new york living...

#1

new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 10:39pm

okay, well i want to move to New York within the next 4 years, but of course everyone tells me it's ridiculously expensive and i know it is. but how is it that so many starving artists can afford to live there? people go there and have jobs waiting tables...how does that pay for the high rent costs? basically what i'm asking is...how is it possible and what is the easiest way to afford living in New York?

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"Somethin's comin', I don't know what it is but it is gonna be great!"

#2

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 10:40pm

sell yourself on the street?

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You aren't feeling overwhelmed are you?

#3

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 10:40pm

I can't speak from personal experience, but roomates and teeny-weeny apartments, I suppose. And living in the outer boroughs.

#4

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 10:41pm

Find a good street and set up a box there!

Honestly, all you need to do is

A) Have money. Or be something that would really want bosses to hire you.

B) Find a...er...slightly cheaper apartment that has a window and a way to get downstairs.

Starving artists these days realize that you have to have a backup plan. More and more actors are taking on a minor or a 2nd major in college to help them live. I don't think that you can live on just waiting tables and that's it.

Updated On: 8/12/04 at 10:41 PM

#5

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 10:41pm

ya know mywonderwa11, i was wondering the exact same thing... i dont get it! if i had the money, id be there...

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::bust a move::

#6

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 10:42pm

Easy..

Spanish Harlem
The Bronx
Brooklyn
Some of Queens

or if push comes to shove, Jersey is a stone's throw away.

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"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers

#7

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 10:43pm

Yes I've wondered that too! I would love to have a fancy, ritzy apartment in midtown...but I am not made of money.

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"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611

#8

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 10:45pm

I don't think that there's an easiest way of living in NY, especially if you don't have the money.

It's gonna be a struggle all the way.

I'd consider going with Jersey, even Central NJ is only an hour from the city.

#9

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 10:53pm

I would not want to be trying to make it in NYC today. You will probably need lots of money to start out. You will probably have to find a roommate or two and live a bit outside of the city. And why praytell are you moving to NYC? There are better places to start out in theater (I might mention Chicago). PM me if you have any specific questions. Another hundred people just got off the plane.

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If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

Updated On: 8/12/04 at 10:53 PM

#10

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 10:56pm

I honestly would like to offer some semblance of help but I have always lived on Long Island, which is about 45 minutes from my house to the city.

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And hang on, when did you win the discus?

#11

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 10:56pm

How old are you wonderwa11? And how old will you be when you move?

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"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611

#12

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 11:22pm

by the way... jersey is really not cheap at all. the living expenses here are crazy. massive taxes on a lot of stuff. the only plus-side is nyc really close by and although it's the "garden state" i don't find it that pretty cuz i love city-life... i don't like nj... i wanna be in nyc. but it's where i am cuz of having to be at home cuz i'm not in college yet. it sucks. i'm planning to go to the city, hopefully NYU for college, or something along that line. to be in this area you need money, even if it's just an apartment in some downtown of a small town. it's crazy.

#13

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 11:27pm

sell your body to the night.

#14

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 11:34pm

I'm still sticking with selling yourself on the streets

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You aren't feeling overwhelmed are you?

#15

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 11:42pm

I wish i could live in nyc (mid-town manhattan) right now. When im bored i look at the real-estate and i wanna live in the World Tower (i think) on 51st street. But alas, i probably wont get there for awhile. Hopefully id be able to go to nyu or columbia to get my foot in the door to nyc.

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"Chicago is it's own incredible theater town right there smack down in the middle of the heartland. What a great city! I can see why Oprah likes to live there!" - Dee Hoty :-D

#16

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 11:45pm

they say history repeats itself. once the cost of living gets high enough, I think it's a real possibility that many New Yorkers will have to take to the streets in order to make rent or pay their TIVO bill.

Could the streets and avenues of New York soon be flooded with the prostitutes, sex shops, and drug dealers it was famous for before Giuliani "cleaned up"? might Times Square return to its former glory? after all, sex and drugs are two of the only businesses virtually unaffected by a volatile economy. I feel a renaissance is on its way! a sexy renaissance!

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"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers

#17

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/12/04 at 11:51pm

uh oh! ahh Broadway Matt, you made me think today!! But hopefully thinks wont happen like that...or i hope not. Some people think that Time Square (and the surrounding area) had more character and was better back with all the sex, drugs, ect...but i like how time square is safe, fun, and if i walk down the street it doesnt feel like im going to get mugged. If all the sex came back, i wonder if it would affect broadway...

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"Chicago is it's own incredible theater town right there smack down in the middle of the heartland. What a great city! I can see why Oprah likes to live there!" - Dee Hoty :-D

#18

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/13/04 at 12:01am

Well, I have a fantastic apartment in midtown I'm about to lose and head back up to the Heights (unless any of you know someone who has a bedroom available in midtown).
I'm a great pool boy...

#19

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/13/04 at 12:01am

i just hope manhattan doesn't lose its diversity. i love how many little communities are packed onto that tiny island. luckily there's rent control, otherwise the whole city would turn into the Upper East Side. i'd like it if some of the seediness came back too, but not in Times Square. 8th Avenue midtown seems like a good place, where all the peep shows are. then eventually someone can revive "The Life" as a current piece, kind of a "Rent" for the next generation.

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"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers

#20

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/13/04 at 12:05am

I live on crazily expensive Long Island an hour from the city. I hope to live in even more crazily expensive Manhattan within the next few years.

Better get a good job!

#21

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/13/04 at 12:12am

If someone really wants to stay in NYC, wouldn't the YMCA be a cheap place for long term living...(temporay)

#22

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/13/04 at 12:41am

they have everything for young men to enjoy, you can hang out with all the boys.

#23

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/13/04 at 12:49am

Harlem is really not a bad place to be---I recently stayed with a friend up near 160th street and his apartment was cheaper there than it was in his college town and it was a very very good size that he shared with his roomate. The subway was about 10 minutes from Mid-Town.

#24

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/13/04 at 1:00am

my friend at school actually found a decent 2-bedroom in Spanish Harlem where they each have their own room and are paying around $300 each including utilities. it's actually pretty nice and is right by the 6 train, so it's a short ride to Marymount. there are bargains out there, you just need to look for them. try craigs list.

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"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers

#25

re: new york living...

Posted: 8/13/04 at 2:42am

Washington Heights, baby. And ASTORIA!

Um... I made $90 today cleaning an apartment for 3 hours. There are ways to make money in this city, you just have to be creative about it and know how to budget.

And I live on the Upper West Side, near Lincoln Center.

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"You! You are the worst thing to happen to musical theatre since Andrew Lloyd Webber! And you, well, I just plain don't like you."
~Stewart Gilligan Griffin