CUNY GC, Columbia, NYU

[Javslavin]

Hi all!

I just wanted to check in with those of us who are preparing to trek out to NYC this fall for grad school. Have you started to look for apartments, cardboard-box-under-the-GW-bridge, or are you choosing student housing? Any other hopes/anxieties about NYC?

[svh]

will be doing student housing. i'm afraid for when they kick us out of student housing. what if we can't find a place...? i think, ideally, you should look for apartments in the colder months cause that's when they're cheaper, but student housing is over during the summer. so... what do you do about that? pay two rents at the same time for five months? i don't think so.

[-hermes-]

I'm trying to choose between finding an apartment and student housing. On-campus housing is prohibitively expensive :/ and besides price, it seems like one can find a nicer place off-campus if one looks hard and long enough... but the convenience and the prospect of an less stressful move is tempting.

@svh, have you decided on which residence hall to apply to?

[omigoshlolz]

Are grad students only able to get student housing in Washington Square Village?

And there are no pictures! So frustrating!

[-hermes-]

Are grad students only able to get student housing in Washington Square Village?

And there are no pictures! So frustrating!

It seems like grad students are limited to WSV and Alumni Hall. But yeah, such an unhelpful website! And it seems like there are no single rooms in WSV??

[Ancient CS Grad]

Keep in mind that there are pockets of "more affordable" housing in NYC especially in Brooklyn (the subway commute to NYU is very reasonable) if you look hard enough. If you are funded (or are self supporting) you also might qualify for some of the very few "affordable housing" units built into more expensive buildings under the NY Brownfields program credit and other programs. The waiting list for these units are long but worth looking into if you are going to be in the city for a while. I guess the point I am making is that there are affordable options in NY but it take a lot of work to find them.

[k-tray]

Ancient CS Grad - can you suggest good neighborhoods in Brooklyn. I have heard some of the train lines to Brooklyn are less reliable (stop earlier at night/ constant construction) - do you know which lines would be good to live near? thx

[JuanPabloCastel]

Hi. I'll be attending at GC CUNY for Spanish & Portuguese and I have been living on NYC for close to 7 years now. New York is definitely and expensive city, and space is indeed a huge commodity, but once you realize that's the way thinks are and adapt to it, all that anxiety is gone. I live a very happy life with a "small budget" (always such a relative term) in a "cheap" but awesome neighborhood, Sunnyside, Queens. My commute to GC is going to be about 30 mins, but I currently work at CCNY (a couple stations north Columbia) and is about 50 mins.

People also has different conception of what a reasonable commute time is. For some people 45 mins sounds crazy but for NY standars is average (think of it as one hour thirty of reading time!).

I know how important is having a place that you like, but most leases are for one year or you almost always can end the contract beforeif you're unhappy. I have lived in neighborhoods that I didn't like, but that's far from being the worst experience of my life. M

[MidEastApp]

Hi, I'll be attending GC CUNY for History. I haven't lived in NYC before but I have spent time there visiting people and such. For CUNY, I have scoped out neighborhoods that are not that far by subway >45 minutes. Seems that parts of Queens n/q bits, part of brooklyn, and manhattan Columbia and north of it are good cheap areas.

The main thing I worry about is that studios are obviously out, but is there a listserve or something like that for CUNY or other students to scope out apartments together? 2 and 3 bedrooms are rather cheap but I'm outside the USA until July and I don't know anyone that is moving to NYC soon so yeah, that bit sucks.

[juilletmercredi]

When people say Brooklyn they actually mean a bit further out, since most of the close neighborhoods in Brooklyn (Brooklyn Heights, BoCoCa, DUMBO, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Park Slope) rival Manhattan prices. Inexpensive Brooklyn neighborhoods with a closer commute are Prospect Heights, Lefferts Gardens, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, (East) Flatbush, Bushwick, Crown Heights, maybe Sunset Park (depends on where in Sunset Park it is). Personally, I have found the 1/2/3, the B/D and the N/Q/R to be pretty reliable.

If one will attend Columbia or the Graduate Center, Queens is probably even cheaper and a closer commute. Actually, there are nice neighborhoods in Queens that have an easy commute to NYU, too, so I would investigate those. Astoria and Long Island City come to mind. Sunnyside is also pretty close, as was mentioned.

[eebarr]

Hi all!

I'm moving out to NYC this fall to start the MSHP program at Columbia. I'm moving with a dog so I'm not eligible for on-campus housing and the department doesn't offer much to connect income students otherwise. Anyone have any tips on how to find potential roommates before moving out? I'm also trying to avoid an expensive trip out there before the move so even finding a roommate already in/near the city would be awesome!

thanks!