I had a blast staying at Ellen's place! First, it's in a lovely old pre-war building with charming original features (the lobby is amazing), and the apartment itself was cozy and clean with original wood inlaid floors. As a female travelling alone, and never being in NY before, I was at first skeptical about the safety of the neighbourhood. It turned out to be absolutely fine with lots of families, schools etc. I came back from exploring Manhattan quite late at night several times and did not have any problems. The subway station is only a 5-10 minute walk away, as well as the bus routes. I would not hang around Jamaica Ave after dark for very long, but the rest of the streets are very quiet and your typical middle class neighbourhood. If you are travelling alone like me, just be aware of your surroundings, walk quickly and you'll be fine. Some nights I did not get home until well after midnight. Jamaica Ave has all your needs, including groceries, pharmacies etc, and my favourite grocery store (Trader Joe's) is only a short bus ride away, including Queens Center Mall. The subway gets you to Manhattan and all your sight seeing locations - if you miss your train, another will be along shortly! I had some issues getting to the apartment from Laguardia via bus, then train (I ended up on an express train as it was around rush hour), and the train went quite a few stations past my desired stop, but it was easy to catch a train back to where I needed to go. Ellen was very accommodating and waited a bit longer for me to check in. Overall I would definitely recommend staying here if you don't mind spending a bit of time travelling into Manhattan - there are actually some nice views on the J train! Also, as an interesting side note about the area - Mae West lived in a house right around the corner from the apartment (there is a plaque outside the building). She is buried in a location a short bus ride away as well as Houdini and some other celebrities if you're interested in that sort of thing. For value, you can't beat having an entire apartment to yourself and feeling like you actually live in NY!