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Finding the Cheaper Rentals In Five Pricey NYC Neighborhoods

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With rents holding steady at sky-high prices, cheap—or hell, even just reasonably priced—apartments become ever more elusive. But fear not! It seems that they do exist based on the latest "cold pockets" data from listings website Zumper, which put together five new maps charting the cheaper corners of four neighborhoods in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. Above, the median rent in the Financial District is $3,475, but in the Seaport near Brooklyn Bridge overpass, rents average $2,900.

In the ever-popular Williamsburg, the median rent sits at $2,750, but there's a cold pocket just north of the Broadway Triangle where the rent is $2,250. Zumper co-founder Taylor Glass-Moore notes that "there will always be a trade-off for paying less rent," and here, it seems that the cheaper units are near large housing projects. Here's a two-bedroom for $2,250 on Powers Street, but it's located just a block from NYCHA's Williamsburg Houses.

Surprisingly, the cold pocket in the East Village is between First and Second Avenues from 6th to 14th Street, not in the far reaches of Alphabet City. Rents here are $2,175, while the neighborhood median is $2,705. This is likely due to the fact that several new luxury rental buildings have been built in the eastern part of the neighborhood while the inventory between First and Second mostly consists of older walk-up buildings. This 1BR fourth-floor walk-up on East 10th is listed for $2,150, while this 1BR in a tenement building on East 7th Street wants $1,995.

Zumper puts the median rent in Soho at $3,050, but around the intersection Sixth Avenue and Broome Street, it falls to $2,450. The area is dominated by a big intersection, so it sees more traffic than Soho's historic district streets. Plus the entrance to the Holland Tunnel from Varrick Street is not far away.

The cheaper area in Flatiron is also located along a busy stretch: Sixth Avenue from 14th to 23rd Streets, a commercial stretch lined with stores and restaurants. The median rent in this area sits at $2,840 while the neighborhood median is $3,300.
· Zumper [official]
· Finding the Cheaper Corners of Manhattan's Priciest 'Hoods [Curbed]