irish guy moving to woodlawn ny (Hope: apartments, rentals, houses) - New York City - New York (NY) - City-Data Forum

sean byran · 09-25-2007, 01:12 PM

hi! im a 23year old lad from ireland. in atwo months i am moving to new york. i picked woodlawn in the bronx because of its irish backround. im just wondering how safe is it at nite? i am going to be on my own so would it be safe getting off a subway there in the middle of the night? thats really my only concern. ive been to new york before and find it a really friendy city but its the suburbs that concern me. i would be really gratfull for your help.

thanks seán.

mead · 09-25-2007, 01:46 PM

Yes Woodlawn itself is perfectly safe. I live in the neighborhood, but I'm Irish-American, not Irish. There is a big Irish immigrant community in Woodlawn along with a large number of Irish-Americans.

There's good craic in this neighborhood, lots of pubs/bars, a dancehall, Irish restaurants, a chip shop, everyone has a good time. Work is pretty easy to find. Construction is the favorite job of guys who move here from Ireland. The companies will train you and I believe the pay is $200 a day. The other big job for Irish guys coming over is bar tender, lots of those jobs down in Manhattan.

The rent is also pretty cheap here for the NYC area. You can share an apartment and rent a room for around $500 a month or get your own place for $900/$1,000 a month.

The subway is also pretty safe, but you do have to stay alert so that nothing happens. The 34 bus runs down Katonah ave which is the main strip in Woodlawn and takes you to both the 4 (runs down the east side of Manhattan) and the D (runs down the west side of Manhattan). We also have a Metro North Train station in Woodlawn which has commuter trains. This is very popular, but more expensive than taking the subway.

If you are planning on working construction though I wouldn't worry so much about transportation as most Contractors will pick you up and drop you off with their truck. For a bartending job I suppose you're going to have to get there on your own.

The Governor of NY just changed the state policy recently so that in 6 months you should also be able to get a car if you don't have a ss#, but in Woodlawn a car isn't really necessary unless you want one.

Check out the classifieds in the Irish Voice: Irish Voice Newspaper Irish Echo Online for more info.

Send me a PM if you have any other questions.

carleen · 09-25-2007, 11:12 PM

I wouldn't take the subway in the middle of the night.....catch a cab

mead · 09-26-2007, 08:09 AM

I've taken the subway many times late at night after a night of partying. I've never had a problem. You really just have to keep your wits about you and make sure you don't fall asleep (I've never hard this problem).

The Woodlawn subway station is relatively safe for a subway station in the Bronx. It is probably one of the better ones that I know of in the Bronx.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carleen

I wouldn't take the subway in the middle of the night.....catch a cab

sean byran · 09-28-2007, 01:39 PM

thanks!! its just id say a taxi on a saterday nite from manhatten to woodlawn would cost a fortune.

mead · 09-28-2007, 03:30 PM

Well there are always taxis (at all hours of the day and night) available at Woodlawn station(on the 4) that can take you to Katonah ave in Woodlawn. I haven't taken a taxi up to Woodlawn recently as I always use my free transfer for the bus outside the subway station to get up here. However, the ride couldn't cost more than $5 as its only takes a couple minutes to get up here by car.

woodlawnnyc · 10-05-2007, 11:49 PM

The big problem in Woodlawn lately is the shortage of apartments. There's way too many people looking for apartments in Woodlawn. I have been looking for an apartment for months now. What I have been able to actually view is too small, too expensive or just plain crappy. The better apartments are snatched up VERY quickly and because of the shortage, prospective tenants will actually pay more than what the landlord is asking just to get the apartments. I run a local website for Woodlawn that offers a bulletin board where you can post apartment rentals and room shares. But there are more posts for apartments wanted than for apartments available. I've been looking on craigslist, the Irish newspapers, local store bulletin boards and word of mouth and I can tell you there's slim pickins around here. I'm willing to settle for almost anything and I still can't find much! If you're looking for a room share, you'd probably be better off because the local bulletin boards seem to be full of them. Good luck!

[url=http://www.WoodlawnNYC.com[/url] if you want to check out the site and post your own apartment wanted.

sean byran · 10-06-2007, 02:19 AM

cheers thanks. im looking to share so hopefully shouldnt have a problem. i actually checked out that page last week and it has loads of classifides for woodlawn/yonkers. im not gona be going over untill january so its probably too early to be rining around. thanks for the info though!

mead · 10-06-2007, 11:22 AM

Yeah having a rommate in Woodlawn is definitely easier to do than getting a regular apartment. Its a tough rental market at the moment.

Woodlawn really would be an ideal place for a developer to put up a new apartment building (not luxury, just moderately priced), however the local NIMBY crowd would probably go nuts if something like this were to happen.

Hopefully this place won't go the way of Queens with all of the old homes being demolished and replaced with the new multi-family "fedders homes." There are already a decent number of these in the neighborhood, however they still make up a small percentage of the housing stock. This would solve the housing shortage, but I think it would ruin the look/feel of the neighborhood.

woodlawnnyc · 10-06-2007, 12:56 PM

The real problem with putting up another building in Woodlawn is the parking situation. It's already a huge issue. Almost every family has at least two cars and nobody seems to use their driveways. I don't know if it's because the driveways are too narrow or what but if you drive around you see alot of empty driveways. And forget about it if you live near an apartment building! I luckily have one parking spot but my husband sometimes sits and waits 1/2 hr or more for a spot to open up or we wind up parking illegally. And I can tell you we're racking up the parking tickets.

I went to a Woodlawn taxpayers meeting last month and found out that the old firehouse is going to be the home of an EMS supply station at some point in the future and everyone was concerned with losing yet more parking spots to the employees.

I love the old houses in Woodlawn and the feel of the neighborhood but I also think that the newer homes add a nice touch too. Much better than leaving up old dilapidated houses that are practically falling down and overgrown with weeds and bushes. And the newer houses actually accomodate for parking.