Moving to NYC

Hi all!

I'm moving to NYC in about 8 months. I've been there a few time for tourism and just fell in love with the general feel and look and everything there. Plus, I love to travel and live in new places, so I've decided that's my next place.

The plan right now is a lot of research, then sub-letting a place for a month to go see possible apartments in person, then move there in February.

I have a couple friends there that are helping me with info and to visit then.

What I'm seeking in this post is what others who live there think I should know, stuff important to see, what it's like to live there. Both fun and practical (festivals, grocery stores, whatever you think could help me). I appreciate all input.

Some info about me that could help:

I'm vegan, childfree, into BDSM and PE relationships, love Korean style spas, go to the gym daily, am a disabled veteran, not into the bar scene.

What are you planning on doing for work? Income is going to be a huge part of this. Living in Manhattan is basically unaffordable unless you're making $100k, so you're probably going to want to look in Brooklyn, Queens, parts of the Bronx and NJ. Vegan restaurants are going to be much easier to find in NYC and the boros, than in NJ.

As far as BDSM/Fetish/Kink goes, The Eulenspiegel Society is a great resource.

Poly-NYC and Tri-State Poly are a good place to start for looking into the area's non-monogamous communities.

Join SGNY/SGNJ as well. Probably find some decent resources in there as well. Send me a PM about SGNJ.

That much? I've found what look to be decent apartments in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens for around $1500/month. Is cost of food and such really terribly high? My friends live in Astoria and think well of it so I've been looking a lot there.

I won't be working as I'm too disabled, I make about $4000 a month.

Thanks for the hook-up on the fetish and poly groups!

I'll apply to those two groups to get a good scoop!

Queens is the best. Especially Jackson Heights.

I lived in Manhattan for a long time, and it can be done on not a lot of money...but Manhattan just isn't as cool as it once was. The cheaper, divier bars are getting shut down left and right.

Brooklyn has a ton of great shit....but the "coolest" area, Williamsburg, and Bed Stuy are filled with rich white kids either slumming or ruining the neighborhood with their terrible taste in everything. Still has some value if you look hard.

Queens is the most diverse area in the entire world (no joke) and has the best cheap food anywhere. Bar none. The one detractor for Queens would be that it is sort of far from a lot of job-centric areas, but if you're working (or not working) from home, that is irrelevant.

The biggest issue is that getting from Manhattan to Queens and Brooklyn is very easy, but getting from Queens to Brooklyn can be quite dodgy. The G train is terrible, but improving slightly.

Thanks a bundle, that gives me some good info on the areas I'm looking at. A couple of my friends live in Queens and have had really good things to say. I'll definitely look into the places you've suggested.