Meet Hope. She works in Human Resources and recently spent several months living in New York while working remotely, exploring the city, and living at SharedEasy.
“I keep saying I live in New York, but it’s more accurate to say New York keeps pulling me back. Three years on and off will do that to a city.
This year has been the longest stretch: four months, working remotely in HR, no rush-hour commute, no office to go to. Just meetings on my laptop, coffee from the kitchen downstairs, a chat with whoever is around, and then around 5pm I close the computer and go find out what the city is doing that evening.
That rhythm took me a while to figure out. It sounds simple written down. In practice, it took getting the living situation right first.”
The part nobody tells you about renting in New York
“New York is expensive. That’s the thing people say, and it’s true, but the part that catches you off guard is not just the cost. It’s the process.
A traditional apartment here wants proof that your salary is 40 to 45 times the monthly rent. It wants a US credit history. It wants a guarantor if you’re coming from another country. It wants you to wait through a list. And after all of that, you might not even get approved.
I didn’t want to go through any of that. I wanted to book a flight, come, pay a deposit, and have a room waiting for me. No vetting, no pre-approval, no back and forth with a landlord I’ve never met.
SharedEasy works like that. You see the apartment on a virtual tour before you even land. You know what you’re coming to. And when you get here, the room is ready.”
What living here actually feels like
“I was skeptical about shared housing before I tried it. I thought it would feel like always having people around, like you could never be alone in your own space.
It doesn’t feel like that. The common spaces are not always occupied. Some days the kitchen is busy and social. Some days it’s quiet. You choose what you want from it.
And then there are the parties. Free food, good company, people from different places. Those nights are genuinely good, the kind where you end up talking to someone until late without planning to.
But outside of that, you have your room. Your space. The AC works. It’s comfortable. That part matters more than people think when you’re choosing where to live.”
On being close to the subway
“If I could tell someone one practical thing before they move to New York, it would be this: make sure you can walk to the subway.
That sounds obvious. But it changes everything when you’re new to the city. When you get off the train at midnight and you’re tired, you want to be two blocks from your front door. Not two blocks to another train. Not a bus after the train. Just two blocks and you’re home.
SharedEasy puts you there. The building I’m in, I walk out, turn the corner, and I’m at the stop. That’s the whole commute.”
Which part of the city
“I’ve lived in different parts of New York over the years, and I think people spend too much time deciding between Manhattan and Brooklyn like it’s a permanent choice. It’s not. SharedEasy has places in both, and in Queens too. You can try the neighborhood you’ve always wanted to try. If it’s not right, there’s another option.”
New York is not one city. It’s a lot of neighborhoods that happen to share a subway map.
▶ Watch Hope’s full video below.
SharedEasy offers fully furnished private rooms in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, with all-inclusive pricing, no broker fees, no SSN required, and flexible leases starting at 30 days. View available rooms at sharedeasy.club.
