NYC neighborhood with no pigeons?

December 28, 2013 1:14 PM

Im looking for a neighborhood to move to with no lots of pigeons around the subway stations. All borough including Jersey City are considered, but I'm really trying to stay in affordable ones. I find all lower Brooklyn are ridden by the rats with wings, especially D train Ft.Hamilton pkwy and all stops follows, all lower part of N trains especially Bay Pkwy. I also found lots of pigeons at grove st stop of PATH in Jersey city. Queens seems hae more rodent problems. Please help give some advice about really clean and affordable neighborhood in NYC. I caught Lyme disease in one dirty residence. I am sick with rats and rats with wings in NYC.
posted by pack2themoon to Home & Garden (21 answers total)

I never see pigeons in my Clinton Hill neighborhood. But you won't ever be able to avoid subway rats. That's just not possible.
posted by greta simone at 1:21 PM on December 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Ahh,, I can't afford living in Clinton hills.
Any clean and affordable neighborhoods?
posted by pack2themoon at 1:31 PM on December 28, 2013

In my experience, all subway stations have vermin. Even the really nice ones.

If you want to avoid pigeons specifically, any underground stop should be fine, particularly one that's well-trafficked and well-maintained. The rats are all down on the tracks, at least.

Maybe check out some of the underground R and N train stops in South Brooklyn and see how you feel about them.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 1:31 PM on December 28, 2013

If you're looking for affordable, anything further south than, say, Prospect Ave on the R will get a little more reasonable. If you want a really nice, clean neighborhood that's close to the subway and don't mind a longer commute, maybe check out Bay Ridge. Sunset Park and Greenwood Heights are nice, but a little dingier, particularly down by 4th ave.

You could also investigate the area of Kensington near the F train Church Ave stop.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 1:35 PM on December 28, 2013

You need to define what you mean by affordable.
posted by greta simone at 1:35 PM on December 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

Just a point of clarification, Lyme disease is deer-tick borne, not associated with urban filth/garbage opportunities that rats and pigeons love.
posted by thinkpiece at 2:09 PM on December 28, 2013 [15 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks everyone, I try to avoid pigeon ridden area since I just feel they are extremely filthy and disease carrying.
http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2010/01/13/birds-spread-lyme-disease/
And since got Lyme disease I developed multiple chemical sensitivity, and my immune system is next to none, I am really scared of the vermins.
I ride subway everyday, I feel its really only the subway station's aroundings matters to me.
Can anyone tell me some stations nice and new and relatively clean?
posted by pack2themoon at 3:18 PM on December 28, 2013

Maybe Gowanus, near the Carroll St station (nice and new and clean).
posted by three_red_balloons at 4:05 PM on December 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

If it were me, I'd want to live near an elevated outdoor station. You might still get pigeons, but at least there's fresh air blowing through and things get clean in the rain. I like the end of the N line in Astoria (near Astoria Blvd and Ditmars Blvd stops).
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:56 PM on December 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

Can anyone tell me some stations nice and new and relatively clean?

There are no such things. The newest stations will be on the 2nd Avenue subway line (when it opens) but they will be quickly filled with rats. Even in really upscale neighborhoods, such as Battery Park, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, in Manhattan, the subway systems are pretty junky. The 1/2/3 at 96th and Broadway isn't terrible if that is in your price range.
posted by Stynxno at 5:57 PM on December 28, 2013

Have you considered taking the bus everywhere instead? You won't avoid pigeons but there will rarely be any rats hanging out at the bus stops.
posted by elizardbits at 6:51 PM on December 28, 2013

Response by poster: Thank you guys.
-Yes I think Gowanus has no pigeons and is relatively clean, but the expressways there has more air and noise pollution which I'm sensitive to;
-Elevated outdoor station has more fresh air, yes I might do this; for the pigeons, I am planning to take umbrella often, I hate pigeons flapping on your head!!! lots of mites and bugs and bacterias falling down!!!
-Rats in subway stations: so long as they stay in the trench and not on the platform I'm happy;
-Molds (black toxic) in subway station is another issue I'm afraid;
-I considered taking bus, but gave up the idea since now I'm sensitive to petrol fumes too.

I hope you all take care and never catch Lyme disease which is such a doom!!!
posted by pack2themoon at 8:17 PM on December 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

I think you should seriously consider moving somewhere outside New York. Unless you are willing to commute over an hour to the far reaches of a borough (maybe Staten Island or up Metro-North) you can't avoid noise pollution, car/bus exhaust, rats, pigeons, and mold. Same goes for any major metropolitan area.

If you can find an apartment that you can afford on Roosevelt Island, that's a really clean spot and the subway is nice enough. Plus you could take the tram. But spots are limited over there.

Good luck.
posted by greta simone at 8:39 PM on December 28, 2013 [4 favorites]

Some ideas --

Try Riverdale (Bronx), or the neighborhoods by the Queens stations on the LIRR Port Washington Line? You can take the commuter rail to Penn, and most of the stations and trains are very clean and new. They recently redid everything. It's a bit more suburban and calmer... an area I've often thought about living.

See the area north of Auburndale or Broadway stations in Queens for an example, around Bowne Park. It's very clean and well-kept (no garbage everywhere), there are some affordable apartments and houses, and it's still got easy access to the city by train.

Station and houses
posted by zvs at 9:04 PM on December 28, 2013 [2 favorites]

Best answer: i rarely see pigeons or rats around the D train at 9th ave in sunset park, and it's still relatively affordable to rent there (you can get a studio for less than 1k a month if you have good credit, and waaay cheaper if you don't mind splitting a 2 bed or 3 bed with roommates). that train stop is above ground kind of up on a raised thing (though not as high as the F train at 4th ave and 9th st, for example), and was basically rebuilt last year so it's still quite new/clean looking.
posted by zdravo at 4:32 AM on December 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

I think you should seriously consider moving somewhere outside New York. Unless you are willing to commute over an hour to the far reaches of a borough (maybe Staten Island or up Metro-North) you can't avoid noise pollution, car/bus exhaust, rats, pigeons, and mold. Same goes for any major metropolitan area.

This.


Also, you should speak to your doctors about the threat posed to your health by rats, pigeons, and other vermin. I think there is a chance that you are worrying more than you need to. If you learn that incidental interactions with these vermin are actually dangerous to your health, you should probably move out of the city. If (as I suspect) it turns out that being in close proximity to but not touching these animals poses no health risks to you, you might want to consider therapy to help you tackle your phobia. Good luck.
posted by schroedingersgirl at 5:13 AM on December 29, 2013 [13 favorites]

Astoria is clean(ish) and all the stations are above ground so 0 rats. I haven't noticed a ton of pigeons there, especially in Ditmars where I live, at the end of the line.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:14 AM on December 29, 2013

Are you sure that you caught Lyme Disease from a "dirty residence" in NYC? The kind of ticks that carry Lyme are actually not found in NYC very often at all.:

Blacklegged ticks have rarely been found in New York City but are common in New York and other surrounding states. Most NYC patients with Lyme disease become infected after traveling to areas near NYC that are endemic for Lyme disease, including Long Island, Westchester County, and the lower Hudson Valley region of upstate New York. Most infections occur during the spring and summer when smaller nymphal ticks are most abundant.

I'm sorry that I'm not answering your question, but your comments about bacteria "falling down" off of pigeons, chemical sensitivities, make me inclined to think you need to talk to your doctor about the risks vermin pose to your health and to consider therapy. You are actually much more likely to contract Lyme outside of NYC.

I've known many people in my family who have caught Lyme disease, so I know that it sucks.
posted by inertia at 11:44 AM on December 30, 2013 [2 favorites]

In case you're still looking, the UES isn't bad. Never seen pigeons along 4/5/6 but there is mold. I've never seen a station without mold.
You'll have the 2nd Ave subway new-ness when/if it finally opens.

The stations along Central Park West that I traverse regularly (south of 86th) seem clean and relatively litter free which lessens, but does not eliminate the rats.
posted by TravellingCari at 4:48 PM on January 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for people replying about Lyme disease but I have never been to New York State outside of NYC, never been to Long Island, Westchester County, or the lower Hudson Valley region of upstate New York.

It's ridiculous for you to suggest "therapy" based on your ignorance.
posted by pack2themoon at 10:26 AM on January 9, 2014

There is a whole cottage industry built around developing rigged tests to tell people they have Lyme disease so as to sell expensive and often dangerous treatments and, while there are an awful lot of true believers who have been swept up in the scam, Lyme disease is a vanishingly unlikely thing for someone in New York City to get - particularly if it is without the classic presentations.
posted by Blasdelb at 2:28 AM on May 12, 2014