I pulled ~a year of NYC 311 complaints for 174 ZIP codes and matched each to its neighborhood median household income (Census ACS). I wasn't expecting it to be this stark.
In the poorest 26 ZIPs (avg income ~$36k), 35.6% of all 311 calls are housing-habitability issues — no heat/hot water, plumbing, unsanitary conditions. Heat/hot water alone is the single most common complaint (14%). In the richest 26 ZIPs (avg ~$182k), housing issues are just 11% — and their #1 complaint, at 23%, is illegal parking.
The correlation is real: housing-maintenance share vs. income runs r ≈ −0.47.
The part I didn't expect: rats and noise don't correlate with income at all (r ≈ 0). Rats are a great equalizer. Noise too. It's specifically the survival stuff — heat, hot water, working plumbing — that tracks poverty.
Two real examples: Mott Haven in the South Bronx (~$20k median) → top 311 call is no heat. Tribeca ($250k+) → top call is illegal parking.
It's not that wealthier neighborhoods have fewer problems. It's that "problem" means something different — habitability vs. inconvenience.
Caveats, because they matter: 311 measures who calls, not where conditions are worst — but for heat/hot water that bias points the same way (tenants call because the heat's actually off). Income is Census ACS by area, not exact. Data: NYC Open Data 311 + Census ACS.
neighborhoods like Throggs neck, Morris Park & Pelham Bay went from 75% white to 35%
Been thinking this for a while. Apartment #2 is about to collapse, and I cannot help but feel I’ve made a fool of myself trying to live around here. Working-class, and let me tell you, I can go days with 20 or 40 bucks in the city, museums, parks, chinese food, and feel content, but nothing is worse it feels than being broke in NJ. I moved to sussex to try and fix this because Hackensack and BC corruption was stifling me at every step I took, but at this point I think I want to leave altogether. We pay some of the highest taxes in this state and yet it feels impossible to have basic amenities run on time while being constantly treated like a second rate citizen in your own state. Not to mention the isolation, how many times I see someone post about “third-spaces,” it seems no matter where I go in NJ all I see is severe social isolation and only a modicum of support for that. Small business owners need money, people wanna go out and meet with each other, but still it feels like a fucking social collapse out here, not to even mention the difference in community between NY and NJ (or rather NJ’s lack thereof.)
If you use NJ as a highway to every amenity you need, terrific, but the whole no sidewalks, everything far away, nothing going on all the time + covid hours has really made things worse and worse over time. Local spots closing, new apartments everywhere, I have felt for the longest time squeezed out of my life, and like I work constantly for basically no pay while an upwardly mobile gentry gets all the benefits of a town I lived and paid taxes my whole life. If food, rent, and everything else costs the same here, but pay is still $16-$18 an hour for entry level stuff these days, there is a real level of disparity where a majority of people living around these parts couldn’t afford to live with three jobs. And again, maybe NY is a couple hundred more on rent, and yes roommates more than likely, but you are paying for all the things you get. I pay this much in NJ to be harassed by road cops, tolls, absurd taxes and the state can’t even toss you the bare minimum sometimes, for christ sake even our state affordable healthcare is a joke. You get used to the burrough-itis and craziness until you step outside of it for one second and realize how rigged the game is out here. Wondering other people’s thoughts because I know I cannot be the only one working all these jobs and getting nowhere in this state.
My husband (30M) and I (30F) are gearing up to buy our first home. We’re both lawyers and post-taxes, we take home about $380k ($30k ish a month). We don’t have any kids but hope to once we buy a property. We currently have $200k in savings for a down payment and closings costs and have another $75k in additional savings (not including retirement). We’ve paid off all of our law school debt and are now debt free (which took a few years). Our careers are in flux since we’re only a few years out of law school but we anticipate that we won’t dip below $300k in take home post tax for at least the next decade (unless something serious happens medically or to the general economy).
We’re looking at purchasing brownstones in Brooklyn (roughly the Crown Heights area). The ones we’re considering are in the ~$1.5 million range and are mostly duplexes (a larger owner unit and a smaller 2 bedroom unit that we would rent out, conservatively, for about $3k a month).
We’re considering whether it would be feasible for us to purchase a property like this with 10% down ($150k for the down payment and $50k for closing costs) using a physician loan (so avoiding PMI). Our understanding is that these loans are often extended to lawyers (and both of our firms have broker relationships with large banks to (allegedly) offer lawyer employees better rates). On a $1.5 million property, Zillow thinks our monthly payment would land around $9k, which if offset with a tenant, would land around $7k (accounting for some vacancy time). On the one hand, on $30k a month, this all seems feasible, but also this is admittedly before us potentially paying for a nanny (estimating about $5-7k a month here) or other childcare in the future (and planning on public school instead of private). On the other hand, $1.5 million seems like a huge number (we’d be $1.35 million in debt) and I’m also wary of the potential for big ticket repairs popping up like a new roof or something.
TLDR: Can we afford a $1.5 million property with a 10% down payment on $380k a year plus potential rental income? Is a $75k margin of non-down payment savings too thin? Any advice welcome.
6 forms of id:
BUILDING ACCESS CARD
MTA CARD
EBT CARD
DELI PUNCH CARD
FAIRWAY SAVINGS CARD
DEREK JETER BASEBALL CARD
Bro I'm so done with this housing market 😭 I don't want people to keep on telling me its tough or other negative things, I just want a fucking decent place to live & I'm so tired of it. & I keep on being told that I'm doing everything right, by brokers, landlords.
If anyone knows any good brokers or landlords let me know because I'm so close to giving up I don't know what to do- its been months.
Budget: $2500 studio Where: Brooklyn or Manhattan, I don't fucking care I just don't want a gang living at the end of my street (btw for context, I lived somewhere out west where my roommate got held at gunpoint & robbed outside our apartment & my local friend told me about the gang on that street)
I work at a high end restaurant and was notified tonight that it is illegal to accept additional gratuity on top of auto gratuity. Even if the guests have been made aware and they decide to tip extra, the business can't accept it. I have been here a decade & have accepted double gratuity without issue from guests or legal. Can anyone clarify? Does such a statute/precedent/whatever exist? I work in NYC.
As an avid pickler and pickle aficionado I took great joy in frequenting the many markets and a pop-up pickle shops throughout lower Manhattan and Brooklyn and as spring sprung I was excited to get as many pickles in my hands and subsequently my mouth as I could. Joy turned to disappointment as I began my pickle pursuit and here I am. Any recommendations on a great pickle???
Hi we’r