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Hello,
I am a grad student from Tufts currently looking into the internship application process, as I need to complete an school psychology internship this coming September. I have been living in Somerville, MA (just outside of Cambridge and 10 mins to Boston) the past year. However, I was born in Prospect Heights, grew up in Rosedale, lived in Valley Stream for two years, and lived and went to undergrad in Manhattan (at Hunter College). I know Queens, Manhattan, and Long Island relatively well, but I haven't been to Brooklyn (other than Williamsburg and DUMBO) since I was three.
I would like to complete my internship on Long Island, most likely in Nassau County, as it might be an easy-in to a pretty decent salary when looking for a job the following year. However, I really could not picture myself living on Long Island at this point in my life. I was interested in perhaps living in Brooklyn and wondered how feasible that would be.
Here are some of my competing interests right now:
1) Our budget (me and my fiance's) is up to $1800 a month. We need at least a one bedroom apartment, but a two bedroom would be nice (as this is what we have now). We also have a cat and would like to keep him at all costs.
2) We need parking for two cars (either easy on-street or driveway)
3) I would like a subway stop within walking distance and about 30 min or less trip to Manhattan.
4) My fiance and I (he will be working as a teacher on Long Island) would like to be able to get to the highway and into Long Island in under 45 mins on weekday mornings.
5) Activities like bars, arts, museums, good restaurants, etc. are nice, but not essential. If these things are accessible by car or subway, I would prefer them to be about 15 mins away
6) I would like the area to be relatively safe.
With this in mind, where should we think about living? Is it even feasible to live in Brooklyn with these demands?
I realize that this is a lot to take in. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks so much!
My advice is to focus on your commute to work. Traffic is kind of a nightmare in the NYC area and driving anywhere can take much longer than you think it should. You say your fiance will be working in Long Island, but where? And where do you think your internship will be?
I am guessing that it's going to make much more sense (in terms of the commute) for you to look in Queens. Maybe Kew Gardens?
You should both live on Long Island. It doesn't make sense to live in Brooklyn or Queens.
If you live within NYC boundaries, you will have to pay NYC income tax and higher car insurance. It is highly unlikey that you will find easy parking for two cars. With street parking, you may have to deal with alternate side parking and finding a spot. With garage parking, that will be higher than your budget. You may be able to find a place in Nassau that will accomodate both cars. You will also have to deal with traffic and extra driving time needed in bad weather. The Belt and Southern State are slow going during rush hour and there is no longer an opposite direction commute during the rush.
Focus on school and the internship rather than entertainment. You will find enough of it, even you do have spare time, on Long Island. Between the cat, your limited budget, and the cars, you can't afford to be picky.
Hello,
I am a grad student from Tufts currently looking into the internship application process, as I need to complete an school psychology internship this coming September. I have been living in Somerville, MA (just outside of Cambridge and 10 mins to Boston) the past year. However, I was born in Prospect Heights, grew up in Rosedale, lived in Valley Stream for two years, and lived and went to undergrad in Manhattan (at Hunter College). I know Queens, Manhattan, and Long Island relatively well, but I haven't been to Brooklyn (other than Williamsburg and DUMBO) since I was three.
I would like to complete my internship on Long Island, most likely in Nassau County, as it might be an easy-in to a pretty decent salary when looking for a job the following year. However, I really could not picture myself living on Long Island at this point in my life. I was interested in perhaps living in Brooklyn and wondered how feasible that would be.
Here are some of my competing interests right now:
1) Our budget (me and my fiance's) is up to $1800 a month. We need at least a one bedroom apartment, but a two bedroom would be nice (as this is what we have now). We also have a cat and would like to keep him at all costs.
2) We need parking for two cars (either easy on-street or driveway)
3) I would like a subway stop within walking distance and about 30 min or less trip to Manhattan.
4) My fiance and I (he will be working as a teacher on Long Island) would like to be able to get to the highway and into Long Island in under 45 mins on weekday mornings.
5) Activities like bars, arts, museums, good restaurants, etc. are nice, but not essential. If these things are accessible by car or subway, I would prefer them to be about 15 mins away
6) I would like the area to be relatively safe.
With this in mind, where should we think about living? Is it even feasible to live in Brooklyn with these demands?
I realize that this is a lot to take in. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks so much!
Jenny
The thing about brooklyn is, the closer you find an apartment by an express train with less than 30 min to manhattan *and* in a nice $1800 might get you a studio for that amount but certainly not in any neighborhood with affordable parking or any parking at all.
There is one thing that I am expert on and that is commuting from Nassau County to Brooklyn. There is no such thing as a 45 minute commute either way in the morning from Nassau. I travel from Nassau to Brooklyn 4 days a week. My commute time ranges from 50 minutes with little to no traffic to 2+ hours if it rains or there is an accident. My usual time is about 1 hour and 40 minutes on an average day. I used to work overnights and made the reverse commute from Brooklyn to Nassau and that would wasn't any better. The only time I used to make it home in 45 minutes is when I worked overnight on a weekend and there were no cars on the road.
If I was in your situation, I would get rid of one of the cars at the least, and use that money in order to increase your rent budget and save yourself the aggravation of trying to park 2 cars, move them for alternate side parking, etc. Car insurance is also very $$$ in Brooklyn.
Thanks for the replies! I'm kinda seeing now that this is not feasible, which sucks because I hated Long Island when I lived there. Totally not for me. I also worry about the availability of apartments in the Nassau area. They seem like all basement numbers or things in bad areas.
My fiance said we could probably do up to $2100 a month. We will probably be on the southwest shore of LI in terms of work and internship. However, its hard to say. We will probably just go with the best offer or any offer at all.
It was all just speculation.
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