Roommate Finder in Battery Park City, Manhattan, NY

Questions fréquemment posées

• How many people are looking for roommates in Battery Park City right now?

  10282, the three-block strip around North End Avenue, has ranked as the most expensive ZIP code for renters in the country three years running, averaging near $6,211 a month. At that level, sharing stops being a student phase and becomes how salaried people in their late twenties and thirties live here, which is why the roommate finder is busier in this district than its small population suggests. 43 people currently have active roommate searches covering Battery Park City on Roomster, spread from the Battery Place blocks at the south end up through Rector Place, Gateway Plaza and the North Neighborhood. Only about 17,000 people live in the whole district, so the pool is tight and worth checking often.

• What do roommates in Battery Park City typically pay to split?

  Splitting a district two-bedroom at roughly $7,793 to $8,368 puts each person near $4,000, against $5,536 to $6,516 for a one-bedroom on your own, so pairing up saves somewhere between $1,500 and $2,500 every month. The levers that actually move your share here are the building's age and the line it faces, not the borough. Keeping to Gateway Plaza or the older Rector Place and Battery Place buildings, and accepting an interior or courtyard-facing bedroom instead of a Hudson view, is what brings a share down toward $2,500. Going the other way - a high floor in the North Neighborhood with an open harbor outlook - can add a thousand dollars a head for a view you will mostly see from the Esplanade anyway.

• Who is actually looking for roommates in Battery Park City?

  A working crowd rather than a student one. Expect people employed at Brookfield Place, at Goldman Sachs on 200 West Street and across the Financial District on the far side of West Street, plus New Jersey commuters who chose the district specifically for the PATH connection and the Brookfield Place ferry. There is also a steady family layer that most Manhattan neighborhoods this expensive do not have, anchored by PS 89, PS 276 and IS 289, with Stuyvesant High School at 345 Chambers Street drawing students from across the five boroughs by exam rather than by zone. Borough of Manhattan Community College sits just north on Chambers Street, so a smaller share of searchers are students after a cheap room within walking distance.

• Is Roomster a good roommate finder if I work at Brookfield Place or 200 West Street?

  It fits this district better than a borough-wide search does, because the commute people care about here is counted in minutes on foot. Someone living on North End Avenue is a covered walk from the Winter Garden; someone on Battery Place is twenty minutes further south and closer to the 4 and 5 at Wall Street. Filter on the sub-area and on schedule rather than on price alone, since a trading-desk start before dawn and a job running on West Coast hours make very different housemates in a shared two-bedroom. Roomster profiles carry budget, move-in date, lease length, work schedule, pets and smoking, and once your own profile is validated by email and phone you can message someone for free to make contact.

• Which parts of Battery Park City are best for finding a roommate?

  The district splits cleanly in three, and each end suits a different search. Gateway Plaza generates the most roommate activity because it holds the largest block of rental apartments in Battery Park City. Rector Place and Battery Place to the south are quieter and closer to Wagner Park, South Cove and the Staten Island Ferry terminal, and tend to price a little below the rest. The North Neighborhood along North End Avenue reads more like Tribeca than Battery Park City, sits closest to the Chambers Street trains, and costs the most. If your search is really about a short walk to Brookfield Place, concentrate on the middle of the district rather than either end.

• How do I know a Battery Park City roommate profile is trustworthy?

  It matters here because a lot of people arrive for a finance or law transfer without ever having seen the apartment, sometimes from another country. Roomster's ID and address checks are free and optional, and each one a member completes shows on their profile, so you can favor the profiles that have finished them. One check specific to this district: confirm the person is actually on the lease or has the leaseholder's agreement, because a doorman building will not issue you a fob otherwise, and a sublet in a building of four or more apartments needs written landlord consent under the state sublet statute, RPL 226-b. Message through Roomster, meet on video before you commit, and never send a deposit to someone you have not met.