NYC rent v. Commuting from L.I. Forum

[Anonymous User]

The choices shouldn't be NYC rent (assuming you mean Manhattan) v. Commuting from LI. Look into Queens - Astoria/Woodside/Sunnyside/Long Island City. All will provide a 30-45min commute to downtown Manhattan. I currently live in Astoria -- one of the best decisions I ever made. It provided a 25min commute to my V20 office in midtown (and for fraction of what most in my firm class were paying).

I moved to LIC 2 years ago. Such a good place to live. Literally in my office within 20 minutes, and I pay under 3K a month for an 800 sq foot apt in a luxury high rise. Couldn't ask for much more (aside from a few more retail amenities, but that is slowly coming).

I'm the same guy who lived in Jersey City before, btw. Never saw a reason to live in Manhattan itself, and still don't.

Dudes, please keep LIC/Astoria a secret, tyia. Don't want it to fill up with biglaw strivers

HA. I promise you Astoria is no longer a secret.

[anon919]

If your office is close to the train station and your commute wasn't much over an hour, I would totally live with the parents in your situation, as long as your parents are reasonably chill

In other parts of the country 1 hour commutes are the norm for everyone, e.g., california

I'm agreeing to this. Save the rent money. Western LI commute is not so bad.

The savings of living at home are definitely there..but at what cost? OP is working big law so this isn't the case of someone who needs to nickel and dime his way through. OP - I would try to find accomodations that fits your wallet and doesn't leave you more than a 45min commute from the office. It is absolutely doable. If you're that far downtown then Brooklyn isn't a bad idea either.

Do not, and I repeat, do not rely on the LIRR!! Throw in 20min+ for delays when factoring in LIRR daily commutes. I had to do it for 3 years (from Nassau, and not all the way out on Suffolk) and I will never go back to that life....unless I actually bought a house out on LI and I'm in a comfortable gig whereby the unreliability of the LIRR won't cause a mental breakdown (b/c I can't make it to the office in time). This is often the case of why associates, especially juniors, want to live so close to the office. But there's no need to live that close to the office. Queens, Jersey City and Brooklyn are all good choices.

If you're pretty adamant about living with the parents, and you're still within the time-frame whereby the firm will pick up the moving expenses, then try out it. But bail ASAP once the advice from this thread start ringing true. All the best.

[anon919]

The choices shouldn't be NYC rent (assuming you mean Manhattan) v. Commuting from LI. Look into Queens - Astoria/Woodside/Sunnyside/Long Island City. All will provide a 30-45min commute to downtown Manhattan. I currently live in Astoria -- one of the best decisions I ever made. It provided a 25min commute to my V20 office in midtown (and for fraction of what most in my firm class were paying).

I moved to LIC 2 years ago. Such a good place to live. Literally in my office within 20 minutes, and I pay under 3K a month for an 800 sq foot apt in a luxury high rise. Couldn't ask for much more (aside from a few more retail amenities, but that is slowly coming).

I'm the same guy who lived in Jersey City before, btw. Never saw a reason to live in Manhattan itself, and still don't.

Dudes, please keep LIC/Astoria a secret, tyia. Don't want it to fill up with biglaw strivers

Yanno, at first I almost didn't get specific and almost referred OP generally to Queens. But I figured what the heck...it's not the same secret haven it was some years back.

[Anonymous User]

The choices shouldn't be NYC rent (assuming you mean Manhattan) v. Commuting from LI. Look into Queens - Astoria/Woodside/Sunnyside/Long Island City. All will provide a 30-45min commute to downtown Manhattan. I currently live in Astoria -- one of the best decisions I ever made. It provided a 25min commute to my V20 office in midtown (and for fraction of what most in my firm class were paying).

I moved to LIC 2 years ago. Such a good place to live. Literally in my office within 20 minutes, and I pay under 3K a month for an 800 sq foot apt in a luxury high rise. Couldn't ask for much more (aside from a few more retail amenities, but that is slowly coming).

I'm the same guy who lived in Jersey City before, btw. Never saw a reason to live in Manhattan itself, and still don't.

Dudes, please keep LIC/Astoria a secret, tyia. Don't want it to fill up with biglaw strivers

Yanno, at first I almost didn't get specific and almost referred OP generally to Queens. But I figured what the heck...it's not the same secret haven it was some years back.

In my area of LIC, there are about 10 luxury high rises going up at the same time within a radius of just a few blocks. Def not staying secret for long.

[Danger Zone]

I know exactly where you are talking about and plan on living there soon so SSSHHHHHH

[RaceJudicata]

Hoboken to Downtown isn't bad at all. Its exactly the same as Jersey City commute wise (PATH), But Hoboken has a more vibrant downtown area and a nice young demographic. Hoboken is also a great place to start a family - tons of young families in town - if that is something on the horizon.

DO NOT live in Hoboken or JC commuting to midtown...

[Tls2016]

People have been talking about Astoria for years. It's no secret. Any cab driver would tell you to live there.

OP: what is your door to door commute? It would make a difference if you worked near Penn Station. I'm guessing your penn station to office time is 20 minutes at best. You have to include walking to the subway, etc.

I don't know if Atlantic stop and getting a different subway train would be better.

[cron1834]

People have been talking about Astoria for years. It's no secret. Any cab driver would tell you to live there.

OP: what is your door to door commute? It would make a difference if you worked near Penn Station. I'm guessing your penn station to office time is 20 minutes at best. You have to include walking to the subway, etc.

I don't know if Atlantic stop and getting a different subway train would be better.

Literally the first time I went to NY was on a callback, and literally the first person I had a conversation with was a cabbie from Astoria who told me to live there if I move.

[Anonymous User]

You don't bill a car service for your morning commute. If you want to take a car in each morning, thats totally fine. But you would be footing the bill. As for evening car service, you only bill it through to a client if you are at work late specifically because billable client work kept you there (and even then, your firm may have strict guidelines for how late you have to stay in order to use this benefit, what types of services you can use, what is the max that can be billed, etc.)

No way will they just let you bill through to the client for every ride home unless you plan to stay late each and every night doing client work, such that the charge is justified.

The premise to my comment on taking car service every night was that it is in line with firm policy, which OP should clarify before deciding how much to rely on it. Our policy was 10 hours in the office (not billed hours) and leaving after 8:30. I was busy enough to do that almost every day. Justifying the charge didn't exist except that you had to follow the policy. No one is watching over your shoulder at most firms. People expect you to be professional and exercise judgment. Unless you are putting off work for the express purpose of getting a car I don't know who would ask any questions. You may think a $100 car ride would look bad on a bill, but the reality is that it is a fraction of your hourly billing rate.

Sorry to beat this point to death, but I think most law students and junior associates underestimate how much autonomy they have/will have as lawyers. Of course you have to use judgment, but you are generally given the benefit of the doubt unless you give people a reason not to.

[Tls2016]

If your office is close to the train station and your commute wasn't much over an hour, I would totally live with the parents in your situation, as long as your parents are reasonably chill

In other parts of the country 1 hour commutes are the norm for everyone, e.g., california

If he is commuting into Penn in about 50 minutes there is no way he is getting to his office downtown in an hour.

[Anonymous User]

I definitely could have gotten away with commuting from Long Island, but my firm is in midtown and is much more work product than face time focused. I find the juniors care more about face time than the partners, but it sounds like you're far out on the Island. 50 minutes with no problems is a big commute. Long Island is very long so not all commutes are created equal. Also, the longer the commute the likelier it is something goes wrong and you get delayed. Driving is ridiculous. You'd be better off flying from Miami every morning.

[jt91isles]

People have been talking about Astoria for years. It's no secret. Any cab driver would tell you to live there.

OP: what is your door to door commute? It would make a difference if you worked near Penn Station. I'm guessing your penn station to office time is 20 minutes at best. You have to include walking to the subway, etc.

I don't know if Atlantic stop and getting a different subway train would be better.

I'm assuming it would be approximately 80-90 minutes door-to-door. I think 20 minutes at best from Penn is a fair estimate.

[Anonymous User]

Despite the usually unjustified stigma, another great option would be certain areas of NJ. Just as Astoria and other areas are "hidden gems" with respect to reasonable rent, safe/fun area, and reasonable commute, so too are certain areas of NJ (not talking about Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken here). I live 9 miles (as the crow flies) from the city and take the bus directly in each morning. Get to Port Authority in typically anywhere from 20-40 minutes. From there you can walk if you're midtown west, or take subway for midtown east/downtown. Very easy. And car service at night can take 25 minutes door-to-door or less, depending on proximity of office to Lincoln Tunnel. Also have a great apartment, over 1100 square feet, second bedroom turned into an office, paying just over 2k a month. Tons of nice restaurants nearby and very safe neighborhood. Does help to have a car, but I know people who live near me and don't. Most do have one car, however. Happy to give more info if OP or anyone else wants. I highly recommend it.

[Danger Zone]

I'm in an area like that (maybe even the same town!) and a car is definitely necessary if you're working a biglaw job. Not for commuting, but because when you get home late after a long day and you need to make that quick trip to Target, you don't want to have to wait for an NJ Transit bus.

[Tls2016]

People have been talking about Astoria for years. It's no secret. Any cab driver would tell you to live there.

OP: what is your door to door commute? It would make a difference if you worked near Penn Station. I'm guessing your penn station to office time is 20 minutes at best. You have to include walking to the subway, etc.

I don't know if Atlantic stop and getting a different subway train would be better.

I'm assuming it would be approximately 80-90 minutes door-to-door. I think 20 minutes at best from Penn is a fair estimate.

I think spending that much time would be a problem. You are looking at around 2 1/2 or 3 hours a day even with a car service home, and you can't count on that every night. What happens if you need to be in extra early after being at home for only a few hours? Are you going to feel like sitting on the train and then rushing to the subway? I think it could be doable if you had regular hours, but you won't.

Maybe you should do the actual commute a few days in a row to test it out and see how it goes and how you feel about it. It can be hard to predict.

Maybe you could find some room share for not that much for a few nights a week if you need to be in the city and mostly live at home? That way you could save rent.

It's not ideal at all to try to stretch your life out like this but I understand minimizing costs.

[kaiser]

Anyone who has experienced the biglaw time-suck will tell you that an 80-90 minute commute most certainly isn't worth it. Time becomes so precious, and you would throwing an awful lot of it away each day. You would literally hate that arrangement within 2-3 months, if not sooner. The few people I know who tried such an arrangement usually don't last too long.

[DELG]

Anyone who has experienced the biglaw time-suck will tell you that an 80-90 minute commute most certainly isn't worth it. Time becomes so precious, and you would throwing an awful lot of it away each day. You would literally hate that arrangement within 2-3 months, if not sooner. The few people I know who tried such an arrangement usually don't last too long.

But you can always move closer in. Might as well start with this and keep throwing cash at loans until you feel inclined to change your situation.

[sundance95]

Anyone who has experienced the biglaw time-suck will tell you that an 80-90 minute commute most certainly isn't worth it. Time becomes so precious, and you would throwing an awful lot of it away each day. You would literally hate that arrangement within 2-3 months, if not sooner. The few people I know who tried such an arrangement usually don't last too long.

But you can always move closer in. Might as well start with this and keep throwing cash at loans until you feel inclined to change your situation.

I could see doing this at least for the stub year. Not after that, though--and I'm not even in NY.

[DELG]

Anyone who has experienced the biglaw time-suck will tell you that an 80-90 minute commute most certainly isn't worth it. Time becomes so precious, and you would throwing an awful lot of it away each day. You would literally hate that arrangement within 2-3 months, if not sooner. The few people I know who tried such an arrangement usually don't last too long.

But you can always move closer in. Might as well start with this and keep throwing cash at loans until you feel inclined to change your situation.

I could see doing this at least for the stub year. Not after that, though--and I'm not even in NY.

4 months no MFH rent is a lot of money in the bank. make it to 6, even better. etc.

[anon919]

Despite the usually unjustified stigma, another great option would be certain areas of NJ. Just as Astoria and other areas are "hidden gems" with respect to reasonable rent, safe/fun area, and reasonable commute, so too are certain areas of NJ (not talking about Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken here). I live 9 miles (as the crow flies) from the city and take the bus directly in each morning. Get to Port Authority in typically anywhere from 20-40 minutes. From there you can walk if you're midtown west, or take subway for midtown east/downtown. Very easy. And car service at night can take 25 minutes door-to-door or less, depending on proximity of office to Lincoln Tunnel. Also have a great apartment, over 1100 square feet, second bedroom turned into an office, paying just over 2k a month. Tons of nice restaurants nearby and very safe neighborhood. Does help to have a car, but I know people who live near me and don't. Most do have one car, however. Happy to give more info if OP or anyone else wants. I highly recommend it.

What area is this? PM me.

[Danger Zone]

Just look up places along the Hudson on the jersey side

[Anonymous User]

You could save on city tax commuting from Long Island if you go all paper M-F.

[ithacais]

.

[Anonymous User]

Honestly, in terms of a fun area, places populated by young professionals tend to be the most fun. Manhattan has been coming progressively less fun for years, because it's predominately all rent controlled and old rich people. I'm only in Manhattan because if you're at work 12 hours a day, that extra 20 minutes could be getting a drink with somebody/drinking alone, exercising/not exercising, etc.

[Anonymous User]

Lots of confusion here...plenty of people commute in from the burbs, an hour twenty in on a comfortable train isn't bad, and if you stay late enough for car service the ride back can be under an hour. You could also do the train both ways and get work done on it.

Just pick a practice group with more normal hours (avoid M&A, DCM, etc...)