Way too early to find anything on Craigslist now, though that will be your best bet around April or May. Furnished coporate-type apartments will be way overpriced. Soho is very expensive. Tribeca has some really cool 5-6 person lofts that could be within your price range. I don't see any reason to limit yourself too SoHo and Tribeca. There are plenty of other great places to live in Manhattan.

I've heard I should be looking at the West Village because its w/i walking distance to a bunch of clubs and bars and thats just way more convenient obviously. Is this true native sons of NYC?

The West Village is certainly a great area and is close to a lot of nightlife, but that location comes at a cost, whether it be more $$, less space, a less nice place, etc. Also, if you have to find an apartment in a short period of time, you don't want to put yourself in a position of settling for a weirdo roommate or crappy place just because you feel you have to be in the West Village. It's all a matter of personal preference, but since you aren't familiar with the apartment market and what you can get, I don't think you should necessarily limit yourself to the West Village. Anywhere south of ~ 86th St. will be convenient enough via cab or subway to where you need to go. Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Murray Hill, Grammercy, Chelsea, East Village, Union Square, Lower East Side, Tribeca and even the Financial District could all be cool places to live given the right situation. All of the aforementioned have certain reputations and leanings (e.g. Chelsea = gay, Murray Hill = fratty, etc.), but nothing so overhwelming that you should be scared away. Midtown is convenient, but it's also noise, dirt and tourist central, so I would avoid that. Some people like Hell's Kitchen which is on the fringes of Mid-town West, but I'm not a fan. Anytiing in the East Village east of 1st Avenue is out of the way and can be kinda sketchy.

I just moved here from Australia, my budget was similar to yours. Ended up finding a furnished 1 bedder in East Village for $1700 inc utilities (Was actually $2000 but got the rest of november free)

I was house hunting for the last 2-3 weeks in the east village, lower east side area and you can definitely find something nice (2bed or 3bed) for $1500-1600 for 4 months.

Heres some pics of mine:

Rose Bar is still def an 'in' spot during the week, esp earlier like Tue or Wed nites, Fri is probably still very popular. Stayed there for a few days recently, the 'celeb' sighting was Jonah Hill which was pretty lol, dude is FAT. Plenty of eye candy though.

Milk n Honey is not nearly so 'hot' anymore.

The Park is a very underrated spot imo, always tons of girls there celebrating something and getting drunk, the roof deck is A+ in the spring/summer.

Maybe it's just variance, but the 3 or 4 times I've been to the Park, the crowd was like 60% Asian. Not anything wrong with that per se, but I prefer white biyatches.

i got a sublet in williamsburg for a couple months on craigslist. furnished. it wasn't the nicest place but it was $850 in a great neighborhood, 1 stop off the L and JMZ (right between the 2)

You can definitely get a place in the LES/alphabet city, which is a great neighborhood IMO.

Has anyone been to empire hotel's lounge on top of the hotel?

I stayed there and on Saturday night when I was coming home from a broadway show and dinner (maybe around 1230ish) the line was all the way to broadway, and everyone was dressed pretty nice and stuff. Looked like a tough place to get into

no idea what they do for formal events up there tho but its def. fun in the summer and you can obviously just walk up there if theres no event

The Forum at 127 Fourth Ave. between 12th and 13th


you can eat, drink and dance

The ice skating rink

I'm visiting NY next week, and appreciate all the contributions so far in this thread. That said, I want two things that are not available in Sydney, AU. Any advice welcome:

1) Great Mexican food.

2) Warm jackets.

Any suggestions?

Spiewak

Advice needed..im travelling to whistler, LV and san diego next year with my friend who is living in whistler atm for 6months...i have decided to go to new york for a week by myself as he has to return to whislter for work and i dont want to go home (australia) after only 3 weeks as it is obviously a long flight + i am meeting my family in LV after for easter. My question is would you guys stay in a hotel or hostel just in terms of what can i have the best time in...is there enough to do in new york i wouldn't get bored by myself for a week or is it better to meet people in the hostel to go out etc...leaning towards hostel just dont want to have like communal bathrooms and stuff..thanks

Hey dude have you been to the north face in the city? a bit expensive but well worth it they will def suffice imo

Josem, there are a ton of Mexican restaurants in NYC. I suggest looking at reviews on Yelp and seeing what strikes your fancy:

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_loc=...Y&cflt=mexican

1)def go with the puffy black north face youll fit in with the crowd in this weather

2)I personally suggest chipotle which can be found all over the city
its a "fast food" buritto place owned by mcdonalds but is 100 times better than mcdonalds
for around 8 dollars (i never had it in the city but i have seen them so not sure if it costs more) you can get a fat burrito and a drink
very filling

Put the green tabasco sauce on it

Chipotle is ~$10 in NYC

yea i wasnt sure about if it cost more
in the inner harbor in baltimore its the same price

i'm pretty sure he's not looking for chipotle. it's also got to be impossible that there aren't better/more authentic burrito places in nyc. dude's not broke and moving to nyc and needs to figure out where to get calories, he wants to know where to get good mexican food. surely someone who lives there can give him that kind of information.

I've been to a lot of Mexican places because my girlfriend likes Mexican food, but I'm not really a connoisseur, so it's hard for me to distinguish between them. The good news for Josem is that since Mexican food is essentially non-existent in Australia, he will be pleasantly surprised by almost any decent place in NYC. Chipotle would be worth checking out if he needs to grab a quick lunch at some point.

I recently went to Mexico Lindo on like 27th and 2nd and though it was really good. There's always Dos Camino and Rosa Mexicana if you want good, kinda middle to upscale Mexican. if you want cheap burritos I recommend Paquito's, there's a bunch of locations. Just eat the burritos though, a lot of the other stuff sucks but the Maria burrito is the ****.

My dad is from Southern California, where Mexican food is taken seriously. So whenever he's in town, him and I go to a new Mexican restaurant.

Josem, if you're looking for relatively nice/contemporary Mexican, try Rosa Mexicana (across from the Lincoln Center) or Sinigual (41st and 3rd). Dos Caminos (there are a few locations) is OK I guess if you're in the mood for a hip bar that serves borderline Mexican dishes. It's more of an American/Mexican fusion type of place and overall pretty meh.

Hands down the best "authentic" Mexican place that my dad and I went to is called Mama Mexico (49th between 2nd and 3rd). They made this guacamole at the side of our table that was the best I've ever had. Really great dishes, as well.

I'd advise against Dos Caminos. It's overpriced and I had a bad experience with the service there. I like Rosa Mexicana, though I prefer the Union Square location. They have excellent pomegranate margaritas.

man, it's a sad day, when someone asks for a food recommendation in NYC, and someone actually suggests Chipotle.

It's NYC, not bum****egypt.