely to me.)

somehow I don't think joblessness is gonna get my rent-stabilized hike of 4-1/2% waived next month.

need hotel. doesn't matter where too much, needs to not be gross, prefer cheap.

?

i got a couch which will run you one six-pack per night + the cost of food delivery.

for serious? I there for Boadrum...

i would be open to lettin u stay on couch for sure, adamrl. e-mail a bro.

OK

BROOKLYN tell me abt the hood around DEAN and NOSTRAND

does anyone know of any large coffee houses in new york?

How large?

larger than your usual diner or starbucks. I'm thinking there aren't any...

the starbucks at astor place is pretty big

i would have said Lotus on the lower east side but it's closed :(

did anyone else just hear that big scary missile/thunder sound?