Empty nester suggestions

I just moved to East End Ave. It's a very quiet, scenic area. I love the waterfront paths and the park. Without kids and a commute, I have a lot less time constraints and have the time to walk to places.

Access isn't that bad considering the Select bus running on 1st and 2nd Aves. and the M86 crosstown turning on York Ave. Being an optimist, I expect the Second Ave. subway WILL open, providing easier subway access.

The bottom line is that I'm out of the hustle and bustle of where I lived on the West Side. At the same time, I have access to all the same cultural activities.

Maine, Colorado, NW U.S., Hawaii, parts of South East Asia, New Zealand, Paris, and maybe even Iceland for a few weeks.

You asked. :)

Limiting your search just to Manhattan I would consider the Gold Coast area which is basically sandwiched between Flatiron and Washington Square Park along lower Fifth Avenue. Subway access is great, you're close to NYU which injects a lot of "young" energy into the neighborhood, restaurants in the area are nice and the type of apartments you could purchase vary widely. Many of the old pre-war buildings have loft like layouts with high ceilings and the views in this area can be quite spectacular.

There are many "empty nesters" still in the neighborhood along with rent stabilized tenants who grew up in the area so it has a genuine NY vibe. If you find the Upper East Side too stuffy and want to be below 14th Street the Gold Coast could be a decent fit. You mentioned having a nice budget which you will need to bring with you.

Chelsea. Access to convenient transportation, art, restaurants, nice food markets, Chelsea Piers, and beautiful pre-war apartments (or townhouses, or shiny condos, if that's your pref). It is also less homogenous than, say, UWS or Flatiron. Rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight, etc. etc.

And when you get tired of Chelsea, you're steps away from GV and HK.

go shopping for those skinny jeans and head on over to Williamsburg to meet people from Ottawa, Canada.

Flatiron is probably my #1 favorite neighborhood for many of the above reasons mentioned (great architecture, restaurants, you can walk pretty much to everything, the east/west thing isn't such a big deal since you're in the center, etc.).

But frankly, if I didn't have to COMMUTE, I'd probably live in Bay Ridge.

Seniors may want to go to activities, cultural events, etc.

I'd be in the Far West Village

surprised no one said lincoln center.. it's wheelchair braggadocio..

rollable to the shows at the met/ ballet at koch theater.. your aging pals from boca will emptily talk up the sun while they secretly curse their ungrateful kids for putting them up in a spiritless, humid strip mall in FL to save a buck on their own midtown reno, while you get to motorize scooter to central park just 2 blocks away in all your glory.. not overly hip as HK to the south, or overly aged as UWS to the north, a good mix, subways galore

Without question - Brownsville, Brooklyn.

Still moderately priced real estate, with multiple dying options; definitely worth taking a stab at.

Williamsburg.... for now. The openness and low scale are disappearing and the clubs are proliferating but it's easy to be in-- fun to go out for a cocktail before returning home to cook dinner, nice for a stroll along the riverside, beautiful midtown views, and the L train connects with everything and almost always comes quickly.

Hi trinityparent!

"Williamsburg.... for now. The openness and low scale are disappearing and the clubs are proliferating but it's easy to be in-- fun to go out for a cocktail before returning home to cook dinner, nice for a stroll along the riverside, beautiful midtown views, and the L train connects with everything and almost always comes quickly."

--

You MUST be joking.

Sure it's "fun" to go out for a "cocktail" if you don't mind dives disguised as "chic" that are overloaded with drunk 20-somethings spilling out onto and throwing up on the sidewalks.

Oh yes, the noise, broken glass, butt-ugly "architecture", and carcinogen-laden (and likely radioactive for the next 100,000 years) landscape makes for a lovely evening stroll as you gaze at those beautiful Manhattan views, wishing you were THERE instead of in that shithole of a neighborhood.

And don't even get me started on the L train. Oh sure, it's great (when it's running), as long as you don't mind being consigned to a lifetime of TRANSFERS every time you want to leave Williamsburg (which would be pretty much every waking moment).

Matthew, you could almost be describing Long Island City ... except for the chic and the 20-somethings. And the waking moments, when you get right down to it.