This is a work in progress. I do not personally live in or near NYC, so this information has been researched online. I try to use reputable sources where possible. However, those with real life Manhattan experience are welcome to edit this page to more properly reflect the cost of living in NYC.
Since some people have a hard time figuring out exactly how much it would cost them to live, play, park, and work in Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs, here are a few links and facts to illustrate the cost of living in 2007. Bear in mind that prices may have fluctuated a little by 2010, but the basic idea remains sound; in fact, following current trends, things would only be more expensive by then.
Apartments
Often the biggest disparity we see is in the type of apartments people want to have. Bear in mind that Manhattan is an island, which means space is very definitively limited. Even in bad neighbourhoods, apartments are going to be much, much smaller and more expensive that you might expect. According to Boston.com, the average rent for a studio apartment in Manhattan is $1995 a month. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,737, two-bedroom apartments:$3,893, three-bedroom apartments: $5,534. The vacancy rate in Manhattan is less than 1% which makes even just finding an apartment a chore, let alone competing with all the applicants to get approved. While this may limit your options some, we encourage players to use it in their RP! Have your character get frustrated with the apartment hunting, explore the disillusionment as they end up in something smaller and further below par than they expected, or even have to move out to the middle of nowhere and deal with the commute and the stigma of being from Queens or the Bronx.
We suggest having a look at one of these listing sites, checking out a few neighbourhoods, and then deciding what your character could reasonably afford. It may be more realistic to move them out to one of the boroughs where rent can be a lot cheaper (depending on which borough, granted), or to give them shared accommodations (either with a PC or NPC). Again, this can all be used to add to your RP.
Parking
Here is a listing of all the available public parking in NYC and the associated rates. Bear in mind that this is just to park the car; it does not include gas or insurance. And remember that these are the very best deals available. According to WNYC News, the average monthly cost to park in midtown is $630, and the average cost downtown is $500.
Transit
Transit through the MTA (NYC subways and buses) is $2 a trip. You can save money by buying a MetroCard, which comes in two options: unlimited use and pay-per-use.
With pay-per-use, you deposit money on the card and it works as a declining balance, taking $2 off for each trip. If you put $10 or more on the card at a time, you get a 20% bonus (so putting $20 on the card gives you $24 as a balance).
With unlimited use, you can buy a daily pass for $7, a weekly pass for $24, or a monthly pass for $76.
You can view more payment options here.
Taxis
Because of the state of traffic and conditions of public transit, taxis can serve as a convenient compromise between driving and taking the subway.
Payment is by cash only. Taxi rates are standardized and as of July 2007 were as follows:
Initial fare.............$2.50
Each 1/5 mile (4 blocks).$0.40
Each 1 minute idle.......$0.40
Peak surcharge...........$1.00 (after 4pm until 8pm Mon-Fri)
Night surcharge..........$0.50 (after 8pm until 6am)
Tolls....................$extra
Additional riders........FREE
Commuting
For those coming in from the school or surrounding area, we cannot rely too heavily on actual facts and figures since Salem Center is a fictional place. However, there is a bus line that runs from Westchester County to NYC and allows passengers to ride for a cash fare of $1.75 or use a MTA MetroPass for the usual $2 a trip, with free transfer onto the subways and buses in NYC.
A train ride from some various stations of Westchester County into Grand Central Terminal with the MTA's Metro-North Railroad is about $7-15 a trip, or a monthly pass can be bought for somewhere around $163-$184 (students get a discounted rate of $109-$123). The trip would take somewhere between 30-50 minutes. You can play around with the fare finder yourself.
Although the bus is vastly cheaper, since our on-grid link is through the train station, we will, for the sake of enabling RP, rule that Xavier would provide a monthly pass to all staff and students at the school, though it might be revoked as punishment for any abusing the privilege.
Comments:
All great finds, and I can attest to their truth. I own a 1 bedroom in Queens and the rent fluctuates yearly.
But how could you have forgotten the taxis (TLC) as a main source of commuting in Manhattan?
The streets are usually too congested for personal cars, and parking lots go for about $8.50/half an hr. The subways are usually awful as far as heat and dependency goes in the summer. Most buses in Manhattan usually skirt off whole areas of routes if there is too much congestion.
If you guys really want to get specific, I'm sure that anyone caught doing anything illegally on the grid by "cops" could get stuck with a $100-$400 ticket. Honk your car horn in a no honking zone and its a $350 fine in reality.
- Emma's Player
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