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Sunnyside the place where transplants go to live to the place next to the place next to the place
that they originally wanted to live in it's no lie that Manhattan rent is astronomical a one bedroom
can cost almost as much as the median salary in the United States so when those moving to New York
cannot afford the Manhattan rent especially in this area they either go further north into Upper
Manhattan or the Bronx or cross over the river into queens or Brooklyn but apparently expensive
is contagious the closer you are to Manhattan the more expensive rent will be so those transplants
that cannot afford to live in the borough of their dreams or the place next to it they try to place
next to the place next to the place and today we are going to talk about one of those places
welcome to Sunnyside and welcome to Urban caffeine my name is Thea and you're watching a Channel
That's All Things New York City specifically it's neighborhoods and public transit and if
you like this video make sure to hit that like button so that YouTube knows to share
it Sunnyside is a neighborhood in Queens it's bounded by Astoria Long Island City Zombieland
Zombieland and Woodside as I said in my other Neighborhood videos these boundaries of New
York are cultural boundaries that shift over time some neighborhoods in New York City have
boundaries that are clearly defined and some are open for interpretation as a side note I
talked about Long Island City and Woodside in previous videos check those out in the
description if you haven't already and if you want to learn more about cemeteries in Queens I
touch a little bit on that on the Woodside video approaching the station please stand away Edge
while there are major roads that run along and through Sunnyside it also has access to the 7
train and not too far away is the Long Island Railroad in neighboring Woodside which is a long
distance commuter rail in New York there are also local buses Express buses and city bikes
although it has just one subway line the seven can easily take you to Queensborough Court Square
Grand Central Bryant Park and Times Square with the 7 train you can easily transfer to almost
all the other Subway Lines so if you live in Sunnyside you can get to most places with just
one Subway transfer however it's important to note that the stations at Sunnyside are local
stops how it goes is along the seven route there are two trains a local train and an Express train
distinguishable by either a circle or a diamond the local train will stop at all stations along
the seven line in both directions 24 hours a day during rush hour the express train will supplement
the local train in the direction of rush hour traffic skipping some stations for example in
the mornings the direction of rush hour traffic will be towards Manhattan so there will be both a
local and express 7 going this direction and just a local train going the opposite direction the
Express 7 will skip these local stations this is to speed up the commute of people that are mostly
heading into Manhattan so if you're traveling the direction of rush hour traffic and need to stop
somewhere in Sunnyside be careful that you don't hop on in an Express train otherwise you'll skip
Sunnyside altogether the problem when you live in a local stop is that you're forced to take
a local train if you live deeper in Queens your commute could be pretty slow with a local train
if you're stopping at all the stops you have the option of transferring to an Express train once
you get to an Express Station so you can skip the rest of the local stops or you can stay on
your local train and endure a slower commute in Sonny's side it doesn't matter that much if
you get on a local train just because there are not a lot of local stops coming up after it but
it can be annoying when you accidentally get to an Express train going home from Manhattan
and not realize it until you skip your stop in Sunnyside all together so something to
consider and this is something to keep in mind when you're looking for a place to live sure
that place might have a subway station nearby but service changes during rush hour might affect you
thank you as far as layout goes many businesses will logically be near public
transit with some small businesses scattered throughout but the majority of Sunnyside is
residential and we're not talking super tall buildings like in Manhattan homes and
Sunnyside are mostly pre-war Apartments multi-family and single-family homes
and 10-minute walks will look like this people can easily walk to get food
and other everyday needs
this makes Sunnyside a Walker's Paradise according to walkscore.com
despite being small sunny side is very Community centered with schools libraries parks and
playgrounds community and cultural centers and a farmer's market that's open all year round about
the parks though a well-known Park is Sunnyside Gardens in the northern part of Sunnyside which
is part of a historic district however it's a private one accessible only to those living in
its District sometimes they do offer memberships to those that don't live in this area but it's
extremely limited as far as private Parks go New York City has two of them Gramercy Park in
Manhattan is accessible only to those living in its defined area and it's the same with Sunnyside
Gardens this particular Park is only accessible to people living in its defined historic district but
not only do you have to be a resident of this area you also have to pay a membership and accomplish
some volunteer hours like I said they do offer memberships to those that do not live in this area
the amount of memberships they offer the dependent on how many of the regular members they get that
year and not only that it's a lottery so what's so special about this park well it has tennis courts
a playground soccer and baseball fields basketball courts and more I think that peel is exclusivity
you're not competing with people for courts and everybody going to the park is vetted for but I
wouldn't know I'm not cool enough to be a private Garden member but Sunnyside Gardens isn't the
only recreational Green Space in Sunnyside there are other parks that don't require memberships
and don't forget there are also the cemeteries the original public park like I said in my Woodside
video before public parks was a thing cemeteries were the only place that people had to find some
peace and quiet and it's still an option today and regarding that farmers market I have to admit
the Sunnyside Farmers Market is not that large and during the cold season it's Slim Pickens
it's not as impressive as say the Union Square Farmers Market but having a farmer's market in
any neighborhood is great because its access to local and fresh produce and farmers markets at
least in New York City accept Snap credits or what others call food stamps speaking of food Sunnyside
is very diverse when it comes to food and culture here you can find Colombian food Italian
paraguayan Mexican Romanian Peruvian Bolivian Salvadoran and many more Sunnyside even has its
own restaurant week that's been going on for over a decade now what happens during this week is that
restaurants offer a three-course prefixed meal for 35 dollars it's similar to the restaurant Week in
Manhattan but within Sunnyside I think it's the diverse community and diverse food options that's
most attractive about Sunnyside it's walkable it has public transit and even though it only has
one subway line it still has all your daily basic needs within walking distance sure it
doesn't have a waterfront like LIC in Brooklyn but it's a peaceful community not to mention diverse
and one thing about this Waterfront yes it does not get a lot of tourists that are not from New
York but it does get a lot of local tourists these are people that live deeper into queens
and drive into Long Island City to spend a day at the waterfront on the weekends and it can
get really packed on a nice day and throughout the summer in Sunnyside it's going to be more peaceful
there are a lot of places like Sunnyside that are walkable meaning you don't have
to travel far and you can walk to the grocery store the gym public transit
and other things that you need day in and day out
Manhattan is easy to get to but you're far away enough not to be bombarded with tourists basically
you get Manhattan access without the super high Manhattan rent if you compare rent in Sunnyside to
rent in other parts of the United States yes it's going to look freakishly expensive but relatively
speaking for New York City it's more affordable than say Greenwich Dumbo or Long Island City
if you're looking for walkability diversity and public transit Sunnyside is a good place to start
if you live in a place like Sunnyside comment down below I would love to hear about other walkable
communities whether it's in New York or not and if you do live in Sunnyside comment your favorite
restaurant I know you all eat well and you all must be wondering who are all these people on
the side here these folks are patreon members who have access to all my extra content if you want to
support this channel while gaining access to extra videos check out patreon.com Urban caffeine thank
you to all patrons until next time thank you all so much for watching and happy new yorking