The biggest downside to living in NYC right now is that crime is spiking to levels last seen before Mayor Koch cleaned up the boroughs. There have been gangs brazenly attacking innocent passersby's at gunpoint in broad daylight these days. Sucker punching, cold clocking, stabbing, theft...etc. It doesn't look very attractive in my book...

I live in Northern NJ in the outer band of the suburbs. 5000 acres of state woodland buts up to my property. And I can see the NYC skyline from a couple of the mountaintops that surround my town. By express bus, I'm about 90 minutes from Penn Station. But honestly, I can't remember the last time I was actually in the city... The kind of traffic jam I enjoy are the critters that trigger my ring cams at night -- racoon, fox, deer, wolf, even a bear or two...

To each his own I guess...

I lived in NYC from 1995-2010: College years, first job, then raising a child until the age of 3, before moving to Japan.
No doubt it’s a great city. Enjoy the opportunity.
If you do decide to live close to work, just explore the city on the weekends. The ‘outer boroughs’ as you say, have a lot to offer too.

Some people enjoy the big city life. Thought it is not for me.

I have no input on the city but:

Congrats on the new opportunity!!

What a great adventure you and your family are starting!

One of the things I love about NYC, other than the energy, food, culture (going to MOMA in a few weeks) and a hundred other things is it's a city made of cities. It would be cool if when you went from one distinct neighborhood to another you passed through some sci-fi ripple membrane into a different world, which it can be a little like that here and there if you walk a few blocks looking down and then lift your head up and look around. You are not in Kansas anymore.

Congrats on the opportunity to get you there!

There are a lot of different opinions presented in this thread. Let me give you mine which may be good or bad.

I had an apartment in midtown for a while. It was paid for by my employer as I was dealing with a customer in that area. Honestly, it sucked. The sidewalks were always full of tourists and it got even worse around the holidays when I had to fight past them when they abruptly stopped to take selfies while I was carrying groceries.

Eating out was another issue. There are a few hidden gems in the area, but you mostly have lackluster tourist spots or high-end "put it on my expense account" types of places.

I found myself often going to other parts of the city for food and entertainment. Back then, I would always take the subway to get around. But, as others have mentioned, the crime has gotten out of hand and the subway no longer feels safe.

Friend is probably nervous about the move. Tells us about it.

Some of you all are some negative as eff mofos.

I dont know what the rental market is like now post-pandemic. I thought people were leaving and apartments were vacant and it was a renter's market???

I left Manhattan in 2004. I lived in Soho. I would never ever have lived in mid-town. In fact, I left for a reason and there is no amount of money under a million dollars per year that would motivate me to move back, and I loved NYC. I was in my 20s and 30s and had energy but I got bored and wanted a yard. However, I have so many great memories and zero regrets. It was truly an experience of a lifetime. Being older now, I could probably deal with mid-town, or anywhere in Manhattan knowing what I know ----not that I could physically do it or want to do it.

When I moved there, I would go to open houses to see apartments and the broker would start a bidding war. Inevitably, some 18 year old would raise his hand and say he would pay the price and in fact would pay the entire year up front, waiving a wad of cash. This made it very frustrating and difficult. Eventually I found a 100 sq feet apartment on Prince St for $1350 a month that had no closets. Still, I was there, excited, and I made the most of it. You however, (I thought) have a family. The life I lived is not the life you want.

I suspect you are around my age of 50 ??? You need to think of economy and efficiency. I am not talking about money. I am talking about energy expenditure.

First, familiarize yourself with the grid system and where the subways run (north and south). You will want to minimize the amount of physical energy it takes to get to work. Just because a subway has a station right near your office doesnt mean you can walk out of your apartment and just hop on. If you are far east or west of that subway's entrance, you may need to walk many blocks to get on it. This is not good in the winter, the rain or when its 100 degrees and humid.

The best thing that can happen to you is that you find an apartment within walking distance of your office, even if it is in midtown. Make things easy at first. If you like the city and plan to stay, eventually you will find a neighborhood you want to live in and that you feel is worth the inconvenience of a longer, more physically demanding commute.

Call a broker and tell them where the office is and what type of apartment you are looking for and tell them to find one that you can walk to your office from, and be specific. Some people are happy to walk 4 miles to work. Is that you? I would say a 20 minute walk is max......remember, walking in NYC with an umbrella at rush hour is not so easy or fun. In NYC its the little things that eat away at your sanity and typically people dont realize what those little things are until they have been there for a while. As Bukowski would say, it’s the continuing series of small tragedies that send a man to the madhouse.....in NYC, stepping in a puddle on your way to the office is one such tragedy. Always try to minimize them. You will learn as you go.

I would also hop in my car and drive there a few weekends in a row, alone. Walk the streets where you think you may live and get the vibe. In Soho, I could walk to dinner in china town, the village, LES, the west village, i would even walk over to the east village.....in the midtown area, your a bit removed from that world which is not to say you wont have places to eat or things to do.

I know people cook in their NYC apartments. I did not and would not. You are basically calling out to every cockroach in the building when you cook in your apartment. The fewer of these the better. ---If you think your building will not have cockroaches, you are very wrong. My GF at the time was the peronal caretaker of a very famous movie maker. I was in this persons $50 million apartment on central park west many times. It was amazing. It was clean. It had cockroaches.

I give you credit for doing this. But, at my age now, I dont think I could hack it. The older people in NYC that remain are generally very wealthy or lived there their whole life and dont know anything different. Try to refrain from saying to yourself if they can do it, you can do it. You will need to adjust and in a major way. NYC is not Seattle. It is not LA. It is not Boston or San Francisco. It is its own animal.

This will not be easy no matter how mentally ready you are for it. Its a physically (and mentally) demanding place. Get in shape and take your vitamins. Seriously. When I first got there, I got shin splints from all the walking and I was constantly sick because my immune system was not ready for all the germs everywhere. It was like going to a foreign country or something. Eventually I got strong and had no issues. Good luck and remember to have fun.

oh lastly, decide if you want an elevator building or a walk-up. I lived on the 6th floor of a walk up building built in 1902. It was not easy bringing anything up there.....nevertheless, I had my vinyl collection up there which was a major undertaking but again, i was 20 something. I recommend springing for an elevator building.

That is true but there are good reasons for that. :D

Did you ever go to a music venue called The Wetlands (Preserve) by chance? My former gf and I spent three glorious nights there seeing our favorite guitarist just a few months before 9/11.... just north of the financial district... it never reopened tho'.

Houston? .... and y'all think I tawk funny :D

I can't take more than a few days in the city... different strokes.

Yea ive been there. Used to go to the Knitting Factory regularly as well....

What I loved about NYC was the random weirdness. I once went to a small gathering at an apartment in the east village. In the kitchen was an old claw foot tub original to the place filled with water that had a mallard duck living in it (female as I recall). You just dont see this sorta thing most places. Does this justify what it takes living there? Eventually the answer became no, for me.

What I would do, and still do when I visit is you try as much as possible to walk in the street, in the lane with oncoming cars. Between red lights you can make up some serious distance and not fight with the humans. When the cars come, you hop back on the sidewalk. I learned this right away after running into a very large man while I had a cigarette in my mouth. I put it out right on his chest and he was not happy. I never saw him coming.

^^^^ If ya happen to be from CA, don't expect cars to stop for ya ... I'm just sayin' ;)....

It'll be a hoot for ya HD ... I remember when you were eatin' an ice cream cone years ago!

Terrific, practical input across the board.

Had a long conversation with a former colleague who lives in Manhattan, got lots of good advice. As others have pointed out above, she said skip mid-town, look up town on the east side. I'm going to head there for a few day next week.Basically focus my search along the 4/5/6 (green) subway lines.

impossible

guns are banned in NYC for pesky citizens

awesome plan..if i ever visit..beer and pizza on me!!

of course we will have to walk back to back facing outwards toward the impending onslaught of danger. <----in green.

Murray Hill aint a bad neighborhood to live in. Close to Grand Central. Had a buddy that lived there so I went up there quite a bit. Its peaceful and some good food. Of course he mostly came down to my neighborhood but for a neighborhood thats close to your office you might check it out

If I were willing to get on the subway every day and needed to stay on the east side, it would be the east village for me or soho again....there's a 6 train right at the corner of houston and broadway by dean & deluca. I need to be able to walk to McSorley's :D The upper east side is nice, but its boring.

That income better be enough to retire on in a few years to tolerate living in NYC. No frekin way otherwise.

PS get yourself a big ol' beat to schit 70's chrysler imperial or Impala like in the movies. Roll that.

rjp