People who live in New york City?

Question

I went to New york for 4 days in July and I'm very well traveled but ive never experienced anything like it it's the best place i have ever been and I just wondered what the people who live there think of it?? There was'nt anything I didn't like shopping statue of liberty everything was superb. Also is it true it costs $5000+ per month to rent an apartment?? also do you see many celebrities day to day?? I live in Scotland.

Answer 1

It's great to hear that you enjoyed our city!

To answer your question, as a New Yorker (I haven't lived here all of my life, so I use that loosely), I usually have a different feel of the city than a tourist sees. Living here and visiting here are two completely different things.

For example, you asked about rent. While not all apartments are going to be $5000 a month, housing is extremely expensive here compared to the rest of the country. For what I pay for a very small apartment here in NYC, I could be paying a mortgage for a house almost anywhere else in this country.

The shopping is great; so is the nightlife, but when you live here, you don't partake in that as much as a tourist. We have to work, pay bills, shop for groceries, drop off dry cleaning--shopping in SoHo and seeing the Statue of Liberty rarely (if ever) finds it way onto our to-do lists.

As far as celebrity sightings, we have our fair share of those--but when you're living in NY you're used to seeing thousands of people everyday; celebrities are just another face in the crowd to most of us here.

Overall New York is a GREAT place to visit and but not always a great place to live. Rents are through the roof and the cost of living is very high. I usually tell tourists who fall in love with this city to leave Manhattan and see if you still love the city--because most tourists spend their entire time here in neighborhoods they would never ever be able to afford.

Answer 2

New York City has definitely come a long way from the violent and crazy days of the 70's up to the early 90's. Things have cleaned up around here since Mayor Rudy Giuliani (if the name sounds familiar....he is running for the Republican nomination for President) was in office. Times Square has become much more family and tourist friendly, people appear much more positive and happier. The city all around is a LOT safer as well. And as you've probably noticed (against the rude "stereotype") that New Yorkers are indeed friendly and are willing to go out of their way to help out.

Real estate prices all around have skyrocketed over the past couple of years and yes, it is not unheard of to rent an apartment for $5,000+ (3 or 4 bedrooms mainly).

I do see an occasional celebrity here and there but not everyday.

Glad you've enjoyed NYC! Come back anytime! :)

Answer 3

Hey there,

Glad you liked New York, there really is no place like it on earth. I've lived here for 3 years and I absolutely love it, you really feel like you're in the center of everything. They always say if you want the best of anything, go to New York. To me it beats the pants off Chicago or L.A. As far as rents, obviously New York tends to be pricey. Basically it's Manhattan where the rent is most severe (say around $2,000 for a studio and moving on up to 3 or 4k for a 1 BR) , but there is definitely affordable housing in New York. Manhattan does have some more affordable neighborhoods and there are lots of beautiful affordable neighborhoods in the boroughs, like a 15 or 20 min train ride to manhattan. As far as celebrities, I have seen plenty. A lot of them live in New York so every now and then you might see Sarah Jessica Parker walking her kids around, or actors from the Sopranos walking around, just living there lives. And they like it because people don't really hassle them here, there's not as much insanity or paparazzi as there is in Los Angeles, they blend it a bit more.

Answer 4

wow! It defintely doesn't cost 5000$ a month to rent an apartment. I've been a graduate student there and that was about 1/3 of my yearly fellowship. If you're motivated you can get by without roomates on about 1400 a month. Maybe a few celebrity sightings a year, probably a lot more I didn't notice, they get a bit grungy/unremarkable off-film. Glad you enjoyed yourself, I hope I can go to Scotland someday!

Answer 5

Living in NYC is indeed very expensive. I find though, that living here you don't really notice the same things or appreciate what tourists and visitors do. Also, you'd be surprised--most celebrities go unnoticed here, which is why many like New York so much.

It's a fun place and I usually don't appreciate it until I've gone away and come back. You are right though--there is no place like it and there are lots to love and experience here and after living here my whole life, there are still many things to see and do.

I'm glad you enjoyed it here and I hope to one day visit Scotland and be as enamored of it as you are of NY.

Answer 6

I am so glad you have a great time in NYC.

now as for an apt, it depends where you are renting. Around central park, its sounds about right, but you can find an apt with reasonable rent.

as for spotting celebs, i don't really look for them. I have spotted Richard Kind and Henry Winkler a couple of times around Times Square. The only local celeb I see is the Naked Cowboy (he's in his briefs only).

don't be a stranger; come visit NYC anytime.

Answer 7

My Friend;

New York City has come a long way since the days when violence plaged this city. Today, you can walk the streets of Manhattan without getting mugged.

I live in the Borough of the Bronx, which is north of Manhattan, and the few who have stayed in this borough have helped turn it around in the last decade or so. At this moment, as you are reading this post, the New York Yankees baseball team are in the prosess of constructing a new stadium for the team.

The bank of the Harlem River, is being rebitalized for a shopping center and railway station for fans coming from the northern and northeastern suburbs. The Borough President is already, or in the prosess of, bringing the Bronx back to the days before crime and poverty gave this place a bad name and a bad reputation.

As for the rest of the city, it fairs okay. At this moment, Manhattan is seeing a rebirth of some sort. For example: Lower Mahattan is in the mist of the biggest construction project in the history of the world, as a new World Trade Center is being build.

Two new subway (metro) lines are being build. One under Second Avenue (on the East Side of Manhattan) to relieve overcrowding on the Lexington Avenue Line (Green Line). The other, an extention of the Flushing Avenue Line (Purple Line) to the Far West Side of Manhattan.

A new Penn Station is under construction, once finished a traveler coming in to New York by rail will feel like he/she just walked through the great halls of Europe.

A new rail link to Grand Central Terminal is under construction bringing rail service from Long Island to East Midtown.

Time Square is different from 20 to 30 years ago. Today, Times Square is the entertainment capital of the world and the most popular tourist attraction in the world.

In Queens, a new stadium for the New York Mets baseball team is currently under construction; and a rail link from JFK to Manhattan is being pupose at this time.

In Brooklyn, the downtown core is being revitalized, with a new arena slated to be open in 2009 for the New Jersey Nets basketball team, who will move to Brooklyn and will be renamed the Brooklyn Nets. Coney Island will soon become the "New Atlantic City," minus the casinos, with hotels and apartment towers going up in place of the old amusment park.

And finally the Borough of Staten Island is seeing is own turn around with a new minor league stadium, and new housing being build on the island.

Speaking of housing, it is true that to rent an apartment in New York, in paticular Manhattan, cost $5000 a month or more. Some places like in Brooklyn's DUMBO District an apartment can go as high as $10,000 a month. But, there are still apartments that will fit your budget, you just have to look hard for them, but their there.

As for celeberties, like I said earlier, this is the entertainment capital of the world, so celeberties will be seen here from time to time, since some of the today movies and tv shows are filmed in the city.

In the end, I just have to say. This city has come along way from 20 to 30 years ago. Many people thought of New York City as beign the unlikely place to live, but once they spend a day in this city, folks change their minds and choose to live here.