Just...................whatever

 well the reason I ask is because I am applying for a one year fellowship at the Met. There is no chance in heck that I am going to get it, but I thought I would start thinking about the logistics way in advance, of the totally impossible.  The competition will be off the charts, but you never know.  weirder shit has happened.

Your less commute heavy option is to live several blocks off the NE corner of Central Park (110th st and 5th avenue). One could walk to the Museum in 30-40 minutes, or use the bikeshare for a nice 15 minute ride. Up on 116th is all the nice little coffee shops and whatnot you could wish for, or over to the west and to the north of the park is an exploding restaurant and nightlife scene.

Either of the two options above will run you about $1600-$2100/month for a loft or one bedroom apartment. You can easily pay twice that once you go further south.

well the reason I ask is because I am applying for a one year fellowship at the Met

I guessed it was something like that. One never knows...and it's a big place so there's lots of fellowships, I'm sure.

Its a bit scary, if I got it. Not sure if I could cope mentally or physically as big city life is something I am not used to any more. But it certainly would be an amazing opportunity.

You need a nice park nearby - and I think Fort Tryon park would be more your speed than Central Park: a wooded hill, and less trafficked.  You can totally forget you're in a city.  If you've got that it washes you of the basic grittiness of city life, so you can focus on the charms.  

halfwise wrote:Your less commute heavy option is to live several blocks off the NE corner of Central Park (110th st and 5th avenue).  One could walk to the Museum in 30-40 minutes, or use the bikeshare for a nice 15 minute ride.  Up on 116th is all the nice little coffee shops and whatnot you could wish for, or over to the west and to the north of the park is an exploding restaurant and nightlife scene.

Either of the two options above will run you about $1600-$2100/month for a loft or one bedroom apartment.  You can easily pay twice that once you go further south.

That sounds perfect, I like the sound of 116th. The price of apartment sounds good too. Is it classed as Harlem or East Harlem?
Its great that you know everywhere, that way I can avoid ending up in an area which doesn't have nice coffee shops. Coffee shops are key. I remember those photos of the park, its very Narnia without the snow.

Coffee shops are everywhere, what matters is the ambiance. One near me has this huge back outdoor area, nicely decorated with plants and odd outdoor furniture, which makes a difference. I can't personally speak to the coffee shops on the east half of 116th, but I suspect they'd have character.

Greenwich Village looks my thing as well, is it super expensive? no actually Chelsea looks fab too. I love those Brown stone buildings

OMG.  it wasn't expensive back in the 60's when it was great - the hang out of folk singers and artists.  But you know what follows - now you won't get in there for less than $3500 for a studio. Up until about 10 years ago Chelsea was somewhat cheap (not as cheap as northern Manhattan) and is the harbor for numerous art galleries. But then the HighLine park went in, and everything exploded.

The neighborhood on 116th would be classed as either East Harlem or Spanish Harlem, but that second name is pretty dated now.  Harlem proper is largely Black, fringed by Latin american, with a lot of mix going on in that fringe.  I'm on the west side of Harlem, which is part of the Dominican corridor that extends clear up near the northern tip of Manhattan.

I still fancy Chelsea. I know that I wont be happy unless I am somewhere with a hippy-boho atmosphere and it 'looks' like New York. Chelsea looks like my idea of NY, in my imagination I can see myself skipping down the steps of a brownstone.
If I got to East Harlem and I wasn't in love with it, I would move. I know what I am like. Plus I don't need an apartment, all I need is a bedroom with en suite bathroom in a shared house. I certainly don't need a kitchen. I don't cook.

If you want hippy then you want the East Village, the Lower East Side, or Brooklyn. Brooklyn's too far, but prices have shot up in LES and East Village as well. Can't be too expensive or the kiddies couldn't live there, so there's still a chance.  Transit to the Museum's a pain in the butt, though.  Lots of riding bikeshare to get to a subway.

You'd want to come and camp out for a couple weeks checking things out before getting an apartment.  DO NOT rent without visiting first.

I wont be riding bikes at any point of proceedings.

Bustles and bikes don't mix too well.  There's busses, but they'll try your patience.  Or just walk.  New Yorkers are generally skinnier than country/suburban folk because we walk so much; country folk jump in a car for a mile distance.  Doesn't work here.

yep walking is good. The East Village looks good. it has atmosphere. Brooklyn is too far I think.

Check Craig's List for apartment listings. I'm guessing the prices for an apartment all your own would be minimum $2500 for a broom closet with a sink, but if you are willing to take a room in a suite then of course it fractionates.

If you saw Men in Black (maybe part 2?) when they are processing incoming aliens they say "Go out only at night. If you must go out by day, only in the East Village." I think you'd like it.

yep East Village looks my kind of place, nice little shops and coffee houses and safe to walk around. I wouldn't go out at night in any event, but it is nice to feel relaxed during the day. $2500 is way way too expensive, I was hoping for $1500-700 and I was looking on airb&b and rooms seem to be around that price. I am not bothered about that as long as I don't have to share a bathroom and people don't expect me to 'hang out'. I like my own space and not having to explain things. Like "why do you just dive into your room and we don't see you in the kitchen for 'a chat'".    It doesn't help being a loner and a misanthrope.   I can be really friendly extrovert and chatty but only when I feel like it, which isn't often.

Oh you can walk around the East Village at any time of night - it will be packed to the gills with kiddos (as in 20 somethings).  Not sure where they all come from, yet there they are.  But there's a certain solitude in crowds, if that's what you're looking for. You should feel safe during the day anywhere in manhattan, it's the night when some places get dodgy.

You can find an airbnb for $1500 a month or less?!  That's amazing, but I suppose it's because it doesn't come with a kitchen or living room.  If it has a small fridge and microwave, that will do.  You can't be eating out all the time or you'll go broke, but if you can heat up a can of soup and a bun for dinner you're all set.  You'll want to throw a toaster oven into the mix.

Is eating out expensive? one plate of pasta would do me, nothing too extravagant. I guess there's always fast-food if you get desperate. Also are taxis expensive to get around with? These places look quite near to walk to on Google maps, but on the ground its probably impossible to cover that amount of blocks in less than 2 hours.

But here is me kidding myself that I am going to get this fellowship in the first place.

You've just named two typical New York things that will break you if not making six figures.  You CAN get moderately priced food if not sitting down for it, you may want to hunt around for it.  Cheap pasta is unlikely - more likely chinese or a Halal food truck.  

But most New Yorkers will only take a taxi if it's dark and they are drunk, or if carrying a load.  Otherwise taxis are for wall street types, tourists, or spoiled brats in high heels.  Use subway and busses; they run ALL NIGHT.   I keep mentioning the bikeshare because it's a delightful recent innovation.

Hot tip: streets run roughly east-west, avenues roughly north south. If on the gridded part, it will take you one minute to walk street to street. The grid system starts in the villages, so if directly south of the museum on 80th street, it will take you about 80 minutes walk. Add 3 to 4 minutes for each avenue you cut across.

ok, I think the trick must be to find somewhere reasonably near a subway train. if its too far to walk to one its probably going to end up more expensive with taxis, because I am the type to get a taxi. In the UK they are really cheap and frequent, and I am used to just hopping in one whenever, but here they are mad expensive and nobody uses them unless as you said you are a tourist. I got stung the first time I used one here, we got off the train at Santa Maria Novella and asked for a hotel in Via Nazionale, it was in the freaking next street within sight, but the taxi driver didn't just point to the hotel, and say 'there it is', the bastard smiled and took us on a tour of Florence. The next morning we realised we had been royally screwed.  

It's not as bad as all that here, but when you can walk across manhattan in 45 minutes at the thickest part (which is where the east village is) you won't have to walk more than 20 minutes to a subway.  then you have to walk another 10 or 15 minutes on the other end - it's not dreadful, but at times it begins to add up.  The taxi ride for a 15 minute walk is maybe $7 -$9, which really does begin to add up.  Bottom line, only take a taxi when you need to.  Usually you don't need to. But the eastern half of Manhattan is a bit wanting in the way of subway lines.

Taxi ride from the east village to the museum I'd estimate at $20-$25.

wow $25 is a lot. That would soon get impossible. I suppose though once you get used to doing a lot of walking it gets easier. And the important thing its flat! so no tiring hills.

Everytime somebody visits for the first time they are amazed at how much walking New Yorkers do. Generally the only fat people you see are on the bus.