I Live in Boston, but hope to move to NYC to teach (I love both cities,my step dad is from NY, and am not caught up in that Red Sox vs Yankees foolishness-(baseball is a great game to be enjoyed by all, not fought over)
Anyway, I could use advice from transplanted Bostonians living in NYC-I love NY, but am a tad concerned being from Boston, I'll be treated like dirt-Is this a justifiable concern?
A few questions-

*How does the NYC subway compare to Boston's T? The T shuts down at 1230 am, which is pathetic
*I have found Bostonians can be pretty cold- Do you find New Yorkers tend to be nicer?
*I'm trained to teach special ed, as well as esl- where in the NYC area does there seem to be the highest need for teachers in those subjects?
*Where do most teachers live in NYC, given a teachers salary?
*How do NYC rents compare to Boston rents?
*What would be the 'Cambrige' equivilant in NYC- a highly academic, liberal artistic community? (That's my kind of town)
Many thanks!
8 )
I'll admit one thing that makes NY so appealing is the variety of people, and the fact there is always somthing to do...
Boston shuts down early it seems, and there are only small handful of interesting places to go at night, whereas in NY there are countless numbers....
I don't fall into the Boston vs NY game- both are unique cities, each with strenths and weaknesses-
Gien the number of people in NYC, I am hoping the prospects for teaching would be greater in NYC-
Which districts would you suggest?
Brooklyn? Queens?

Saftey is an issue- I don't want to teach at a school where they have no budget (hence I'll have to buy all the supplies) , or a place where I'll face high odds of being stabbed..

I work in NYC with two people from Boston and nobody does anything to them because of where they are from. Most NYers are smarter than that.

The NYC subway is 24/7 although less service in the odd hours of the day.
You will find cold NYers and nice ones. I am sure the same goes for Boston and all other areas.
Special Ed teachers are needed all over. You wont have a problem
Most teachers live outside of Manhattan.
NYC rents are very high. Could be the highest in the country. Very expensive to live in Manhattan.
SOHO would be the Cambridge equivalent.

Your closest analogues to Cambridge in NYC are the Village in Manhattan (which you can't afford to live in on a teacher's salary) or Cobble Hill/Park Slope in Brooklyn. Given money constraints, you might find yourself going further out in Brooklyn, such as to Windsor Terrace or Prospect Heights, and you might still have a wonderful time there.
NYC rent is much higher...you can find an apartment for only a couple hundred dollars more than the Boston area scale, but the apartment will be smaller and in other ways less "nice." Rather than discussing it in the abstract, you should look at apartment listings on Craigslist, and/or come visit.
The stereotypical NYC personality is different, somewhat more extroverted than the Boston version, so you may find people here less "cold," but if you want strangers to say hello to you and invite you in for tea, this is not the city you want either.