Sorry, FeministCorgi, but it's hard to find a room in a shared house for less than $800-900, and studios under $1200 are definitely a rare find - you'll definitely be in Harlem or further north, or south of Crown Heights, deep Bushwick or Jackson Heights - all at least a 40 minute commute from NYU. That said, I do think you can survive on 26k - I've budgeted $2000/month in NYC and found I can live pretty comfortably on that. But you definitely won't be living alone.