Tips for living in New York

there's a million clever ways to make a city more livable. What are yours?

• Move to Toledo

• Be rich. Or live in Crowne Heights.

• Jersey City

• Move here in 1995 when real estate prices were realistic then sell that place at a large profit.

• Day trips out of the city at least once a month

• R3: SHHHHHHHHHH!!!

• Get a top floor apartment.

  Countess%20Helen

• Hookers and blow

• Top floor apartments are more likely to have leaks and can be more expensive to heat and cool.

  Top%20floor%20dweller

• Move to Poughkeepsie and commute.

  http://www.directhomes.com/Property/163912999/1_KING_STRE_Poughkeepsie_Ny_12601

  Artie

• Move to Boston.

  Typing%20from%20charming%20Beacon%20Hill

• Live with an elderly relative who sleeps all the time and lives in a rent-controlled apartment in Tudor City from 1962.

• "Move here in 1995 when real estate prices were realistic" If you think they were "realistic" in 1995, it's time to head back to Tulsa, hon.

• Attend this and see how wonderful NYC is:

  http://ohny.org/

• [R10] I grew up in the Poughkeepsie area. That isn't a nice part of Poughkeepsie.

• Does anyone remember the NYT article from a few years ago that chronicled people who commute from rural PA into Manhattan for work? And get up at like 4 am to do so?

• Smoke copious amounts of pot, silly.

• r13, I bought a condo (not co-op) in Harlem in 1998 for $55k and sold it in 2010 for $325k. So there were pockets of reasonable real estate in NYC in the mid-'90s.

• R13, I bought a co-op in 1990 for $60K, the mortgage is paid off, and the apartment would sell for $400K, conservatively.

• Other than Craigslist are there any sites that offer REAL no fee apartments?

• Don't live there.

• r20, here you go. They're pricey, but nice.

  http://gonofee.com/

• Never never NEVER look anyone in the eye when you walk down the street. Try to get a cater-waiter gig. It's fun easy money on the side and lots of hookups. Make friends with someone who keeps a house upstate. Get a zipcar account. West Harlem is hotter than people think. Pay for a cab after dark. Stay the hell out of the subway after 8PM. Eat a lot of soup. It's cheap and filling. That way you can eat "square" meals when you dine out with friends. Have a couple of drinks BEFORE you go out. Make friends with your closest bodega and dry cleaner. Hit the flea markets. Also, the Salvation Army store on the Upper East Side is a treasure trove. Become a regular face and they might tip you off on the good stuff.

• r18 AND R19 Good job!

• If Romney knows the economy is getting better, and acknowledges so in an interview, why does he still lie about the economy in his campaign? Does he think anything that gets him elected is justified?

• [quote]Stay the hell out of the subway after 8PM That's ridiculous.

• [quote]Make friends with your closest bodega and dry cleaner. Why, exactly?

• r23 is wack.

• [quote]Never never NEVER look anyone in the eye when you walk down the street. Why?

• [quote]Does anyone remember the NYT article from a few years ago that chronicled people who commute from rural PA into Manhattan for work? And get up at like 4 am to do so? Here ya go: www.nytimes.com/1987/09/20/realestate/lure-for-long-commute-cheaper-homes.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

• Get used to walking. It's good exercise anyway. Watch the sidewalk as you walk in residential areas, smears of poop and pee usually litter the way despite the owners best attempts to clean up. Get dark drapes or shades and keep them drawn by day, you'll come home to a cooler apartment and maybe save some money on a/c (if you have one) due to Con-Ed's high rates in summer. As someone posted above, patronize your local businesses and get to know them. Your loyalty will pay off. Try to utilize the various cultural offerings by using discount tickets or finding free events. The sheer variety is staggering, whether it be plays, films, concerts, readings, exhibits, etc. Learn to eat cheap. Rice and beans, big pots of soup, pasta etc go a long way to stretch the food budget. Beans are a good protein source. Save up for something wonderful, like an expensive restaurant treat. Check your bedding and furniture on a regular basis for bedbugs. You have a spotless apartment, you say? Doesn't matter. The best of people get them. Throw a couple of coins in that guys cup. What's $0.50 to you? You'll feel better and so will he- no matter what his use of the money is. Get outside.

• You all sound like paupers.

  E. 73rd, bet. 5th and Mad.

• Try to find out where the billionaire husbands of tacky fashion designers cruise.

  Princess%20Diller

• R22 I always thought they were a scam site. They advertise a lot of apartments on CL that do not exist. On the actual site nothing ever meets my search criteria.

• R23 , Would you mind sharing the address of the Salvation Army Upper East Side location? Thanks!

• I was struck by the "check for ..bed bugs frequently" comment. Ewww! I love visiting NYC, I love NYC, but it is not a clean city, nor is it a convenient city, and so I will not actually live there. But I am a huge NYC booster. Seriously.

• r34, gonofee is legit. Their office is over by Lincoln Center. They run both a leasing/mgmt. operation and a construction company. The construction company renovates the apartments. The only caveat about them is that they favor Jewish tenants and will give them better deals (and are more likely to give Jewish tenants their full sec. deposit back regardless of the condition of the apartment). A former tenant who was an NYU sociology PhD student (and Jewish) did a study/audit about gonofee's discriminatory practices.

• I don't think the Salvation Army on the Upper East Side is that great. I prefer the Goodwill on 2nd Avenue and 88th and the two Housing Works (2nd & 90th + 77th & 3rd) locations. They have really nice stuff. Actually, all the Housing Works location are great.

  Cheap Bitch

• Why would you support the homophobic cunts anyway, R38? You should really avoid the Salvation Army.

• Add a 0 to the price of everything, two 0s to the price of real estate. In NYC, dollar stores are called ten dollar stores.

• I love NYC and have never regretted living there; yes it's expensive but worth it.

• If possible, shop at a C-Town if you're near a lower income area. Items at these places can be a dollar or more less for the same product. I work in Battery Park on weekdays and the prices are ridiculous in the local Gristedes. We're not talking gourmet, we're talking regular name brands. I work in the Bronx Zoo on weekends and there's a not-that-bad supermarket right off the West Farms/East Tremont stop on the 2 and 5 line and with those prices, it's like a whole different city. Plus, those bodega sandwiches made to order in the Bronx are cheap and great.

• R40.. if you think NYC is bad.. then wow, you wouldn't want to live in Norway. Oslo is the most overpriced capital in the world.. at least in New York you have culture. Oslo is just a shithole in general.

• NYC smells. It just does. It needs a complete power wash. So get an air freshener. Develop patience. Practice it.

• Your doorman already deals with too much of that pesky cash at the end of the year -- hand him a pot of homemade jam instead. He will remember your act of kindness for decades to come!

  Bengali in Platforms

• Move quickly child, in case someone drops a building on you!

  Glinda

• R37 No one who advertises apts that do not exist is fully legit.

• Yes op. Get the fuck off the internet and go out and EXPERIENCE NY firsthand! Nothing will teach you more.

• Flyover bump.