Roberta's place is the most proximate place to Manhattan outside of Manhattan. It's only four short stops on the N or W subway lines. Roberta was pretty chill and kept to her own schedule, leaving the flat pretty unoccupied throughout my stay. The room was spotless, quiet and private. There's backyard available for people to smoke, drink, barbecue, or workout. Meanwhile, Astoria is a multi-ethnic location with tons of Greek, Mexican, Hispanic, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean restaurants and bakeries as well as sports bars, and services (telecoms, laundry, specialty foods, etc).