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Yes. Your two best options are nybits.com (all no-fee apts) and Craigslist. I ended up paying about $400 under market value for my apartment because I negotiated directly with the owner instead of going through a realtor. All it takes is some leg work.
NY Bits: http://www.nybits.com Craigslist: http://www.craigslist.com
Craigslist is the best but I would not limit yourself to no-fee apartments. I found a huge 1BR for me and my girlfriend in arguably the best neighborhood (West Village) for only $2200 a month rent stabilized. However, I went through a broker and had to pay like $4k fee up front. It was worth it though.
Citi-habitats and streeteasy are decent as well.
This is horrible advice - you basically paid at least a ~15% broker fee. Never go through a broker unless you're short on time or want to get ripped - they offload the hard to rent apartments first. In NYC, unless it's your first time, people rarely use brokers. You can go directly to the leasing office or use craigslist. It takes a negligible amount of work, and you save a lot more.
I've had and heard of multiple experiences w/ Citi-Habitats - you can expect a floor fee of at least 12-13% post negotiation, and, like most brokers, you may get into a bidding war.
In my case, avoiding a broker was impossible. They had exclusive rights to the building as I discussed it with the owner and they handled everything. Also, 15% is STANDARD for NYC broker fees. I'm not trying to argue about this because I don't care enough but let's agree to disagree.
I don't think you can find a decent studio for $1500 unless it's very out of the way. You'll probably have to up your budget.
I remember looking for a studio/one bedroom a year ago. You will be paying at least $1700 for south of 58th. The majority north of 58 to 99th are in the area of 1500-1800. You will have to likely look way west or way east or way south to find $1500. If you get to $1700 you can find some spots south of 58th and north of 10th.
Did a quick search and the best thing I could find that I would even live in was $2250. I'm sure there are some diamonds in the rough, but $1500 is really really tight for NYC. You wouldn't even get more than a 1 room apt downtown here on that budget.
Maybe try living with some roommates?
A quick word on the fee vs. no fee:
Do not pay a fee if you are looking at rental buildings (i.e. those managed by rental companies -- archstone, rose, related, etc). These buildings have leasing offices and you can reach out to them directly.
Where you will most likely have to pay a fee is renting a condo or a co-op directly from an owner. This is because you won't find the owners information (to contact them directly) and they use a broker to protect themselves (rental contracts, etc).
There are pro's and con's to both. With condos and co-ops you usually get a better deal on the monthly rent, but you have the upfront costs so you have to factor that in to your overall cost (keeping in mind that this is an upfront payment as opposed to over time). Usually there is more room to negotiate, especially with longer leases as the owner is just trying to cover costs (mortgage, condo fees, etc); where as rental buildings actually dislike long leases because they want to be able to adjust their rent based on the market and don't want to lock in a good deal if they can jack up your rent by 10-15% the next year if the market improves. Also with condos you will usually find nicer apartments since these were built for people to actually live in as opposed to being a revolving door for tenants (nicer finishes, less "cookie cutter", etc).
Rental buildings are just less of a hassle though. They are easy to find, easy to get into, usually you can just pay the office as opposed to sending a check to someone every month. You know that everything is covered by the management company as opposed to having to figure things out with the owners. And rent stabilized buildings offer peace of mind in terms of what you will be paying in the future.
All of that being said, $1500 will be very tough. On streeteasy right now I see 7 rentals =$1500 that are below 58th st. (and one of these is 180 sq ft!!). The nicest one is probably in Chelsea (380 sq ft)....you know when the highlight of the listing is "private bathroom" that you aren't getting much.
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