Not as shiny, but avail 24/7 - 6/16/2015

The New York City transit system may not be the cleanest nor the newest, it is however available 24/7. With one fare, it can take you one stop away (shortest being 510 feet) to the longest ride (one line), 31 miles (covering three boroughs).

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The best of times, the worst of times - 2/15/2015

Living in New York is has been literally the best of times and the worst of times. Yes, the rent is CRAZY high, for a teeny tiny space. Yes, the weather can be really crappy, and everything costs double what I am used to. The best of times, however, include being a few subway stops away from the best of pretty much everything imaginable. Museums, libraries, clubs, Broadway, shopping - it's all available here. If only I could afford to stay!

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Events - 1/18/2015

Always something to do!

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Weather - 12/22/2014

New York has awesome and excellent weather all year round, a great place to live, vacation or just for shopping.

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Living in new york city - 10/7/2014

A car is not necessary. All boroughs are connected by subway lines. Worrying about gas money and car insurance is not necessary until you've lived in the city for over a year and know all the bridge and tunnels. It's very convenient and usually close to most living areas, you may have to do a bus connect. The subway is fast and a train comes atleast every ten minutes. All you really need is a subway map.

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Real Estate Sales Associate - 9/29/2014

Hello Every one, My name is Makrm Holmes and i am a local Real estate broker out here in Staten Island,NY. If your Looking to Buy or sell a home out here Please Refer to me. My services are Buying,Selling,Real estate Investments,CMA/BPO, Negotiating real estate, Short Sale & Foreclosure Specialist, Cash flow analysis.

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Living in Brooklyn, NY - 9/2/2014

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. I attended elementary school, middle school, and high school, in Brooklyn, New York, and college in Manhattan. I worked at part time summer jobs while going to college. I even worked for the City of New York for three years before moving out. I hated living in NYC for the last eight years that I lived there. Basically, I couldn't take the following: a) Quality of life-The polluted air, and the polluted streets, flowing with debris, litter, and dog droppings; b) The unfriendliness of the population, who would step right over you, if you fell down in the street. One time, when I had a lot of heavy suitcases, and was returning from a trip, I offered to pay someone if they would help me carry the suitcases for several blocks to my home. Not only did they refuse, but they even cursed me out; c) The aggressiveness of the population- New Yorkers will want to start a physical fight at the drop of a hat. It could involve giving a seat to someone on the subway, moving out of someone's way in the street or on the subway, not blocking someone's driveway with their car, or just starting a fight for the heck of it. One time, when I was cleaning my car in front of my home, some idiotic pedestrian came along and accused me of cursing him out the night before. I never saw that individual before in my life, and to this day, I'm convinced that he was a psycho; d) Hostile merchants-If you don't give a merchant the exact change or pretty much close to the exact change, or he has to break a $1.00 bill, a $5.00 bill, a $10.00 bill, or heaven forbid a $20.00 bill, it is like a declaration of war! He will get very hostile, and state "GOT ANY CHANGE" or "GO TO A BANK". I've never encountered that situation out of town-only in NYC; e) Racial tensions-There seems to be a preponderance of racial tension in NYC, which can have bad consequences; f) Noise- All night, one hears police sirens, burglary alarm car sirens, car horns honking, and other noise. In some neighborhoods, around July 4th, it sounds like a war zone. It is impossible to get a good night's sleep, with all of the noise; g) Tipping-Everyone has their hand out for a tip. I remember when the Sanitation Dept. used to ring our doorbell around Christmas expecting a top for taking out the garbage. Although NYC threatened to fire any Sanitation worker who engaged in that illegal and unethical practice, it still continues around the holidays. One time, a delivery person brought over some furs to our home, which had been stored by them. He insisted on an additional penny, before he made change. Then, he cursed me before he left, as he was expecting a tip; h) Double Parked and triple parked cars; cars which back up a full block to get a parking spot; cars which block fire hydrants and driveways; cars which race around without a muffler, causing a loud grating sound; cars which run red lights, and fail to yield the right of way to pedestrians; cars which drive like Kamikaze pilots and pass other cars on a double yellow line. A few years ago, in Borough Park, which is part of Brooklyn, NY., an elderly man, who was 99 years old, and a survivor of the Nazi death camps, politely asked an 83 year old man, not to block his neighbor's driveway with his car, as his neighbor was a Doctor, and he needed his driveway cleared for emergencies. At that point, the 83 year old beat the heck out of the 99 year old, breaking his nose. Although the 83 year old was convicted of felonious assault, I doubt that he was sent to jail. If this case didn't happen in NYC, the felon would have done jail time, for such a heinous act; i) Neighborhood residents who refuse to shovel their walkways of snow, and who refuse to expeditiously pick up their empty garbage barrels, after the garbage has been collected; j) Sanitation workers who throw the barrels all over the street, because they are too lazy to place them neatly where they found them, in an upright position; k) Cops who do not expeditiously respond to calls for assistance, from citizens; l) Hoodlums who terrorize pedestrians, and who disturb the peace at all hours; m) City workers who think that it is their right to strike the subways, buses, bridges, schools, social services department, schools, as well as public safety forces; n) Utilities who think that it is their right to drill with loud pneumatic drills in residential areas late at night, on non-emergency routine maintenance. o) Heating oil delivery truck drivers, who think that they have a right to block the street, while making fuel oil deliveries; p) Delivery personnel who strike and cause a disruption in bread and milk to all grocery stores throughout NYC. One time, when my Father was visiting me out of town, he bought some milk at a local grocery store, to take back on the plane, since there was a milk strike in NYC! q) Lazy subway token workers who will deliberately cause lines, by servicing the token machines, when a train is pulling into the station. r) Subway cars which are too hot in the summer, and too cold in the winter, because of deficient maintenance. Subway trains which deliberately slam on their brakes for no apparent reason, causing passengers to lurch forward, causing injuries; s) Surly and rude bus drivers, who could use a lesson in manners. t) Lazy NYC postal workers who do as little as possible. When they went on strike, it was the beginning of the end of good postal service, as we once knew it; u) The NYC Fire Department who would routinely make "inspections" in residential neighborhoods. They came into our home, and gave us a summons for not having a fire escape. However, a check with the building department revealed that according to the NYC Administrative Code, two family homes built before 1910, were not required to have fire escapes. The NYC Fire Department should have known about that regulation, but they just insisted on harassing the populace. In any event, the summons was dismissed. I last visited Brooklyn, NY in 2011, and quite honestly, I couldn't wait to leave, even after a brief visit! When tourists think of NYC, they think of Manhattan, and all of the tourist sites to visit. However, they don't have to live in the outlying residential areas, and put up with all of the garbage, which I enumerated above.

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Update from my review of NYC written 11/20/2012 ab - 9/2/2014

I just reviewed my review of NYC from 11/20/2012. Here it is 2 years later and can honestly say my review was "right on". Your experience of NYC depends of course on YOUR personality, your situation in life, and what is most important to you. NYC is for a certain type of person, a certain situation. If you are a middle class family with 2 kids, I would NOT recommend NYC (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens or Bronx) . If you have in income of at least $500,000 a year.. you might find Manhattan or Williamsburg (Brooklyn) interesting. If you are single and young, you'll love it. Will open your eyes, your world, and when you are young, you can just squeeze into tiny places and share with 4 people LOL. By 26 though you will be sick of that arrangement. I do hear so so many young people complaining and discouraged about work opportunities and these are attractive, educated young people so this saddens me. Then there are the lucky ones to get something. If you care most about personal space, and owning space, and being the king of your world and not interacting much with people except close old friends and family that will "affirm" you are loveable and special...NYC is probably NOT your place unless you have Millions. In NYC you have to prove yourself... again and again. It takes a very strong willed individual with a passion to achieve and surive in NYC to get what they want or at least something of what they want. You have to push relentlessly to get what you want. It may not be worth to you, but for some they NEED this rich environment of culture, music, the arts, innovative ideas and an atmosphere of creative. For some the just MUST have this kind of environment despite the hardships. I am one of those. That said, yes, the job market is STILL tough. The competition is fierce but I am not sure the work environment is GREAT.... anywhere:( We are still in touch times for work opportunities. Also housing has gotten more expensive than ever. This is a big change from 5 years ago. People are moving to West Harlem, Washington Heights and Innwood to try and escape the high rents. They were always high in NYC, but now it is much worse... and yet not much job opportunity. Since I last wrote in 2012, the city has gotten much more crowded, job opportunities are a little better but companies, even big finace companies STILL want to hire consultants, temps to save themselves money. Terrible. Note that you can commute from Long Island which is sooooooo charming. I LOVE Long Island and there are adorable communites, with nice friendly, family oriented people everywhere. The beach is close by. You can get a home or apt, literally across from the train stop. Easy commute, not expensive. So THAT is an option. You get the best of both worlds. Most middle class families commute from NJ and Long Island. These communities are close knit, very East Coast mentality, and friendly people. I have sort of rambled all over the place but the summary is this: NYC is very tough to get settled and get what you want. It can take 3-4 years to feel settled and get a job you'll be ok with.... but when you DO get the great place to live and great job with good salary... its the best place in the world for those to whom those things I mentioned above, culture etc, are important. For people who want MORE than just....being.....comfortable, NYC is rich.

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Brooklyn + New York are EXPENSIVE but there's lots - 8/28/2014

I have lived in downtown Brooklyn(Forte Greene area) for the last 27 years and it's a beautiful place but it ain't cheap. There's lots of museums in Manhattan(NYC) and restaurants/bars of every description in all 5 boroughs. There's lots of ethnic neighborhoods with tantalizing food to match. There's plenty of buses, subways and cabs. Unless you are rich, your apartment will be more "Tokyo style" ie: SMALL. I am tired of living in a postage stamp and I want out now that I'm retirement age--I can sell my studio and afford a 3 bedroom house in the boonies and maybe even save some money, too!

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Crime and Quality of Life in Brooklyn, New York - 8/24/2014

Prior to the July 4th weekend, in 2011, I decided to visit my brother and his family, in Brooklyn, NY. He lives in the area of Avenue L, and E. 33rd St. There is a street called Nostrand Avenue, which is to the west of his location. On Friday evening, we were walking to Synagogue; my brother decided to take Nostrand Avenue, between Avenue K and Avenue L. Immediately, I was uneasy, as I saw dozens of teenagers making noise, and creating a disturbance in a local school yard, in close proximity to the street. Unfortunately, I forgot about that incident. However, on the way home, my brother, who should have known better decided to walk back the same way. He should have taken E. 31st St., or E. 32nd St., which run parallel to Nostrand Avenue. To this day, I don't know why he decided to go again, walk on Nostrand Avenue. This time, there were more teenagers congregating, and fighting with each other, as well as throwing water balloons at each other. One of them landed near us, and I threw it back in their direction. I made a terrible error in assuming that it was an accident, and that they were aiming for each other. In fact, one of those miscreants even falsely apologized to place me off guard. I make a mistake in turning my back on that gang. A few seconds later, two or three large water balloons were thrown very close to us. The water splattered all over our suits. There is no doubt in my mind, that those hoodlums deliberately targeted us. We were both wearing skullcaps, and were dressed in suits. They knew that were Jews, and deliberately decided to harass us with the water balloons. Surely, this was a case of ethnic intimidation. However, in the eyes of many, it was nothing but a "prank", since those who were throwing the water balloons, were members of a minority group, and they couldn't possibly be biased (yeah, sure). One adult in the street tried to justify that incident by stating "kids". However, if it was him, who was struck by the water balloons, he would not have been grinning. In retrospect, I should be happy that it was only water balloons, and not knives or guns, which were directed our way. I have since warned my brother not to take that route. I've always wondered if he still goes that way. The point that I've been trying to make, is that the quality of life in Brooklyn, NY, especially in the above area, leaves a lot to be desired. Parking is almost non-existent. Even if one does find a place to park, the cars in front and in back, won't even leave you a half inch to back out of a spot. Also, cars double park, and even triple park, and hence, make driving next to impossible. In addition, people leave their garbage barrels all over the sidewalk, long after the sanitation department has collected their garbage. The reason is that people are simply too lazy to bring their barrels in. Also, I've noticed that people have the disgusting habit of standing in the middle of the sidewalk, and won't move to let other pedestrian traffic pass by. Car horns and truck horns are blaring all of the time. It is very dangerous for a pedestrian to cross the street, even when they have the right of way. There are insane drivers in Brooklyn, who invariably fail to yield the right of way to pedestrian; they will actually honk their horns at pedestrians, whom they perceive are crossing the street too slowly. Last, another disgusting habit of merchants in that area, is that they feel as if they are giving you their right arm, when they have to make change from a transaction. They always want the exact change, and will cringe if they have to give change. They will always state "got any change". I heard one merchant once state "Next time, go to a bank". In short, the rudest, nastiest, inconsiderate and suspicious people live in Brooklyn, NY.

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New York, New York - 8/7/2014

The theater cannot be beat!

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rating crime - 6/30/2014

high rate crime, drug relate crimes

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NYC - 4/23/2014

New York city is one of the nations niceiest place to live.All cultures,all kinds of people coming from all over the place.I love New York.May God Bless Our Great City.

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St philip neri school, Bronx,NY - 4/15/2014

My child have been going to this school for years, until the new principal came in. It was like a very bad storm.This woman called Mrs Heed,there is so much I like to say,and I do know for a fact,a lot of parents, know just what I am saying. This evil thing I call her, do not know how to talk to parents, she talks down at u, like you are one of her kids, by the way, I am so sorry for her kid, and the children she is principal to. She has made lots of drama in my family life, yes in my family life, now I see why, so meany parents, took there kids out of St Philip neri school.And the teachers, I think they feel Mrs, badness,cause, they have such bad moods, or they maybe, dont want to lose they jobs,cause I notice they are ass kisses to the Heed, like her MINIONS,lol, her little people. So with all this stress on my child and my family, cause of Heed, I will have to take my kid out of this place,its what my child wants,and i know my child will do much, much, better at another school. Moms and dads who feel my pain, talk to me,Thank u. PS: I feel much sadness, for the kids that has to stay, at this school.

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St philip neri school, Bronx,NY - 4/15/2014

My child have been going to this school for years, until the new principal came in. It was like a very bad storm.This woman called Mrs Heed,there is so much I like to say,and I do know for a fact,a lot of parents, know just what I am saying. This evil thing I call her, do not know how to talk to parents, she talks down at u, like you are one of her kids, by the way, I am so sorry for her kid, and the children she is principal to. She has made lots of drama in my family life, yes in my family life, now I see why, so meany parents, took there kids out of St Philip neri school.And the teachers, I think they feel Mrs, badness,cause, they have such bad moods, or they maybe, dont want to lose they jobs,cause I notice they are ass kisses to the Heed, like her MINIONS,lol, her little people. So with all this stress on my child and my family, cause of Heed, I will have to take my kid out of this place,its what my child wants,and i know my child will do much, much, better at another school. Moms and dads who feel my pain, talk to me,Thank u. PS: I feel much sadness, for the kids that has to stay, at this school.

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Not worth it! - 3/24/2014

I lived in NYC for a litte over 12 years. During that time I went to college and have been living in various sections of Brooklyn (Midwood, Bay Ridge and Bensonhurt). Finally moved out a few years ago and absolutely happy that I did. Describing what is wrong with NYC is a difficult task because.. I dont even know where to begin. I guess in one word - everything. Cost of living - kinda goes without saying as this city gets the highest scores in pretty much every category across the board. Economy - pretty bad. Yes, there maybe some jobs in Manhattan but good luck getting any of them without any help "on the inside". Unless you have someone to pull you through you may as well forget about getting a job (or at least the kind of job that will let you to at least manage the already mentioned COL). Truth is there are staggering numbers of people competing for those jobs that ARE available. Infrastructure is falling apart (including the worst kind of highways and traffic), transportation and toll costs are soaring, people are mostly messed up and outside of Manhattan it is mostly immigrants and the very poor folks and therefore the crime is pretty high too. There is never parking anywhere (unless you park in one of those garages for $25/hr.. you could do that). Everything is packed and you can bet you will have to be in long lines for EVERYTHING. Climate is no picnic either. VERY hot and humid summers that could be a challenge. Winters are okay though, no complains there (assuming you dress accordingly). Honestly, unless you are filthy rich I dont see any single reason to live in New York. And even if you are rich, I still would advise against that.

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Never Need - 11/27/2013

In New York you never need a car, within the city at least. It's easy to find zip cars if you need to and now Citi bikes as well. The best and cheapest way to get around is the Subway which is active 24/7 and it $2.50 per ride as of right now. It can take you just about anywhere.

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cost of living index vs national average - 11/21/2013

What is the CoL index for New York City

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Cultural Opportunities in the City - 10/19/2013

There are a number of venues through which one can manage the expenses of New York theater. One is the Theater Development Fund (TDF), an organization that allows teachers, recent graduates, retirees, etc., to purchase discount tickets to shows performances on and off Broadway. Another venue is the Playbill Club which also offers bargain prices for theater and other types of entertainment.

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Life in NYC - 9/8/2013

Not for everyone, however what is offered in the way of museums, plays, sports restaurants is enourmous. You can get around with mass transit and many events are within walking distance, so driving is optional.

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