You don’t have to be insane to live in the New York City Metropolitan Statistical Area, but it really, really helps you blend in. Otherwise you stick out like a Scotsman on Okinawa.
Stranger
Let me just say that I completely, 100% feel your pain.
I was hunting for a sublet back at the beginning of the year, and batshit insane demands like the ones detailed in the OP are extremely common.
Heck, the “I’d like you to actually live here as little as humanly possible” thing is practically a given. I was somehow lucky enough to find a great roommate (who realizes that my paying my share of the rent entitles me to occupying the space I’m paying for) and a living situation that works out great for me, but I had to look through a shit-load of Craigslist ads before that happened.
Although I have to ask - if you go to Brooklyn College, why on earth are you planning on living in Manhattan? I’ve lived in two sublets in Brooklyn, and while the process is an utter nightmare compared to almost anywhere else in the country, it’s a walk in the park compared to trying to find one in Manhattan.
Oh I am looking into Brooklyn as well, of course. Just not Williamsburg, or anything not along the main subway lines in Brooklyn. The JMZ and the L connect to the 2 and 5 trains in Manhattan making the commute extra long. Actually, a commute from anywhere on the 2 or 5 trains would probably be shorter, so I’m considering the surrounding areas in Manhattan and Brooklyn, plus all of those NQRW and FV areas in Brooklyn. Queens is WAY too far though, I can’t imagine how that would be considering I’m practically doing that already from Williamsburg. I’m checking one out tomorrow, and another apt in Columbia tomorrow.
The cool thing about the Columbia place is that it is only 850, plus the other people I’d share it with are on a second floor, so it’s kinda like a studio. it’s also below 125th street. But I’m not sure how long that commute would be 
Have you looked at places in incredibly-convenient-to-school-yet-hipster-free neighborhood of Midwood?
Pardon me for saying so, but it makes no sense whatsoever to me that you are looking in Manhattan. Students don’t live in Manhattan unless they are parentally or trust-fundally funded. Accept it and move on.
Also, “hipster” neighborhoods including Williamsburg and Astoria charge “hipster tax” – the rents are inflated cause it where the cool kids live.
Merk. . . forget Brooklyn. Forget Manhattan. Come to Queens. Come to my lovely neighborhood (really - I’m not being sarcastic) of Astoria. Nice, clean, rent-stablized studios in good buildings go for around $1,000. My two-bedroom goes for $1,700. It’s a fantastic neighborhood. No attitude. No trouble. Excellent access to public transportation. Great food. Excellent shopping, bars, pubs, etc.
Take a closer look at a subway map. It would routinely take Merk 1-2 hours to get from Astoria to Brooklyn College. IMHO Queens is unfortunately, quite out of the question. (I live in Kew Gardens and its the bomb, yo)
Ugh, now I remember why I’m living alone. Not that a liveable and affordable studio is that easy to find here. I’m not sure I have any useful advice, Merkwurdigliebe, but let me know if you have any questions. I did look for a place on Craigslist, but I ended up getting my place through a broker (which I found through CL). I didn’t like the broker and I really didn’t like the extra money it cost, but I did find a place to live.
That long? I’m not exactly sure where Brooklyn college is, but would N to 7 to G work? OK, it’s a bit of a hike, but I live there, I go to hang with friends in various Brooklyn neighborhoods a couple of nights a week, and I manage. It helps that I’m willing to use my bicycle as basic transportation most of the time, year-round (you’d be surprised at how close Astoria is to, say, Billyburg, by bike). Last week I had to go to Red Hook for a party. The bike worked out to be the best way to get there and back.
No, you have to get to the 2/5. Get your finger on the 2/5 line in Brooklyn, trace it to the end where it says “Brooklyn College.” Hopstop calls it at 1 hr, 22 minutes. I think that’s optimistic.
Did this professor teach American History 1800-1865 by chance? Because he doesn’t seem to realize slavery has been outlawed in this country.
If I may put in a small plug - I live in Carroll Garden right off the F train, and I think that it’s a fantastic neighborhood with very reasonable (for New York) rates.
That said, I have no idea where Brooklyn College is. I just Hop Stopped from my neighborhood to the admissions office, and it was an hour altogether on the F and the 2.
I’m considering loads of places guys, not just the hipster areas, to be sure!
Manhattan is all but out of the question really. The only area I’d be interested in really would be more up by Columbia, mainly because I’d imagine that there’d be loads of students. I was on the F train earlier tonight and looked at a place near the Church Ave. stop. That was quite a nice area I must say and also really cheap.
I’m having a hard time making friends here though. I know that it does take a long time, however. But I was kind of hoping to room with folks that I have stuff in common with. I’m not looking to be in the super-hipster areas, but I’d also not like to be in a super-boring area either. But honestly, my current approach is to take all areas into consideration based on what the people who live there seem like. That’s my main focus. I want to find people I’ll get along with. I think I’ll be a lot more likely to have a rich social life by going out and doing that kind of stuff.
Any more advice? Anyone know of any places or people that need roomies? 
Also, when we gonna do a NY dopefest. I don’t even care if it’s a dopefest, I’d get together for a beer anytime.
PS, I think i’ll start posting the gems I see here.
This one is simply strange…
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/roo/432031082.html
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/roo/432062143.html
So let’s see. Someone down to earth, without a lot of baggage, yet you are gonna say that they have to be a female vegetarian? WTF?
Anyway, I’ll post more as I see them
I just moved out of a sub-let in Carroll Garden back to Manhattan and I second this suggestion. Carroll Garden is indeed the best value in NYC.
Merk, I don’t see anything wrong with either of those! Those are both pretty standard roommate-seeking ads. What do you find odd about them?
What does 1) wanting an additional roommate to be the same sex as everyone else; and 2) wanting to share with someone who is not going to to be doing something (cooking and eating meat) that NOBODY else in the house does, or maybe even gets grossed out by, have to do with baggage? To me it’s perfectly reasonable to want another vegetarian share with a group of vegetarians.
Can I ask, have you ever had roommates before or is this a first foray into the world of house-sharing? Maybe I am used to this kind of stuff, or maybe I am MUCH more easygoing than I would have thought.
Does anyone else think those two ads are odd? They seem okay to me!
I don’t find those particular ads that odd, but I can sense that living with those people could be hell.
Narrowing a Brooklyn apt. search on Craigslist to ‘Brooklyn College’ seems to bring up some decent results, assuming you can find a non-crazy roomie yourself.
The first one is weird (“digital & analog food.” wtf?) But I see nothing odd at all about the second one.
If the OP thinks that specifying the sex of one’s future roommate= unreasonable request, then they are going to have a hell of a time finding & living comfortably with a roommate.
Out of curiosity, are you a guy or a girl, Merk? You don’t have to answer, of course; I just wonder, because I will say that as a guy, trying to find a sublet was much worse than it would have been if I were a woman.
There’s practically no such thing as a “male roommate only” ad, but tons of “female roommate only” ads (posted by both men and women), and after looking at craigslist for a sublet for weeks on end, I found myself wishing nothing more than that every apartment full of female vegetarians would get hit by a comet.
The first actually seems like an ideal roommate, imo. The second one is Very Vaguely Creepy to me for some reason, but it doesn’t sound unreasonable.
You’ve never lived here, have you? :dubious: This is par for the course, especially in Manhattan.
I second Carroll Gardens, and I’ll also add Fort Greene. FG is up-and-coming in a major way, but it’s still reasonable. In 2 years, I’ve had new buildings go up on either side of me (sucks that the view’s gone), and the block of Myrtle I’m closest to has almost completely turned over, business-wise. Less nail tips, more wine shops and bistros. And Fort Greene Park is the bomb. (Saturday greenmarket, yay!) Anywhere near the DeKalb or Atlantic subway stations should be easily accessible to Brooklyn College.
Oh, and did I hear NY Dopefest? I’d do another. The last one was a lot of fun!!
I don’t completely understand what “digital and analog food” is but I assume it’s a cutesy way of saying there are video stores and takeout/grocery places nearby.