5 NYC Nabes Where Freelancers Can Afford the RentS
Astoria not in the budget? Jackson Heights is nearby and has great food.
The rents are too darn high in most neighborhoods for New York artists.
These days, just about everyone struggles to find a place to rent in the city, according to a recent report from StreetEasy. The citywide median rent price rose to $3,575 in February while inventory dropped to 27,599, marking the first time its number of available listings fell in nearly two years.
One reason for the crunch is the cost to move in New York City. StreetEasy estimates that it’ll run you about $10,000 to go from one rental to another. Faced with this amount, many stay put, keeping their apartments off the market as a result.
So where’s an independent contractor to look if they want to relocate in the five boroughs?
The typical freelance income in New York ranges from $26.54 to $67.60, according to ZipRecruiter, putting the hottest neighborhoods out of reach for many independent contractors.
But there are pockets of affordability just outside trendy nabes if you know where to look.
Based on my reporting as a tristate area real estate journalist and New York Times On the Market columnist, here are five neighborhoods (in no particular order) to consider renting in this year:
1) Ridgewood, Queens
Median rent: $3,000*
Heard of it? Ridgewood may not seem like the most glamorous area the city has to offer but stay with me.
Bordering on Bushwick to the south, the neighborhood basically straddles Brooklyn and Queens (though technically located in the latter), making it easy to pop around both.
Hotspots like Rolo’s, run by chefs who formerly worked at Gramercy Tavern, and Evil Twin Brewery plus a healthy crop of cafes, yoga studios and artist spaces put Ridgewood on the map in recent years. All of these are reasons TimeOut New York ranked it as the coolest neighborhood on Earth in 2022.
2) Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Median rent: $2,400
On a Friday evening years ago, I found myself in Sunset Park with a friend, textile designer Beth Skrzypczak, who was going for a haircut.
As she toted me down the street, I noticed folks on the hill at the edge of the eponymous park enjoying the glow from the sun setting over the Bay Ridge Channel.
That brief experience isn’t why I chose this area, though it did leave me with a good impression. Like the others on this list, the rent in Sunset Park is below the city median. Plus it has a park and the waterfront and is one quick stop from Park Slope on the D, N, R and W trains.
3) Jackson Heights, Queens
Median rent: $2,286
Love to eat? Can’t afford Long Island City or Astoria but want to be a quick train ride from Manhattan? Then you’ll love Jackson Heights.
The melting pot in central Queens is known for some of New York City’s best hole-in-the-wall restaurants and isn’t so far out in the borough that you’ll need to take a (dare I say it) bus to get home.
Google the neighborhood and you’ll see the word “vibrant” over and over again, partially due to the 160+ languages spoken in the less than 2-square-mile neighborhood centered around 74th Street.
Instead of being packed and crowded, the housing stock is nestled in pretty prewar low-rises with quiet courtyards and tree-lined streets.
You’ll be in the city in minutes via several train lines, including the 7, the E and the F.
4) Mott Haven, Bronx
Median rent: $3,111
The secret is leaking that the Bronx is New York’s most underappreciated borough and Mott Haven is leading the change. The neighborhood is so popular that I recently wrote about its controversial redevelopment for The New York Times.
But while its new high-rises may be shiny, its median rent still sits humbly below the city median. While many artist types still prefer to live right across the river in Harlem, Mott Haven is a mirror reflection of the creativity that’s burgeoned there for more than a century.
Pop around the neighborhood and you’ll see colorful murals by artist Geoff Rawling and strips of bars and shops resembling Long Island City. There are cobblestone streets, brownstones and just about everything else we cherish in the five boroughs.
5) Carnegie Hill, Manhattan
Median rent: $3,950
If you simply must live in Manhattan, don’t overlook this Upper East Side enclave. True, it’s not a village or SoHo. And no, it’s not terribly artsy like Harlem or Washington Heights. It is, however, situated right along Central Park in the East 80th and 90th streets.
The 4, 5 and 6 trains traverse the neighborhood on Lexington Avenue and the N and Q, which offer an easy transfer to West Side trains at 42nd Street, are accessible from its upper corner on East 96th Street.
StreetEasy touts Carnegie Hill’s numerous cultural institutions along Museum Mile, including the Met, the Guggenheim, Cooper Hewitt and the Jewish Museum.
*Median rents according to StreetEasy as of January 2024.
Psst - did you hear freelancers can save more for retirement this year?
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