We rented the second floor apartment. Having not lived in New York before, we can't really speak to the conditions relative to everyone else. However, it was a 15 minute walk from the subway and there was a bus stop down the block. The apartment itself was very cute. Many fake flowers adorned vases, the curtains were adorable and the kitchen was furnished for our purposes (cooking light breakfast). The bathroom door didn't lock completely, which wasn't an issue for us, but could be for others. There were also a few stains on the walls, but none significant enough to cause concerns, just mild confusion. The walls do seem to be pretty thin though, we heard people talking from outside, the automobiles going by pretty well from the inside.