NYC Neighborhoods Forum

[Anonymous User]

my office is also right near grand central, wondering if i should go midtown east or east village

My hot takes are all over this thread, but East Village ALL THE WAY. The East Village is expensive, but so is Midtown East. Unlike Midtown East, the EV is one of the most fun neighborhoods in NYC. So many amazing restaurants and bars, and it has much more of a neighborhood-y vibe than the soulless Midtown East. There is no feeling as wonderful as walking through Tompkins Square Park on a spring day and people-watching and listening to jazz in the park. You'll still be able to walk to work on a nice day (it'll be like a 30-40 minute walk depending on how fast you walk). And the 6 train from the EV to Grand Central is a 10-minute straight shot. The only advantage of Midtown East is that the housing stock is better (lots of shitty walk-ups with tiny kitchens and no laundry in the building in the EV; generic but luxury-esque condos in Midtown), but it's a tradeoff that is personally worth it to me.

This person is right. EV > Midtown East 100%. Midtown east is boring and doesn't feel like a neighborhood. One of the joys of living in NYC is being able to leave your apartment and there's interesting stuff right outside your door. Mild exaggeration, but I'm not sure you'll get that in Midtown East unless your idea of interesting stuff is a sweetgreen.

That said, for OP something might be said for living somewhere close to a big transit hub so they can see more of the city easily in case they don't like the place they've chosen to live and want to see what other places are like. At the very least look for a place with easy train access.

[Anonymous User]

This is barely relevant to the thread, but on the topic of moving to NYC:

Do you all just get apartments with in-unit laundry? I’m finding plenty of nice places in the neighborhoods you mentioned in the 2000-2500 range without laundry... and I’m tempted. I’ve never used dry-cleaning, but it seems common to do there?

[Anonymous User]

This is barely relevant to the thread, but on the topic of moving to NYC:

Do you all just get apartments with in-unit laundry? I’m finding plenty of nice places in the neighborhoods you mentioned in the 2000-2500 range without laundry... and I’m tempted. I’ve never used dry-cleaning, but it seems common to do there?

I will never consider a place that doesn't have onsite laundry. Having grown accustomed to in-unit laundry at my current apt, I'm even leery of a shared laundry room.

I don't see how dry cleaning is a substitute for a laundry machine. Most of your clothes don't need to be dry cleaned (including many that you probably mistakenly think do require dry cleaning), and if you're going to splurge on a service I'm sure NYC has laundry pickup services that will machine wash your clothes. Despite what you might think, dry cleaning is usually very harsh on your clothes.

I've been persuaded that regular dry cleaning is a racket, and clothes should be dry cleaned only rarely, if at all. The type of clothing people have dry cleaned, namely wool, generally doesn't need regular cleaning period.

[Anonymous User]

This is barely relevant to the thread, but on the topic of moving to NYC:

Do you all just get apartments with in-unit laundry? I’m finding plenty of nice places in the neighborhoods you mentioned in the 2000-2500 range without laundry... and I’m tempted. I’ve never used dry-cleaning, but it seems common to do there?

I will never consider a place that doesn't have onsite laundry. Having grown accustomed to in-unit laundry at my current apt, I'm even leery of a shared laundry room.

I don't see how dry cleaning is a substitute for a laundry machine. Most of your clothes don't need to be dry cleaned (including many that you probably mistakenly think do require dry cleaning), and if you're going to splurge on a service I'm sure NYC has laundry pickup services that will machine wash your clothes. Despite what you might think, dry cleaning is usually very harsh on your clothes.

I've been persuaded that regular dry cleaning is a racket, and clothes should be dry cleaned only rarely, if at all. The type of clothing people have dry cleaned, namely wool, generally doesn't need regular cleaning period.

Yes, dry cleaning is not a substitute for a laundry machine...but a laundromat is. Normal people use them all the time in NYC, and they are perfectly adequate. My nearest one is a block away, about $15 for 10 lbs. wash & fold (drop off) service, or $3ish per load if you do DIY self-service, which is what I most often do.

[Anonymous User]

my office is also right near grand central, wondering if i should go midtown east or east village

My hot takes are all over this thread, but East Village ALL THE WAY. The East Village is expensive, but so is Midtown East. Unlike Midtown East, the EV is one of the most fun neighborhoods in NYC. So many amazing restaurants and bars, and it has much more of a neighborhood-y vibe than the soulless Midtown East. There is no feeling as wonderful as walking through Tompkins Square Park on a spring day and people-watching and listening to jazz in the park. You'll still be able to walk to work on a nice day (it'll be like a 30-40 minute walk depending on how fast you walk). And the 6 train from the EV to Grand Central is a 10-minute straight shot. The only advantage of Midtown East is that the housing stock is better (lots of shitty walk-ups with tiny kitchens and no laundry in the building in the EV; generic but luxury-esque condos in Midtown), but it's a tradeoff that is personally worth it to me.

This person is right. EV > Midtown East 100%. Midtown east is boring and doesn't feel like a neighborhood. One of the joys of living in NYC is being able to leave your apartment and there's interesting stuff right outside your door. Mild exaggeration, but I'm not sure you'll get that in Midtown East unless your idea of interesting stuff is a sweetgreen.

That said, for OP something might be said for living somewhere close to a big transit hub so they can see more of the city easily in case they don't like the place they've chosen to live and want to see what other places are like. At the very least look for a place with easy train access.

person who asked EV vs ME here:
thanks a lot you've honeslty convinced me. I love reducing the commute as much as possible, but that seems less significant now that wfh is gonna be a long-term thing. having more food/bars/stuff near my home seems extremely important given that i dont intend to cook much.

all this to say if this were a world with no covid, i think i would go ME beacuse most of my meals would be from the office anyways and short commute is important. in a post-covid world, that pretty heavily weights in favor of EV and i think makes the difference. pretty excited to live in EV!

[notinbiglaw]

The line I draw for luxury is 24/7 doorman that can receive my Amazon packages, and central air.

Honestly, unless you find doing laundry therapeutic for some reason, just use wash&fold services or hire a housekeeper and pay $20 extra a week to do your laundry too.

[nealric]

The line I draw for luxury is 24/7 doorman that can receive my Amazon packages, and central air.

Honestly, unless you find doing laundry therapeutic for some reason, just use wash&fold services or hire a housekeeper and pay $20 extra a week to do your laundry too.

I always just had packages delivered to my office. Not worth hundreds of dollars per month just for someone to get your packages (IMO).

[Anonymous User]

The line I draw for luxury is 24/7 doorman that can receive my Amazon packages, and central air.

Honestly, unless you find doing laundry therapeutic for some reason, just use wash&fold services or hire a housekeeper and pay $20 extra a week to do your laundry too.

I always just had packages delivered to my office. Not worth hundreds of dollars per month just for someone to get your packages (IMO).

Flashback to being at my old firm and the whole office routinely received e-mail blasts from admin saying that the mailroom was being overwhelmed with amazon packages and we needed to stop. The associates laughed. You can't expect us to be in the office 14 hours a day and not have deliveries. One person went on vacation and received so many boxes we build a little fort with them on his desk. Someone ordered a palm tree at one point.

[nealric]

The line I draw for luxury is 24/7 doorman that can receive my Amazon packages, and central air.

Honestly, unless you find doing laundry therapeutic for some reason, just use wash&fold services or hire a housekeeper and pay $20 extra a week to do your laundry too.

I always just had packages delivered to my office. Not worth hundreds of dollars per month just for someone to get your packages (IMO).

Flashback to being at my old firm and the whole office routinely received e-mail blasts from admin saying that the mailroom was being overwhelmed with amazon packages and we needed to stop. The associates laughed. You can't expect us to be in the office 14 hours a day and not have deliveries. One person went on vacation and received so many boxes we build a little for with them on his desk. Someone ordered a palm tree at one point.

My secretary used to roll her eyes at the stuff associates would order. Someone even had a bicycle delivered to their office. But other than annoying the mail room and admins a bit, it wasn't really an issue.

[FND]

Quick primer on Manhattan living:

Restaurants are good everywhere. Don't care how much of a foodie you are, you'll be satisfied in any neighborhood.

Check the subway lines. You want to be able to take the train to or from work, preferably without switching trains, or maximum once.
It's easier to travel north/south than it is east/west. If your work is on the west side, live on the west side. The difference between the Upper east side vs the upper west side, or greenwich vs the east village is NOT big enough to have to travel crosstown on a daily basis.

If you're into lots of bars, you want to be in the somewhere between 14th st and Canal (east village, west village, soho, Lower east side).

If you're no longer into the bar scene, and want something more sophisticated, or want to spend more time outdoors, upper east or upper west side. East side has more museums, west side has opera, concerts, and it's easier to get to broadway theaters. But if you're gonna spend $$$$ on tickets, you may as well go all the way and take a cab, so it doesn't really matter.

Murray Hill and Kips Bay on the east side, Hells Kitchen on the west side, is the middle ground between the upper east side /upper west side and the village, both literally and figuratively.

If you want peace and quiet, go to Battery Park.

Don't bother with alphabet city or china town. If you're working biglaw, you owe it to yourself to live in a better place than that. Same with midtown and the garment area, but for different reasons.

Don't live north of the park. It's not as ghetto as it used to be, but it's too far away if you're working biglaw hours. Same for queens. If you work in the Wall Street area, brooklyn is totally an option, but that''d make this a much longer post

[Anonymous User]

If you work in the Wall Street area, brooklyn is totally an option, but that''d make this a much longer post

Please expand. I'm the WTC guy from upthread, and I'm strongly exploring Brooklyn. The idea of having extra space, and possibly even a backyard, is very tempting. I need at least ~750 sq ft, with room for a home office setup.

But - I'm also commute sensitive, so being able to jet to work in 10 minutes, or even walk, is also very appealing.

[bretby]

Close in Brooklyn is just as expensive - if not more - than many parts of Manhattan. I haven’t priced apartments in the financial district lately but they used to be relatively reasonable, though the neighborhood is dead at night. If you are dead set on a big apartment (and 750 square feet is quite big for a 1br), you’ll have more luck with new buildings, so maybe try all the new buildings they are building in downtown Brooklyn/BAM area.

[Anonymous User]

Close in Brooklyn is just as expensive - if not more - than many parts of Manhattan. I haven’t priced apartments in the financial district lately but they used to be relatively reasonable, though the neighborhood is dead at night. If you are dead set on a big apartment (and 750 square feet is quite big for a 1br), you’ll have more luck with new buildings, so maybe try all the new buildings they are building in downtown Brooklyn/BAM area.

Doesn't have to be a 1BR, I'm considering 2BRs and using the second room as an office. I'm willing to spend up to around $4k if I find a killer place.

I don't think I'm going to do FiDi. Doesn't seem like a great place to live, and always being ensconced in skyscrapers seems oppressive.

[Anonymous User]

Close in Brooklyn is just as expensive - if not more - than many parts of Manhattan. I haven’t priced apartments in the financial district lately but they used to be relatively reasonable, though the neighborhood is dead at night. If you are dead set on a big apartment (and 750 square feet is quite big for a 1br), you’ll have more luck with new buildings, so maybe try all the new buildings they are building in downtown Brooklyn/BAM area.

Doesn't have to be a 1BR, I'm considering 2BRs and using the second room as an office. I'm willing to spend up to around $4k if I find a killer place.

I don't think I'm going to do FiDi. Doesn't seem like a great place to live, and always being ensconced in skyscrapers seems oppressive.

Different anon. Brooklyn Heights is super nice — I’m legitimately jealous of my friends living there, even though I live in a nice part of Manhattan. The Brooklyn Heights Promenade rocks, tons of cute little tree-lined brownstone streets, good subway options.

It’s certainly pricey, but I think $4k would get you some decent 1BR options there. I actually disagree about new buildings being the way to go; I feel like your dollar is going more towards the newness rather than towards a larger space.

E.g., just picking randomly from StreetEasy, https://streeteasy.com/building/132-rem ... brooklyn/5

[Anonymous User]

Close in Brooklyn is just as expensive - if not more - than many parts of Manhattan. I haven’t priced apartments in the financial district lately but they used to be relatively reasonable, though the neighborhood is dead at night. If you are dead set on a big apartment (and 750 square feet is quite big for a 1br), you’ll have more luck with new buildings, so maybe try all the new buildings they are building in downtown Brooklyn/BAM area.

Doesn't have to be a 1BR, I'm considering 2BRs and using the second room as an office. I'm willing to spend up to around $4k if I find a killer place.

I don't think I'm going to do FiDi. Doesn't seem like a great place to live, and always being ensconced in skyscrapers seems oppressive.

I wouldn't sleep on FIDI, being near the water and the Battery is a huge benefit. Also, a lot of the buildings there are newer/renovated, so you'll have access to better amenities (gym, rooftops, etc.) and there's a lower chance you'll have to worry about vermin/bugs. It's pricy but you do get more for your money than many other neighborhoods in lower Manhattan. Drawback is that it doesn't have the nightlife/bar scene that is attractive to younger people (except for Stone Street)

[Anonymous User]

works is near grand central, considering murray hill vs east village. i've heard such horrible things about murray hill it's scaring me. being able to walk <10 mins to work seems good, though i think only going in 3-4 times a week will be normal post covid, decreasing the importance of shortened commute.

is living in murray hill that bad?

[Anonymous User]

Any recommendations for places near or easily commutable to the SDNY/CA2 courthouses by Chinatown? I'm a paired-up teetotaler so I'm not concerned with nightlife or anything, and by far my highest priority is finding something doable on a federal clerk's salary, but I do like spending time outside. My SO is Chinese and I'm not averse to just living in Chinatown if it's affordable, but I don't know what NY's is like.

[Anonymous User]

works is near grand central, considering murray hill vs east village. i've heard such horrible things about murray hill it's scaring me. being able to walk <10 mins to work seems good, though i think only going in 3-4 times a week will be normal post covid, decreasing the importance of shortened commute.

is living in murray hill that bad?

What have you heard that's horrible? I think it's considered to be a fairly generic/boring area, but I haven't heard any horror stories. Murray Hill/Kips Bay have some nice high rises with relatively cheap rent.

[Anonymous User]

works is near grand central, considering murray hill vs east village. i've heard such horrible things about murray hill it's scaring me. being able to walk <10 mins to work seems good, though i think only going in 3-4 times a week will be normal post covid, decreasing the importance of shortened commute.

is living in murray hill that bad?

What have you heard that's horrible? I think it's considered to be a fairly generic/boring area, but I haven't heard any horror stories. Murray Hill/Kips Bay have some nice high rises with relatively cheap rent.

I may have been hyperbolic; yes i've essentially just heard that it has no good food/bars. I dont care that much about bars, I care more about food. Also people say it's "fratty" but i wouldn't say i care that much who my neighbors are. but people have definitely warned against living in murray hill

i also question the upside of shorter commute if im only going in 3-4 times a week.

[Anonymous User]

Murray Hill is a perfectly fine place to start out in NYC. IMO, the "charm" of your surroundings is overrated when you are spending the great majority of your time working. The restaurant scene there is adequate — and if you like Indian cuisine, "Curry Hill" is right there.

Just be careful where exactly you land. If you go too far east in Murray Hill (by 1st Ave / FDR), getting to the subway is a real 10-15 minute schlep and you have to deal with the noise of many ambulances heading to NYU and Bellevue hospitals. The area around the UN building is dead even by midtown standards. Portions of 2nd and 3rd Ave are where most of the activity happens.

On the other hand...the clichés are there for a reason: I lived in one of those new-ish high rises in Murray Hill and found lots of my neighbors kind of grating and loud and "fratty." The bar scene definitely reflected that. And SantaCon is legitimately much worse in Murray Hill than in most other parts of the city.

I'd choose the East Village or UES over Murray Hill in most circumstances. But I wouldn't put much stock in horror stories about the neighborhood.

[Anonymous User]

Murray Hill is a perfectly fine place to start out in NYC. IMO, the "charm" of your surroundings is overrated when you are spending the great majority of your time working. The restaurant scene there is adequate — and if you like Indian cuisine, "Curry Hill" is right there.

Just be careful where exactly you land. If you go too far east in Murray Hill (by 1st Ave / FDR), getting to the subway is a real 10-15 minute schlep and you have to deal with the noise of many ambulances heading to NYU and Bellevue hospitals. The area around the UN building is dead even by midtown standards. Portions of 2nd and 3rd Ave are where most of the activity happens.

On the other hand...the clichés are there for a reason: I lived in one of those new-ish high rises in Murray Hill and found lots of my neighbors kind of grating and loud and "fratty." The bar scene definitely reflected that. And SantaCon is legitimately much worse in Murray Hill than in most other parts of the city.

I'd choose the East Village or UES over Murray Hill in most circumstances. But I wouldn't put much stock in horror stories about the neighborhood.

Thanks for the info. I'd say i'm leaning murray hill just for the sheer convenience. I'd like for my gym to be near both my work and home so I can go when im at either

i'm thinking upper 30s and west of 3rd is ideal

[nicoleshields3]

I've lived in NYC for 8 years and lived in a bunch of different neighborhoods (West Village/ Meatpacking, East Village, Financial District, and Williamsburg). I absolutely love Williamsburg, it's very close to Manhattan (one or two stops on the subway) and it has amazing restaurants, bars and shopping, so perfect for someone in their 20s and early 30s. There are many newer luxury buildings with outdoor space and great amenities (check out 325 Kent Ave, 420 Kent, 1 South First, etc.). While Manhattan has suffered greatly due to COVID (a lot of people have left), Williamsburg has seen an influx of residents who used to live in Manhattan.

[Anonymous User]

The best neighborhood in NYC is tribeca if you can afford it

[Anonymous User]

The best neighborhood in NYC is tribeca if you can afford it

cObBLesTOnE sTReEtS

[FND]

Thanks for the info. I'd say i'm leaning murray hill just for the sheer convenience. I'd like for my gym to be near both my work and home so I can go when im at either

i'm thinking upper 30s and west of 3rd is ideal

Nothing wrong with Murray Hill. It's where my sister ended up when she realized she couldn't afford the UES.