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Morningside Heights is a completely different neighborhood from East Harlem (the former is much, much more gentrified), but neither one have anything in your price range unless you're willing to have roommates.
Unfortunately, there is not a single neighborhood where you will be able to live alone for $980. A small studio will be at the very least $1,000 and this is very uncommon, $1200+ is more realistic even in rougher areas.
Would you live in Morningside Heights? East Harlem? Older woman. Public interest worker. Budget: $980/month or less.
If your budget is $980/mo, you need to be looking in areas where 2 bedrooms are around $1900/mo or less. That way you can rent in someone else's apartment.
Depending on where you need to be on a daily basis, you should probably be looking in outer borough neighborhoods and not Manhattan, which tends to be (not always but usually is) more expensive.
Maybe try Kew Gardens in Queens or Bay Ridge in Brooklyn or Riverdale in the Bronx.
^ Pretty hard to find a true 2 bed thats big enough to share for that price in Bay Ridge these days. A decent 1 bed will be $1800-1900.
Probably equally true for the other neighborhoods I mentioned as well. But maybe op could find a leaseholder who has had a rent stabilized 2 bedroom for some years where the rent is still sub-$2000.
^ Pretty hard to find a true 2 bed thats big enough to share for that price in Bay Ridge these days. A decent 1 bed will be $1800-1900.
Riverdale is more expensive than Bay Ridge. One bedrooms go from $1700-2400, and two bedrooms can go up to $3400, though $2400 and up is usually the price for 2 bedrooms in Riverdale.
Probably equally true for the other neighborhoods I mentioned as well. But maybe op could find a leaseholder who has had a rent stabilized 2 bedroom for some years where the rent is still sub-$2000.
Riverdale and Bay Ridge are not going to be that cheap because of how expensive the worst neighorhoods have become. They have to be more expensive to set themselves apart from on the rough areas. Riverdale can be just as pricey as parts of Manhattan. The main difference is you will likely get more space and amenities for your money.
I'm sure there are existing rentals (not new leases) in all the neighborhoods I mentioned where some leaseholder out there is paying $2000 for a 2 bedroom. I gave the OP a great place to start looking if all she wants is a share in a 2 bedroom. So far no one else in this thread has offered anything of value.
Someone who can only afford $980 a month is in no position to be looking for an apartment that has a new lease anyway. Her only option is getting a room in an apartment that is a 2 bedroom (or more than 2) that is an existing $2000/mo or less. I feel pretty confident that option is out there, for her or for someone else, in the areas I mentioned.
I know that in my area, 2 bedrooms (new leases) are $2400 and up. But I have seen rooms for rent for $1000, so it would stand to reason that the people who have held a $2000/mo 2 bedroom lease for a while are looking for a new roommate.
Ridgewood may be in the right ballpark as well for leaseholders holding $2000 a month 2 bedroom rentals.
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