Best Place to Live in Manhattan

[ablarc]

BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN MANHATTAN

Every nabe has its virtues, even Bushwick; but let’s face it: some places you live in because you can afford to. The charm of such places fades as you get prosperous enough to afford other places.

Suppose an out-of-towner asked you “which is Manhattan’s best place to live –-cost no object?” What would you answer?


* * *

Alas, there are only ten lines in a Wired New York poll, so at first I created some arguable bedfellows, trying to fit all Manhattan into ten categories. And I didn’t really get them all anyway:

Upper East Side/Yorkville
West/Greenwich Village/Meatpacking
SoHo/Tribeca
Battery Park City
Upper West Side/Morningside/ Washington Heights
East Village
Chelsea
Midtown/Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton/Murray Hill
Harlem/East Harlem
Lower East Side/Chinatown

Not so good if you’re trying to make fine distinctions between places of different character. So I subjectively eliminated some neighborhoods that I figured wouldn’t be contenders. I’m sure I’ll get irate arguments, but here’s the final eight:

West Village
Tribeca
SoHo
Battery Park City
Upper East Side
Upper West Side
Midtown
Chelsea

Vote for one (1).

[Schadenfrau]

How about Other? I'd vote for Gramercy Park.

[krulltime]

Upper West Side!

Love the variarity of the neighborhood... from Modern to Old and full of all types of shops that attracts all kinds of people (although lots of neighborhoods are like that). Love the stretch of Broadway... from Colombus Circle to Columbia University and above! It is very accessible by public transportation and is next to two great parks!

But I like other neighborhoods aswell. Even in other boroughs. What can I say NYC is full of interesting neighborhoods.

[MidtownLivin]

Upper West Side!

Love the variarity of the neighborhood... from Modern to Old and full of all types of shops that attracts all kinds of people (although lots of neighborhoods are like that). Love the stretch of Broadway... from Colombus Circle to Columbia University and above! It is very accessible by public transportation and is next to two great parks!

But I like other neighborhoods aswell. Even in other boroughs. What can I say NYC is full of interesting neighborhoods.

I love the UWS but Midtown gets my vote. I love stepping out the door and seeing skyscrapers going on and on forever.

[Anarchy77]

This topic assumes that one is or wishes to be a millionare considering the cost of housing in those neighborhoods. The east village would have been my choice if it were one of the options: Close walking distances to concert halls like irving plaza, and the bowery ballroom, alternative theater/performance art places, and the strand:).

[stache]

I like Midtown too but I voted for Chelsea because it's convenient to Midtown and further downtown as well.

[BPC]

I love my 'hood, but when I go to the Lower East Side (or Williamsberg, for that matter), with all the young hipsters and cool little shops and cafes and such, I get envious. It is everything BPC is not.

[lofter1]

Aside from the throngs of folk who descend upon us each and every afternoon gotta say I'm still loving living in SoHo -- it has great access to nearly all the subway lines, fantastic window shopping (just keep your wallet in your pocket and you'll stay happy) and from out my front door a view of the Woolworth Building to the south & the Chrysler Building to the north.

I'm just a stroll away from Old St. Pat's (the few blocks surrounding that great old church is my next favorite nabe) and the walk past that brick wall enclosing the cemetery along Prince St. with the branches of lush old trees above never fails to enchant me. The better places to eat seem to have moved east over the past few years, but there are goodies everywhere you look (most importantly during these hot summer months is the fantastic Ciao Bella gelateria just up the block from St. Pat's). Dom's grocery on Lafayette and Gourmet Garage on Broome make eating at home a breeze. For a great slice drop by Ray's Pizza on Prince: he's got a dynamite pesto, ricotta & olive pizza. And the take out tacos at La Esquina on the intersection of Kenmare / Cleveland are fantastic (and grab some roasted corn to go while you're at it). The felafels at Hoomoos Asli across the street are pretty tasty, too.

What we don't have is a park. But it's just a short walk to Washington Square (Save the Fountain!!) or to the Hudson (can't wait till they get that SoHo / Tribeca stretch built). And if my landlord would just put up a nice little deck on the roof of our building then I'd be in heaven (especially as how from up there I can see the spires of the NY Court Building & 40 Wall St.; off the other way is the Williamsburg Bridge -- now flanked by the Thor Hotel and the rising Big Blue -- and a little further north is the newly restored copper cupola of The Holy Redeemer Church in the EV).

It does seem that everyone around us is building UP on top of their buildings -- a whole new world is developing on the roofs of SoHo's old cast iron beauties: sleek and spacious penthouses with lots of glass (yet invisible from the street).

Ahhh ... to be ridiculously rich and able to build your own private park above the craziness down below!!

[stache]

The benches along 6th Ave can be a nice place to sit -

[Fabrizio]

#1 - UES: Park, 5th.

----------

#2 - CPW...Dakota....

#3 - Midtown...57th street down to 53rd... the Osborne...

[ZippyTheChimp]

I love where I live, but I could be persuaded to move to CPW.

[ablarc]

I love where I live, but I could be persuaded to move to CPW.
Maybe #15?

[ZippyTheChimp]

I'd have to think about for 3 seconds.

As for the Dakota, it always reminds me of a telephone repairman I knew when I was a young pup, a meat 'n potatoes guy. He had an early morning repair call to the apartment of Lauren Bacall at the Dakota. It was all out of a film scene - she was elegantly having breakfast in bed, reading a newspaper and paying him no mind, and he was tracing wire along the baseboard.

The connecting block was under the bed, and after attempts to reach it, he stood up, his tools dangling from his belt :) , and said something like,

"Lady, you're gonna have to get out of bed. I'm not pushing you around the room."

She looked up at him indignantly, and that's when he recognized her and figured he would have to explain to his boss why he was thrown out of the residence, but she broke into a big laugh and nodded OK.

[Fabrizio]

He COULD have told her to just put her lips together and blow...

[MidtownLivin]

I like Midtown too but I voted for Chelsea because it's convenient to Midtown and further downtown as well.

You mean the gay area?:eek:

[Stern]

I voted for the Upper West Side. Convience of two subway lines and two expansive parks. Theres a bunch of services in the neighborhood and its nice and quiet; its a great place to live.

[MidtownLivin]

I voted for the Upper West Side. Convience of two subway lines and two expansive parks. Theres a bunch of services in the neighborhood and its nice and quiet; its a great place to live.

Ahhh, f*ck quietness. I want the noise, dude! If you want peace and quiet, move to Montauk. That's one of the reasons I love this city and live in this city!

[lofter1]

That all depends on the kind of noise ...

Con Ed has been on my block for two months installing new underground equipment -- so far 6 new pits have been cut, jack-hammered, dug out, lined with concrete, filled in, paved, re-cut and re-opened (jack hammers again). And they often do this 10 PM - 4 AM!! Yesterday they were cutting 6" steel pipe all day long -- dang those saws are loud :eek: (especially with the windows open to let out some of the summer's heat).

But in the spirit of "what's good for NYC is OK by me" I grin and bear it. Can't wait for the work to end, though.

Would I be right to guess, MidtownLivin, that you don't have a fire house around the corner from you ;) ?

[Stern]

Ahhh, f*ck quietness. I want the noise, dude! If you want peace and quiet, move to Montauk. That's one of the reasons I love this city and live in this city!

I work hard and I play even harder. That said I need my eight hours. I love the LES and the Village but they are party neighborhoods and all the buildings there are relatively short. While my nights usually end at 2AM, I don't want to hear a bunch of trashed punks outside my building.

This last year I lived on the eighth floor of my building in the Upper East Side and I had my windows open at night with nothing but background noise to put me to sleep. The Upper West Side is just as quiet, Broadway for example is well lit and perfectly safe but generally dead by 1 AM. After a rough night out or a great night on the town I love having the city idle around me as I collect my thoughts. The UES and UWS have services that the rest of Manhattan cant offer, where I lived I had a number of large and affordable grocery stores, an abundance of restaurants, hardware stores, pharamacies, 24-hour groceries, delis, etc. etc. The Upper Upper West Side is just the same.

The only reason I would pick the UWS over the UES is the simple fact that it has two subway lines although if and when the 2nd Avenue Subway is built Yorkville/Carnegie Hill will be my first choice. The UWS is minutes away from midtown and if you want to go cross-town you take the cross-park bus which saves many minutes from going cross-town anywhere else in Manhattan.

Additionally everywhere south of 34th Street has become incredibly trendy, I'd rather go out to be trendy and come home to a friednly neighborhood, I couldn't walk to the subway without seeing someone I knew. Contrary to common belief the Upper Upper East Side is more affordable then downtown locations.

That said I want to change my vote from Upper West Side to Upper East Side since when I graduare college it is my goal to buy a place and I would like to get into the York Avenue area of the UES before prices skyrocket with the completion of the 2nd Avenue Subway.

[sfenn1117]

It would depend on where my job was. If I was a midtown worker, Turtle Bay would be my choice. I'm basically explaining the lifestyle of my aunt, who is able to walk to work everyday, something I want to be able to do as well. It is an enclave away from the heart of midtown that is more quiet, yet still has great restaurants and stores.

If I worked downtown, I would live in BPC, which I chose in the poll. Some find it sterile, I find it serene, surronded by parkland and that great waterfront promenade. I am a jogger and I take advantage of the waterfront here in Bay Ridge. Retail is lacking, but will be filled in at the WTC site. The drawback would be national retailers and restuarants opposed to neighborhood joints that make this city great.

To be honest though I wouldn't mine living in Bay Ridge indefinitely. Perhaps work my way up to a pad on Shore Road. Half the price but still all the views and convenience, I wouldn't mind it.

[ablarc]

West Village and Upper West Side are front runners; no surprises there.

But Battery Park City's strong showing astonishes a bit. Does modern planning after all get it right sometimes? Will it continue to charm after its newness wears off?

Lack of retail is perceived by some as a minus, but isn't that also the cause of BPC's peacefulness? Is this like Riverside Drive with a narrower riverfront?

Some say it's an in-town suburb with urban characteristics --like the ones that ring Paris. Maybe the suburban concept of a bedroom community isn't so bogus; after all, we built them all through the Teens and Twenties: upper Park Avenue, Riverside Drive and West End Avenue, Beekman and Sutton Places, Tudor City.

Maybe acceptability evaporates when the streetwall and commerce vanish altogether, as in Stuyvesant Town. Then you have buildings in a park, not beside a park: Corbu's Radiant City --which of course isn't a city at all.

[Schadenfrau]

Stern, I think that you and I have similar takes on what makes for a livable neighborhood. When I was 20, the Village was perfect for me. Now, not so much.

[MidtownLivin]

I work hard and I play even harder. That said I need my eight hours. I love the LES and the Village but they are party neighborhoods and all the buildings there are relatively short. While my nights usually end at 2AM, I don't want to hear a bunch of trashed punks outside my building.

This last year I lived on the eighth floor of my building in the Upper East Side and I had my windows open at night with nothing but background noise to put me to sleep. The Upper West Side is just as quiet, Broadway for example is well lit and perfectly safe but generally dead by 1 AM. After a rough night out or a great night on the town I love having the city idle around me as I collect my thoughts. The UES and UWS have services that the rest of Manhattan cant offer, where I lived I had a number of large and affordable grocery stores, an abundance of restaurants, hardware stores, pharamacies, 24-hour groceries, delis, etc. etc. The Upper Upper West Side is just the same.

The only reason I would pick the UWS over the UES is the simple fact that it has two subway lines although if and when the 2nd Avenue Subway is built Yorkville/Carnegie Hill will be my first choice. The UWS is minutes away from midtown and if you want to go cross-town you take the cross-park bus which saves many minutes from going cross-town anywhere else in Manhattan.

Additionally everywhere south of 34th Street has become incredibly trendy, I'd rather go out to be trendy and come home to a friednly neighborhood, I couldn't walk to the subway without seeing someone I knew. Contrary to common belief the Upper Upper East Side is more affordable then downtown locations.

That said I want to change my vote from Upper West Side to Upper East Side since when I graduare college it is my goal to buy a place and I would like to get into the York Avenue area of the UES before prices skyrocket with the completion of the 2nd Avenue Subway.

Well, I see why you like those areas. But I don't know if I could take that quietness. I just don't like it when it's quiet. It freaks me out. I feel like the only person on Earth. I like opening the windows at night and listening to the horns, people, and traffic. I have my bedroom windows open 24/7 if it's not snowing or raining. I got used to the noise quickly. It's not like it's going to stop you from falling to sleep every night. You get used to it after a few days.

[MidtownLivin]

Would I be right to guess, MidtownLivin, that you don't have a fire house around the corner from you ;) ?

Yup. You're right. That's one noise I wouldn't be able to take.:eek:

[milleniumcab]

I love my 'hood, but when I go to the Lower East Side (or Williamsberg, for that matter), with all the young hipsters and cool little shops and cafes and such, I get envious. It is everything BPC is not.

Everytime I hang out in BPC, I feel this coldness about it. It is pretty closed in and people just don't seem that warm to each other...

[BPC]

You have to own a dog. We all know each other.

[milleniumcab]

^:)

[ablarc]

Dogville.

[ManhattanKnight]

I live in the "Far West Village" portion of the larger West Village – the space south of the Meat Market and west of Hudson Street in some places and Greenwich Street in others. No shortage of interesting people or shops, restaurants and other venues, but definitely no infestation of "hipsters" or "trashed punks" that’s going to spoil anyone’s sleep. Late at night or before dawn, the birds and crickets are noisier. A lot less heterogeneous than the place that Jane Jacobs described when she lived and wrote here, but, all things considered, still a wonderful spot.

I’ve always worked in the swath of Midtown between Rockefeller Plaza and Lexington Avenue north of 50th Street and below 53rd. My pulse quickens when I arrive there in the morning. At the other end of the workday, decompresson, starting with a quick subway ride down to West 4th and a restorative walk from there to my place. It's the contrast in density, texture, pace, sound and sight that invigorates.

BTW, I lived next door to a firehouse on West 113th Street for 3 years and, after a couple of months, seldom even heard the frequent late-night alarm-runs. Humans adapt to almost anything, I guess.

[NYatKNIGHT]

I certainly wouldn't disqualify any neighborhood for noise since every street, every block, and the front and back of buildings can vary widely. There can be noisy bars uptown and quiet streets in the Village, so I reject the opposing stereotype. I hear next to nothing from my apartment facing the courtyard, yet my neighbors on the opposite side of the building can hear street noise. With that, I'd choose a downtown neighborhood hands down, with all its broken grid, provided the apartment is in the rear or above the fourth floor (if that particular street is noisy late-night).

While I enjoyed living uptown, the ever-present and unrelenting major avenues with multiple lanes of traffic got old. Downtown's way more kick-back.

[shocka]

Being a Queens person I am looking at the 50s (51 ideally) where I can grab a train right into queens

[Front_Porch]

Disclosure: I'm a realtor and I sell everything south of 59th Street, primarily Chelsea and the Village. I find that usually people's first instincts about a neighborhood are the best ones.

Hubby and I love love love the West 50s. There are great restaurants, he can walk to work, it's easy to get to my clients in Chelsea, it's diverse economically and racially, and there's terrific access to Penn Station and the LIRR for weekends.

But I absolutely wouldn't try to place a family here with small kids here, because I think the schools are pretty stinko (a professional term of art).

Also, I'm not a Whole Foods fan, so I find I'm constantly running all over Manhattan just to get decent groceries.

If I had little kids and lots of money, I'd want to be in one of the pretty parts of the West Village, with access to P.S. 41 -- a row house on Bank or Charles, say. The central Village is overrun by NYU, but further West it's still full of haute bourgeois luxury.

The East 50s Beekman/Sutton area also has great townhouses and a wonderful neighborhood vibe, but it still has kind of an empty-nester feel to it. So I'd skip if you have any teenagers -- they'd probably try to shoot you out of sheer boredom . . .

hope that helps
ali r.

[ablarc]

^ Nice to get a realtor's take. Thanks.

[lbjefferies]

I live on the Upper West Side and I love it up here. Here's a list of reasons why:

-I walk across the park to an art museum at least once a week (going to see the Klimts tomorrow).

-If I sense a wonderful sunset, I drag my wife out to Riverside park to watch it.

-Wandering through Central Park on a pretty day is better than Prozak, and every New Years we take a bottle of Champagne to watch the ball drop and fireworks from the north side of the reservoir.

-Despite it's reputation as a culinary wasteland, there are a lot of very good restaurants in the 80s and lower 90s (much better than the 60s and 70s).

-Transportation is better here than anywhere outside of downtown/14th st/42nd st.

-The streetwall and architecture along Columbus and CPW make for delightful walking experience.

-Our seats at the Met are a short walk away.

-Fairway, Zabars, Whole Foods, Barzinis. If you know how to avoid the crowds, Fairway is the best market I've ever been to.

-I don't care what Zagat says, Artie's is the best deli in town now that 2nd Ave is gone.

-Living in a quiet neighborhood is not critical to me, but it is nice. Right now I hear the wind blowing through the leaves, birds chirping, kids yelling as they walk to the park, and the distant whooosh of cars racing down CPW a hundred feet away. Chills

-As if the parks weren't enough we get wonderful public spaces like Verdi Square, Lincoln Center, and the fabulously restored Columbus Circle.


I do think the grid is a little monotonous (absolutely essential but monotonous) and it certainly isn't as charming as some of the downtown neighborhoods. I'd actually like to give Soho or the west village a try but I doubt that will happen. It is just too nice up here.

[pianoman11686]

The grid, and thereby, the liveliness of the neighborhood, could really be helped out if there were some additional north-south thoroughfares added, especially between CPW and Columbus, and between Columbus and West End. (Think Vanderbilt Avenue in Midtown). It would really break up the monotony of those long cross-blocks (~800 feet in some instances?). Too late now, but one can always fantasize.

[ablarc]

The grid, and thereby, the liveliness of the neighborhood, could really be helped out if there were some additional north-south thoroughfares added, especially between CPW and Columbus, and between Columbus and West End. (Think Vanderbilt Avenue in Midtown). It would really break up the monotony of those long cross-blocks (~800 feet in some instances?).
There is one: Manhattan Avenue, a bosky enclave that runs from 100th to 110th.

[pianoman11686]

Forgot about that one. Although, whenever I think about the UWS, I visualize only the areas that I have spent a good amount of time in. For the most part, that would be up to 86th street, and then only the immediate areas around Columbia.

[lbjefferies]

The grid, and thereby, the liveliness of the neighborhood, could really be helped out if there were some additional north-south thoroughfares added, especially between CPW and Columbus, and between Columbus and West End. (Think Vanderbilt Avenue in Midtown). It would really break up the monotony of those long cross-blocks (~800 feet in some instances?). Too late now, but one can always fantasize.

I agree completely pianoman. I like to fantasize about a road that terminates at the southside entrance of the Natural History Museum. Other little streets here and there ala w 4th st in the west village would make for the perfect New York neighborhood I believe. Alas, I'll just have to continue packing a canteen for my trek to the grocery store on Columbus.

[ablarc]

A nice ode to the Upper West Side, lbjefferies. You made me remember my own happy years there. I voted West Village, but you just convinced me I voted wrong.

And to think: it was once though to be the bad side of town!

[lbjefferies]

A nice ode to the Upper West Side, lbjefferies. You made me remember my own happy years there. I voted West Village, but you just convinced me I voted wrong.

And to think: it was once though to be the bad side of town!


:)

[pianoman11686]

And to think: it was once though to be the bad side of town!

Decades ago, you could have said the same thing about the Village.

[ablarc]

Is there any Manhattan neighborhood that's actually worse today than a quarter-century ago?

[pianoman11686]

Depends how you define "worse". Economically and aesthetically, probably not. But there are a lot of people that decry the loss of ethnic diversity in some places, as well as diversity of uses (i.e. entire neighborhoods are becoming upscale bedroom communities with chain retail). Like it or not, many areas of Manhattan are starting to resemble each other, and are progressively losing some character.

Then there are those that mourn the loss of manufacturing and industrial grit.

[ablarc]

there are a lot of people that decry the loss of ethnic diversity in some places, as well as diversity of uses (i.e. entire neighborhoods are becoming upscale bedroom communities with chain retail). Like it or not, many areas of Manhattan are starting to resemble each other, and are progressively losing some character.
Yeah, not many Italians survive in Little Italy (now down to one street), Yorkville has lost its German and Hungarian character, and there aren't too many elderly Jews left on the Upper West Side. Are there still Ukrainians in the East Village?

[lofter1]

And fewer and fewer Lithuanians in Hudson Square: GO (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=117056&postcount=290)

[ablarc]

Manhattan: are there any new ethnic groups moving in?

[pianoman11686]

Indians, sub-Saharan Africans, and Caribbean islanders are, for the most part, the biggest groups moving into the city (or so I've heard). But an increasingly larger percentage of immigrants are heading straight for the suburbs. A relevant article from today's New York Times:

The New Crossroads of the World (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/26/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/27Rcensus.html?ref=nyregionspecial2)

[lofter1]

Can I change my vote?

SoHo has become such a hot bed of construction over the past few months (een worse than before) that it's ridiculous trying to navigate the sidewalks ... :mad:

I'd change my vote to the Upper West Side along Riverside Drive.

[ablarc]

SoHo has become such a hot bed of construction over the past few months (een worse than before) that it's ridiculous trying to navigate the sidewalks ... :mad:
That does it!

Lofter, you simply must get a camera.

[lofter1]

I was thinking the same thing today meself ...

[andyghai]

Hi
Ill be moving to NY in a couple of years-after im done with my hotel mgmt degree-I will be starting off with $45,000 annualy and my girlfriend makes $40,000 already.So we're willing to spend 1500$ -2000$ on a 1 br apt.

MOST IMPOTANTLY
I hate the bay area coz its too quiet-i want a neighboorhood where i get up at 3.00 AM and i can see people moving about or cars going around-I love the busy street noise.When i get up at 7.00 AM i wanna see people going to work and everyone in a hurry.
Do you think midtown East is what im looking for-and also is midtown east safer than midtown west.
Thanks
Andy

[Schadenfrau]

Sorry, but it's a bit of a stretch to expect to live in those neighborhoods on those salaries. What are you looking for in a neighborhood? Maybe we can help.

[andyghai]

Well,why do you say its a stretch-I found 1 br apartments on craigslist ranging from 1500-2000.???
I was looking at midtown east,Upper West side,Upper east side-theres a shit load of apartments on craigslist.

[MrSpice]

Hi
Ill be moving to NY in a couple of years-after im done with my hotel mgmt degree-I will be starting off with $45,000 annualy and my girlfriend makes $40,000 already.So we're willing to spend 1500$ -2000$ on a 1 br apt.

MOST IMPOTANTLY
I hate the bay area coz its too quiet-i want a neighboorhood where i get up at 3.00 AM and i can see people moving about or cars going around-I love the busy street noise.When i get up at 7.00 AM i wanna see people going to work and everyone in a hurry.
Do you think midtown East is what im looking for-and also is midtown east safer than midtown west.
Thanks
Andy

It looks like you're talking about Upper East Side (1st Avenue, 2nd Avenue, York Avenue in the upper 80s, low 90s streets). Midtown East is great in terms of transportation and has lots of companies nearby. However, it's more expensive. Most restaurants are upscale. And the area has a business-corporate feel since Midtown East is, as I said, home to many coprorations. There are more commercial buildings there than residential buildings and lots of tourists and business travellers (that can use corporate cards to pay for all those fancy restaurants). Upper East Side has a much more neighborhood-like feel. There are many more options in terms of buying inexpensive groceries or dining at a budget but good restaurants. Lots of yunr professionals live in the area as well. Both Midtown East and Upper East Side are quire busy, noisy and full of people, even at night.

[andyghai]

I saw craigslist list check it out
http://newyork.craigslist.org/cgi-bin/search?areaID=3&subAreaID=1&query=&catAbbreviation=aap&minAsk=min&maxAsk=1800&bedrooms=1&neighborhood=136

Are there any other expenses except rent that im not taking into consideration,I know there will be health ins,transportation,cable etc.Anything else as huge as rental im not taking into account

[lofter1]

Ask if utilities charges (Con Edison -- gas / electric) are included. If NOT included find out if new tenant is expected to get the service in tenant's name (this could require a deposit to Con Ed). If the Landlord plans to keep the Con Ed bill in an existing account and merely bill the Tenant make sure you get the actual copy of the actual Con Ed bills (separate accounts for gas / electric) so that you are not over-charged.

Also you might ask about telephone -- although you may not need a land line there might be an existing one in the apartment that the LL would expect you to continue service / pay for same (although that technically should be an account in your own name).

[Clarknt67]

This topic assumes that one is or wishes to be a millionare considering the cost of housing in those neighborhoods.

And assumes that Brooklyn, the best place to live in NYC is now full?

[RandySavage]

Hi
Ill be moving to NY in a couple of years-after im done with my hotel mgmt degree-I will be starting off with $45,000 annualy and my girlfriend makes $40,000 already.So we're willing to spend 1500$ -2000$ on a 1 br apt.

MOST IMPOTANTLY
I hate the bay area coz its too quiet-i want a neighboorhood where i get up at 3.00 AM and i can see people moving about or cars going around-I love the busy street noise.When i get up at 7.00 AM i wanna see people going to work and everyone in a hurry.
Do you think midtown East is what im looking for-and also is midtown east safer than midtown west.
Thanks
Andy

Midtown East and West (and the rest of Manhattan below 110) are pretty safe. There are some stretches of the Midtown West (40's, west of 9th ave) where I wouldn't want to live. A lot of people just out of college move to the Upper East Side. It's is young and lively at most hours.

[ablarc]

Midtown East and West (and the rest of Manhattan below 110) are pretty safe. There are some stretches of the Midtown West (40's, west of 9th ave) where I wouldn't want to live. A lot of people just out of college move to the Upper East Side. It's is young and lively at most hours.
The poll shows the Upper East Side now trails the Upper West Side in cachet --quite a reversal.

Btw, Upper West is safe all the way to Columbia.

[stache]

Well,why do you say its a stretch-I found 1 br apartments on craigslist ranging from 1500-2000.???
I was looking at midtown east,Upper West side,Upper east side-theres a shit load of apartments on craigslist.

Barring a local disaster of some kind, or a major recession, it's safe to assume that in two years time one bedrooms will pretty much be 3K.

[ablarc]

...it's safe to assume that in two years time one bedrooms will pretty much be 3K.
Already there according to this: http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?p=122292#post122292

[ablarc]

Upper West Side closing in on West Village.

[pianoman11686]

New list dubs city's best blocks (http://www.timeoutny.com/newyork/Details.do?xyurl=xyl://TONYWebArticles2/576/features/block_stars.xml)

Some surprising choices in that article. The following blocks in Manhattan made the list of the top 50 "block stars":

2 Gramercy Park South between Park Avenue South and Irving Place, Gramercy Park

3 West 20th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, Chelsea

5 Convent Avenue between 143rd and 144th Streets, Sugar Hill

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/export_images/576/576.x580.ft.coffey.jpg

9 Charlton Street between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street, Soho

10 West 78th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, Upper West Side

11 Seaman Avenue between Cumming and Dyckman Streets, Inwood

12 West 11th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, Greenwich Village

13 West 106th Street between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive, Upper West Side

15 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, Hell’s Kitchen

16 West 139th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue), Harlem (Strivers’ Row)

19 Howard Street between Broadway and Mercer Street, Soho

24 Bank Street between Greenwich and Washington Streets, West Village

25 Duane Street between Greenwich and Hudson Streets, Tribeca

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/export_images/576/576.x580.ft.duane.jpg

26 East 10th Street between Avenues A and B, East Village

27 Indian Road between 215th and 218th Streets, Inwood

28 Stuyvesant Street between Second and Third Avenues, East Village

29 West 72nd Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, Upper West Side

32 East 93rd Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues, Upper East Side

33 East 2nd Street between First and Second Avenues, East Village

37 East 57th Street between First Avenue and Sutton Place, Midtown East

38 Great Jones Street between Bowery and Lafayette Street, Greenwich Village

42 Sullivan Street between Prince and Spring Streets, Soho

43 Vestry Street between Greenwich and Hudson Streets, Tribeca

44 Commerce Street between Barrow and Bedford Streets, West Village

46 Beekman Place between 49th and 51st Streets, Midtown East

***

Total count: 25 out of the top 50 blocks are located in Manhattan.

[pianoman11686]

Further notes of interest: the top two vote-getters in this poll - SoHo and the UWS - also registered the highest number of best blocks, with 3 each. Tribeca, the West Village, and Midtown received 2 each.

Notable exceptions: East Village registered 3 blocks on the list, and Greenwich Village registered 2. Both areas were not included in the poll.

[Fabrizio]

Question for you all: Why is it that all of those "best blocks" are lined with historic buildings and in landamarked areas? And mostly low scale and intimate? Ummmm? Why? Hows about a few glass towers to liven them up....sooooo boring.

------------------

As for me: I voted for the Upper East Side.

Best block in Manhattan? 70th between Park and Lexington (didn´t make it on the above list...which maybe makes me like it even more...) :

http://www.therealdeal.net/issues/MARCH_2006/1140977492.php

And this from a recent NYTIMES article:


MILLIONAIRES have a habit of settling into the town houses on East 70th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues. In fact, six sizable renovation projects are under way right now. Perhaps it is the combination of architectural quality and the block’s place on the crest of Lenox Hill.

In 1939, Fortune magazine called it “probably New York City’s most beautiful residential block,” and Paul Goldberger, in his 1979 book, “New York: The City Observed” (Random House), described it as having “a perfect balance between individuality and an overall order.”

Arguably the most important reason for this pleasing quality was the farsighted agreement reached way back in 1859 by two owners, Israel Walter and George Hinchman, that all future construction on the north side of the block would be set back 10 feet, “forever free and unoccupied.” The effect is subtle, but an idler lingering there today can feel its resonance.

The earliest houses were completed in 1863: a particularly unusual row at 121-129 East 70th Street, of which only 129 survives. These five houses were built by Japhet and Edmund Thorp, masons and builders whose few other known projects are entirely conventional. Perhaps they brought in an architect to design the three-story Victorian Gothic gems with Venetian-style arches that may be unique in New York row houses.

An 1862 advertisement in The New York Times offered them for sale or rent and noted that they were “within one block of the Ramble and Skating Pond,” a reference to Central Park, which was then partly finished. It was only a block away until Madison Avenue was cut through a few years later.

By the early 1900’s, elite development spilled over from the blocks between Fifth and Park, and town houses went up here for the next seven decades.

Start a walk along this unusual block in front of 107 East 70th, now the Visiting Nurse Service. It was built in 1921 for Thomas W. Lamont, a partner in J. P. Morgan & Company.

Mr. Lamont hired Walker & Gillette to design this Tudor-style house, with picturesque chimneys, leaded-glass windows and a spectacular doorway with an ancient (or ancient-appearing) wooden door and “No. 107” carved into the frame above.

Johnston L. Redmond, a banker, built No. 117 in 1932 and moved there after he sold the family mansion at 69th and Park to the Union Club.

His architect, Frederic Rhinelander King, gave Mr. Redmond a majestically impassive limestone house almost as good as anything on the Royal Crescent in Bath, England: Tuscan-style columns, casement windows and a decorative horizontal course of stone in the form of a Vitruvian wave, its crests separated by blossoms.

The neo-Georgian house at 118 East 70th was designed by Trowbridge & Livingston in 1900, with a spectacularly wide fanlight; the rippling surface of the glass dances and glistens in the sun. This is the house that Woody Allen bought earlier this year, and workmen are streaming in and out.

Nos. 120 and 122 present an architectural puzzle, partly matching, partly not. The chaste brick-and-white-marble facades were designed by Edward S. Hewitt, No. 120 in 1930 for Charles Auchincloss, a banker, and No. 122 in 1934 for Dr. John Erdmann, a surgeon.

Parts of the pair are in perfect sympathy, parts are quite different, but the mystery is that Mr. Auchincloss and Dr. Erdmann do not appear to be connected by family or business affairs.

The New York Times said in Dr. Erdmann’s obituary in 1954 that he had performed more than 20,000 operations and was particularly proud of always operating on his birthday, March 27. In 1945, no opportunity presented itself until the very morning of the big day, when, to his relief, he was summoned to perform an intestinal resection.

“It was a humdinger — it saved my record, too,” he was quoted as saying.

Back on the north side of the block, Samuel Trowbridge of Trowbridge & Livingston designed No. 123 for himself. The windows in its big, high central arch have the flavor of Art Nouveau, which was the rage when he built the house in 1903. Up close, the stonework on the right side is mesmerizing. Masons dressed the surface of each block differently; sometimes the lines are straight, sometimes curvy, sometimes crosshatched.

Next door at No. 125 is the house built in 1966 by the art collector and philanthropist Paul Mellon in a French Provincial design by Page Cross. The son of the financier Andrew T. Mellon, who established the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Mr. Mellon turned the gallery over the United States in 1941.

Even this peaceful design shows that the rich are not without worries: there are heavy rolling metal shutters in the windows up to the fourth floor.

The 1927 town house across the street at No. 126 is, from a distance, another rather mild design. But its architect, Edward I. Shire, gave the variegated brickwork a rich surface best appreciated only a foot away. It churns and boils with swirling lumps of red, maroon and gray.

The remaining Victorian Gothic house at No. 129, now covered in construction netting, was the home of St. John Smith Jr. and his family from 1905 to the 1940’s. In 1982, Mr. Smith said that when he was an architectural student at Columbia, he was surprised when the historian Talbot Hamlin mentioned it in a lecture “as one of the finest houses on the East Side — we felt that the swell houses were up toward Fifth Avenue.”

[NewYorkJets]

Upper East Side for me.

[Coleridge]

I also prefer the Upper East Side. It's clean and safe; and is a cultural (with the world class museums), fine dining, and shopping haven. Not to mention the quality schools in the neighborhood. It may not have the yuppie flavor of the Upper West Side. East of Lexington Ave like Yorkville is quite affordable despite the Upper East Side's reputation as an incredibly expensive neighborhood.

My secondary choice is Gramercy.

[lofter1]

New list dubs city's best blocks (http://www.timeoutny.com/newyork/Details.do?xyurl=xyl://TONYWebArticles2/576/features/block_stars.xml)

Some surprising choices in that article. The following blocks in Manhattan made the list of the top 50 "block stars":

19 Howard Street between Broadway and Mercer Street, Soho

What's The Frequency, Lockhart?

the real estate (http://therealestate.observer.com/2006/10/whats-the-frequency-lockhart.html)
Gillian Reagan
October 13, 2006

This morning, two men staked out the Gawker offices at 89 Crosby Street, according to Lockhart Steele, managing editor of Gawker media.

A man named Michael, owner of Tungsten Properties, wouldn't give his last name when we called to ask him about it, though he admits he showed up at the door of the company looking for Steele.

Steele said Michael called the Gawker offices and sent him a text message and called him, asking him to take down a post on the real-estate blog Curbed (http://www.curbed.com/). (In addition to being managing editor of Gawker media, owned by Soho web titan Nick Denton, Steele is a founder of Curbed and a group of related sites devoted to architecture and food.)

The item of contention was a reader's comment, actually, on a post Curbed did about Time Out New York's cover feature, "The 50 Best Blocks in New York."

The reader wrote Curbed an email, purporting to work at Tungsten Properties, located at 13 Crosby, and said of the block of Howard Street between Broadway and Mercer Street (No. 19 on the Time Out list): "Number 19 is a ****ing atrocity" and "a blight to Soho."

"This somehow triggered Armageddon for him [Michael]," Steele said.
And when Michael didn't get a response from Steele, he took it one step further and walked down the street to the offices to look for him--asking Denton and other Gawker employees for Steele and generally giving off a creepy, "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" kind of vibe.

(Or weirder? One passerby said Michael "said he was furious he couldn't get a hold of anyone at Curbed ... that you can't just say someone hates black jews.")

Steele got the message they were there and called Michael, and asked him to go back to the Tungsten offices and draft a response to the post that was steaming them up.

"We've spoken to just about all of our agents at Tungsten Properties and none of them have written this," a source at Tungsten tells TRE. "This is very unlike us and not only do we love our neighborhood and we're working on investment site around the corner. We're very proud of our neighborhood and we wouldn't write it like that."

Steele refused to take the post down but has updated the contentious item with a statement from Tungsten (here (http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/10/13/howard_street_shining_beacon_or_lowly_grundle.php) ).

[Joey Blaq]

What do you guys think about the LES, not as good as the West Village?

[ablarc]

What do you guys think about the LES, not as good as the West Village?
Not just yet.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11276&page=2

[MidtownGuy]

as good as the West Village? In my book it is a thousand times better. More diverse (though that is being eroded away more every day). Infinitely more interesting people. SO MANY more interesting and unique shops and boutiques. That too, sadly, is changing though. Better nightlife. More variety in eateries. Not just frou frou posers.

"Not just yet" indicates that with more time it will be as "good" as the West Village. I think it will start to suck just as bad. It's a downturn, not an improvement. Years ago the West Village was a sublime place. Today it is mostly a plastic, vapid shadow of its former self. The LES is one of the last places left with true style in Manhattan. The kind of style you can't buy at an H&M or some other cookie-cutter corporate sinkhole.

[ablarc]

as good as the West Village? In my book it is a thousand times better. More diverse (though that is being eroded away more every day). Infinitely more interesting people.
I see your point, which is based on a highly refined connoisseur's viewpoint on what is good in a city. But it's a little like extolling the virtues of the notoriously troublesome Lotus Elan; you have to be a zealot to love one, and most folks aren't. I thought the question came from a somewhat less refined viewpoint; such folks are happier with a Mazda Miata.

"Not just yet" indicates that with more time it will be as "good" as the West Village. I think it will start to suck just as bad. It's a downturn, not an improvement.
As it gentrifies, it will more closely fit most folks' definition of "good." I appreciate your perspective to the contrary, but it's not the prevailing view.

Years ago the West Village was a sublime place.
Yes, and it still is for most people.

Today it is mostly a plastic, vapid shadow of its former self.
That's an extremist characterization of the place that most people wouldn't agree with; look no further than its performance on this poll.

The LES is one of the last places left with true style in Manhattan.
...from your perspective.

What are your other select neighborhoods?

Which one do you live in?

[MidtownGuy]

All your points are very well taken. I wrote my post after a trip yesterday to the East Village, where the funky offbeat flavor of St. Marks seemed to be gasping a few last breaths. Just hurts me, that's all.
My wilder years were spent in the Village, both East and West, and the LES. Used to live on E. 10th.

As it gentrifies, it will more closely fit most folks' definition of "good." I appreciate your perspective to the contrary, but it's not the prevailing view.

In this particular case, as opposed to what may be said of that process in
other less incredible neighborhoods, I must respectfully disagree.
Plenty of folks love the East Village the way it has always been, a melting pot of immigrant, artist, punk, you name it, and are sad to see it go the way of many other neighborhoods in Manhattan. A lot of people want to live in the East Village precisely because it is a reprieve from sameness. There are still loads of students, artists, musicians, thinkers, and the places they like to haunt throughout it. People love the vibe. It doesn't really need to be "gentrified". I'm not sure that word is a totally good fit for what is happening. The stores and boutiques, vegetarian cafes, morroccan lounges, vintage stores, they ARE the attraction. There are desireable just as they are, a glorious mish mash of humanity, and not just the delight of those with a rarefied aesthetic. The place is not a dive, begging to be transformed into a liveable neighborhood by a replacement crowd. It already is successful and vibrant. A place. For many visitors to New York, a piece of what they had been searching for. So, I'm a little resistant to accept that "most folks" think it will be bettered by the forces now reshaping it.

Years ago the West Village was a sublime place.
.....Yes, and it still is for most people

The West Village is still a sublime place for me as well, in some ways. I should not have been so harsh in my assessment of its current charms. The architecture, the treelined streets of gorgeous townhouses, etc., these are all wonderful and sublime things. It still gleams on the surface. I was mainly thinking of other changes I'll just leave for another discussion.

The LES is one of the last places left with true style in Manhattan.
...from your perspective.

What are your other select neighborhoods?



OK, OK, I should explain my usage of "style" in that sentiment. Of course there are all sorts of style, and other neighborhoods have oodles, albeit of a different sort. I was speaking from a designer's standpoint. True style in the sense of being original, a source for much of the design inspiration that is flitered and reinterpreted by the big-name style-setters who repackage it for the masses. The style that is in the East Village is organic, effortless, a street distillation of urban moonshine. It is an eclectic, all encompassing style. Mohawks and mimosas.

Of course there is style on Madison Avenue, or in Tribeca, but it's of a far more contrived sort.

Which one do you live in?

I live on E. 52nd street in midtown. Doesn't have nearly the "style" in the above sense as the East Village, but it's sure got other things going for it.
One of those being, that I can get to the East Village for some design and style inspiration in minutes! :)

[Schadenfrau]

All of the neighborhoods mentioned were gentrified ages ago. The question of which neighborhood is better is answered only by the sort of gentrification you'd prefer.

Frankly, I think that the West Village was gentrified so long ago that it's almost turning a corner. Hang out near one of the large avenues on any night and count the hundreds of gawkers who've come to the neighborhood checking out the sex shops. It's not all townhouses and cupcakes over there.

If you're looking to move to any of the downtown neighborhoods mentioned, you'd be far better off asking about specific blocks, not the general area.

[LeCom]

Must be UES/UWS (probably the latter) or BPC, especially in a few years when all the construction is completed.

[ablarc]

After 67 have voted, the West Village and Upper West Side are now tied.