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Me and my wife have just moved NYC for work. We kind of need to stay in Manhattan but rents are ridiculously high - and that's coming from a Londoner who has also lived in Paris.
We're going to bite our tongues and stay in lower Manhattan as we may only be here a year and want to experience the city. We can move to Queens once we're sick of humanity.
So we found a really cool apartment for a London-style price in the Two Bridges area where the L.E.S. meets Chinatown (Madison Street and Jackson). It's about a 12-minute walk from where all the cool bars and restaurants are but there is literally nothing for several blocks around, just public housing. The apartments are priced at around 2/3 of the equivalent up by Rivington St.
Now to us, the area seems fine. Quite similar to most of London, where social housing is mixed in with private property. But middle class Americans have used the words 'ghetto' or 'bad' to describe it. I've looked at the crime stats and they are typically low, as with most of Manhattan, and the 'worst' thing we saw was a bunch of old Latino guys hanging outside a store with a beer, like it's game day in Havana, and some youths with skateboards like cussing and sh1t. Almost everyone I saw was old and Chinese. Terrifying. I thought you Yanks were supposed to be tough?
Only kidding but seriously, is this stretch of the L.E.S. really that sketchy or are people being snobs (I hate to play the race card, but something inside me wonders if this is the case)?
R
Last edited by DoubleImmigrant; 03-10-2015 at 07:49 AM..
It's not really that sketchy, just outstandingly ugly and kind of desolate. I don't know the reasons why you kind of need to stay in Manhattan, but that's probably one of the least accessible locations in Manhattan. There's nothing wrong with living in the middle of public housing projects, but it's not for everyone.
Wife's work needs her to be no more than a 10-minute cab ride from office, and we need a bigger space as I'll be working from home. TBH I'd be cool with BK, Queens or West Harlem but a. I know NY fairly well for someone who had never lived here (which she doesn't) and b. I don't have to work deranged hours.
Sounds to me like we'll be fine - guns are our only concern as we're not used to it. Sh1t being ugly is normal in London
I don't think you're in bad shape over there. Years ago I live further down [south] on Madison Street, in the Smith houses. The area as a whole, has changed for the better during the years since. There's decent supermarkets, and a few places to eat along Grand Street. You have the parks along the river, and you're not too far from Chinatown/ Little Italy. There's really only one subway station for you, the F, at Rutgers [I think] and E. Bwy. Bus service along Madison Street is pretty good. It's a nice quiet spot, not too far from the hustle & bustle.
P.S. Avoid the luncheonette on Grand Street...YIKES!
Me and my wife have just moved NYC for work. We kind of need to stay in Manhattan but rents are ridiculously high - and that's coming from a Londoner who has also lived in Paris.
We're going to bite our tongues and stay in lower Manhattan as we may only be here a year and want to experience the city. We can move to Queens once we're sick of humanity.
So we found a really cool apartment for a London-style price in the Two Bridges area where the L.E.S. meets Chinatown (Madison Street and Jackson). It's about a 12-minute walk from where all the cool bars and restaurants are but there is literally nothing for several blocks around, just public housing. The apartments are priced at around 2/3 of the equivalent up by Rivington St.
Now to us, the area seems fine. Quite similar to most of London, where social housing is mixed in with private property. But middle class Americans have used the words 'ghetto' or 'bad' to describe it. I've looked at the crime stats and they are typically low, as with most of Manhattan, and the 'worst' thing we saw was a bunch of old Latino guys hanging outside a store with a beer, like it's game day in Havana, and some youths with skateboards like cussing and sh1t. Almost everyone I saw was old and Chinese. Terrifying. I thought you Yanks were supposed to be tough?
Only kidding but seriously, is this stretch of the L.E.S. really that sketchy or are people being snobs (I hate to play the race card, but something inside me wonders if this is the case)?
R
The area looks very ghetto. Even though gentrification of this area you plan to live has been on going for 20 years, much of its residents have not moved out due to rent control, rent stabilization and rent subsidization. The area is very hood even with the changes in and around the neighborhood. To be honest areas of the Bronx and Brooklyn looks less ghetto than the areas around the LES, however thanks to gentrification LES is much safer than most areas of Bronx or Brooklyn. Overall you will be alright. BTW, welcome back to NYC since NYC used to be a British controlled city at one point.
The area is alright just a bit grim looking with transplants, projects, and the working poor. Use to get 420 across from the hospital if you're into that. But that was 20 years ago. The area was and is still mostly predominately Blacks, Latinos, and poor immigrant Chinese. It's a shadow of what the LES once was.
Went to the Abrons Center on Henry Street last month and walked from there along East Broadway (Northern boundary of Two Bridges) to and from the F-train.
Area not bad but desolate...of course sub zero wind chills might have had something to do with it.
I was surprised to learn that several of the Mitchell Lama co-ops had gone private and the owers are making BIG killings.
The area seems tolerable but DO try to get as close to the F-train stop as possible so that you can get to the more enjoyable parts of Manhattan. Taking cabs everywhere would soon eat up any savings from moving to this less desirable part of town.
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