cfiguy11

so apparantly i am getting based in JFK. Just wondered if anyone could shed some light on what life is like there or NYC in general. Housing, traffic, cost of living etc...Im not oblivious to the fact that it is busy, and expensive, but i was just wondering what to expect. I havent decided yet about moving out there or commuting from Detroit.

Any good stories about flying in and out of the busiest airspace in the world would be cool to. Thanks.

TipsyMcStagger

All depends on where you choose to live and what you're used to. One way or the other, it's going to be expensive. I'd plan to have a couple of roommates to make life more livable.

I'd suggest moving to Long Beach, Long Island (Nassau County). It's a fun beach community (obviously more fun in the summer) and it's only a 15 minute drive to JFK.

You should be able to find an apartment and/or roommate on Craigslist.org. If you're not familar with Craigslist, there's a board available for pretty much every city in the country (and around the world). NY's board has taken over as the number one way to find an apartment...much to the chagrin of many newspapers and real estate agents.

Having a car in the area will be much easier living in LB too. If you're in NYC (any of the 5 boroughs) you'd be faced with either paying for parking or having to deal with alternate-side-of-the-street parking rules...which means you'd have to move your car from one side of the street to the other almost daily. The flip side is that you're living in Brooklyn, Queens or Manhattan, you could ditch the car all together and use the subway, buses and the AirTrain to get too/from JFK.

That's it in a nutshell. Hope this give you someplace to start.

Tipsy

Flyby1206

If I was to be based at any of the NYC airports (JFK, LGA, EWR) I would pick JFK in a heartbeat. There usually arent any EDCTs (delays) getting in. They have a big congo line for departures in the evenings for the international push, but besides that it isnt too bad compared to the other airports. Its interesting to see so many different airlines from random countries youve never heard of. The controllers there have some hardcore New Yawwwk attitude but they are great at their jobs. Get used to flying an ILS a dot high to avoid wake turbulence, and have fun!

cyrcadian

Keep in mind you don't have to live in Queens to be able to get to work. You can live in CT, NJ or other parts of NY that aren't nearly as bad. Public transportation in the area makes it so easy to live anywhere.

rwpapp

You may want to look into crash pads.... Living in NYC can get pricey, not to mention the taxes! Especially on regional pilot pay. As to the controllers, they are INCREDIBLE! Just do what they say when they say it! Also, expect quite a few delays flying into the NE when the weather gets bad. Flying in the NE is a blast! Good Luck!

kalyx522

As transportation goes, there is a new train system that is directly connected from JFK... if not, there are also numerous buses that stop at the terminals. (I used to work in the Starbucks in Terminal 4 back in my high school days and this is how I commuted.) Not sure how much the new train is, but the bus is $2, with free transfer to the subway or another bus.
Like someone else said, parking in NYC is a b!tch, sometimes you have to circle your neighborhood for like 30 minutes to find a spot (hope you are good with parallel parking cuz that's all there is).. and yeah of course there are those trash days. And you probably don't want to deal with driving a car in NYC either, it is aggressive as hell (although you are from Detroit, so it shouldn't be too much worse in NYC. You do get used to it I guess.) Personally I never drove a car until I went away to college.
JFK is in Queens... not sure if you want to live there or another borough, but I know the rent prices in Queens ranges from at least $1000 for one bedroom, to $1400 and up for 2-bed.
I never flew in or out of JFK, but I did fly in that Class B for about a month doing aerial survey over NYC... it actually wasn't as bad as I expected! I actually enjoyed my experience there.. seeing all those heavies so close-up like every minute! The controllers talk a little faster, but you get used to it after the first day I guess. Otherwise I only got yelled at once during that month... (but he was really nasty with me that one time.) They really weren't unfriendly at all... at least, they were polite enough to almost always "Good day"-ed me.. lol.

SikPilot

Tipsy is correct. Long beach is the way to go if your not a real city boy. You MUST have a car if you go that route. If you don't have a car then you want to try the Jamaica/flushing area of Queens. Not allot of trees there but GREAT food. Very eclectic. All different cultures living together. You will be hopping on the subway and taking the "train to the plane" to get to JFK. If you have a car you can also try area's near Long Beach like Oceanside or Baldwin. NOT FAR ROCKAWAY. REPEAT (say it out loud) NOT FAR ROCKAWAY.

There used to be a building in Long Beach that housed the F/A's from a Japanese airline. I can't remember exactly where but I'm not allowed within 500 yards of it anyway.

Basically it depends on what you are accustomed to and how much you want to spend.

Oh, CONGRATS!!!!!!!


http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp...3d&ambiguity=1

sgrd0q

Don't go to Jamaica. Pretty rough neighborhood.

If you want to stay in Queens, look at Forest Hills, Jackson Heights east of Junction Boulevard, Woodside, Astoria, possibly parts of Flushing. All decent areas. Further west Floral Park is ok too.

Generally you don't need a car in the five boroughs of the city. You will need one in Long Island. Long Beach is fine but so are many other places in Long Island.

As far as being expensive – yes, the rents are high. Other than that, you can get great deals on almost anything you buy. If you are smart you can actually end up spending LESS money than anywhere else. Of course the converse is also true if you are not careful.

YAKflyer

There are lots of crash pads in Kew Gardens and when I was based in NYC that is where I lived. You can take a car service (like a private taxi) from Kew Gardens to JFK or LAX for $10 or so. Also last time I was there, there was a service called Kew Runner that would go to either airport hourly for $6. Kew Gardens has a big airline social community and at least a little bit of partying. Additionally you can catch the Long Island Railroad to Penn Station for $3.50 mid day. I doubt if you want to commute you can live cheaper than in a Kew Gardens crash pad.

sgrd0q

Hey, sign me up! Cab ride from NY to LAX for 10 bucks!