Everyone knows that living in Manhattan is expensive, especially when renting an apartment. While this is true in general, there are exceptions to the rule. Manhattan Valley, an unassuming, quiet neighborhood with a convenient location situated between 100th and 110th Street and bounded by Broadway and Central Park West, has many rental apartments available for prices far below the norm for Manhattan and the neighboring Upper West Side. This neighborhood has had trouble garnering attention among renters of luxury apartments in Manhattan, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t deserve recognition. Manhattan Valley is something of a throwback: A community oriented neighborhood that hasn’t undergone the kind of gentrification that homogenizes neighborhoods and destroys their character. As such, this unique area has some of the best deals in Manhattan, especially considering that many of the rental apartments are condo-quality. And for families or young professionals who don’t mind having roommates, the prices for 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom apartments are astoundingly low.
The difference between Manhattan Valley and the neighboring Upper West Side is starkly illustrated by the median prices for rental apartments in each place. According to streeteasy.com, the median rental price in Manhattan Valley is $2,500, while the median rental price in the Upper West Side is $3,295. Going down the list on apartment types, the contrast comes into sharper focus: Studios in Manhattan Valley rent for a median price of $1,435, while on the UWS they go for $2,025. For 1-bedrooms, it’s $2,275 compared to $2,995, $2,975 compared to $4,750 for 2-bedrooms, and $3,300 compared to $8,196 for 3-bedrooms. Obviously, that last comparison is the most striking. It’s almost hard to believe. Don’t expect it to stay this way forever though; new developments like Ariel East and West, Columbus Square, and Avalon Morningside Park are bringing more attention and demand to the area.
More than anything else, focusing on the listings serves to get the point across better than any general description could, especially in coveted buildings on Central Park West. For example, at 418 CPW, an elegant pre-war apartment building situated between 101st and 102nd Street, a 4-bedroom apartment is renting for $9,750, and a 1-bedroom is going for $2,195; at neighboring 415 CPW, a 2-bedroom is going for $3,300. Moving west, the deals along Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues are even more remarkable, especially for larger places. A 3-bedroom, 3-Bath at 136 W 109th Street is going for $3,750, and that’s on the high end of the price scale for 109th Street: 5 different 3-bedroom apartments are going for $3,300 or less.
It’s hard to get a sense of how remarkable these deals are without being familiar with the area. While it has unfairly retained a reputation as a bad neighborhood, which it definitely was 20 years ago, the area is now safe, friendly, and charming. Filled with mom and pop shops, plus great international restaurants of every stripe - Ethiopian, Dominican, Haitian, French, and Israeli just to name a few - Manhattan Valley has a unique charm, not to mention the fact that it’s well connected to the rest of Manhattan. The fact that it sits adjacent to the best park in the world doesn’t hurt either.
