Midtown NYC | Imamother

amother

Ruby

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 4:40 pm

Also factor in costs like food, school tuition and commuting. Food and tuition (especially tuition) are much higher in Manhattan than surrounding areas.

amother

Floralwhite

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 4:46 pm

I grew up on the Upper West Side. It’s a great place but not really affordable. North Jersey, Queens, Washington heights, five towns, Brooklyn and even Monsey are reasonable commutes to Midtown.

amother

Orange

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 5:02 pm

amother wrote:

"Cheap" and "Manhattan" don't go together, unless you're talking about upper Manhattan ... and you're not.

There are 2-bedroom apartments for $2500, but probably not what you're looking for. Near minyans, you're probably looking at $3500, minimum, a month for a 2 bedroom. Probably more.

I'd suggest that you visit, to scout out different communities. There's decent public transportation, and most people do commute from the outer boroughs or suburbs.

A one bedroom rental on the UWS goes for 3500+ these days. Two bedrooms are much more.

seeker

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 10:58 pm

pesek zman wrote:

I Agree she shouldn’t limit herself but many many families choose location and short commute over space and actually make things work that you wouldn’t believe

(Raises hand)

I'm a prime example of same, but it sounds like OP isn't familiar with NY life. Sure people "make things work" but it's really not for everyone and even when it does "work" it doesn't necessarily really work. You could pay a lot in sanity for the efficiency of raising a family in a tiny apartment.
We also don't know much about her circumstance; if she's looking for a place to live with a couple of babies/preschoolers for a few years while completing a degree or internship, then it could work. But if she's looking for a community to put down roots in, and presumably doesn't plan to plop $1mil on real estate, she's better off outside Manhattan.

essie14

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 11:08 pm

I would strongly suggest looking into Kew Gardens Hills in Queens. It’s a very easy commute to midtown and much more affordable than anywhere in the city.
I think we had a pretty recent thread about the neighborhood. You can search for KGH.

Rappel

Mon, Feb 04 2019, 11:30 pm

Like everyone else said: most people whom work and school in Manhattan commute from outside the borough. It might be worth it to consider which trains (or in the case of Monsey/NJ, buses) run near where you want to go, and to look there for housing.

wow

Tue, Feb 05 2019, 8:19 am

OP regular food shopping in midtown Manhattan is also an issue. I don't believe there are any kosher supermarkets in midtown so you'd have to commute either to the upper west side or lower east side for that.
Quality of life in midtown Manhattan with all the hustling and bustling and shopping, noise, congestion and traffic also makes it a very non-ideal place to settle in.

seeker

Tue, Feb 05 2019, 10:22 am

wow wrote:

Plenty of kosher options in Trader Joe's and Fairway, midtown east (I actually don't know of any residential areas to the west) so food shopping is only an issue if you keep CY. But yeah I think we already basically convinced OP that she'd best explore more options. If you go uptown or downtown it's really just a hop and skip to work in midtown. If only one family member needs to be in midtown then you can go farther (Brooklyn/Queens) and let that person sit on the train 15 ish minutes longer while the rest of the family is closer to kids schools etc.

amother

Cyan

Tue, Feb 05 2019, 10:35 am

pesek zman wrote:

Pls give us more information on your monthly budget for rent (we can tell you what you can get, where) as well as where you are religiously.

Also, many, many people cannot to afford (or don’t choose to live small) in Manhattan and so commute from outer boroughs (and even further)

So we would be moving there for graduate school.
DH wants to live in the student housing, which would be completely affordable obviously. However, I am not into that.
So we (by we, meaning I) are looking for a welcoming community of young professionals type? I hate to put myself in a box. I went to by school. I consider myself jpf What

He really doesn't want to commute from out of NYC. I can't say I blame him. The commute can be really tough. (We commute now. We know what it's like. The hours will be long, reallllly long. Also, we would have to figure out what to do on early Fridays.

Thanks again for all your help

amother

Cyan

Tue, Feb 05 2019, 10:38 am

seeker wrote:

Making a one bedroom into a makeshift 2 bedroom is ok for a small starting family but not long term. Once you're going to commute anyway, think about what you want in a broader sense (budget, community, schools) and don't limit yourself to Manhattan.

The commute is really tough and we want to avoid that if possible, so right now I'm focusing on Manhattan

amother

Cyan

Tue, Feb 05 2019, 10:46 am

amother wrote:

Cheap is relative obviously, which is why u didn't write cheap, I wrote cheaper.
$2500 sounds really cheap actually.

I know what most people do, not looking to commute from outer boroughs it suburbs though, thanks.

amother

Cyan

Tue, Feb 05 2019, 10:47 am

seeker wrote:

The former, not the latter Smile

amother

Cyan

Tue, Feb 05 2019, 10:53 am

seeker wrote:

We'll both need to commute. A commute up to 30 min will work best, not more. So I think Manhattan makes the most sense.

amother

Gold

Tue, Feb 05 2019, 10:59 am

amother wrote:

We'll both need to commute. A commute up to 30 min will work best, not more. So I think Manhattan makes the most sense.

The commute from some places in Flatbush to midtown is not really more than 30 minutes. Your cost of living there would be drastically reduced as compared to any neighborhood in Manhattan, and you would have many more options in terms of babysitting, shuls, kosher, shopping, etc.

amother

Brown

Tue, Feb 05 2019, 11:01 am

amother wrote:

We'll both need to commute. A commute up to 30 min will work best, not more. So I think Manhattan makes the most sense.

Maybe Washington Heights? I'm not sure of the exact commute and rent range.

amother

Cyan

Tue, Feb 05 2019, 11:07 am

amother wrote:

Exact areas please?

jd1212

Tue, Feb 05 2019, 11:15 am

PM me for info on Washington Heights- I daven at Mount Sinai Jewish Center. The apartments are cheap for the city. 2 bedrooms are $2,300-$2,800. There's a Jewish daycare Shalom Yeladim ages 0-5 in the shul that many families use (and a Chabad one Osher a block away, too). We have 4 fast food restaurants- Chinese/sushi, 2 pizza, and Israeli. Mikvah a block from the shul that's run by the yeshivish Breuers community, a beautiful huge park. If you live next to the A train on the subway, you can be in midtown in 25 minutes for a $2.75 subway swipe.

amother

Gray

Tue, Feb 05 2019, 11:15 am

OP, here's what I would do:

Go to http://tripplanner.mta.info/My......aspx and play around with length of commutes from different communities.

In Manhattan, apartments are small, rents are high, daycare is astronomical. And, frankly, the 30 minute or less door-to-door commute may not exist even there is your trip is crosstown.

essie14

Tue, Feb 05 2019, 11:22 am

Forest Hills station to Bryant Park is 29-35 min on the train.
Definitely look into living in Forest Hills. It's full of JPF young professionals.