Summer in NYC - what would you do?

what's your budget?

Originally Posted by clee1982

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what's your budget?

My rent budget is more of a range. I could be a fool and blow it up, but I think that it's probably best to be modest (relatively modest for NYC).

I'm thinking rent should cost me no more than $2500/ month.

I live in the city and my father in Dallas. I'd much rather be wearing a light weight suit in NY in the summer. Texas, though dry, is like when you open the oven door with your face next to it, non stop.
Some subway stations are hot and muggy, some are perfectly fine with a breeze.

Any way, there are way more great free things to do in NYC in the summer like
- Free concerts in both Central Park and McCaren Park Pool (BK) and Coney Island.
Everything from small to big names, rap, rock, nu rave, classical, opera etc
Google for the schedules, usually start late May.
- New York Philharmonic in the park. You have to get there early, or pay someone like a poor college student from craiglist to hold you a spot like my boss did last year. It's a wonderful free show, you can bring your own wine, cops don't care. I also brought a cheese and olive spread. Listen to one of the best orchestras for free under the stars with fireworks afterwards.

- Broadway in the park (Bryant Park) - they do acts from several musicals/plays on a stage during the day. I can't remember if it's all year or one weekend. Any way, not a bad way to scope out any potential shows you may want to see, again free.

- Shakespeare in the park - like above, only central park

-- Movies : There are plenty of free showings of movies, usually in the smaller parks like battery park, or the parks along the henry hudson parkway. And sometimes some indie movies on roof tops, called rooftop films summer series.

- Dancing : Every weekend along the hudson they do free dance lessons at one of the peirs followed by open floor. It rotates between ballroom, salsa, jazz etc each week

- Drinking : There is usually a pub crawl in some neighborhood any given weekend. A cheap way to over drink with many random people.

- Shopping : Plenty of high end thrifting. Everybrand has at least one flagship store, Ford, RL etc. You can take a cheap bus up to Woodberry Commons outlets that have probably the best outlet stores in the whole country. Top level stuff, not your typical damaged crap at other outlets. Brioni, Cuccinelli, Zegna, HF, Loro Piana, Gucci and it goes on, all there. Avoid weekends if you can, gets VERY crowded, lot's of tourists. It's ~1 hour so you could even go after work for a few hours.
Also, shopping in the summer in SoHo is something else. You see the craziest fashions and the hottest women. Also you probably want to avoid the weekends as it brings out all the eurotrash and trust fund kids. Take a long lunch on take a stroll down in the sections between the two broadways along Spring st & Prince St for the best things to see. Really something else in the Spring/Summer weekdays.

- Food: Too much to cover. Check out the asian fish district near christie st for some live lobster, cheap and fresh shrimp, whole slabs of good quality tuna. Check out Astor Wines or Trader Joes wine shops where it's cheap enough that you can sample a lot of stuff throughout the year. Sushi is always pretty good and most are BYO. Use Yelp to find restaurants, there's too much to cover really.
Though I do recommend the occasional lunch in the West Village or SoHo out on a promenade somewhere.

I really shouldn't have bothered to type all the free events, because all you really need is the Vanity Fair Summer Guide which usually gets emailed around or posted online near summer time.

Also I'd keep on an on blogs like "The choosey beggar" for your NYC shopping needs boozy nyc and thrillist for you boozing needs, and resident advisor/clubplanet/guest of a guest (more sex in the city girly cosmo **** but still summer info) for your clubbing district stuff.

Originally Posted by pwy95a

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I'm thinking rent should cost me no more than $2500/ month.

I'll say so... You going to be living alone? If you are going to be at work most of the time there is little reason to spend that much on rent for the summer. You can easily cut $500 - 750/mo for a suitable one bedroom summer rental. (Depending on where you are looking, the level of furnishings, etc.)

Originally Posted by ama

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I'll say so... You going to be living alone? If you are going to be at work most of the time there is little reason to spend that much on rent for the summer. You can easily cut $500 - 750/mo for a suitable one bedroom summer rental. (Depending on where you are looking, the level of furnishings, etc.)

WTF? $2500 on an interns budget...am I missing something? I would 1. expect a younger person to be at work/out the majority of the time and 2. is that possible, even on a premium interns pay? My friends who are 3rd year assocs banking $175k+ might spend that in rent...most of us do not...I live in my own studio in a doorman bldg in Bk Hts and with a gym and utilities pay almost $1k less and still pay 1/2 my frickin paycheck in rent! Enjoy NYC fine a nice apt to share or your own place in a nice but non-trendy area, save you $ for enjoying the city, not making some landlord rich. In all seriousness...check with your firm, many reputable ones can provide or point you towards a trustworthy source of housing. Second, check with local universities...I know NYU opens up some of their doorms for summer intern housing (NYC Corporate Counsel houses some of their summer at NYU).

he said hes 30 and hes doing it for an mba...

Originally Posted by fcuknu

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he said hes 30 and hes doing it for an mba...

I realize that, I am fairly close...my friends who are MBA's don't drop that type of money on rent, at least not over the past 2/3 years...if paying that amount is possible, great, you are practically unlimited in terms of location and can prob swing a large (by NYC standards) 1-bed.

Originally Posted by pwy95a

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My rent budget is more of a range. I could be a fool and blow it up, but I think that it's probably best to be modest (relatively modest for NYC).

I'm thinking rent should cost me no more than $2500/ month.

Too much, 1800 to 2K would do, in all honesty you should be out (or spend the time in the firm) all the time, so a decent studio would do and you can find some around 1600 around mid town east if you're willing to dig around.

I'd consider living in the Gramercy area. Still on the east side so the commute to work won't be awful; never a very expensive cab from downtown; new buildings; relative access to most things in the city.

Actually, the West village could work as long as you stuck to the F to get you to and from work, and were close to 14th.

Originally Posted by unicornwarrior

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all these people bitching about summer in NYC.

In south texas it's usually near 100 degrees with near 100% humidity almost all summer.

stop bitching

Yeah except everything is air conditioned, people don't wear suits, and you drive everywhere.

So FU.

Originally Posted by samblau

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WTF? $2500 on an interns budget...am I missing something? I would 1. expect a younger person to be at work/out the majority of the time and 2. is that possible, even on a premium interns pay? My friends who are 3rd year assocs banking $175k+ might spend that in rent...most of us do not...I live in my own studio in a doorman bldg in Bk Hts and with a gym and utilities pay almost $1k less and still pay 1/2 my frickin paycheck in rent! Enjoy NYC fine a nice apt to share or your own place in a nice but non-trendy area, save you $ for enjoying the city, not making some landlord rich. In all seriousness...check with your firm, many reputable ones can provide or point you towards a trustworthy source of housing. Second, check with local universities...I know NYU opens up some of their doorms for summer intern housing (NYC Corporate Counsel houses some of their summer at NYU).

Good to get your feedback. Very helpful for me to adjust my budgeting.

I've looked at NYU and NYU law summer housing. Pretty nice, good prices and great locations.

Originally Posted by SoHoJoejoe

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I live in the city and my father in Dallas. I'd much rather be wearing a light weight suit in NY in the summer. Texas, though dry, is like when you open the oven door with your face next to it, non stop.
Some subway stations are hot and muggy, some are perfectly fine with a breeze.

Any way, there are way more great free things to do in NYC in the summer like
- Free concerts in both Central Park and McCaren Park Pool (BK) and Coney Island.
Everything from small to big names, rap, rock, nu rave, classical, opera etc
Google for the schedules, usually start late May.
- New York Philharmonic in the park. You have to get there early, or pay someone like a poor college student from craiglist to hold you a spot like my boss did last year. It's a wonderful free show, you can bring your own wine, cops don't care. I also brought a cheese and olive spread. Listen to one of the best orchestras for free under the stars with fireworks afterwards.

- Broadway in the park (Bryant Park) - they do acts from several musicals/plays on a stage during the day. I can't remember if it's all year or one weekend. Any way, not a bad way to scope out any potential shows you may want to see, again free.

- Shakespeare in the park - like above, only central park

-- Movies : There are plenty of free showings of movies, usually in the smaller parks like battery park, or the parks along the henry hudson parkway. And sometimes some indie movies on roof tops, called rooftop films summer series.

- Dancing : Every weekend along the hudson they do free dance lessons at one of the peirs followed by open floor. It rotates between ballroom, salsa, jazz etc each week

- Drinking : There is usually a pub crawl in some neighborhood any given weekend. A cheap way to over drink with many random people.

- Shopping : Plenty of high end thrifting. Everybrand has at least one flagship store, Ford, RL etc. You can take a cheap bus up to Woodberry Commons outlets that have probably the best outlet stores in the whole country. Top level stuff, not your typical damaged crap at other outlets. Brioni, Cuccinelli, Zegna, HF, Loro Piana, Gucci and it goes on, all there. Avoid weekends if you can, gets VERY crowded, lot's of tourists. It's ~1 hour so you could even go after work for a few hours.
Also, shopping in the summer in SoHo is something else. You see the craziest fashions and the hottest women. Also you probably want to avoid the weekends as it brings out all the eurotrash and trust fund kids. Take a long lunch on take a stroll down in the sections between the two broadways along Spring st & Prince St for the best things to see. Really something else in the Spring/Summer weekdays.

- Food: Too much to cover. Check out the asian fish district near christie st for some live lobster, cheap and fresh shrimp, whole slabs of good quality tuna. Check out Astor Wines or Trader Joes wine shops where it's cheap enough that you can sample a lot of stuff throughout the year. Sushi is always pretty good and most are BYO. Use Yelp to find restaurants, there's too much to cover really.
Though I do recommend the occasional lunch in the West Village or SoHo out on a promenade somewhere.

I really shouldn't have bothered to type all the free events, because all you really need is the Vanity Fair Summer Guide which usually gets emailed around or posted online near summer time.

Also I'd keep on an on blogs like "The choosey beggar" for your NYC shopping needs boozy nyc and thrillist for you boozing needs, and resident advisor/clubplanet/guest of a guest (more sex in the city girly cosmo **** but still summer info) for your clubbing district stuff.

Now THIS is what I'm talking about. Awesome post. Thanks for taking the time.

Originally Posted by samblau

Click to expand...

I realize that, I am fairly close...my friends who are MBA's don't drop that type of money on rent, at least not over the past 2/3 years...if paying that amount is possible, great, you are practically unlimited in terms of location and can prob swing a large (by NYC standards) 1-bed.

Helpful to know that my range is higher on the spectrum given a similar context. Keep in mind, though, that I'll only be there for the summer, and so my budget might be slightly inflated with a vacation, "let it all hang out" sentiment.

Well, there's pretty much anything you'd want to do right at your fingertips.

If you're into any type of shows/broadways, they're scattered about but the main area is right by Times Square over by 7th Ave and 42nd St (the general Times Square area), which are lined with theaters that have every kind of show. The Broadhurst theatre is decent, seen Phantom and Les Miserables there and generally not to expensive, try getting tickets at TKTS (right under the steps in Time Square, can't miss it).

Shopping is easy once you're in NYC, you basically can't miss a store walking around like Macy's which is a complete city block and 5 floors high of madness. Even with a few places to eat in the store. Also, check out Century 21 or Filenes Basement for name brand on the discount, you can find some great deals. All over 5th and 6th Ave there's designer stores.

As for food, name your flavor and you shall find it. I recommend just walking down Hell's Kitchen (a district) which is an area of restaurants from all different cultures. I believe its right around 9th Ave. starting around 41st St. Might want to double check. There's always great little places in the more southern area, just north of the Financial District like Tribeca which have great Deli's and sit down restaurants. Also, don't be afraid to leave Manhattan and venture off into Brooklyn (Williamsburg has some nice spots) or Queens (Astoria if you like Greek, Forest Hills) to grab a bite, there are many trains (the J train for Brooklyn).

Night life has a strong presence in the Meat Packing District (W 14th St area, along the Hudson) with some decent clubs and bars, also some restaurants. Also, the Upper East Side is host to some great lounges/clubs and such. One fun place is: Baraonda which is on 2nd Ave up at 75th St. A great site to check out for all of this:

http://nymag.com/nightlife/

And then of course going out to Central Park for shows and such or to even just relax, a great place. There's some great places (The Blue Note for Jazz over on W 3rd St) scattered through out, I don't remember to many as of now but will post any that come to mind.

Just remember not to be afraid to leave the island and check out Queens/Brooklyn or even Long Island.

The Village has become a touristy mess, I would not recommend living there. It used to be very unique but now is generic and boring. I would recommend living in the Lower East Side which is the new hip home for mid 20's to 30's people. Great bars and nightlife there. Manhattan went soft many years ago so it's lost its once rough around the edges style, but you can still have some good times if you stay out of certain areas. As I said the Village Im not a fan of, and the more upscale areas I do not enjoy also. If you are more adventurous Id definitely recommend Brooklyn. 'Brooklyn is the new Manhattan' as some HBO show pointed out. Williamsburg is the hip area that is also rapidly becoming gentrified so its a good safe area with some very expensive and very cheap housing available. Plus you can work on some nice 21 year olds to boost the ol ego