Long Island City

my friend lives in one of the lux buildings behind the coca cola sign, the first stop into queens on the 7. he lives in a 3BR flex and their unit is on the river side so their view is amazing (entire manhattan skyline - especially good for 7/4 fireworks).

Anyway beyond that its your typical lux building and the commute like you said is very easy. door to subway is a 5-10 min. walk.

Now the main disadvantage is going out because well, you're not in manhattan

do urself a favor and consider Astoria instead. being a native new yorker(queens), i can tell u that l i c is pretty ghetto, especially at off hours so be careful. its not worth getting ur ass kicked just to save a few bucks on rent. Astoria is also a short commute to the city but much safer.

WTF: http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/roo/751606152.html

ha, lol. On a serious note, how is Elmhurst?

you don't wanna live that far... fuck goin as far as elmhurst. it's not a bad neighborhood or anything, it'll just be a pain in the ass since you don't get the 7 express train from there. like mister smoke a blunt, i'd recommend you look harder in astoria.

i'd opt for the l i c, ghetto or not otherwise.

If you're talking about Elmhurst near the express train stop (Roosevelt Ave/74th St; Train: R V G E F 7..really convenient)...it's pretty ghetto. That area is just really messy and I don't even wanna find myself INSIDE the train station during off hours.

If you're considering going way inside Queens already, look into Forest Hills which is one express stop (so extra 5 min on the subway). It's a much nicer area but the rent would also be way higher than LIC/Elmhurst/Astoria. Personally Forest Hills and Elmhurst are too much inside Queens though. While it's about 20 minutes by subway during rush hours, it can take you up an hour to get back through subway during off hours, and taking the taxi would cost 30+

the queens area right across from midtown manhattan is great
10 min by train to midtown and much cheaper
not a bad place at all.

it is harder though to get around town... if you want to get downtown you have to transfer
there are 4-5 lux highrises in the area that are great

sleepisfortheweak.. even during off hours, it only takes 30-40min. a taxi through the queens manhattan tunnel is only 20 bucks and not bad at all

I never understood why people praise Forest Hills so much... Its further out, less vibrant, and not much of a bargain compared to other parts of queens so unless you want to raise a family and are afraid of minorities there is little appeal to it.

I don't think the area around 74th street station is that bad at all - it's Jackson Heights (Elmhurst is SE of it) and its pretty nice around the historic district as long as you don't go too far east towards Corona. It has good transportation links (F, E express trains to mid-town) and there is also plenty of great food (indian, thai, hispanic, etc) that even attracts people from Manhattan so that you won't feel like you have to go into the city every night to have a good time (though its still Queens in the end of the day).

You should go out there sometime and check out the different areas if you're not familiar with queens because it's such a diverse area. LIC might have a pocket of luxury highrises but there is also queensbridge etc. Same with Astoria so if you're looking at listings make sure you look up where exactly the properties are located.

I looked at some places in Astoria... and according to hopstop its like a 45-60 minute commute from Ditmars to Midtown. I thought you guys said its quick like LIC?

30+ bucks for taxi if you're farther inside queens.

astoria is physically farther from manhattan, of course it's a longer commute. 45-60 sounds like an overestimate though.

I don't know what destination points you're generalizing for, but I can attest that a cab from Union Square to LaGuardia was $24 at 3 am on a Sat night/Sun morning. I'm sure anything to an easier point in queens is much cheaper. I was really surprised by the fare especially after paying over $70 from Newark.

http://nyccabfare.com/

i've cabbed from a multitude of place to parts of queens closer than forest hills throughout the years for under 20 bucks. taking the bridge is cheaper since they factor the toll into your fare at the end.

mmmonkey, cabing from midtown.. say times square, to queens is about 20 bucks under the tunnel
as i said, its getting around town that beocmes troublesome. if you cab from downtown to queens itll cost you 40+
at night after work its not that bad if you work in midtown

Jackson Heights is a good area. The 7 train to 74th street. As long as u stay towards 37th ave or below. Its always busy due to the pakistani and indian restaurants and stores. I wouldnt worry being in that area day or night. Theres some good food joints around as well and its pretty lively. Forest Hills is depressing and over rated. Flushing is also good, last stop on the 7 train. They have express 7 trains from flushing but its still almost an hour. Jackson Heights is 45 min. Astoria should not take longer than 30 min to mid-town, 45 downtown. The best bet would be Jackson Heights. There is a guy who sells gyros on 73street and 37th ave(front of duane reade). His name is Hammy, he knows the area very well and can probably help u with rental info if u buy a sandwich from him,lol. funny but true.