mjh

What do you think of living in a basement or ground floor apartment in midtown around 51st street close enough to see Radio City out the window? Is it safe? Will it be deserted at night? Is this an all right area? I suppose it's only on tv and in movies that you get the idea that to be safe living in nyc you have to live in a building with a doorman on the entry floor?

Thanks.

ksoh

sounds like an ok area to live in. lots of activities, don't think it is that quiet at night. have you seen the apt? is it light? sometimes a basement apt has little windows that you have to keep covered. We used to live on Park Ave in a building with no doorman, we always felt safe.

donald

How much is your rent?

mjh

The rent is $2300 for the ground and the basement floors. The basement is about 500 square feet. There is one kitchen on the upper level, and a bathroom and one other room on each level. I haven't seen it. I'm asking for a friend.

I thought it might be easier to break in to a ground or basement level apt. as it is in some places. I don't know if there are bars on the window.

ksoh

Most likely there are bars on the windows. Best advice is to see the apt. It could have something about it that is great! or it could be a dump. You never know, in NYC they try to rent closets for thousands so you really have to see it in person to know. Good luck to your friend.

Philip

If it is ground floor or basement, you may want to ask where the garbage is stored. Depending on the building, it could be directly in front of your window.

IMANYKR

You can see Radio City from your window? In a basement apt. Midtown? If this is for real, I'd pass. Constant noise and heavy pedestrian traffic. There are better/quieter places to live for that money in NYC.

a

I doubt this is for real, but I certainly wouldn't pay 2300 for a basement apartment in midtown.

travelbuff

This can't be for real. There are no buildings in that immediate area that are residential, and all the ground floors are either stores or delis.

junebug

Mjh, it's frankly not possible. There are NO residential buildings that would have a view of Radio City from the basement window, no way. Radio City is in the very heart of the "concrete canyon", it's nothing but steel skyscrapers all around, including Rockefeller Center, and all are office space. When you're talking about a basement apartment, usually it means a brownstone or an older apartment building and they aren't anywhere near enough to Radio City to have a view. Your friend is being lied to. And anyway, $2300 a month for rent? Unless her company is footing the bill, why wouldn't she simply buy a nice apartment if she can afford an insane rent like that? If I could shell out $2300 per month I wouldn't waste it on a rental.

mjh

I'll try to get some more info but that's what my friend was told. To clarify - the $2300 was for an apartment with 2 floors-a kitchen and one room and bathroom on the ground floor and one room and a bathroom on the basement floor (the basement room is 500 square feet). Two people were planning to share it.

I visited NYC recently and I didn't think there were many residential buildings around there-- supposedly it is a "townhouse". I have a feeling it's down 51 st a few blocks and they could see Radio City from the street in front of it. Does that make a little more sense?

I'll report back when I find out more. The people planning on living there know absolutely nothing about NYC. A friend from college found the place and wanted to share it with one other person. One guy will be working near Penn Station.

Thanks for your help! I love New York.

Michelle

Sorry, but that's impossible. There aren't any townhouses in that area! $2300 isn't alot for rent (in NYC, that is) but your friend needs to find out more info. since the location info. given to him is all wrong.

suzanne

Has anyone SEEN the apartment? Never take a NYC apartment without seeing it!! What sounds good in an ad turns out to be a dump 95% of the time.

As for that area...it's heavily trafficked by tourists and office workers...it's a safe area (doorman not necessary). There should be bars installed on the windows...ALL low-floor apartments have bars. If it faces the street, it will be noisy and people will be able too look in. Basement apartments in old buildings are often ratty...and yes, I do mean that in both senses of the word. Somebody had better check it for vermin, musty basement smell, noise, etc. before moving in. $2300 is pretty cheap for a 2-bed in Manhattan.

If your friends are young, single and looking for low rent in Manhattan, I suggest they look on the Upper East Side anywhere from 76th-96th Street. This is a very good area...very residential but with lots of young people, bars, and restaurants.

mjh

Thanks for the advise, Suzanne.

I'm afraid that these guys (young and single) didn't go about looking in the right way and didn't allow enough time. They also were trying to avoid the $3000 finders' fee the real estate agents were charging. As it was, they said a parent has to sign the leases to apartments to guarantee rents since they are just starting out. I guess this fee and guarantee stuff is standard practice?

They said the apartment looked all right to them.

I'll still get more info on Tuesday.

lisa

Yes, Mjh, the fee and guarantee stuff are standard practice here. While there are some townhouses on 51st street, most of them are quite far from Radio City. That block (and the ones off 6th Ave) are entirely commercial, as others have told you. I agree that it will be noisy and crowded -- there's not a lot to do around there, either, as it's mostly offices and expense-account type restaurants.

BTW, I disagree that you should NEVER take an apt without seeing it. I've done it twice in NYC with great results. However, it is very risky and I would be unlikely to do it with a basement apt.

Upper East Side is a great idea -- lots of young people and some of the more reasonable rents in Manhattan.

a

Yes, this is standard practice.

There are ways to avoid the finder's fee. There is rent-direct.com, looking through the New York Times website, asking (read bribing) doormen, and there is a book on rental agencies in NYC. They should head to the NY section in Barnes and Nobles to find this book. The book will list a company like Bettina Equities (located on UES) which has apartments all over the UES and some in Midtown. If you go to these companies directly you avoid the commission charge.
There are also two apartment buildings that I can think of that target young grads. One is on East 34ths and Lexington (I don't know the name) and the second is Normandy Court on apprx 94th and 3rd.

Also, there are new doorman buildings in the midtown West, West side. Inconvenient location, good prices, nice buildings. This would be a decent location for the guy who works near Penn Station.

As for price, I would expect to pay around $1800-2000 for a decent walk-up one bedroom. $2000-2400 for a nice elevator building. $2400-$3000 for a one bedroom doorman. I still think what you described is overpriced at $2400.

I, personally, lived in a non-doorman building for many years and never had a problem. I am a petite woman.

Once the apartment is found, if these young men are not earning enough money, they will more than likely have to have their parents sign the lease.

I think when any young person looks for an apartment in NYC it can be a shocking experience. However, what I tell everyone is you will know the apartment when you see it.

mjh

I got more info on the apartment I asked about a few days ago.

It is on 51St street between 8th and 9th avenues - in Hell's Kitchen. It has a gate that locks and gives access to the front steps and door. It is in a very old building with old fixtures, doesn't seem to be musty, is very clean, and has carpeting and one small window. It needs painting. The ground floor has wood floors. They said the area was kind of residential

I remember reading an article not long ago about Hell's Kitchen -- I guess it has a pretty rough history. Is it nice now or still pretty rough?

Thanks again for all of your help.

Lizzie

Hell's Kitchen has become very gentrified. It's a safe area with lots of fun bars and restaurants; definitely great area for recent college grads. $2300 is an excellent price for a 2bdr. Not sure where A has been living, but we recently moved w/in NYC and 2000-2400 is really, really inexpensive for a 1bdr in a nice elevator building in a desirable area. We pay $4300 for a large, beautiful 2 bdr in the W. Village; no elevator or doorman. And, for what it's worth, if a tenant wants bars on the windows, the landlord is obligated to provide them.

darvy

This is one of the strangest posts yet.

nn

darvy, do people pick on you about your last name?