Best place to live in NYC?

Hi! I'll be a first year analyst working in Midtown Manhattan next year, and I wanted to know where analysts typically live in NYC. Where should I be looking? Any recommendations?

 

Murray Hill is a good choice. Fresh college grads typically go to The Upper East Side or Jersey City. Honestly, it all comes down to a number of factors - your budget and living preferences. Do you want a roommate and still want to be in Manhattan? If yes, then look in Upper East, East Village, Lower East Side, and Murray Hill. If you want your own, comfortable apartment that is a short commute from work, nightlife, and restaurants then try Jersey City in NJ, Long Island City in Queens, or one of the neighborhoods in North/Central Brooklyn. If you need some suggestions for Brooklyn neighborhoods, lmk. 

 

Don't look at Upper East Side unless you want to be soooo far and so bored. Apartments are nice so, if you're a home-body sure, but then why are you working in New York? 

 

Literally no girl cares if you work in finance any longer(and I don't think they ever did). If anything they think you're a bank teller, and if they do find out you're a banker, some look at you with disgust and hatred because of the 08 crash and leftist brainwashing.

 

That’s such BS.

What girl would judge you for that and if they do, that’s a great filter off the bat to not take things further with this chick

 

It's not BS - it's true. A certain percentage of women living in Manhattan will be turned off if you say you live in Jersey. That's just how it is. Unless you're a super baller Managing Director guy. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I'm a girl and myself and any of my non-banking friends would not be going to Jersey City. Imagine the Uber back...

 
Funniest

Manhattan or just across the Brookyln bridge to Dumbo area. It's not even about being a "gold-digger" we just have lives and don't need to make the commute to and from your apartment. If its been 4+ dates and going well then sure, but I doubt any guy in finance can wait that many dates. 

 

Helllllll no. Not unless you want to feel like you're living in the middle of Mardi Gras from Wednesday - Sunday night. The buildings are also old af

 

Surprised that nobody has mentioned this already, but rents are way down. You can likely find a studio in Midtown for a little over 2k when last year would have been 2.5k+.. people will say you're basic for living in Murray Hill, but it's a solid/affordable/convenient option. There's no way I'd consider for a second living in New Jersey though.. Jesus

 

I dunno where in Brooklyn or Queens you’re referencing but anywhere desirable will still cost you more than that.

 

FiDi is dirty and it’s pretty dead in the evenings and on weekends. The buildings are nice though. You get a bigger bang for your buck but not the best I think. If you’re looking in this general vicinity I’d probably prefer battery park city over fidi.

 

FiDi is boring and you'll have to subway or taxi to go almost anywhere. Unless your office happens to be in FiDi (which most aren't) I'd recommend not getting a place there. 

 

Staten Island - Ferry ride will be the best part of your day. I guarantee it  

 

Be careful about leasing lingo in NYC. Flex 1 bedroom really means it’s a studio with the possibility of hanging up a partition and calling it a “flex 1 bedroom.” Flex 2 bedrooms are really 1 bedrooms with large living rooms. Watch out for net effective rent vs. gross rent. Gross rent is what you’re actually paying every month. Typically there’s a $300-$500 difference between net effective and gross. Yeah I know it’s annoying but NYC brokers are real sleezy.

 

Good points. Yeah NYC real estate agents for rentals are among the sleaziest people I have ever met in my life. Probably 40% of my bookings to see apartments under these sleaze agents were not even what I wanted or where I wanted it, but they just wanted to show me 'real quick' something that I did not want to see. 

I think they resemble recruiters as head hunters will try to sell you a job just to get their commission whether you want the job or not - they will try to sell it to you.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Murray Hill / Turtle Bay are great, and where I am at is a <15min walk to my office in Midtown. I also think neighborhoods straight south (i.e. Nolita or Little Italy, Chinatown to some extent) can also get you to the office <25min and be pretty affordable. I wanted a place both close and cheap to my work and so I went with Turtle Bay (also a super quiet and peaceful neighborhood w/ a few parks)

 

No

(been there - done that)

EV>UES

what what

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Native New Yorker here. I would suggest living in a neighborhood on the same side of town as your bank (East or West), so that you don’t need to bother transferring trains in the mornings when you’re commuting to work. Don’t listen to anyone on this forum who’s suggesting living in New Jersey. That’s fine if you’ve lived here for at least a couple of years but if you’re new to the city you want to be in the heart and center of it, at least initially. I actually prefer certain neighborhoods of Queens such as around the Forest Hills vicinity or in Brooklyn around Park Slope or Brooklyn Heights as they’re prettier and less chaotic but as a 22 year old kid this is not what you should be looking for when moving to NYC and instead just stick to Manhattan. You can always do more exploring in a couple of years if you get tired of the city.

If you’re at Morgan Stanley, for example, which is in Midtown West, I’d just living somewhere on the west side, such as the upper west side or even in Hell’s Kitchen (and you’d get to walk to work from here). UWS is actually a hidden gem I think; it’s a little more family oriented but generally tidier and cleaner than the upper east side and you have access to two great parks (Riverside and Central Park), which can be really nice on the weekends. I don’t suggest the West Village or Soho as those areas are needlessly overpriced and they also kind of die down after hours. Hudson yards has also gotten pretty nice and near the new shopping center.

If your bank is in midtown East like JPM, I’d suggest upper east side, Gramercy Park, East Village, or even NoLita. Gramercy Park will be the pricier of this set but in my opinion the best option as you’re close to everything by foot and even close to the L train, which in one stop will take you to Williamsburg (great for weekend trips or going out at night). It’s also a little cleaner and more elevated imo. Murray Hill/Kips Bay are just north of Gramercy park but are kind of bland although generally convenient. The east side, especially East Village, is generally more in habited by upper level students or recent graduates especially from NYU. There’s generally more to do with a good set of restaurants to pick from (but honestly you’ll find that in any neighborhood in NYC). Same idea with lower east side (as long as you’re by the F you can likely have a decent commute to either the east or west side). Whatever you do don’t live in Midtown East.

I think the most important thing you should do is look at what the closest train lines are by your job and plan around that. Do not dm discount the stresses of commuting in the mornings. If you have an opportunity to mitigate it you should. Also, convertible bedrooms are absolutely a thing and not that big of a deal IMO; you’ll start to know what I mean eventually.

 

Hells Kitchen / Clinton area would be good if you wanted to walk. Also Hudson Yards, or Upper West Side in the Lincoln Square area for easy access to the 6th Avenue train line (that’s the BDFM trains that stop near BoA at Bryant Park). Honestly you could probably walk from there, too. You could also live downtown in the East Village by the 2nd Avenue train stop or in the Lower East Side as long as you’re near (not more than 5-6 min walk from) the 6th Ave train stations.

 

Where downtown? East? West? It all depends. Anything below 23rd street can be considered downtown.

 

New to NY since im from cali but I'll be working at CS, any suggestions?

 

Hey need some advice coming from California, going to be interning at Goldman and my GF is interning at MS. We're trying to find something in the middle so we can live together, what would you recommend?

 

Hey really appreciate your insight. Hope to move up to NYC from FL sometime in June. My office is in Midtown East and was wondering why you don't recommend living anywhere around there? Been looking around mostly Upper east side, Lower east side, and Brooklyn anyways but was just wondering.

 
Most Helpful

Lots of good comments here, but the amount of simping for Jersey City is disgusting. “Why would you live in Manhattan when you could live in JC for $X less?!” Because in JC you miss out on the main thing that makes NYC great - being able to walk out of your apartment and immediately be in the thick of the food, culture, nightlife, energy that is unique to manhattan (Covid times are a bit different but they will pass). This doesn’t even take into account that no one will ever want to chill at your apartment before going out or watch a game with you. Or the difficulty of getting a girl to Uber 1.5 hours round trip to hook up with you (you’ll also prob have to pay so add that back to your rent savings). If you’re 30 and done going out every weekend, of course JC is a good option.
 

But don’t screw over some poor 21 year old who hasn’t experienced NYC yet.

 

haha yeah

I met a dude at a bar in the East Village called Croxley Ales (closed in 2017) and it was on like 3rd/B and I lived on 6th/B. He was an alumni and we started talking and he used to drive all the way from Jersey to go to this place. lol ... fuckkkk - I just had to walk 3 blocks down. Fuck driving. 

They did have good wing specials though. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Hi, thanks for your thoughts.  I'm a VP in my mid-30s and not really planning on going out every weekend but I'm single.  One of the things I'm mulling over is that I've saved a lot of money for something I'm really interested in, which is a certain kind of car.  I've literally waited 10 years to put myself in the position to afford it, but it would be a lot easier to justify if I'm saving (based on tax and rental savings) $25k+ a year in cash by living on the JC waterfront.  The bank I work for would be ~15 mins away.  My family lives in Connecticut and DC, so I'd like to make the drive up to visit them in said car and maybe drive some open roads on the weekend but parking would be a nightmare in Manhattan.  My thoughts were that I'd live in Tribeca for a year to soak up the city (sans car) and move to JC for the space thereafter and then buy it.  Does that strike you as logical?  

 

Doesn’t matter what I think but it sounds like you have your reasons. I was mostly complaining about people encouraging 22 year olds to live in JC. I personally can’t relate to the car situation because I have zero desire for fancy cars / watches / designer clothes but I understand why a lot of people enjoy these things. 

I think you have a good plan given your desire for the car. Tribeca is awesome and you may enjoy it so much you decide it’s better to find a parking spot in Manhattan.


Out of curiosity, how much of your net worth are you splashing on the car? Or what’s the lease rate

 

So I'm somewhat in your shoes.

1) I live in JC and absolutely love it. Pay 3100 for a 1300 sq ft renovated 2BR with a huge kitchen, large living room for entertaining, large private outdoor space to grill, has a large garden etc. I'm 30 and engaged so this stuff matters to me more than partying every weekend.

2) Non 22 year old should not live here unless their buddies are all poor and live in Hoboken or JC too. If you are going out in the city, girls aren't going to come back.  That said since you are older and not partying hard all the time, there is definitely a top notch (but not Manhattan) dating scene here.

3)whoever said JC isn't artsy hasn't been here or has only been on the waterfront (which sucks tbh). Its the NJ version of Brooklyn. All by Grove Street/Newark is covered in street art etc. It also has a super neighborhood feel. I know everyone at the local shops here. All small biz and a great culture.

Commute is super easy. I'm 25 mins or so door to door to the west side. Financee is at WTC and its 10 mins tops (5 walk to path, 5 path to WTC).

Its not for everyone, but makes a ton of sense for us for what we want. We also have family in PA/NJ so being able to drive to my lakehouse or her shore house is fking huge. Brookyln would make those trips such a kick in the nards

 

Really great area, but not any nightlife if that's your thing (pretty quiet after 9pm). Tons of open space and you're right on the hudson. Lots of parks. More family friendly and you'll find lots of dogs in the area. Would suggest Battery Park over FiDi if you're office is downtown. 

 

Not bad, you’ll get to walk to work. Personally I don’t like the idea of living and working in the same general vicinity downtown as there’s far less to do in either of these areas after hours. But if you’re gonna stick to this you’re making a good choice (living in BPC over FiDi).

 

If you're at BAML I'd suggest looking at spots in Chelsea, West Village and Flatiron if rents remain cheap through the year (I think they will). Everyone I know here who is 1-2 years out of UG is trying to get somewhere on the west side of the city after living in MH EV Kips for a year or two. FiDi will get you great bang for your buck but it's very far from everything. Living in one of the above I mentioned will keep you right in the thick of things and everywhere you could possibly want to go is a sub 10 min Uber. 

Also for the love of Christ don't live in Jersey City, you're a banker. Other commenters don't know what the hell they're talking about...no one will want to come to your place, everywhere is far, and girls will think you're beat. Also don't live in the vicinity of the office but make sure you're off a subway line that goes there so your commute is still <20min. 

 

My favs would probably be LES or East Village for sure. Once me and my friends group up sometime next year, that's probably where we're going. Murray, where I am, is also good, but less action is the tradeoff for a joke of a commute to midtown.

Dayman?
 

Nightman Cometh

My favs would probably be LES or East Village for sure.

Yessss

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

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Dayman?
 

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