'Don't listen to anyone about New York': exposing myths about life in the USA - ForumDaily
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'You don't need to listen to anyone about New York': exposing the myths about life in the USA

Former trader from Moscow investment bank Olga Platunovaliving in New York wrote for vc.ru A detailed account of life in the United States: the cost of renting housing, food, transport, insurance, differences from Russia.

Photo instagram.com/ffairlady

In the last few days, a battle of opinions about the life of immigrants in New York began in the network, “why I am leaving” against “why I am staying”. For us, this topic is very close - we have been here for almost a year, and although the word “immigrant” is extremely unpleasant for me, I have long thought to write about local realities, especially since the issue is relevant, and now there is a reason.

A year is just that period for which you almost understand everything that happens, and you can evaluate it more or less adequately. I’ll say right away that we don’t want to go anywhere from here and are completely satisfied with our life, so I’m a lawyer living in New York. But how many people - so many opinions, and I hope that my article will help you plan the costs to come here and make your own.

Before coming here, we lived in Moscow for almost two decades, so I compare it with New York. We must immediately make a reservation that in a correct way it is necessary to recalculate all prices at the rate of 30 rubles per dollar in order to get a more or less adequate picture, or to multiply the salaries of New York by 60. While loving New York, we didn’t treat Moscow much worse, and we would like to adopt some things for the future.

Much of the above refers not specifically to New York, but to America in general, but does not change the essence. These are our personal observations, we do not pretend to the truth in the first instance. In both cases, the employer pays all taxes and provides a social package. Housing and there and there is not in the center, but in a good area, close to the center. We are a couple without children and animals, with a good knowledge of the language, we attribute ourselves to the middle class.

In the States before the move, it so happened, were not even once. Our relatives told us not to look at the situation through rose-colored glasses, so that we tried to evaluate everything that was happening critically.

Before moving anywhere, you need to soberly assess your capabilities - first of all, language and financial. When a question arose before us, we sat down first and decided if we could afford it.

How much should I earn to live in New York? About 80 thousand dollars a year (including taxes, which are approximately 30%). If your planned salary is lower, get ready for the fact that you have to look for compromises, limit yourself and so on.

I’ll say right away that we didn’t consider it very well, since in addition to taxes, you also deduct a pension and insurance - in the end, you will receive less 70%.

Subscribe to work with a salary in 30 thousands of dollars and then worry that it is not enough - quite pointless.

Housing

The standard rule - renting an apartment can be on the order of 50% of net salary, just not more. If you earn 80 thousand dollars, you will have 4 with a few thousand per month “clean”, so you need to look for an apartment within 2 thousand dollars per month. For this price you can find a good apartment - the only question is the location of the area.

When people say “how can you live somewhere other than Manhattan, Brooklyn is so criminogenic” - this is extremely short-sighted. In good areas of Manhattan, a one-bedroom apartment (i.e. one-bedroom apartment, a studio plus a bedroom) will cost from 4 thousand dollars. Harlem is much cheaper, and this is also Manhattan, but I doubt that you will want to go there.

Photo instagram.com/ffairlady

Brooklyn is several times larger than Manhattan and is very heterogeneous. In the most pretentious areas of Brooklyn (Brooklyn Heights, Dumbo) this price tag is about the same, in good areas, but a bit simpler (Downtown, Cobble Hill, Williamsburg), renting a one-bedroom apartment will cost you about 3 thousands of dollars. But. For this price you will often get a new house with a concierge, with a gym, with a children's room, a roof terrace. And this is a common thing here, while in Moscow such things can be found in single houses, and super expensive.

Across the river, in New Jersey, our buddy for 3 with a little thousand dollars rents an apartment with an area of ​​150 square meters with all amenities and a garage. And get, as claims, him a little longer than us.

It is still very expensive, and for good reason one of the New Yorkers' favorite topics for conversation is the cost of renting. But for those who earn little, there is a thing that I have never seen in Moscow - housing lotteries. Since commercial housing renting is very developed here (when the company builds a house and manages it by renting apartments), many houses have several apartments, the rent of which is played out in the lottery. If you win, you will be able to pay for housing, for example, 500-800 dollars, while the rest pay 4-5 thousand dollars. And the rent here can be inherited.

Insurance

Medical insurance here is organized on a different principle. If something ordinary happened in Russia — for example, the flu — insurance will pay for it. For everything else that is outside the standard (and rather small) list - pay for yourself. Here is the opposite.

Every insurance has a deductible (but you can find it without a deductible, if you set a goal) and there is a maximum out-of-pocket expense. Suppose 1500 and 2000 dollars respectively. This means that the first 1500 dollars you pay out of your pocket in full, then you pay, for example, 10% bills, until you pay another 500 dollars (total 2000). Then insurance pays all expenses.

Photo instagram.com/ffairlady

That is, the idea is that if something terrible happens, then insurance will already be used. And the list of covered items is often much wider than the Russian one — it also includes glasses, drugs, and so on. The doctor to whom we go, costs 60-90 dollars, which in terms of exchange rate is quite similar to the Moscow price tag. The doctor at the house can not be called, but the ambulance will arrive at lightning speed.

Medicine, on average, is much higher than in Moscow. I am proud of the unique Russian doctors, of which there are only a few for the whole world, but, unfortunately, they are inaccessible to most people. Here mass medicine is of higher quality.

Products

This is also really expensive. Why do people eat fast food - because it is cheap. Normal food is expensive. All these pictures are from the Internet, where tomatoes are converted to 15 rubles, and potatoes by 10, can refer to a deep province, but not to New York.

Examples - milk 4-5 dollars per half gallon (2 liters), apples 4-6 dollars per kilogram (you can now buy excellent local for 2 dollars), tomatoes 2-4 dollars per kilogram, eggs - 3-5 dollars for a dozen, potatoes 1,4 dollars per kilogram. Yogurts - 1-2 dollars apiece, in large banks, respectively, cheaper.

Fish is expensive 16-60 dollars per kilogram - depending on the variety. The main shock is cereal. A package of oatmeal or buckwheat (900 grams) will cost about 7-9 dollars. All these prices are from our local store, such a “lack of knowledge of taste”. Whole Foods is a bit more expensive, but the idea is clear. Worthy wine - 10-20 dollars.

What is cheap in comparison in Moscow is mango and avocado. Mango is about a dollar apiece, avocados too. And unlike Moscow, they will be ripe and tasty.

Petrol

2,4 dollars per gallon (0,6 dollars per liter) is cheap for any conversion. Car wash - 10 dollars. Parking: in Brooklyn about 300 dollars per month, in Manhattan - times more expensive in 2. For an hour in the parking lot, you can give 10-15-30 dollars, but on the streets it is about 3 dollars per hour, and for many people it is free, including in the center.

Restaurants

Prices are about Moscow. A bottle of good wine - 40-50 dollars, snack or salad - 10-15, hot - 20-30, dessert - 8-10, coffee - 4-5. Plus a tax and a tip (this is also 25 percent to the bill).

Total for each hike leave for two 150 dollars. In the summer and in the winter, there are restaurant weeks when lunch costs 30 dollars, dinner is 42. But then again, there are lots of cheaper places where you’ll fit in 100 and less dollars.

Photo instagram.com/ffairlady

Utilities

Here, too, the price tag on them beyond, and with this you just have to accept and take into account. Internet - from 50 dollars per month (in Moscow - 350 rubles), 100 M / bit and cable TV with steep channels will cost dollars in 150. Electricity - 60-80 dollars per month (in Moscow it was about 600 rubles). But everything else is included in the rent. Cellular prices are about 40 dollars per month, these are 3-4 GB Internet, unlimited calls, unlimited SMS.

Taxi

About a dollar per kilometer. Plus or minus promotions that Uber, Lyft and others regularly hold. Metro - 2,75 dollars per trip, with the purchase of a travel card a bit cheaper, on 10.

Free New York

There is a huge amount of free stuff in New York, and the quality is amazing. For example, in some museums (including the largest Met and Natural History) the entrance is “pay what you wish” - that is, pay as much as you want. Some are free, for example, Tuesday evening or Saturday morning.

In the zoo, botanical gardens once or twice a week free admission. The New York Public Library is just a lot of resources, including free career workshops, and they are led by very cool people who are just doing volunteering in this way.

Language

There are a lot of Russians and Ukrainians here, and this is not only the Brighton Beach option, but mostly those who come to study, work and so on. We are surrounded by a bunch of smart, interesting people working in all sorts of Google and Facebook, investment banks with an MBA and MGIMO behind them. In most hotels, restaurants and clinics you will find Russian-speaking staff. Our doctors speak Russian and are very qualified.

Communication

Americans in general and New Yorkers in particular are very open and friendly, they immediately make contact, so it’s very easy to make some acquaintances here - standing in line, sitting at the bar. Russians, by their nature, are more closed-this also infects here and also becomes more open and friendly. You can quite unexpectedly get acquainted with incredible people, networking here is a very ordinary thing.

Beauty

There is everything. All price levels, all options of departures. It is true that in a standard nail shop you will be done everything quickly in 20 minutes and will not massage every leg. But. In the salon next to the house, where at lunch manicure and pedicure cost 22 dollars I didn’t even find something to complain about.

Yes, the decor is more like a haberdashery shop from the 90's. Yes, fast. But they did everything at the same time with high quality, and a minute shoulder massage at the end is generally a bomb.

Husband cuts hair at a barbershop for 15 dollars. All new trends come to Moscow either from here, or from London and Paris, so it’s rash to say that everything is bad here. Search and find.

Background

We traveled a lot around the world, and we were always interested to see who lives where and how to delve into the local customs. Here the people are very diverse, all with their own interests, which they are ready to share. And among Americans, and among Englishmen, Italians, French, Chinese, Indonesians, South Africans, there are often those with whom your interests coincide, if you are a versatile person.

So it is more dependent on you - if you have a broad outlook, if you are aware of what is happening in the world, then you will find something to talk about.

culture

There is always some kind of movement. Free festivals and concerts in parks (so that the level was clear, this summer we were at a performance in the park where the New York Philharmonic Orchestra played, the soloists of the Metropolitan Opera sang, astronaut and astrophysicist, and showed virtual reality).

On weekends we went to Baryshnikov for 30 dollars. Many concerts range from 30 to 60 dollars, but, of course, you can find tickets for both 100 and 300. This is especially true of the popular Broadway shows such as Hamilton, for which speculators offer tickets for 2000 dollars. Again, there are TKTS booths, where you can buy tickets with 50% discount today or tomorrow.

Photo instagram.com/ffairlady

Of the other advantages:

  • Great post. Not only DHL, UPS, but also USPS is an analogue of our “Russian Post” and so far, unfortunately, the level of quality that is completely unattainable for it. Parcel from California, if desired, can be obtained in one or two days.
  • Weather. Most of the time here is warm and sunny. This is not something that can be influenced, but it is a very big deal.
  • You can buy everything. Anything anywhere is probably sold here. Many refused to deliver things to Russia and they had to look for ways to bring them — or buy them abroad.
  • The proximity of the mountains (Vermont) and the ocean, plenty of opportunities for weekend trips. The province is very well maintained with an established infrastructure.
  • Chic universities in the area and in the city itself. Columbia, NYU, Princeton, Yale, Wharton - all these world names are either right here or within a three-hour drive.
  • Variety of food. Gluten-free, paleo, vegan and vegetarian, raw food, Ayurvedic products can be found in a large assortment, as well as the corresponding cafe-restaurants.
  • Authentic eating places. The French keep French restaurants, Thai - Thai, and so on. You would like Greek, Kazakh, Indian, Kenyan cuisine - everything is there.
  • If you bought the item at the store, and it went down in value, you can request a refund of the difference.
  • Charity is very developed at all levels. Companies sponsor events, people offer their services for free and so on.
  • Ecology is much better than Moscow (ocean and winds).
  • Target, Trader Joe, Victoria's Secret, Amazon. Excellent quality, reasonable prices.
  • The city is very friendly towards people with disabilities, everywhere there are elevators in the subway, ramps, taxis adapted for people with disabilities.
  • Recycle, recycling. We were very easily drawn into it and now I am already bored, when in Russia it is necessary to throw glass, plastic and paper into an ordinary bucket.

So that it does not seem that we are here in endless euphoria, a few things that we don’t like:

  • Absolutely uncultured drivers, especially yellow taxis.
  • Loot on the part of pedestrians, there is even a jaywalking term when people cross the road, where they want and when they like.
  • Ugly subway. But - functional. In the summer on the platform hell, in the car hellish cold.
  • Rubbish on the streets. As just wallowing, and folded heaps for cleaning. Rats - a consequence of this. Unaesthetic, but not fatal.
  • The commitment of local servants of the law to "procedures" from which they will never back down. It sometimes drives me into a stupor, especially if there is no logic in the procedure.
  • Queues, sometimes endless, because there are many non-poor people who are eager to be in trend. Moving, however, quickly.
  • Tax is not included in the price. Ahhh, this is really very annoying. But. Clothing up to 100 dollars is not taxed.
  • Cinemas are old, tickets are expensive (10-15 dollars) and without seats.
  • You can not buy lenses, glasses and many medicines without a prescription.
  • Toilet paper. Do not laugh, it is very strange, regardless of the manufacturer.
  • A bunch of fees for different services. Probably, this is due to local laws, but when you buy a ticket, for example, the top of the price will show you another service charge, room charge, charity fee, and so on. Or in the Internet bill, which is formally 100 dollars, 20 types of different fees are also present, plus tax - and in the end, 50 percent. It would be better to show the result immediately and not fool the people.
  • Bad airports, disgusting airlines with extortions for absolutely everything, regular flights transfers (this, of course, is provoked by the weather, but this does not make it any easier).
  • If there is a hurricane, it is scary, and the probability of this is higher here than in Moscow.
  • Cash checks. It’s not that it bothered us to live, but this is some kind of direct Middle Ages. And here they are used.
  • Fahrenheit, pounds, miles. Well, this is our personal claim, because we are not comfortable translating.

Overall

After almost a year of living, our opinion was more or less formed. Of course, it’s not perfect here, it’s messy and uncooked in some places, but it works here. Definitely living in a foreign country takes you to a new level, it is an absolutely invaluable experience.

The possibilities here are just a lot. People when they meet with you, they will smile or say hello. There are afraid to infringe on your rights, and you can demand their observance. Independent media can afford almost anything, and they will not close. Architecture protect and cherish.

New York everyone has their own. For some, these are endless embankments and morning runs, and coffee from cups, and blogger parties, for someone - jazz in a secret apartment in Harlem, pre-performances, meetings with actors. Someone feeds the homeless or plays the accordion in the subway, someone eats breakfast in the Plaza or opens the treasured box with limited shoes first. Someone complains that they have to rearrange the car, because “again they are shooting a blockbuster,” but they secretly run to look at the actors.

The options are infinite. If a person is uncomfortable in this city, it means that he simply did not find his place or his other half. But if you are open to a new experience and take it with interest, New York will also open to you with your best sides. Therefore, reading other people's opinions, do not forget that the main privilege is the opportunity to make one's own.

Read also on ForumDaily:

How to come to New York without knowledge of English and build a career in four years and live in Manhattan

Life in New York after winning a green card: why everything is good and why we want to leave

'Enough five minutes to fall in love with this city': Ukrainian told how to become local in New York

Life in America: what can and cannot be saved?

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