I (still) live in New York City - Ask Me Anything

[allfurcoatnoknickers]

I did an AMA four years ago and thought it might be fun to do another one since I'm seeing more and NYC advice threads popping up on the Holiday board.
Anyone got any questions for a current Manhattanite? I love to play tour guide 😊.

I'm also married to a born and raised New Yorker, and we have a four year old in elementary school and a 5 month old baby, so feel free to ask away and pregnancy, birth, maternity leave and schools in the US. I see a lot of misconceptions on here I'd be happy to chat about.

where abouts in new york cirty are you ? and how accurate is it the city that never sleeps ? @allfurcoatnoknickers

Rentals over 30 days on Air BnB are legal, so they should be fine if they're staying a while to find their feet.

RE: culture, difficult to say without knowing the industry, but I'd say that generally the standards of grooming are much, much higher for men and women and everyone drinks a lot less, the idea of "works night out" where everyone gets plastered is not a thing. We do work drinks sometimes but it would be very frowned upon to get drunk.

Look at Long Island City or FiDi. Things are cheaper if you get out of Midtown. Doubletree FiDi is good, as is Club Quarters.

In LIC look at the Aloft, Hyatt Place or Ravel. I believe there's also a new Hilton Garden Inn.

If you do want to stay in Midtown, check the Yotel and the Pod Hotels. Avoid Times Square - the hotels are largely a bit crap and very expensive.

Giuliani wanted to knock it down! But it was saved by some locals who wanted to preserve it.

80s New York sounds like so much fun. I'm jealous you got to experience it.

Great idea for an AMA, OP! Literally just back from New York with teens. The ice rink at the Rockefeller centre is open which was fun for the kids. We stayed at 50 Bowery in Chinatown which was brilliant - we had a city view room and with my multiple menopause induced night time wakes being able to sit on a loo and see the Chrysler building was some compensation. Also has a great rooftop bar and puts on free walking tours of the local area a couple of times a week plus is right opposite the start of the Manhattan bridge. We had breakfast at Two Hands, Grey Dog, dinner at Bubby’s which were easy walking distance. Did find food much more expensive than previous visits both eating out and supermarkets.

I think we’ve stood on every high platform in the city! Everyone loved the Met, even a 14 and 17 year old. We did RiseNY on our last full day which seemed like a great revisit of what we had seen - so glad we weren’t staying in Times Square this time, other MN threads had suggested avoiding. Kids didn’t actually shop that much as they found the prices no different or cheaper at home but they had fun browsing. High line was also popular.

Next time I’d like to spend more time on the social history of the city. We spent a long time at Ellis Island but I’d like to do a lot more walking tours and the tenement museum. One day I’ll get to Coney Island and a Long Island beach…

I live near the Highline. Not right on it though, I'm not a zillionaire.

It's definitely less 24 hour than pre-Covid, but unless the weather is awful, the city is buzzing even if you're out in the middle of the night. And the Sephora in Times Square is still open until 11pm.

@Greatbigfluffytrousers Sounds like you had a wonderful time! I wish more people would stay downtown - it's so much more "authentic" than around Times Square and really helps you get under the skin of the city.

I'm a huge fan of the Tenement Museum - been a few times and it never fails to be thought provoking. Museum of the City of New York and the New York Historical Society are also worth a visit.

I'm a big fan of The Grey Dog and Bubby's. There used to be a Bubby's by me, but it closed and I miss it!

If you have lived in London before, do you think its harder for a middle income family to live well in New York or in London.

Any chance you can tell us the size of your place and how much it cost? Absolute nosiness I know.

Never lived in London I'm afraid and I've only ever had children/babies in NYC, so I don't have a point of comparison!

Private schools are a lot cheaper in London. I could have sent DS to Weatherby for less then I was paying for his pre-school here.

1200 square feet + garden and $1.25m. That was a bottom of the market Covid bargain though as everyone was fleeing the city in 2020.

This place on the market now is roughly comparable, but I think it's a bit smaller: streeteasy.com/building/425-west-24-street-new_york/1a

Do you have the concept of a starter home in the USA? It seems to me that Americans just buy a property whether its a co-op in the city or a massive house in the suburbs when it suits them as opposed to there being the idea that you need to buy as soon as possible (and therefore opting for a smaller home).

I do attribute this to the lack of rent control and rental rights in the UK- so people think that even if its a small flat or house in a less than ideal area, its still better than renting..

I am asking cos my American brother in law thought it was a ridiculous idea to buy a small 2 bed flat in London like I did. He wanted a large family home with a yard ultimately but can't afford it so is renting. I think most Brits would say that its better to have a smaller home you own rather than rent; even if it means that you may never be able to 'upgrade' to the forever home. I mean its not like you can magically buy the forever home if you go on renting either. I am just wondering in the USA, a starter home is just not the concept and people just have the eye on the prize and don't settle.

@lavender2023 We very much have the concept of a starter home around here, although I can't speak for the entire USA. There are actually a lot of grim jokes/memes being shared amongst my friends right now about how we're all trapped in our starter homes forever because of the interest rates.

We do have excellent renter protections here though, when I rented, you could sign multi/year leases and the landlord couldn't kick you out easily, you were also allowed to hang pictures and paint the flats which I was NEVER allowed to do in the UK.

Would you have any recommendations for a rooftop eatery?
We are over in April and would like to treat our mum to lunch/dinner somewhere that was either looking over the skyline or, maybe across from Manhattan and looking over to Manhattan? Not sure which would be best or the nicest?
Thank you! We don’t have a massive budget but can splurge a little!

@McaRoonie

Magic Hour is fun. I also like RH Rooftop.

You could also check out Peak at Hudson Yards which gives you access to The Edge and there's also Panorama Room on Roosevelt Island.

We were there 27 years ago ..is there still a hotel near mid town that has a revolving restaurant at the top?

Yes! The Marriott. The food is notoriously horrible though

Thank you so much! I will look at all of those.

@McaRoonie The William Vale in Brooklyn has a great roof too - my neighbour just went to a birthday party there and it looks fab.

Thanks so much for this thread, im obsessed with living in NYC. Never have and perhaps never will but I am constantly dreaming up lotto wins to buy a brownstone in Bed-Stuy. Can I ask a few questions please: (1) is it difficult to make friends there (2) how dangerous actually is it, ie can you walk around most areas or are there areas to strictly avoid (3) where do all the average paid people live, ie the postal workers, receptionists, secretaries etc. Thanks!!

Do you have a car? Or can a family manage without one?

No car. Most people don't have one or if they do, they only use them for driving out of the city. People don't tend to drive around every day, mostly because there's nowhere to park!

The idea of wrestling both my kids into their car seats multiple times a day makes me need a Valium and a lie down. I don't know how people do it.

@Persimmon23

1. Really easy to make friends - lots of people come to NY from other places, so you're not really trying to crack friendship groups that have been established and unchanging since school.

2. There are dangerous parts of NY for sure, but they're not places you'd just stumble across unless you lived there. In Manhattan, I try not to hang around Penn Station at night and generally avoid Times Square - not because you're likely to be murdered, but you're more likely to be hassled and pickpocketed.

3. Washington Heights and Inwood in Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island, South Brooklyn and big swathes of Queens out nearer Long Island. Lots of really nice neighbourhoods that are cheaper because they're a bit of a schlep to Manhattan.

What would $500k buy you in NYC
Would you be able to afford somewhere safe?
Or would it be a shit hole

@TomAllenWife
You could get this in a nice, safe area if the Bronx: streeteasy.com/building/6535-broadway-bronx/2c-2d-2e

This in a safe, middle class part of Queens: streeteasy.com/building/48_19-43-street-woodside/1j

This lovely studio in Kips Bay in Manhattan: streeteasy.com/building/242-east-25-street-new_york/3d?featured=1

This is in trendy Williamsburg: streeteasy.com/building/218-scholes-street-brooklyn/7

It's kind of a tricky question though because NYC is so massive. $500k buys you a. Lot in some areas and absolutely nothing in others.