Wish I could help! Had you posted this a couple weeks ago we could have gone on a search together.
I spent two months going to 'interviews' for open rooms off of craigslist in Manhattan and *finally* found the perfect apt for $800/month on the UES. The apartments are out there, you just have to be willing to put in time. A lot of time.
To note, during my search I was also highly considering Astoria, Queens. You might like it; a lot of us on Manhattan just never think to venture out there. There's cheap rent (I was looking at about $600-$700 a month there), nice sized rooms, tons of fast food and other restaurants, grocery stores, Starbucks, etc and it's only 10-15 minutes to midtown.
Good luck!
"Take all of your so-called problems, better put them in quotations.." - JM