Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Probably a rental subsidies and living with parents
What is rental subsidies?
Stormgal, no, I have been to all borough of New York. If you think I am unknowledgeable about New York I probably am. But Im only looking for serious replies about the mechanics behind how people get by in these living situations. More is going on then just living with a mom or grandma. Id like to know.
Kefir king, yeah I see people hanging around playing lotto and scratch cards, but most of that is just money down the drain. So how do those people gambling and not working a job pay the rent? How do they afford having all these bad habits and still just hang out?
l1995, why?
iammax, yeah I have visited all the countries you mentioned. I have traveled more countries and states then the vast majority of people in NYC. But in NYC something else is going on. Somebody is fitting the bills, and that was my question. Who? The government? If so, can you ellaborate.
No joke, I am not a townie, I am a transplant and would like hearing details.
I lived in Washington Heights shortly a few years back, on 175th and Fort Washington. So west of Broadway. My area wasn't too bad minus one group of guys that would hang out on the corner, smoking weed and partying at all hours. East of Broadway it was different- there was more of that as well as all age groups hanging outside. It's really just a cultural thing, Washington Heights is heavily Dominican and it's part of their lifestyle. They also live with many others sometimes not only because of that but also because some of the apartments up there are huge by Manhattan standards, prewar and 5+ bedrooms. So their expenses are cut, plus the apartment may already be subsidized to begin with. The apartment I lived in had 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and was about 2000 square feet. My room was literally bigger than many studio apartments.
This is my fifth time living in NYC. I lived here in 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, and now 2017. I have lived at about 8 different room rentals and all of them have been in Washington Heights. But I still consider myself a newbie to NYC and the heights. I understand Washington Heights I just never bothered to ask detailed questions about how immigrant groups get by here financially.
I'm not a local. Never will be.
I still am not getting the detailed information Im looking for. I'd like to know more of the details. It's no mystery it is expensive living Anywhere in Manhattan today, even the rat hole where I live currently. I just think some immigrants are masters at bucking the system and I'd like to hear a more transparent description about how they get away with it.
This is my fifth time living in NYC. I lived here in 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, and now 2017. I have lived at about 8 different room rentals and all of them have been in Washington Heights. But I still consider myself a newbie to NYC and the heights. I understand Washington Heights I just never bothered to ask detailed questions about how immigrant groups get by here financially.
I'm not a local. Never will be.
I still am not getting the detailed information Im looking for. I'd like to know more of the details. It's no mystery it is expensive living Anywhere in Manhattan today, even the rat hole where I live currently. I just think some immigrants are masters at bucking the system and I'd like to have hear a more transparent description about how they get away with it.
What keeps you coming back? Why do you leave so often? Also, why live in NYC under your circumstances? Sounds rough.
Stormgal, no, I have been to all borough of New York. If you think I am unknowledgeable about New York I probably am. But Im only looking for serious replies about the mechanics behind how people get by in these living situations. More is going on then just living with a mom or grandma. Id like to know.
Kefir king, yeah I see people hanging around playing lotto and scratch cards, but most of that is just money down the drain. So how do those people gambling and not working a job pay the rent? How do they afford having all these bad habits and still just hang out?
l1995, why?
iammax, yeah I have visited all the countries you mentioned. I have traveled more countries and states then the vast majority of people in NYC. But in NYC something else is going on. Somebody is fitting the bills, and that was my question. Who? The government? If so, can you ellaborate.
No joke, I am not a townie, I am a transplant and would like hearing details.
They mostly live with family. It isn't uncommon in NYC for people of every demographic to stay home well into their 20s or 30s. Even people with good jobs will stay with their parents as long as they are single. It allows them to save, travel, etc. Rent is for transplants. They also aren't necessarily unemployed just because you see them hanging around sometimes. Not every job is 9 to 5. As busy as you claim to be, you seem to have plenty of time to observe people. Only one way for you to know if someone else is hanging out all day. Hang out all day yourself. Maybe, they're asking the same question about you.
I somewhat know whats going on in New York, but Im a transplant and a newbie still, and Im well traveled, but I still have some NY questions to be demystified. These questions are in no way meant to bug anybody in the wrong way.
Question one is a big elephant in the room, in Washington Heights. How do so many people just "hang out" on the streets so much and still pay rent? Its like they are sitting around a lot, maybe smoking maybe drinking, maybe having a coffee or eating from food trucks and just hanging around. Are there a lot of immigrants bucking the system and living for free in the Heights? If so they are spectacular at it. I have to work 8-12 hours per day, 6-7 days per week, just to live here and rent a room and I literally cannot just hang around chillin out, I have to save every penny and can not just buy ice cream and cigarettes and sit in bars all night, and I do not have time to nurse a hang over - ever. So whats their secret?
Honestly, hats off to these folks because they have it made.
How do hoodlums in the Heights get money to pay rent if they use drugs all night long, even if they are dealers, if they get high all night long hanging out in buildings, entranceways and alleyways, or whatever, its probably not that profitable even if they are drug dealers. They just consume. So do they mostly live with parents and not pay rent? Obviously some have expensive drug habits. Are they all hanging on as gigantic immigrant family units? Like a mega sized safety net. I figure there are legit business owners in their families and lots of hard workers, very smart working people, but what I mostly see in the heights are people just, hanging out for free you know?
Another weird question
You know when you walk by somebody on the street and its like a big wind emits from their body? Then somebody of a similar sized person walks by and they do not have that wind at all? Whats up with that?
Why do you think that they are immigrants? Do you think that they have some sort of 'immigrant handbook' which tells them how to game the system?
If you are working 12 hours 7 days a week, how do you have time to notice these people? Do you notice if the same people are hanging out- perhaps they work a different schedule than you do. Perhaps they don't have to pay as much rent as you do because they are long time tenants. Maybe they live with ten people squeezed into one apartment. And what do you mean by hanging out- are you observing them for hours on end to know whether they are eating, smoking and drinking for ten hours a day or just taking a break at the end of their work day?
Are you just a teensy bit jealous that you have to work so hard to afford living here while others seem to do that without much effort on their part? Just because you don't see the struggle doesn't mean that it isn't there.
I somewhat know whats going on in New York, but Im a transplant and a newbie still, and Im well traveled, but I still have some NY questions to be demystified. These questions are in no way meant to bug anybody in the wrong way.
Question one is a big elephant in the room, in Washington Heights. How do so many people just "hang out" on the streets so much and still pay rent? Its like they are sitting around a lot, maybe smoking maybe drinking, maybe having a coffee or eating from food trucks and just hanging around. Are there a lot of immigrants bucking the system and living for free in the Heights? If so they are spectacular at it. I have to work 8-12 hours per day, 6-7 days per week, just to live here and rent a room and I literally cannot just hang around chillin out, I have to save every penny and can not just buy ice cream and cigarettes and sit in bars all night, and I do not have time to nurse a hang over - ever. So whats their secret?
Honestly, hats off to these folks because they have it made.
How do hoodlums in the Heights get money to pay rent if they use drugs all night long, even if they are dealers, if they get high all night long hanging out in buildings, entranceways and alleyways, or whatever, its probably not that profitable even if they are drug dealers. They just consume. So do they mostly live with parents and not pay rent? Obviously some have expensive drug habits. Are they all hanging on as gigantic immigrant family units? Like a mega sized safety net. I figure there are legit business owners in their families and lots of hard workers, very smart working people, but what I mostly see in the heights are people just, hanging out for free you know?
Another weird question
You know when you walk by somebody on the street and its like a big wind emits from their body? Then somebody of a similar sized person walks by and they do not have that wind at all? Whats up with that?
Three words:
RENT STABILIZED APARTMENTS
Alot of these apartments have 3 generations living together and with good reason. If your grandmas rent is 800$ a month for a 3 bedroom, and you all chip in and pay peanuts, why would you ever move before you have a stable profession/family? I was born and raised in Queens and I was living with my parents until I got married in my late 20's, it just makes sense to save save save before you go live on your own.
The whole tone of your post comes off salty as ****. You honestly don't think there are trust fund babies who hang out every single night at bars in the city every week, or hang around with their 47875485 roommates smoking pot all day?
This thing about the big wind from little people, and the big people with little wind...this has really given me pause...I feel like it's the end of the Daily Show, and Jon Stewart is giving us a "moment of zen."
"When in Washington Heights, take note of the Big Wind."
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
so they can just hang out.
