Living in New York City

  • Do you dream about moving to New York City but are convinced that the only way to make it there is by having a lot of money to start with?”
  • Are you fascinated with New York’s Broadway shows, museums, and five-star restaurants but think you need to be a millionaire to enjoy them?
  • Are you tired of so-called guidebooks that give you page after page of useless addresses, names and web pages but no concrete advice?

If you answered yes to the above questions and are looking for a tested, tried and true guide to catapult you into an incredible life in the Big Apple with little or no money to start – then allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Gracie and a year ago I was in your same boat. I was obsessed with the idea of living in New York City but with no money, job or steady income to propel me forward, I felt completely lost.

Over and over again I would hear the same thing “If you don’t have a job lined up – don’t bother moving to New York” or “you’ll need at least $5,000 in savings just to settle in.” But despite all the warnings, one day I decided to just go for it. I bought a one-way train ticket to New York City and began what would become the adventure of a lifetime.

At first, I was terrified.  Thousands of people flock to New York City every year to make it big, but only a small percentage of them succeed.  The rest return home a couple of months later broke and defeated.

But I was determined not to be one of these people.

I threw myself into my new life here. I told myself that I would either make it or die trying. I attended every meetup I could find, contacted every employment agency in the city and started networking and gathering information.

And it worked.

Within a few short weeks, I was earning more money than I ever thought possible, doing things I had never imagined and having the time of my life and it was all because I discovered a few simple underground tricks that literally skyrocketed me to success.

Impress your friends by snagging tickets to upscale events, mingling with the rich and famous and enjoying a lifestyle others only dream of – all for pennies on the dollar!

So what separates those who make it in New York City from those who don’t?

As it turns out, making it in New York City has nothing to do with how ambitious or how smart you are.  What separates the people who make it here from the people who don’t is their ability to leverage their resources.

New York City is literally the richest city on earth.  There are countless resources here to help you get and stay on your feet.  You just need to know where to find them.

Using my experience, I came up with a sort of cheat sheet for living in New York City. I put together a crash-course style guide with everything that a newcomer to New York City would need to know, not just survive in the Big Apple, but thrive.

Gain access to priceless resources that have been carefully selected to help you navigate New York City like a pro and save you thousands of dollars a month on your living expenses.

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Christmas at Rockefeller Center

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Autumn in New York City

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What’s Inside?

This section is divided into 7 chapters jam-packed with resources to get you up and running in New York City in no time:

  • Chapter 1:   The Basics – What you need to know before you even think of moving to the Big Apple.
  • Chapter 2:   Getting Around – Distinguish yourself from a tourist by navigating the MTA’s subway and bus lines like a pro.
  • Chapter 3: Finding Accommodations – Live among the super-rich for a fraction of what they pay. Discover powerful tactics to save thousands of dollars a year on your monthly rent.
  • Chapter 4:   Finding Work – Contact these agencies to land a job in as little as 24 hours – whatever your profession.
  • Chapter 5:   Entertainment – Sign up for these little known services and attend hundreds of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows a year for free. Never pay for entertainment again.
  • Chapter 7:   Socializing – Make friends, meet new people and rub elbows with the rich and famous. Use these powerful resources to network your way up to New York City’s social ladder.

New York Schools

It is always a good idea to see what schools are available for your children when moving to a new area. To get started, select either the map or list below to search for schools, and obtain contact information, school locations, district boundaries, and other important information. You can also narrow your search by selecting the elementary, middle or high school selection tabs.

New York Economy

New York City is a global hub of international business and commerce and is one of three “command centers” for the world economy along with London and Tokyo. The city is a major center for finance, insurance, real estate, media and the arts in the United States. The New York metropolitan area had an approximately gross metropolitan product of $1.13 trillion in 2005, making it the largest regional economy in the United States and, according to IT Week, the second-largest city economy in the world.

Many major corporations are headquartered in New York City, including 42 Fortune 500 companies. New York is also unique among American cities for its large number of foreign corporations. One out of ten private-sector jobs in the city is with a foreign company.

New York City is home to some of the nation’s—and the world’s—most valuable real estate. 450 Park Avenue was sold on July 2, 2007, for $510 million, about $1,589 per square foot, breaking the barely month-old record for an American office building of $1,476 per square foot set in June 2007 sale of 660 Madison Avenue. Manhattan had 353.7 million square feet of office space in 2001.

Midtown Manhattan is the largest central business district in the United States and is home to the highest concentration of the city’s skyscrapers. Lower Manhattan is the third-largest central business district in the United States and is home to The New York Stock Exchange, located on Wall Street, and the NASDAQ, representing the world’s first and second-largest stock exchanges, respectively when measured by average daily trading volume and overall market capitalization. Financial services account for more than 35% of the city’s employment income. Real estate is a major force in the city’s economy, as the total value of all New York City property was $802.4 billion in 2006. The Time Warner Center is the property with the highest-listed market value in the city, at $1.1 billion in 2006

The city’s television and film industry are the second largest in the country after Hollywood. Creative industries such as new media, advertising, fashion, design, and architecture account for a growing share of employment, with New York City possessing a strong competitive advantage in these industries. High-tech industries like biotechnology, software development, game design, and internet services are also growing, bolstered by the city’s position at the terminus of several transatlantic fiber optic trunk lines. Other important sectors include medical research and technology, non-profit institutions, and universities.

Manufacturing accounts for a large but declining share of employment. Garments, chemicals, metal products, processed foods, and furniture are some of the principal products. The food-processing industry is the most stable major manufacturing sector in the city. Food making is a $5 billion industry that employs more than 19,000 residents. Chocolate is New York City’s leading specialty-food export, with $234 million worth of exports each year.

Climate

New York has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), and using the 0 °C standard, it is the northernmost major city in North America with this type of climate. The area averages 234 days with at least some sunshine annually, for an average of 2680 hours of bright sunshine per year.

Winters are cold, and prevailing wind patterns that blow offshore minimizes the effect of the Atlantic Ocean. Yet, the Atlantic Ocean keeps the city warmer in the winter than inland North American cities located at similar latitudes such as Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. The average temperature in January, the area’s coldest month, is 32.1 °F. However, temperatures in winter could for few days be as low as 10 °F and as high as the 50s °F. Spring and autumn are unpredictable and can range from chilly to warm, although they are usually pleasantly mild with low humidity. Summers are typically hot and humid with a July average high of 84.2 °F and low of 68.8 °F. Nighttime conditions are often exacerbated by the urban heat island phenomenon, and temperatures exceed 90 °F on average of 16 – 19 days each summer and can exceed 100 °F every 4–6 years.

New York City receives 49.7 inches of precipitation annually, which is fairly spread throughout the year. Average winter snowfall is about 28.1 inches, but this usually varies considerably from year to year, and snow cover usually remains little. Hurricanes and tropical storms are rare in the New York area, but are not unheard of and always have the potential to strike the area.

Geography

New York City is located in the Northeastern United States, in southeastern New York State, approximately halfway between Washington, D.C., and Boston. The location at the mouth of the Hudson River, which feeds into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into the Atlantic Ocean, has helped the city grow in significance as a trading city. Much of New York is built on the three islands of Manhattan, Staten Island, and Long Island, making land scarce and the population density.

The Hudson River flows through the Hudson Valley into New York Bay. Between New York City and Troy, New York, the river is an estuary. The Hudson separates the city from New Jersey. The East River – a tidal strait – flows from Long Island Sound and separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. The Harlem River, another tidal strait between the East and Hudson Rivers, separates Manhattan from the Bronx.

The city’s land has been altered substantially by human intervention, with considerable land reclamation along the waterfronts since Dutch colonial times. Reclamation is most prominent in Lower Manhattan, with developments such as Battery Park City in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the natural variations in topography have been evened out, especially in Manhattan.

The city’s land area is estimated at 304.8 square miles. Its total area is 468.9 square miles. 164.1 square miles of this are water and 304.8 square miles island. The highest point in the city is Todt Hill on Staten Island, which, at 409.8 feet above sea level, is the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard south of Maine. The summit of the ridge is mostly covered in woodlands as part of the Staten Island Greenbelt.