Slope Questions

1. If you work in Midtown you can easily take any of the numbered or alpha trains from Atlantic station. It all depends on where in PS you end up living (North Slope, Central, or South slope). In general Park Slope has many train lines in all directions so that should not be a worry. The commutes a breeze.

2. I'd check craigslist as well as see if any brokers have something to show you. You don't have to pay to see an apartment. Walk around 7th ave and 5th ave and you'll see many brokers offices with listings on the windows.

Rents for 2br: If you find something below $1850 in PS proper, you are getting a good deal. $2300 is the median rate.

3. Parking is a pain everywhere. Alternate side street cleaning is twice a week.

I take the F from 7th Ave/9th St into the city and actually like it pretty well (I was prepared to hate it). I'm usually getting off in the LES, but to that point it's fine. I can always get a seat and it doesn't seem to have more problems than other lines I've lived on. Coming home I often get on at 63rd St and the ride home from there doesn't seem too long. I think it usually starts filling up around 34th St.

If you have some addresses to consider in Park Slope, use hopstop to tell you the commute time. It's fairly accurate.
http://www.hopstop.com/?city=newyork

For what it's worth, Park Slope is a wonderful area. I can find most stuff I need in the neighborhood and Prospect Park is fantastic. Lots of good food, plenty of bodegas and grocery stores and lots of shops of all kinds.

Most places are listed through brokers (for reasons landlords will explain) but the majority of those are still on craigslist, so you might have to pay a fee but you can still do most of your searching through craigslist.

F train is seriously slow.
Best way to GC is Q from 7th Ave. 4 stops to Union Square, change to 4/5 one stop to 42nd St.
The Q can be almost impossible to get on during morning rush hour though so another option is 2/3 from Grand Army Plaza to Nevins, change across the platform to 4/5 to Grand Central. Actual time on the train is longer than taking the Q, but door to door in the morning can be faster if you have to let several Qs go by before being able to board.
Parking is time consuming and annoying, but possible.

Even given all the resent renovations the Manhattan Bridge was never built to take trains, thus the crawl across the bridge to Canal.

As Mamacita said, depending upon where you're living will depend on the train you will take....I personally can't stand the 4 & 5 because they're too crowded.

modsquad wrote: Even given all the resent renovations the Manhattan Bridge was never built to take trains, thus the crawl across the bridge to Canal.

it was built to take trains. it had 8 train lines on the day it opened.

I take the R to the N to 59th/Lex and it takes 45min door to door from south slope. I am equidistant to the R or the F but the R to the N is a full 15 minutes faster. I do take the F home. So nice not to transfer.

Whatever you do, DO NOT transfer tot he 4/5 from Union Square. That change is enough to ruin your morning.

Brokers aren't necessary, but these days many landlords are paying the fee anyway.

I can speak to parking:
I've lived here for almost 18 months (6 months in south slope near 16th st and now a bit over a year on 7th st) Parking here SUCKS. It suck suck suck suck sucks. I had my car in bedstuy and not only was parking much more readily available, but in the 2 years I lived there my car was NEVER damaged more than a little bumper damage. Here, my car has been totally beaten to shit and broken into at least twice that I've seen (maybe more, they seem to keep breaking in but not taking anything.)

Did I mention parking here sucks? IT SUCKS. A lot. Tonight, for example, I got home from a business trip at around 9:30pm and circled my "blocks" (5th st-8th st, 8th ave-4th ave) for almost 30 minutes before finding a spot that i'm not entirely sure is legal (after 5.5 hours of commuting and 10 hours of working I just wanted to get into my apartment.) I fully expect a ticket when I get back to my car. Why? Bc if you find a parking spot, it's most likely illegal somehow. Because there is no parking. NONE. IT SUCKS.



ok im done. you get the point.

LongTimeSloper wrote: Parking does suck, but i find if I drive around the night before for about 30 minutes or so, I can find a spot that is good for the next day.

Sorry to hear about your car getting broken into Carmen, I must say that my car has not been broken into in years. My neighbors car was broken into just last week, but she left boxes in the back seat.
Do you keep things in yoru car that can be seen?

I do agree about the cars getting hit, my car has been randomly hit at least 3 times in the3 past year, all while parked on or near my block.

There is absolutely NOTHING in my car thats visible or even in the trunk. I have no idea what they're looking for, but they never take anything (they have tried to pry off my stock cd player with no success.) The only thing I can imagine is that its joyriders bc it's a "cool" looking car and is a 5-speed. There's nothing exciting about it, so I can only imagine they just like the way it looks.

Subject: Re: Slope Questions

jt4266 wrote: A friend of mine is trying to get me to move to Park Slope with him in the fall and I came across this forum and thought it might be a good resource to ask some general questions. I would be moving from Astoria and am quite comfortable there.

1. I work in Midtown and its about a 10 minute walk from Grand Central to my office. I'm I'm taking the F what is my commute time going to be like. I've heard not so great things about the F....

2. Is a broker needed to find a good place in the Slope? What should I expect to pay for a nice(not luxurious) 2BR?

3. Is parking a huge problem in Park Slope?

Thanks ahead of time!

1. I'm in North Slope, and I have the B, Q, 2, and 3 right near me, as well as much more if I walk to Atlantic/Pacific, which is not that far. But on a daily basis, I take the B or Q at 7th Ave and Flatbush, and it's very fast to Midtown. I work by Grand Central. If I'm on the Q, I have to switch once, but it's not a big deal. And the ride up is great reading time. The B and Q enter Manhattan around Canal Street, unlike the other lines which enter around Bowling Green, so they're much faster.

2. If you're renting, using a broker means you'll either pay more or get a smaller apartment, even if it's "no fee". It's never really "no fee". Either you a pay a broker fee, or the landlord pays and raises the rent. For renting apartments, brokers are really an anachronism. Just use Craigslist.