a thread about ... midtown manhattan

May have the opportunity to live in in-laws' midtown apartment for pretty low rent and two blocks from work. Have a superficial dislike of the neighborhood but it's a very convenient location and has some things to recommend it (The MoMA - $60/year gets you in free whenever plus unlimited films, Central Park is not far, etc.) Have this weird fear of getting sucked into Manhattan life. Apartment and building are pretty nice (co-op) but a little stuffy and old. Tell me about midtown.

two blocks from work + cheap rent = living the dream

Take it fwiw. Sounds like some nice features, without a lot of obvious drawbacks.

Turn it into an isle of joy

seems sorta silly to think that you'd go to the MoMA more just cause you'd live there though or that you'd live a 'midtown life' - I mean you're at the epicenter of the subway system and 20 minutes from 1000000 neighborhoods. sure midtown is lame but if the rent is cheap enough, who cares? where is it exactly?

We would go to the MoMA more because the films are awesome. We used to be members and even living fairly far away we'd go reasonably often.

It's off 3rd ave in the 50s.

The only drawbacks I really see, I guess, are lack of cheap groceries and good cheap eats and having to leave a neighborhood I really love.

you'd be on the 456 - trader joe's is like 5 minutes away

sounds like you should investigate the pickup basketball pros & cons, tho

Do this. Walk north and pretend you're a Truman Capote character. Or walk to the west side and pretend you're a Damon Runyon character. When you tell people you live in Manhattan and they're all like "ooh, fancy," you'll have five minutes of material on why living in midtown is annoying but also fascinating. Go to the park a bunch. I've had a few drinks but there is nothing wrong with this. Pretend it's the 1960s. It will be okay. Where do you currently live? (For some reason I'm thinking it's across the Hudson?) Unless you currently live really near all your friends and social obligations, why not? You'll have a fairly short train ride to various places you feel like going, in various directions. It will probably be annoying that nothing will be open late, and there won't be as many pleasant places to go in your immediate neighborhood. But still. Cheap rent. There are various midtown "ethnic enclaves" where you can get things like really good food. You only need one decent bar in your actual neighborhood and can travel for others. Walking to work. Low rent. This sounds good. Treat living in midtown like a fascinating experiment. Also if you ever need a lawyer you will be cool. I am in favor of this. Maybe I am wrong. But still.

sounds like a GREAT deal.

are you doing the summer associate thing, BTW?

Sort of. very small litigation boutique. No "summer associate program" to speak of but seems like a good chance it leads to a job. He wants me to work part time during my last year, so 2-3 days a week I'd be walking two blocks to work and the other days I'd take the 4/5 to Borough Hall for classes.

Sometimes I do like to walk down Park Ave. and fantasize that I'm part of some international financial intrigue or something.

IME the idea of something being "5 minutes away" via the 4/5/6 is completely fallacious

BTW, this sounds like a GREAT opportunity to learn litigation hands-on. i know that i could've used something like that ... if you don't mind my being nosy, why didn't you get a summer associate gig?

oh right, sorry, my "if you need a lawyer" joke was badly directed. but still, if you need a lawyer!

people up park are so special they get FLOWERS. maybe I just watched too many Odd Couple re-runs as a child, but I like certain things up there, and I think there are advantages to not living where "everyone" in your social demographic lives (if that's the case). (also there are some secondhand clothing shops north of there that are like whoah, because rich people are selling and hip people are not coming up to buy.) plus being around there can make you feel like a character in a sitcom/film in a way that's actually pleasing!

(also I am trying to cheerlead in terms of reasons to do it, because the whole "cheap rent" thing tends to win in the end, and if you do it you might as well feel positive about it!)

BTW, this sounds like a GREAT opportunity to learn litigation hands-on. i know that i could've used something like that ... if you don't mind my being nosy, why didn't you get a summer associate gig?

― When we was in the shower, your buttcheeks was warm (Eisbaer), Saturday, June 19, 2010 12:46 AM Bookmark

Less than 5% of my class got big law firm offers. I mean I AM a summer associate and I do get paid, but not the biglaw $$$. Which is fine with me because I like the place and it's fun to work there.

i never lived in midtown, but i had to walk through it a whole bunch on my way to work, and it's really an ok part of the city. 3rd in the 50s gives you, what, p.j. clarke's, which is nice except for the crowds. you can sing "53rd and 3rd" to yourself a lot. i don't know. it's easy to get lots of places from there. just stay away from the obnoxious bars on 2nd and you'll be ok.

anyone know what the rally on 3rd ave right now is about? Fairly large, something about terrorism something.

Should I move to Hell's Kitchen? It seems boring but I am seeing a place here anyway. Does anyone love this neighborhood or are they eh at best.

Hell's kitchen has some decent, if midtown-priced, bars. And 9th avenue has some thrift stores.

ahhh going to be around there tomorrow night to meet up with some relatives staying in midtown. what's a good bar ?

i mean i dunno what is decent other than to me, especially when fam is involved BUT: i like Rattle & Hum West which has fancy and nice beers and regular bar food. It's a fairly large space, but might be a mess on a Friday, I dunno. Rudy's is sorta divey, and is very old. I have only been there in the afternoons and its got a good vibe. Fairly narrow and perhaps cramped on a busy night idk. beer/shot kinda place, not fancy beers. I think those are the only two that I have been a repeat patron at. But I don't hang out in that neighbborhood very often.

yeah i'm not around there much at all. Rattle and Hum might be worth a shot for us. thanks

i've started checking out the 39th street fleamarket on the weekends. it's hit or miss but worth wandering if yer in the area imo. i think it's between 10th and 11th.