<p>Wish I had some better advice to offer, but I wanted to comment on a couple of areas commutable to Columbia that may turn up some leads. One would be Riverdale, which technically is in the Bronx but is right across the Harlem River from Manhattan, and commuting might be easier, the other neighbrhood might be marble hill which is in the same general neck of the woods. </p>
<p>I also would suggest you may want to try Inwood, which is basically on the hudson river just north of the George Washington Bridge (it runs from roughly 180-207th street). A lot of musicians live in that area, and it might be easier to rent something there because landlords and such are used to musicians and music students living there. I can’t speak to what rents are like, but it is a pretty nice area and is within commuting range of columbia. </p>
<p>I am sorry this is so difficult, NYC can be a tough place, especially after so many years of an influx of yuppies have made finding a decent, affordable place hard. I would guess that Columbia’s department of housing was no help, I would figure they would be the first place you checked. </p>
<p>One other goofball suggestion, have you tried any of the musician websites, like maybe the one for the musicians union in NYC? Might be a source of leads, since musicians, given the nature of their existence, can have problems with apartments given the varying nature of their income streams.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your help, I’m looking into all your suggestions.</p>
<p>musicprnt - Inwood has been my main focus for the last couple of weeks - it looks perfect, and an easy commute to Juilliard. Fingers crossed something turns up!</p>
<p>Look up the 92nd street Y, and then contact them. They have listings of Y’s and rooms in residence hotels that you could look into, to start. Affordable and temporary, and you just pay by the week or month. Some of them are quite nice.</p>
<p>Sorry to bump this up again, but just wanted to let you know the good news:</p>
<p>I found a 2 month sublet that I can move into when we arrive and look for longer term rentals. A German lady with a 2 year old read one of my pleas on a parenting network and took pity on me, and commiserated on how hard it is to rent in NYC without a US guarantor (apparently even paying the entire 12 months rent up front isn’t enough to convince them I can afford it).</p>
<p>Now that you’ve bought yourself some time, perhaps something perfect will fall into your lap once you get there. I am concerned about the problem you are having with a guarantor. One of my son’s roommates couldn’t come up with a guarantor, but S and the 3rd roommate were enough. But you aren’t planning on having roommates, right? I am hoping you will find someone’s basement, attic, or garage apartment and avoid going through realtors. Not too many basements, attics, or garages in NYC, though.</p>
<p>Binx - Yes, I’m worried about the whole US guarantor thing too… I guess I’m hoping to rent directly from owner, as I think in that case paying the whole 12 months rent up front would prove that I don’t need a guarantor (who is really there to guarantee this rent is paid, right?). In any case at least after a few months in the US I should have a US bank account, SS number and cell phone number, which are apparently the other reasons no property managers will look at my applications. But I agree - it’s still not going to be easy.</p>