NYC move. | Imamother

out-of-towner

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 11:16 am

By NYC do you mean Manhattan? In which case there is the Lower East Side, Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Washington Heights, Riverdale exc.

If you mean the 5 Boroughs there is Brooklyn (Flatbush, Boro Park, Kensington exc), Queens (Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Kew Gardens Hills, Jamaica Estates, Far Rockaway), Staten Island exc.

NYC encompasses a large area and a lot of communities, these are all I can think of off hand.

morah

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 11:23 am

out-of-towner wrote:

Riverdale is not in Manhattan, it's in the Bronx.

chani4

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 11:25 am

morah wrote:

There are dozens of communities in the NY metro area. I think you'll get better answers if you can tell us what you're looking for in a community.

Yes I mean manhattan. We are frum not really yeshivish but close. Looking for a nice community with young couples with young children

out-of-towner

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 11:36 am

Most young families with children are getting priced out of Manhattan. It is VERY expensive. The Upper West Side is mostly young singles/young couples without children. Families that live there tend to have $$$$.

The Lower East Side is a lot of older families, again young families are priced out, and also young families tend to want more living space which is impossible on the LES.

No clue about the Upper East Side.

CLAIM: This is all my perception based on who I know lives in these areas (or has moved out...).

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 12:16 pm

Can I be obnoxious enough to ask what it is about NYC you think you love so much that you want to live there, if you don't even know enough to know where the communities are?!

I'm originally from NY. And yes, there is something exciting about the energy and all that. But unless you're moving to Midtown Manhattan, you'll be traveling to some extent to see it regardless. So all you'll gain is an increase in pollution, difficult parking, and high real estate costs.

Disclaimer: there are definitely pros about living in NY. But if you want to move somewhere cuz you love it... NOT a reason in my book. I love the country. It's so peaceful and beautiful. I love Israel and the atmosphere and calm and holiness... But when we finally settled down, we did not move to either one of those places. We made a logical decision based on reason and not love. (Also, please note that LIVING in a place and TOURING a place are two completely different experiences!)

smiledr

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 6:06 pm

Upper west side has tons of families - mid of the road and mod ortho . Upper east is very mod. Lower east has very fr, mid and mod ortho. U need to make well into the 6 figures to afford it. U can find small apts for a few thousand a month for a two bedroom but they'll be cramped and not renovated. To own you'll pay close to a million for a two bedroom and well over that if want something nice. You sound very naive. I love manhattan too but I visit , I don't live there. Be realistic - figure out what you need in a community and what u can afford and go from there.

amother

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 6:42 pm

To echo what others have written, it really depends on how much you can spend on rent.
I've lived in the city (downtown, midtown and uptown) as well as in Brooklyn. Happy to help you but need more info from you first.
How much do you want to spend?
How big is your family?
Do you need an eiruv?

amother

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 8:02 pm

I disagree with the person who said Lower East Side will never have enough space for a family. Many of the co-op apartments there are quite spacious, and just about every building has a nice playground and lawn attached. There are also playrooms you can pay membership to. As far as apartment living goes, this is about as much space as you get - definitely more than Brooklyn (apartments). It is one of the most family-friendly neighborhoods you can find in Manhattan.

However I have to agree that it is prohibitively expensive. Nice apartments start close to 800k to buy, today I saw a sign up for a nice 2 bedroom for rent at $2700/month PLUS electricity. Worth it only if you have a great job close by.

The community is nice, always seems to be slowly dwindling and yet somehow there are still plenty of families around (plenty = relative). There's no more fleishig restaurant and the pizza store is closing, but there's still a frum grocery and meat/takeout store. Decent functional mikvah right there. Numerous minyanim with lots of shiurim, established local yeshiva and kollel, frum schools for nursery, boys, and girls elementary. Kids tend to commute for high school, some commute to other elementary schools too if they're looking for more modern. The local schools have a fairly mixed crowd even though philosophically they're more yeshivish/BY.

It would be ideal if it weren't so darn hard to find affordable apartments. Sometimes a reasonable one comes up but you can bet there are at least 5 couples or families waiting for each one apartment that becomes available. There'd be more except that the rest would have given up by the time it becomes available.