Still Gotta Pay To Live in Manhattan

Rents these days! For all this chatter about a recession, it’s still awfully expensive to live in Manhattan.

Taking a quick gander at the average rents for Manhattan neighborhoods in Citi Habitats’ October rental report, two things become abundantly clear: Most people can’t afford to live in Soho/Tribeca and all spendthrift renters need to move up to Harlem.

There, you can live still live in a studio and pay less than $1,200 a month. The Lower East Side is the cheapest place to rent a studio south of 110th Street, but even that will set you back just over $1,600 a month.

With studio rents at $2,400 a month and one-bedroom apartments at $3,653, Soho/Tribeca tops out as the island’s most expensive enclave, although the West Village and Chelsea aren’t far behind.