Moving into town???

You can look on craigslist or you can get a broker.

Craigslist is so flooded with desperate brokers as to be virtually worthless. Try Nybits.com and contact the management companies directly. You won't pay a broker's fee, and try to negotiate the rent down further.

Search the boards; I just moved myself and it is not so hard. Welcome to the city and good luck!

Brokers can help, just be aware they charge a commission. Talk to a younger broker who might be willing to work for the 1 month Owner Paid commission that many buildings are offering now.
good luck

i agree with evnyc. try nybits.com. a lot of buildings put their listings on there. **be thorough** fortunately, i didn't have to pay a broker fee for the place i just signed a lease at, but if i had gone through nybits for that same apartment (not through the broker) i theoretically could have gotten the management company to throw that fee back at me.

alas, i had no idea that the building's rents had sunk to within my budget and ignored their nybits listings. dumb!

When we came back to NYC (without furniture) we used craigslist.org "sublets&temporaries" for short term furnished rentals directly from owners. We tried five different neighborhoods, learned a lot and saved some money.

reprinted -

AVOID BROKERS AND THEIR FEES - GO DIRECTLY TO THE SOURCE OF YOUR RENTAL NEEDS. BROKERS TEND TO TAKE YOU TO SEE THESE NO-FEE APARTMENTS FIRST AS THEY EARN 100% OF YOUR 15% BROKER'S FEE. HUSH...HUSH... THEY WILL NOT TELL YOU IT'S A NO-FEE RENTAL PROPERTY :( NOR WILL THEY REPRESENT THAT PRIOR TO SEEING THE APARTMENT. SO IF YOU NEED TO RENT, CHECK OUT THE RENTAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT WEBSITES AND CALL THEM FOR UPDATED LISTINGS. SAVE YOURSELF THAT 15% TO BUY YOURSELF NEW FURNITURE OR HAVE A MOVE-IN WELCOME PARTY FOR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

Excellent “BIG-TIME” Manhattan Rental Property Management:

Rose (www rosenyc com)
Related Rentals (www relatedrentals com)
Equity Residental (www eqr com)
Rockrose Management (www rockrosenyc com) [mostly chelsea, village, financial district, downtown condos]
Sky Management (www skymanagement com)
Glenwood Managment (www glenwoodnyc com)
BLDG Management Co. 115 E 92nd St New York, NY 10128 (212) 722-4931
Brodsky Management, Inc (www brodskyorg com)
Maclowe Management (www macklowe com) [condos below 60th street]
Urban Associates – 400 W 59th St # 3, New York, NY (212) 245-1870

Above average property management (mostly prewar lowrise to a few postwar)
ATA Enterprise (www ataenterprises com)

Below Average no-fee properties [aka slumlord]:

Jakobson Properties (www nofeerentals com)