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I just landed a new job in NYC, I'll be working in a building right next to the WTC. I've only visited NYC twice so I'm pretty unfamiliar where to live and what not. Budget wise I can do $2600 a month or less. Do you all have any advice on where I should live?
For reference: I'm a single 24 year old guy, no pets, no children, and I most likely will not be bringing my car to NYC due to EVERY apartment charing like $250 per month to park and traffic lol.
Is there any advantage of living in NYC vs in Jersey or vice versa?
I've seen some pretty nice apartments in Jersey City, NJ that are pretty close to public transportation. Google Maps says I can get from JC to NYC in 20 mins via the PATH. Please let me know if that's correct lol.
I'm open to any and all suggestions. I need to find housing asap since my Day 1 is approaching soon.
Please help a brother out lol
Thank You
***Oh yeah, what the hell is a housing lottery? I keep seeing this on the form and this most definitely not something I'm used to seeing in Michigan or Missouri.
I would recommend bringing your car if you are thinking about living in jersey. Even with the path train without a car you are confined to just taking the path to get to manhattan. And if you live in jersey, there are tons to do in jersey so you should enjoy that but a car will make that easier. Jersey can get you a nicer apartment a bit cheaper.
Now you can do a lot with $2600 as a single person in the outer boroughs. You can get a 2-3 bedroom with that much in Bedford Stuyvesant, along the A/C line you will get to Fulton st. One World Trade Center in less than 20 minutes. That's if you don't mind renting an apartment in a two or three family home.
If you want amenities such as elevator, gym,etc. you can get a 1bed/1bath apartment for $2200.
Check this new building in bed stuy. Washer/dryer in unit as well. It's a block from the C train, 20 mins to WTC at most. 8 train stops
From the budget you have, you won't qualify for affordable housing. Affordable housing is another subsidy, people fitting in a low income demographic can apply to low income units in buildings. The city holds a lottery for qualified applicants
The buildings near the WTC charge a lot more than $250 for parking. It's true Jersey City has nice apartments in your price range and the PATH is close and stops right at WTC in only a few minutes. I agree if you're going to live in NJ, you should see if you can park the car and pay the rent within your budget. If you're living in NY, you won't be living near the WTC and most commuting will be longer and more costly. The one advantage to living in NYC vs. NJ is not paying income taxes to both states.
A housing lottery is a luxury building built with a tax abatement. They get a tax cut to agree to having some percent of their apartments rented at "affordable" levels. What is affordable varies wildly from building to building. You have to put in an application and meet all the income guidelines and have good credit and a good work history and not much debt and tell them which side of the bed you sleep on, etc., etc., etc. and then they pick a certain number of applications and give them numbers and begin at the beginning - unless you live nearby or are a veteran or a few other things that get you to the top of the list. Then they if call you, you can hand in reams of paperwork proving everything you wrote on your application and have an interview and then either they reject you for all kinds of reasons or they give you a luxury apartment at a rate about 25% what your neighbors are paying so they hate your guts for life and treat you like a second class citizen.
Just in case you didn't already know, you may think you can afford $2600/mo. for rent, but unless you're making at least $104K, your landlord won't agree with you.
The buildings near the WTC charge a lot more than $250 for parking..
Yeah, I'm not sure where the $250 figure came from. That sounds extremely low. Even in my Queens neighborhood a garage space can be $350. Sure, there are some random places where the monthly fee is $200 but it's usually an outdoor spot in a lot with something awkward about getting in and out or some other compromising factor. And that's IF you can even get a spot. The competition is very intense and some coop buildings have waiting lists of 5+ years for a garage spot.
In Manhattan, I would expect a building garage spot to be more like $400 to $800 a month.
I've seen monthly garage parking rates in the $250 range in Queens...Forest hills, Sunnyside. I wouldn't look at Queens to live though if you work near the WTC. Commute can be long.
I'm not really up-to-date with Jersey City. In the past, I knew a couple of people who lived there. They said they got more for their money in Jersey City compared to Manhattan, but the downsides were that the PATH ran less often during off-peak times and it was sometimes tougher to bring people home because Jersey sounded far. Things might be different now though as rents have increased everywhere and plenty of people continue to move further out for more reasonable rents.
Also people are giving you the wrong info about housing lotteries.
Housing lotteries give you the chance to score a below market apartment (usually in new luxury buildings in prime areas) for a below market price. It’s the city’s way of combating the housing crisis (though some will argue t makes it worse). Because these lot tires only benefit the few, they receive a far amount of hate around here
First off, it’s incorrct that they are just for low income earners, depending on which lottery you enter you can make up to 200k. Also take it from someone who won a lottery they don’t treat you like a second class citizen. I get treated VERY well. When it first started there were some developers that got away with some questionable seeperation choices, but that stuff is against the rules now. Devs have to keep the lotttery apartments comparable to the market ones.
Keep in mind these things are CRAZY competitive. It’s a major longshot. Either, you seem like you have a great plan. You will be fine.
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