help finding a room to rent

February 8, 2008 11:44 AM

Help me find a room in Queens or Brooklyn..

I need to move out by March and I would like to rent a room with a window and a closet. $400 to $500 a month would be ideal. I would like to live a few blocks from a train station and anywhere I can buy food. I've looked into Queens and I love the Jackson Heights and Astoria area.

Any suggestions where to look?

posted by turkishLola to home & garden (5 answers total)

$400 or $500 near a train and a good grocery store? Good luck with that. Sorry to be snarky, but you definitely have your work cut out for you. Start with Craigslist, I guess. Reload it every half-hour until you have an apartment.

http://newyork.craigslist.com
posted by Mikey-San at 11:50 AM on February 8, 2008

Well, $500 might not be out of the realm of possibility if one were to take a room in a 3-bedroom with two other people. If that were my budget, that's what I'd be looking for. If you could stretch it to $600-800 you could be one of two roomies in a pretty good apartment. Astoria and Jackson Heights are strong possibilities. Also neighborhoods along the 7 train, or Washington Heights, or maybe Bushwick?
posted by lampoil at 1:38 PM on February 8, 2008

If you really like Queens, also try Sunnyside and Woodside. Lots of old pre-war apartment buildings with big, rambling apartments.

Craigslist is a great resource, but don't forget that old-fashioned footwork can get you a place, too. Go walking in these neighborhoods and look for cafes, laudrymats, and other hangouts where people post flyers.

Good luck!
posted by minervous at 5:28 PM on February 8, 2008

btw, turkishLola, you have MeFi mail.
posted by Mikey-San at 4:28 PM on February 9, 2008

Sometimes the nonsenselist has rooms for rent. Otherwise, craigslist. If you can speak Spanish, walk around the Corona area under the 7 train - every streetpost has a sheet with tear off numbers advertising rooms.

I've found it hard to find anything under $500, but keep searching craigslist obsessively.
posted by iamck at 7:30 AM on February 10, 2008