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Parking is worse in certain areas of the neighborhood than others as well.
There are a ton of real estate offices---just walk along 3rd or 5th. You can stand outside and look at what's available in the window. Many real estate offices also post stuff on CL, so not sure if you've been looking on there or not. I've found REAs to be so-so in terms of getting back to you about stuff.
I think it would be easier also if you gave up the idea of having a private landlord. Lots of management companies around here. Not saying it's impossible but it's definitely making your search more difficult.
We definitely aren't counting places out because they're managed by companies - we've been contacting the agents for / looking at absolutely everything that seems passable in photos, and have been looking on CL as well as the usual renting sites (Trulia, Zillow, StreetEasy, etc). Of course we want a private landlord, but we wouldn't hesitate to put $ down on something we liked if it was managed by a company.
Thanks for the tip on hitting the pavement - we will take a stroll down 3rd and 5th this Saturday and start heading into places. Fingers crossed!
You're having trouble because a 1 Bed Room for under $1600 is a very good deal in Bay Ridge. If you upped your budget a bit, you'd have better luck. The cheaper apartments get snatched up very quickly. I rented a 1 BR on Narrows in the high 80s a couple years ago for $1400 and I literally had to put down the deposit on the spot at the showing to secure it, I think 4 others were there ready to take the place as well.
You're having trouble because a 1 Bed Room for under $1600 is a very good deal in Bay Ridge. If you upped your budget a bit, you'd have better luck. The cheaper apartments get snatched up very quickly. I rented a 1 BR on Narrows in the high 80s a couple years ago for $1400 and I literally had to put down the deposit on the spot at the showing to secure it, I think 4 others were there ready to take the place as well.
Good luck.
That's just sad honestly. I wonder how unaffordable the city will be in 5 years.
The bolded is old news. You are far from the only interracial couple moving here. I do think it's getting tougher only because this area is seen as increasingly more affordable so it's really putting a squeeze on things.
When I was looking for an apartment here, I didn't work with one broker. For the most part, I watched CL and would contact the person in the listing. Many times I went to individual real estate shops and just asked to see what they had in my price range since they post the information on the window usually.
Honestly I haven't spent much time in Bay Ridge.
But I spent the afternoon there (in the southern part of the neighborhood), and ...I saw only one black person the whole afternoon! (I was on 3rd avenue, the main shopping street). I am serious.
I saw maybe one Muslim family (I know there is a large population of Arabs/Muslims in Bay Ridge), and maybe one East Asian person.
I seriously have not seen such a concentration of (non-Orthodox Jewish) white people in NYC EVER.
But I spent the afternoon there (in the southern part of the neighborhood), and ...I saw only one black person the whole afternoon! (I was on 3rd avenue, the main shopping street). I am serious.
I saw maybe one Muslim family (I know there is a large population of Arabs/Muslims in Bay Ridge), and maybe one East Asian person.
I seriously have not seen such a concentration of (non-Orthodox Jewish) white people in NYC EVER.
Then you don't know Bay Ridge or Bensonhurst for that matter.
Until rather recently (we're talking what? Perhaps the 1990's) both areas were largely Italian-American with German and some Scandinavians thrown into the mix.
If you remember the film "Saturday Night Fever" there were racist overtones that pretty much reflected the community. You just didn't see Blacks, Latino/Hispanics at the various nightclubs like 2001 or Pastels, if you did it was *VERY* limited. Even then it probably was Puerto Rican than anything else.
There is a bus stop at 86th and Third (R86 in my day) that goes between SI and Brooklyn over the VZB. Blacks knew back in the day if they got of the R train at that stop to wait for the bus they valued their lives cheaply if they went wondering around the area. Maybe across the street the deli for coffee or something, but you just didn't go walking around Bay Ridge.
The area has changed though over the past few decades. Many of the old school Italian-Americans moved to Staten Island (and brought their attitudes with them), in what at first became a trickle when the VNB was built grew at a steady pace in the by the 1980's or 1990's onwards.
But I spent the afternoon there (in the southern part of the neighborhood), and ...I saw only one black person the whole afternoon! (I was on 3rd avenue, the main shopping street). I am serious.
I saw maybe one Muslim family (I know there is a large population of Arabs/Muslims in Bay Ridge), and maybe one East Asian person.
I seriously have not seen such a concentration of (non-Orthodox Jewish) white people in NYC EVER.
Sorry, I had to laugh at that. Bay Ridge has one of the largest Muslim communities in all of NYC. They are EVERYWHERE so for you not to see them makes me think you had your blinders on big time. Next time head over to the Northern end of the neighborhood and if you walk along Fifth Avenue between 72nd and 67th Streets, you will see far more Muslims than you could ever imagine.
There are a lot of Asians and Hispanics here as well. They are spread throughout the neighborhood but they also tend to concentrate more in the Northern end.
It's true you won't see as many black people. They live here in very small numbers and they are often part of an interracial couple. I'm not sure what you want to base your experiences on---the short period of time you spend shopping where I guess you expected every race and/or ethnic group to be on display for you or what people who live in the area have to tell you.
Sorry, I had to laugh at that. Bay Ridge has one of the largest Muslim communities in all of NYC. They are EVERYWHERE so for you not to see them makes me think you had your blinders on big time. Next time head over to the Northern end of the neighborhood and if you walk along Fifth Avenue between 72nd and 67th Streets, you will see far more Muslims than you could ever imagine.
There are a lot of Asians and Hispanics here as well. They are spread throughout the neighborhood but they also tend to concentrate more in the Northern end.
It's true you won't see as many black people. They live here in very small numbers and they are often part of an interracial couple. I'm not sure what you want to base your experiences on---the short period of time you spend shopping where I guess you expected every race and/or ethnic group to be on display for you or what people who live in the area have to tell you.
It must be that the northern part of the neighborhood is more diverse.
As I said, I was only in the southern part.
But I was there for hours, and like I said, literally 95% of the people I saw were white, in the southern part of Bay Ridge.
It must be that the northern part of the neighborhood is more diverse.
As I said, I was only in the southern part.
But I was there for hours, and like I said, literally 95% of the people I saw were white, in the southern part of Bay Ridge.
Every neighborhood in NYC isn't bursting with diversity and that should be okay. It's not as if there aren't other neighborhoods where you have one main group of people. NYC is still very segregated overall.
It must be that the northern part of the neighborhood is more diverse.
As I said, I was only in the southern part.
But I was there for hours, and like I said, literally 95% of the people I saw were white, in the southern part of Bay Ridge.
Every neighborhood in NYC isn't bursting with diversity and that should be okay. It's not as if there aren't other neighborhoods where you have one main group of people. NYC is still very segregated overall.
Of course it's ok, I didn't say it's not.
But the OP - I believe - mentioned that they are in an interracial couple and is wondering if that is making it hard to find an apartment to rent in Bay Ridge.
Based on the (southern part of) the neighborhood being almost entirely white, I would just venture to guess that yes: some landlords may not be used to renting to people of color and other landlords may actively discriminate against people of color.
I live in southern Brooklyn, and my neighborhood is also mostly white (Kings Highway); however, I see much more diversity here than I see in southern Bay Ridge. In my neighborhood there is a significant South Asian/Middle Eastern minority, as well as some East Asians and a small number of black people, who you can see on any day walking down the main shopping drag of Kings Highway.
(In my building alone, there are a significant minority of Muslim South and Central Asians, Syrians, and a few black people, as well as a few Mexican families)
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