How to rent in NYC without a broker?

Wanted to tap into the collective wisdom of this forum. My lease expires on Jul 1 at my current apartment and I am trying, hoping to find a no broker fee apartment for my next place to live (looking for a 1-BR in UWS). I did not have much time to look extensively at the websites of the property management companies and so far I had a look at the "by owner"/ "no fee" sections of the various... [more]

Wanted to tap into the collective wisdom of this forum. My lease expires on Jul 1 at my current apartment and I am trying, hoping to find a no broker fee apartment for my next place to live (looking for a 1-BR in UWS). I did not have much time to look extensively at the websites of the property management companies and so far I had a look at the "by owner"/ "no fee" sections of the various websites out there. In most of the cases even so I ended up either (a) talking to brokers, (b) finding out that there is a fee on the listing or (c) discovering that the listing is not valid any more, the apartment has been rented, classic bait-and-switch tactics. That being said, I wonder whether it is only me being unlucky with my search or am I missing something? Is there any smart and efficient way to find an apartment without a fee in the City? Thank you! Rob [less]