It Takes 6 Figures to Be Middle Class in New York City

rotted apple

I am 34 and a new york native.I have lived in bk,qns, and long island. I rented a old farm house in long island huntington for too much.Life sucked. Car insurance,oil,not to mention being single.Single and fine clubing in the hamptons not being able to save enough for the house I wanted.No american dream.I moved to Texas and god blessed me I have a husband and daughter now.He too is a native new yorker who's lived here in texas for 24 years.I sold properties for Daniel Gale,and still couldn't afford a home.My home is Austin Texas New york can kisssss my grits

TG of TX @ Nov 20, 2009 12:37:21 PM

Astoria

I live in Astoria and I work in Midtown - my commute is 30min door to door. how is that the longest commute in the nation?

John of NY @ Jul 16, 2009 10:31:58 AM

Commute ?

Kim darling ,

NYC is indigenous to me , since birth to be precise. Astoria having a long commute ? I live in Staten Island, approximately less than a mile from the conference house (across from the shorelines of Perth Amboy , Southern New Jersey ) . I am currently attending school At CUNY Hunter College , in which it takes me a solid two hours to travel the less than 30 miles . How did Canarsie and Ditmas Park make it before the borough of parks ? And futhermore , I've lived on Ditmars Bvld in Astoria in which my commute never exceeded 20 minutes to Grand Central .

Post Script ,

You would think they would have someone living in New York write this article (not sure if you do or don't , but it doesn't seem like it ).

dave of NY @ Jun 23, 2009 19:46:27 PM

Thank God I Left

I'm so happy that I'm out of NYC. I wasted so much money while living there. I lived in Queens, but the trains were so unpredictable, what should've been a 20 minute commute, always ended up taking more than 45 minutes. What a waste of my time. And money.

Jack of DC @ Mar 07, 2009 00:36:29 AM

It takes 15 minutes to get to Midtown from Astoria

I agree that NYC is an expensive city to live in, but its arts/music/cultural scenes - both mainstream and underground - are thriving which is reason enough to call this city home.

I live in NYC because there is no place in the world like it.

FYI...Kimberly, I live in Astoria and it takes me 30 minutes to get to Union Square, 15 minutes to get to Midtown and 10 minutes to get to Bloomingdale's on the Upper East Side. I would hardly call it a long commute.

Queens Resident of NY @ Feb 13, 2009 15:40:48 PM

Daycare Costs

You have to be smart about daycare in NYC, the larger facilities, like Preschool Of The Americas will run you between 400 and 500 dollars a week depending on the age of your child, but if you check out the smaller licensed daycare/preschools you could end up spending alot less for much higher quality care. A large daycare could have 8 to 10 student to one teacher ratio, and very little personal attention or early reading and math. A preschool like Building Blocks Playgroup ( www.buildingblocksplaygroup.com ), with locations in luxury high rises on the upper eastside of manhattan, has a 2 to 4 child to 1 teacher ratio, and provides special classes such as yoga, art, science and music, and early literacy and math for as little as 250.00 to 300.00 per week full time ( a 45 hour week). The large daycares will also kill you in extra fees, that the smaller ones will usually not charge. Child care in NYC doesn't have to be budget breaking.

NYC Mom of NY @ Feb 12, 2009 15:13:23 PM

WRONG

Astoria is around 10 minutes by subway into Manhattan...that's long?

Anonymous of NY @ Feb 11, 2009 16:10:03 PM

Man...

that hurts...I think I be out of NY sooner or later...its just too rough now...if your not educated with degree even harder to find a job..

Joan of NY @ Feb 10, 2009 13:38:51 PM