Young couple wants to move from Paris, FR to NYC (New York: middle-class, apartments)

[Parisnyc1960]

Dear all, my husband and I have been living in Paris, France for about ten years now. I am American and he is French. We are currently navigating the fiasco that is USCIS, and once he has his visa, we plan on moving to NYC. The reason we want to move to NYC is that I plan on doing an advanced degree at CUNY and also because, being familiar with the US, there is no other region in which we feel more comfortable culturally and politically. Currently we make about 50K EUR as a household (no children) and this is our budget:
rent (1 bedroom / 35 sq m in a nice neighborhood): 900 EUR/mo
electricity: 90 EUR/mo
food: 400 EUR/mo
subway passes: 120 EUR/mo
internet/telephone/tv: 50 EUR/mo
leisure (theatre, cinema, etc): about 100 EUR/mo
We are both familiar with NYC and work in professions that, although middle-class, are in-demand in that city. However, only my husband will be working whilst I study. We are a bit concerned about making ends meet for two reasons: 1) the private health care mess and 2) the sky-high rent (My school tuition is being taken care of). Can anyone help us with regards to these two factors? Currently our health insurance fee (around 50 EUR) is deducted from our pay each month and we have full coverage. I don't want to chance our health to the precarity we're always reading about. Secondly, for the rent, we both love Brooklyn but unfortunately it has become a bit pricey in recent years and we're starting to look elsewhere. We want a culturally creative neighborhood, very leftist, very intellectual, very diverse, but safe and easily accesible by public transport (we don't plan on owning a car). Any recommendations?
Finally, one last question: what would you say is the minimum salary my husband needs to make to support our basic needs whilst I study? We plan on living a very modest lifestyle during that time.

[NYChistorygal]

First, does your husband have a work visa? If not, he can't work here. What profession/salary estimate. Does he have a job offer? Unemployment here is still around 10%. The economy is in the crapper.

I did the conversions:

$1251 rent (1 bedroom / 35 sq m in a nice neighborhood): 900 EUR/mo
$ 125 electricity: 90 EUR/mo
$ 556 food: 400 EUR/mo
$ 166 subway passes: 120 EUR/mo
$ 70 internet/telephone/tv: 50 EUR/mo
$ 139 leisure (theatre, cinema, etc): about 100 EUR/mo

Your rent budget is low for a 1 bedroom. You could probably get a studio and keep in mind you will not be living in Manhattan at that price.

Health insurance. If your husband's employer provides insurance, they will pay part of it. When I was working, I paid about $200 a month for single coverage. On my own now, it's $550, and I've seen much higher rates. I don't know what family coverage is, but it is high.

[TurtleCreek80]

Here are my thoughts on your current budget based on converted US dollars-->

$1251 rent (1 bedroom / 35 sq m in a nice neighborhood): 900 EUR/mo
$1500-1800 is a more reasonable budget for a small-ish 1 br apartment in a nice, but not too trendy neighborhood of Brooklyn or perhaps some place like Astoria in Queens. 99% of safe neighborhoods in Manhattan are out of reach, except possibly East Village which is a liberal/artsy/hipster neighborhood.
Keep in mind that NYC landlords have income requirements- your annual verified salary (by an employment letter) is 40x your rent. So you'd need $60k-72k USD in income to get an apartment in that price range.

$ 125 electricity: 90 EUR/mo
Many apartments have electricity included in rent; for others $75-150/mo is a good average depending on how cold it gets and how much you run the AC.

$ 556 food: 400 EUR/mo
Reasonable- you won't be eating out much, but definitely a reasonable budget to be able to buy healthy food.

$ 166 subway passes: 120 EUR/mo
Monthly subway passes are about $90/pp (unlimited rides), so bump that up to $180 for the two of you.

$ 70 internet/telephone/tv: 50 EUR/mo
Low- will end up being $100-120ish for cable/internet and cell phones are $50-100/mo depending on your plan & carrier.

$ 139 leisure (theatre, cinema, etc): about 100 EUR/mo
Very low if you have grand plans of going to Broadway shows, going to museum often ($20/pp for the Met and MoMa these days), going to sporting events or big concerts. Just seeing a movie at night is $12-14/ticket, so about $25-30 for the two of you. There are lots of free things to do in the city, you just need to temper your expectations that eating 1-2 moderately nice dinners out a month will completely blow your budget.

Most importantly:
1) don't pick a neighborhood until you are accepted to a school or else your commute could be miserable if you go to school at, say, Fordham in the Bronx and live in Brooklyn.

2) I don't think your hubby can just up and get a job in the US (even though he's married to a citizen)...he needs to find an employer who will sponsor his work visa (ie, no other US citizen can do the work- we have 9% unemployment rate in NYC now).

3) health insurance is purchased through your employer. In most cases, employers pay the lion's share (ie, I pay $115/month for just me and my employer pays the other $300-400 it costs to insure me). For a couple, budget around $200/mo plus around $25-35 in co-pays for every doctor's visit you make. It's really not THAT expensive.

[kopoti]

2) I don't think your hubby can just up and get a job in the US (even though he's married to a citizen)...he needs to find an employer who will sponsor his work visa (ie, no other US citizen can do the work- we have 9% unemployment rate in NYC now).

Wrong. He gets an automatic work permit when he gets a green card/immigrant visa thru marriage. If he is married to a US citizen and does a consular filing in Paris at a US Embassy (this is key, do not file thru the US, it takes way longer) to get a green card, he can work immediately upon entering the US. I did this for my husband just this year (I am a USC, he is from Europe). Thus, he will not need a sponsor IF he gets the gc thru marriage. Check out visajourney.com for more details. It takes about 4-6 months to go thru the whole process.

Things to think about that I have learned having a foreign husband:
1) It is very, very, very hard to find a job here as a foreigner. Some people will write him off (or talk to him like he was a child) just because of his accent. It doesn't matter how smart he is. Also, people here like to hire when they see schools/companies they know. I, as a US citizen and local, had no idea how hard it would be. The economy here sucks right now. Badly. Mu husband has been looking for 6 months and has had two interviews. Got neither. He is way smarter than the people he interviews with and it's all "Sorry, but you didn't go to (insert school name here)."

2) Health insurance. IF he is even lucky enough the get a job, and it has benefits, great. If not, consider this: I work as a contractor, belong to a union, and pay $450/month to ensure both of us (no kids). The catch? We have a $20K deductible. That's right, twenty thousand dollars. I searched for months and this was the best option. Most plans ranged from $1000-$500 per month and still had deductibles of a few thousand. New York is tough too, often you cannot even get in on a private plan unless your are 1) poor or 2) an independent contractor. See ehealthinsurance.com for quotes. In CT, health insurance is far, far cheaper.

3) Your housing budget is low. Think more like $2000/month for a 1br. You can find deals, but it's hard. If you can live in a studio, maybe $1500. I don't know about Paris, but the housing here is sub-standard compared to when I lived in Europe.

4) What happens if he loses his job? Can you still make it? What about health insurance?

5) Having lived in Europe and then returning to NYC, it has been hard. The social safety net is next to nothing here and this country has changed a lot in the past 10 yrs. Not for the better, either. People are way more polarized and angry and there seems to be a culture of blame on all sides. We are actually considering going back to Europe in the next year. Also, the low level of intelligent discourse is going to be hard re-adjusting to. Not with ordinary people, but in the media and politics.

6) Best of luck. I hope it works out for you! I would say have him start applying for jobs now (if you can use a friend's local address on his CV even better) and see what kind of response he gets.

[BearMM]

5) Having lived in Europe and then returning to NYC, it has been hard. The social safety net is next to nothing here and this country has changed a lot in the past 10 yrs. Not for the better, either. People are way more polarized and angry and there seems to be a culture of blame on all sides. We are actually considering going back to Europe in the next year. Also, the low level of intelligent discourse is going to be hard re-adjusting to. Not with ordinary people, but in the media and politics.

Why have you returned to US then?

[kopoti]

Not that it is relevant, but I have a family member who is ill. Is that a good reason?

How is your question relevant to the OP's topic?

[BearMM]

Originally Posted by kopoti

Not that it is relevant, but I have a family member who is ill. Is that a good reason?

How is your question relevant to the OP's topic?

Any reason is good, it is a free world.

It is just interesting to me why so many people want to live and work in New York if Europe is that bettter.

[Chava61]

For $1110 a month you can get a small basement one bedroom apt. in Jackson Heights, Queens. For $1250 you can probably get a nice one bedroom apt. in Rego Park, Queens.
Once your husband has his permanent resident visa/green card, he will be able to work for any employer that will hire him in the USA (just like any local American). You are his visa sponsor so he will not need any employer to sponsor him as a few people here have claimed. But I do agree that as a foreigner it will be harder for him to find a job here as Americans tend to be biased against hiring foreigners even when they are here legally.

[krichton]

Wait, you and your husband make around $70,000 a year combined and only plan on having one person work once you start living in nyc, and without a guaranteed job??

[Amber Trystan]

I think everyone is forgetting to get an apartment you at least have to make 40x the rent or pay 1 years rent up front. So if you do not have a job in place I would suggest saving at least 20k to pay a years rent in advance.

So your husband will need to make at least around 60-70k a year just to get a place