I stayed at Antoine's place while visiting New York to give a presentation nearby. The proximity to the event was perfect and I found getting around by subway to be easy. Getting to the place from the airport is very straightforward – just 2 trains a little bit of walking.
If you've never been the New York and want more of a touristic experience, you might want to stay somewhere a little closer to the sights. If you know where you're going and just need a place to rest your head and keep your things, like I did, it's pretty ideal.
Antoine was out of town while I stayed there, but he helped coordinate with his roommates so I could get a key. I flew in very early, around 5:30am (!!) so it was extremely appreciated. His roommates were kind and friendly, but I honestly never ran into them again after the first day. The home is quiet, reasonably clean and it seems like people mostly come back to rest between the things — kind of like I was doing!
The room itself doesn't seem to lock, which seems worth a mention. I could be wrong about this, but none of my keys seemed to work (Feel free to correct me Antoine, if I'm wrong on that) but I was never concerned about safety. The building felt secure and his roommates were kind and seemed trustworthy, like I said.
All in all, the price and location are pretty fantastic for this town. If I have to go back to New York for a conference or other work I'd consider it again.