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Hi! I'm moving to NYC for the summer to do an internship and Im looking for advice on how to find a sublet, and which neighborhood to look in. My budget is depressingly low for NYC, around 1200/month max, and only that if I can find a second job to work in the evening time.
I've had a look on craigslist etc and there seem to be a lot of college kids subletting around Columbia. I've visited NYC before and loved the UWS/morningside area, but it seems to be a bit out of my price range. Will there be many sublets available in other parts of the city? Should I use a broker or try to find a place myself?
Some of the neighbourhoods Ive been looking into are: Inwood, Washington Heights, Sunnyside, Astoria. I'm not familiar with the affordable neighbourhoods in Brooklyn or the Bronx and am hoping someone can fill me in. I want to live somewhere safe, but Im realistic and I know that at my budget there will be some "grit". That's fine (I grew up in a city with a real bad drug and violence problem and I know how to stay out of trouble) as long as the neighborhood has some bars and restaurants, stores, delis etc. I dont want to live somewhere grim and depressing.
The job Im moving for is in the Union Square area so commute time is a factor too. Obviously I am not going to have a super short commute, but any neighborhood with a trip that doesnt involve switching trains etc would be a huge plus.
Finally before I take the plunge and accept the internship, will I be able to find a second job to supplement my income? How's the job market for barwork, waiting tables etc? Are there any other readily available jobs that would work with working a day job?
Any help at all would be hugely appreciated, the move to the big city can be a bit daunting! If anyone has some advice for me outside of what Ive asked that would be more than welcome too!
It may be too late, but did you look into the NYU dorms? They make space available in the summers for students from other colleges who are interning in the city.
Does your company have an internship director? Perhaps they could introduce you to another intern also looking to sub-let. You'd have an easier time finding a habitable place for 2 for $2400 than for just you for $1200. You could find a small 1br and one of you could live in the living room (it's just for a few months) in downtown Manhattan (East Village, Lower East Side) or Murray Hill/ Grammery or Upper East Side or Midtown East- all of which are a straight shot up/down the 4/5/6 train to Union Square.
Have you looked into sub-letting a room in an apartment that already has tenants? Good way to meet some people, extend your social circle, and live in a safer neighborhood than Inwood/Wash Heights. Maybe some recent grads from your college live in NYC and could send out a email for you to see if anyone needs a summer roomie?
There are also several Women's "dorms" in the city that were affordable about 10 years ago. Nonidea what the rates are now. They are mainly in Midtown.
Columbia area is nice and safe enough- Inwood is mostly ok, but there are a lot of drugs & crime in Wash Heights, especially in the summer when all the criminals / gangs hang out on the street corners and door stoops. I would highly encourage you to do whatever you can not to live there. Also, it's really not safe to take a late-night train home up there so if you do get a second job, you'd be spending $30-40/night to take a cab home....if you can find a yellow cab to take you back to that neighborhood.
Lastly- you've come to NYC to work at your internship and give it 110% of your effort so you'll get great references/ connections and hopefully be able to parlay it into full-time employment after graduation. dO NOT ruin it by taking a bar-tending or other menial job if that job will force you to 1) leave your internship earlier than expected on a daily basis, 2) show up late/tired or fall asleep in meetings, or 3) become any sort of distraction/roadblock to doing your internship and kicking butt at it. You worked hard and got an internship in NYC- so many other college kid's would KILL for that chance in this economy. Please make the most of it.
turtlecreek80: Thank you very much for your reply! I'll stay away from Washington Heights. I'd love to be able to focus completely on the internship, but financially I can't do it at all if I dont have extra money from somewhere. That's why Im looking at cheaper neighborhoods, in the hopes of finding somewhere cheap enough that I may only have to pick up a couple extra shifts.
turtlecreek80: Thank you very much for your reply! I'll stay away from Washington Heights. I'd love to be able to focus completely on the internship, but financially I can't do it at all if I dont have extra money from somewhere. That's why Im looking at cheaper neighborhoods, in the hopes of finding somewhere cheap enough that I may only have to pick up a couple extra shifts.
Is there any way you can make more money now before this summer- tutoring? Being a class notetaker? Babysitting?
I'd check out some industry websites for theater- a lot of actors rent out apartments for the summer months to go do summer stock. There's a mailing list that goes out in the theater community called Glory's List and there are always theater folk looking for summer subletters about this time of year. I think you can find it as a google group.
Sunnyside and Astoria are good in Queens, and I suggest Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Fort Greene and Ditmas Park in Brooklyn. Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Fort Greene are hipper/more expensive neighborhoods than Ditmas Park and I don't know if you will find a $750 share but you may as well look. Ditmas Park is ok if you don't mind being a little further out - and parts of it are on the Q line which runs direct to Union Square in about 30 minutes.
For now, to see what market rents are for rooms in those areas, go to craigslist, go to roommates and shares, click on Brooklyn (or Queens) and type in 700 for low amount and 800 for the high amount and see what neighborhoods come up.
Google and sign up for the Stephanie Diamond listing project. It is a listserv that goes out every Wednesday. It is primarily for artists (of all kinds: designers, writers, visual artists, actors, musicians, etc) looking to rent and sublet their art studios, rooms, apartments, as well as roommates, apartment exchanges (different cities) AND for people looking for any of those. There is a small fee to list to help her keep the list up. This is how we got our first long term sublet (8 1/2 months) in Williamsburg---an INCREDIBLE 3 story, 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bathroom, private shared yard, fully furnished including all utilities, wifi and our own washer and dryer, halfway between Bedford and Lorimier for only $1800... believe me this is a deal. We needed nothing when we moved in other than our clothes. There are all kinds of listings on there, but I would also recommend listing yourself (I think the minimum is a $10 "donation") saying who you are, locations you are considering, price range, etc. It sounds by your budget you would be best to sublet a furnished room. Are you planning on getting an unlimited metro card ($104/month)? If not, I suggest trying to live in Union Square, the Lower East Side, East Village, or Midtown East for an easy (20 minutes or less) walk to work. If you are going to get one, Williamsburg could be a good option as it is a 6 minute subway ride to Union Square (when the L is working properly of course). Other not too far away areas in Brooklyn could be good as well.
Hope this helps! We also did get our 2nd longterm (14 month) sublet off of Craigslist (HUGE 1 bedroom fully furnished apartment in Astoria for $1500, secured building with a laundry room right off of the 30th Ave stop), so getting into a good situation via Craigslist is VERY possible....just be careful of scams on there because there are a lot (but IMO easy to spot).
Oh shoot, just noticed the date of this...came up on page 1 on my screen, weird! Oh well, maybe this info will help someone else!
I suggest also checking out Park Slope in Brooklyn for sublets during the summer.
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