Ta workers who commute from out of nyc (covers upstate ny and nj)

[SubwayGuy]

Also dollars go further than you guys are giving credit for, but the key is you need to not have kids, major bills, or debt.

 

At one point in my life when I was making 50K I was able to afford a $1500 rent. I still was able to put a little money away (thought not as much as I would have liked at that time in my life), pay all my bills, and have enough left for fun. Of course, at that time I didn't have a car or any major bills, so rent was the main expense, plus utilities, and some spending money. That was a choice I made at that particular time in my life that I wouldn't make now (even though I do far better than 50K at TA), but I'm using as an example to illustrate that you can stretch a dollar pretty far if you cut out unnecessary spending.

 

Breed, I don't remember what title you're going into, but as a conductor you will probably do close to 50K in your first full year, maybe more. As a Train Operator you will do closer to 70K. And all of these figures are pretty much without any voluntary overtime, this is just with the overtime you will be required to work by the crew office who assigns your jobs (therefore it doesn't include you offering to stay late beyond what is asked of you, or you choosing to work on your day off at time and a half). So there is potential to make more than these numbers, they're just an approximation of what to expect.

 

At 50K you should be able to comfortably afford rent of up to $1200. In the neighborhoods I listed, you can find studios and small one bedrooms for that price range (assuming you're living by yourself, no wife/girlfriend/roommate situations - obviously if anyone is splitting the rent with you it helps a little although your space needs might increase because of it). You will have to look for those gems, and they might not be quite as big as you might hope, or might have other inconveniences like being in a walkup. $850 will not get you much anywhere in NYC - there seems to be a certain cachet to the 1000 figure - unless you start looking in bad areas. Plenty of $650 one bedrooms in Brownsville! But you probably don't want to live there...

[BreeddekalbL]

Don't overestimate your ability to deal with a heavy commute. This job is time consuming and many days you will go home from work tired. It's easy to underestimate that. You will have days you work 11, 12, even sometimes close to 14 hours. You will have a 12 hour day on the heels of an 11 hour day where you only had 10 hours and 1 minute between jobs. It has happened to us all at some point, it will happen to you at some point. In fact, it used to be worse. Just remember that lots of TA people have gotten in car accidents coming home from work, and people have had incidents at work leading to suspensions and even losing their jobs due to their commute leaving them fatigued. Just full disclosure.

 

When you're new, I still do highly recommend living somewhere that you can get to a subway in case there's 3 feet of snow on the ground, it can and will happen again someday and you can't always count on buses to be running...and TA will not care one bit if the service that isn't running due to weather isn't theirs...so in other words, those days you would definitely have to drive.

 

But you can't drive all the time - If you have to habitually drive into work every day, for example, you will get burned when you are told to report to, say, 145 St. in Manhattan on the B line to be on the board, and pick up a job that finishes 12 hours later at Coney Island Yard. Now you have to add an hour plus train ride back to 145 St. to get your car onto your existing commute.

 

The flexibility to either drive or not drive depending on where you're assigned that day, or what kind of assignment you have, is great, and IMO you can really only get that in the 5 boroughs. Some people never live in the city when they work here, just be prepared for it to be worse than you think right now if that's the choice you make. If you're OK with that, then rock on.

I actually agree my price range is gonna push me to NJ, and regarding bills water if Im not mistaken is quarterly  and i don't intend on driving though im pretty used to the commuter flow  though said i value my sanity, which i only do sometimes  and regarding the new employee part i have a contingency in place of staying with either of the2 relatives by the train if there is 3 feet of snow.

Also dollars go further than you guys are giving credit for, but the key is you need to not have kids, major bills, or debt.

 

At one point in my life when I was making 50K I was able to afford a $1500 rent. I still was able to put a little money away (thought not as much as I would have liked at that time in my life), pay all my bills, and have enough left for fun. Of course, at that time I didn't have a car or any major bills, so rent was the main expense, plus utilities, and some spending money. That was a choice I made at that particular time in my life that I wouldn't make now (even though I do far better than 50K at TA), but I'm using as an example to illustrate that you can stretch a dollar pretty far if you cut out unnecessary spending.

 

Breed, I don't remember what title you're going into, but as a conductor you will probably do close to 50K in your first full year, maybe more. As a Train Operator you will do closer to 70K. And all of these figures are pretty much without any voluntary overtime, this is just with the overtime you will be required to work by the crew office who assigns your jobs (therefore it doesn't include you offering to stay late beyond what is asked of you, or you choosing to work on your day off at time and a half). So there is potential to make more than these numbers, they're just an approximation of what to expect.

 

At 50K you should be able to comfortably afford rent of up to $1200. In the neighborhoods I listed, you can find studios and small one bedrooms for that price range (assuming you're living by yourself, no wife/girlfriend/roommate situations - obviously if anyone is splitting the rent with you it helps a little although your space needs might increase because of it). You will have to look for those gems, and they might not be quite as big as you might hope, or might have other inconveniences like being in a walkup. $850 will not get you much anywhere in NYC - there seems to be a certain cachet to the 1000 figure - unless you start looking in bad areas. Plenty of $650 one bedrooms in Brownsville! But you probably don't want to live there...

I agree im trying to avoid brownsville and iffy areas.  and we talked about my price range pushing me to nj. 

Agreed on all of that.

 

I left Bay Ridge out due to price and parking, and that area is becoming "trendy" as well particularly around the 86th St. area. The other thing about Bay Ridge is if you live there and plan on commuting to work via train, the R is not the best way to do it because of the unpredictability of the service on the overnights since they are constantly doing work on 4th Avenue and it limits the service. Also the extra transfer from the N to the R shuttle during hours the R is not running full length adds a significant amount of time to any commute. If I lived there, I definitely would not want to deal with the R shuttle...AT ALL. So that means driving, and that means dealing with parking. IMO you'd do better elsewhere in Brooklyn, plus other areas are easier to get to Stillwell where there's more jobs anyway. Because of the way RTO terminals are districted, for example, lots of people who live in Bay Ridge can't reasonably pick to work there since they can't get 5 days. So it becomes 2-3 days at Bay Ridge, and the rest of the week far away in Queens.

 

 

and i don't intend on living by the R since it's service is checkered  my 2 relatives are near by the N and the D, and i found something on 86th street in bennsonhurst through a Realtor for 770 a month a studio (which is shocking). also since i read that this job for those who are new your wont get weekends off for a few years...  when did you get your first weekends off subway guy?

[SubwayGuy]

I actually agree my price range is gonna push me to NJ, and regarding bills water if Im not mistaken is quarterly  and i don't intend on driving though im pretty used to the commuter flow  though said i value my sanity, which i only do sometimes  and regarding the new employee part i have a contingency in place of staying with either of the2 relatives by the train if there is 3 feet of snow.

I agree im trying to avoid brownsville and iffy areas.  and we talked about my price range pushing me to nj. 

 

and i don't intend on living by the R since it's service is checkered  my 2 relatives are near by the N and the D, and i found something on 86th street in bennsonhurst through a Realtor for 770 a month a studio (which is shocking). also since i read that this job for those who are new your wont get weekends off for a few years...  when did you get your first weekends off subway guy?

 

It's hard to predict when a new employee will pick a job for the first time, get weekends off, be able to pick a yard job, etc. It changes with every pick. Days off also depend on what division and district you pick into, as you might be able to get certain days off by picking in one district, but cannot get those same days off in another.

 

When you are new, you may well "luck" into weekends off if the crew office decides to carry you extra extra with weekends off. You will have the opportunity to submit a wish list and the crew office just might honor it. However, the downside is, even though you may luck into weekends off for the entirety of your time extra extra, you won't know that you'll be weekends off for more than a week at a time since your days off and tour of duty are subject to change each week. So you can't plan things out in advance easily. But one good thing is that you will be weekends off for the duration of training, so you'll have time to get settled, and a little bit of time to make plans on weekends during training to get ready for life as extra extra that follows. However, what you heard is correct for once you are able to pick a job - you will not be able to pick weekends off for quite some time.

 

As a general rule, summer picks are better than winter picks. This is because more people who don't have the seniority to get weekends off pick vacation relief in the summer so they can bid on jobs with Fri-Sat, Sun-Sat, or Sun-Mon days off...as the people who pick vacation in the summer are senior, they generally have better days off. Compared with the winter, which is generally lower seniority people on vacation with less good days off, and the senior people that do pick winter vacation, their jobs are usually bidded by the senior vacation relief people who habitually pick it. The influx of people to vacation relief for these reasons in summer means more jobs and day off slots open for everyone that doesn't do this.

 

Days off: If you want to work the AM tour (jobs that begin between 0400 and 1159), you will have the longest wait for good days off, holidays off, and good jobs. This is because most people value having somewhat normal hours, hence a longer wait to climb up the ranks in that pile. PMs or Midnights, your seniority will always buy you more. Also, if you are in the A Division (number trains) your seniority buys you more than it does in the B Division (letter trains). Train Operators: As a general rule (not a science) it takes close to 15 years to get weekends off on the AMs and somewhere in the 6-8 range on PMs or Midnights although that varies more than the 15 on the AM. Conductors you're looking at less since their seniority moves faster. Last summer there were conductors with as little as 3 years in title picking weekends off, but most of them had to give it up when winter rolled around for the VR reasons I mentioned above.

 

As for your commute, I'd give that Bensonhurst studio a long look. 770 is pretty good, plus 300 in savings by being able to use your TA pass to commute into and home from work. Plus there are a ton of jobs at Stillwell (Coney Island) which isn't a far commute, and if the crew office knows you live there, they will try to keep you close to home (but not always). TA has no deal with NJT, so the "commuter pass" would only apply to people in LIRR or MNRR territory, which unfortunately doesn't help you if living in NJ. Not trying to discourage you, lots of people do the jersey thing, but if the studio in Bensonhurst isn't run by a slumlord it definitely merits a long look.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

$770.00 for a studio is indeed something.  I would do property history searches online and see if anything comes up and inspect the apartment thoroughly.  Look for water damage, and walk around the area a few times to see if there is anything weird going on just to cover yourself so you're not stuck there for a year or two depending on how the lease is.

[BreeddekalbL]

As for your commute, I'd give that Bensonhurst studio a long look. 770 is pretty good, plus 300 in savings by being able to use your TA pass to commute into and home from work. Plus there are a ton of jobs at Stillwell (Coney Island) which isn't a far commute, and if the crew office knows you live there, they will try to keep you close to home (but not always). TA has no deal with NJT, so the "commuter pass" would only apply to people in LIRR or MNRR territory, which unfortunately doesn't help you if living in NJ. Not trying to discourage you, lots of people do the jersey thing, but if the studio in Bensonhurst isn't run by a slumlord it definitely merits a long look.

 

 

$770.00 for a studio is indeed something.  I would do property history searches online and see if anything comes up and inspect the apartment thoroughly.  Look for water damage, and walk around the area a few times to see if there is anything weird going on just to cover yourself so you're not stuck there for a year or two depending on how the lease is.

 

Most definately i agree with the both of you i intend on looking ​thoroughly  if there are code violations up the wazoo i'd consider it a turn off (do you agree). 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Most definately i agree with the both of you i intend on looking ​thoroughly  if there are code violations up the wazoo i'd consider it a turn off (do you agree). 

Ask as many questions as you can, though the broker may not have a clue.  I was lucky when I moved to Riverdale to have a really cool broker who got me a nice deal, though I could tell he didn't have a clue about certain things, which is why he brought along a colleague of his when it came time for me to sign the lease.  He probably knew with my professional background that I would grilling him, which was exactly what happened.  Don't rush to sign anything.  Make sure you understand all of the terms in the lease, and do as much communication in writing as possible so you have proof should there be a problem.

[BreeddekalbL]

What are some of the questions you asked vg? 

 

(thanks for your opinions and thoughts since i got atleast a subway employee on to respond need a bo to chime in here and hear their perspective)

[Via Garibaldi 8]

What are some of the questions you asked vg? 

 

(thanks for your opinions and thoughts since i got atleast a subway employee on to respond need a bo to chime in here and hear their perspective)

I asked questions that interested me. For example, I'm big on no smoking and wanted to know how well it was enforced and in fact added a rider to see that efforts were made to upkeep that.  In order words, there's supposed to be no smoking in hallways and other common areas, and I want that enforced, and so far it has been.  I'm fortunate enough to be in a residence where the landlord is relatively responsive and most folks are respectful of one another. My neighbor plays his guitar from time to time but after a certain hour, he keeps the noise level down and I try to do the same.  I would also say the bigger the building the more you need to scrutinize.  More people, more noise.  My residence overall is fairly quiet, as it's all young single folks.

[BreeddekalbL]

It's hard to predict when a new employee will pick a job for the first time, get weekends off, be able to pick a yard job, etc. It changes with every pick. Days off also depend on what division and district you pick into, as you might be able to get certain days off by picking in one district, but cannot get those same days off in another.

 

When you are new, you may well "luck" into weekends off if the crew office decides to carry you extra extra with weekends off. You will have the opportunity to submit a wish list and the crew office just might honor it. However, the downside is, even though you may luck into weekends off for the entirety of your time extra extra, you won't know that you'll be weekends off for more than a week at a time since your days off and tour of duty are subject to change each week. So you can't plan things out in advance easily. But one good thing is that you will be weekends off for the duration of training, so you'll have time to get settled, and a little bit of time to make plans on weekends during training to get ready for life as extra extra that follows. However, what you heard is correct for once you are able to pick a job - you will not be able to pick weekends off for quite some time.

 

As a general rule, summer picks are better than winter picks. This is because more people who don't have the seniority to get weekends off pick vacation relief in the summer so they can bid on jobs with Fri-Sat, Sun-Sat, or Sun-Mon days off...as the people who pick vacation in the summer are senior, they generally have better days off. Compared with the winter, which is generally lower seniority people on vacation with less good days off, and the senior people that do pick winter vacation, their jobs are usually bidded by the senior vacation relief people who habitually pick it. The influx of people to vacation relief for these reasons in summer means more jobs and day off slots open for everyone that doesn't do this.

 

Days off: If you want to work the AM tour (jobs that begin between 0400 and 1159), you will have the longest wait for good days off, holidays off, and good jobs. This is because most people value having somewhat normal hours, hence a longer wait to climb up the ranks in that pile. PMs or Midnights, your seniority will always buy you more. Also, if you are in the A Division (number trains) your seniority buys you more than it does in the B Division (letter trains). Train Operators: As a general rule (not a science) it takes close to 15 years to get weekends off on the AMs and somewhere in the 6-8 range on PMs or Midnights although that varies more than the 15 on the AM. Conductors you're looking at less since their seniority moves faster. Last summer there were conductors with as little as 3 years in title picking weekends off, but most of them had to give it up when winter rolled around for the VR reasons I mentioned above.

 

 

 

i see and when did you get your first weekends off and is it possible to where i can pick a job at like 10 am? are they 8 hour jobs and most bo jobs are 8 or 10 hours correct?

I asked questions that interested me. For example, I'm big on no smoking and wanted to know how well it was enforced and in fact added a rider to see that efforts were made to upkeep that.  In order words, there's supposed to be no smoking in hallways and other common areas, and I want that enforced, and so far it has been.  I'm fortunate enough to be in a residence where the landlord is relatively responsive and most folks are respectful of one another. My neighbor plays his guitar from time to time but after a certain hour, he keeps the noise level down and I try to do the same.  I would also say the bigger the building the more you need to scrutinize.  More people, more noise.  My residence overall is fairly quiet, as it's all young single folks.

those are great questions...

[Via Garibaldi 8]

i see and when did you get your first weekends off and is it possible to where i can pick a job at like 10 am? are they 8 hour jobs and most bo jobs are 8 or 10 hours correct?

 

those are great questions...

They're important ones because I work long hours (as will you), and the last thing you want to deal with is tons of noise when you get home.  There are other things you should look out for such as heat (if it's cold outside), hot water, cleanliness of the common areas, etc, as well as how much light or shade your place gets when it's hot.  I would really do a thorough inspection of the apartment (check everything - open cabinets, turn on faucets, flush the toilet, etc.) while you're allowed to look at it because with renting you get one look and that's it, and be sure to bring a flash light or have a "flash light" installed on your cell phone in case the place doesn't have good lighting.  You want to be able to see everything and don't want poor lighting to curb that process.  I would also pay attention to what sort of paperwork you're asked for.  Most landlords set the income requirement as being 40x the rent in addition to having good credit (usually 600s, but some want even higher) but that isn't set in stone.  For example, one place could be listed at $1,600 a month, but they may raise the income requirement to $70,000 to ensure that the rent can be paid and/or to screen out any potential riff-raff.  If you can get a two year lease go for it, but in really good areas, they aren't so common.  Most places offer one year leases, and the rent goes up at least 4% (if you're lucky each year or more if the area is really hot).  In my area, I heard of one lady complaining about her rent being jacked up to $1,800.00 for her one bedroom (this was a few years ago, so I imagine she would paying $2,000 a month or more now), but it was either that or move, and in the end she stayed because it was cheaper than moving.  The landlord's response was that the area of Riverdale that we're in has tons of amenities and the prices are reflecting that, which is true.

 

My first apartment wasn't in the States.  I saw my place online, sent in the paperwork, had my card charged for several months and didn't see it until I arrived in Italy. It was a luxury apartment (one bedroom) which cost about $1,600 USD (in 2004), so the standards I expected were there and I didn't have to worry, but real estate in NYC is a whole different ballgame. 

 

Be sure to read the lease thoroughly too and don't take anything for granted. You want to start things off on solid ground with the landlord, so pay on time, get everything in writing, keep receipts of EVERYTHING involving your rent or any expenses associated with your apartment and the landlord, and you should be fine.  If you feel that the place isn't that great (needs some TLC) I would get renter's insurance just to ensure that none of your personal belongings are damaged.  I've heard plenty of horror stories of people having their expensive laptops ruined from leaks, etc.

[BreeddekalbL]

I see and is there a way to where i can like search the place online to see if there are violations etc?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I see and is there a way to where i can like search the place online to see if there are violations etc?

Just put in the address into Google and see what comes up. You can find most of anything you're interested in on the building online, as most of it is public domain.  If the apartment needs any repairs, make sure it is done prior to you moving in, and get it in writing. I don't know when you'll be starting the new job, but this is generally the "prime season" to look for a place so you'll likely be in competition, which means higher prices and people acting quickly on places that interest them, so if you really like a place, I would recommend having your financials on hand with any paperwork you think you'll need to show in case someone else is interested, this way you can get the process started quicker.  The one thing that can suck is having to pay an application fee and having a credit check run (which dings your credit score) and not getting the apartment because you usually lose the fee and can't reverse the ding to your credit score and you have to start that process all over again, which is time consuming and can be expensive depending on how much the fee is, not including the broker's fee once the deal is done, which is usually one month's rent, so you should be prepared to have at least $4,000 - 5,000 for that process alone (I came up with that based on the figure you gave me that you plan on paying for rent), plus savings in the bank to show that you can afford the rent, plus monies for moving and furniture. It's better to look when it's cold because fewer people move in the fall and winter (too cold), thus allowing you to find more deals and perhaps less stringent requirements to get into the apartment, thus less money needed, but no guarantee.  I got my place in the winter and just paid an extra month's rent at two residences and moved in during the spring time.  If you can swing the extra money, it may be well worth it.

[BreeddekalbL]

I figured i'd write this thread to see what    employees do in terms of commuting and renting etc for advice for when i prusue an    job whether it be CR or B.O  and then the fact i have your expertise in real estate enhances the thread.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I figured i'd write this thread to see what    employees do in terms of commuting and renting etc for advice for when i prusue an    job whether it be CR or B.O  and then the fact i have your expertise in real estate enhances the thread.

lol... They pretty much try to do what Subway Guy does, or they commute from far.  My uncle commutes from NJ over to Quill Depot.  For a while he lived on Staten Island and did the bus-ferry-subway set up (don't ask me how).  He used to leave dirt early, and sometimes would complain about buses not showing up, etc.  Other times he would drive in.  From the folks that I know that work for the , not too many of them live close to their jobs because of the costs.  What I will say is spend your money wisely.  I've heard stories of guys working for the living the high life driving in BMWs or Mercedes when they were living paycheck to paycheck.  Those are usually the ones with big mouths who get into it with the general public and are fired after too many complaints.  They're laid off with limited job skills and few opportunities because they aren't very educated to begin with.  At least have an education so that you can have other opportunities should things not work out with the .

[BreeddekalbL]

i don't intend on living the high life, heck my first car will be from a used car place