New York Living Solutions

Once a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, Crown Heights is now among the most well-known West Indian Caribbean immigrant enclaves in New York City. Due to its affordability and proximity to Manhattan, the neighborhood’s popularity has steadily climbed. Crown Heights is now home to eclectic mix West Indian immigrants, college students, artists, professionals, and Orthodox Jews. Proximity to Prospect Heights’ cultural, educational and recreational attractions, such as Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Jewish Children’s Museum, the Brooklyn Public Library and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden have also drawn residents to area’s renovated apartments and townhouses.

The name “Parkchester” originally referred to Metropolitan Life Insurance Company housing complex developed in 1939 in this south central Bronx neighborhood. The moniker eventually came to represent the two surrounding neighborhoods, Park Versailles and Westchester Heights. Featured in Time Out New York, as one of the most historic areas of New York City, in recent years the neighborhood has become a rediscovered city gem. Once a self-contained rental community for middle-class families, Parkchester has diversified in terms of both ethnicity and age. Recent business developments have revitalized the area and further enhanced this family friendly neighborhood. Local resources include easy access to public transportation, proximity to schools and medical centers, and varied shopping experiences.

After the 1915 subway expansion in Brooklyn, many immigrants fled the Lower East Side and relocated to more affordable Bensonhurst. During the 1930s, high-rise apartments were the norm, but today, single and multi-family, detached and attached, homes are prominent in this middle-class neighborhood. However, Bensonhurst’s recent makeover includes the addition of three-story residence buildings and multi-family condos. The neighborhood has been traditionally populated by multi-generational Italian and Jewish families, although the recent influx of Chinese and Russian families is slowing changing the area’s cultural landscape. The area’s claim to fame, the “end of summer” Italian cultural bash known as the Santa Rosalina Festival, still draws thousands of visitors yearly.

Battery Park City is probably the closest thing to a "suburban" lifestyle that Manhattan has to offer. Because of its relative newness, Battery Park City is more in-tune with the sensibilities of the modern urban dweller, boasting trees and river views along the Hudson River esplanade that offer a bit of nature to its residents. The bustling neighborhood quiets at night, offering residents the qualities of suburban living with the conveniences of living in close proximity to the amenities of urban life.

Located on the western most tip of Lower Manhattan, close to the Financial District and other Manhattan landmarks of commerce and knowledge, Battery Park City has much to offer to Wall Street aficionados and young families alike. Community hotspots include a public swimming pool, and tennis and basketball courts at Stuyvesant High School, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Wagner Park, Battery Park and the Hudson River esplanade.

Crosby, Sixth Avenue, and Canal Streets bound the “South of Houston”― the namesake of the area of SoHo. Because of the frequent box fires that plagued the area’s warehouses and manufacturers, the neighborhood was once known as “Hell’s Hundred Acres.” Artists abandoned the name for the much kitschier “SoHo” when they moved in. Given the large windows and interior walls in the low-rise cast iron façade buildings, they found SoHo to be perfect for their work and residence.

West Broadway in SoHo is home to innumerable artists who peddle their wares during the weekend rush of tourists and non-residents who frequent the neighborhood’s sidewalk cafés and boutiques. The area’s museums and galleries add to the artistic vibrancy of the area, including the New Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum for African Art, and the SoHo Guggenheim Museum.

Aside from being an artist haven, SoHo also boasts close proximity to the famed Financial District, and easy access to rest of Manhattan, given its numerous public transportation options.