Courtesy of Curbed

Maybe we can’t all have pools in our backyards. But we can get you close.

Based on this article by Curbed, and the announcement of an awesome sounding new saltwater pool opening in Williamsburg, here are a list of 13 places you can live to get front seats at the best swimming holes in New York.

1. Swim here: Red Hook Pool – 155 Bay St. Brooklyn 11231
Live here: 1 Bedroom at West 9th Street – $2,500

2. Swim here: The Beach at the Dream Downtown Hotel – 355 W 16th St. NY 10011
Live here: 1 Bedroom at W 17th St – $3,500

3. Swim here: Rooftop Pool at the A-Building – 425 E 13th St. NY 10009
Live here: 1 Bedroom at East 11 Street – $2,600

I’ve lived in Hell’s Kitchen for about four years, and with the recent NY Times article about the 99-cent pizza shops in my area, I couldn’t help but write a piece about what Hell’s Kitchen has to offer. Prior to Hell’s Kitchen, I had lived in the Financial District. While FiDi had its charms, it was a little too quiet for me personally (and aside from the walk to Chinatown, it didn’t have enough food establishments). Hell’s Kitchen is a little bit different. While you get all the resources of Time Square, you’re not really at the center of the tourist trap.

Hell’s Kitchen

Close to the Time Square, but still quiet.

Hell’s Kitchen ranges from roughly 34th Street to 57th Street, between 8th Avenue and the Hudson River. It can be considered a part of the larger Midtown West / Midtown area. While it used to be a center of underworld activities (especially the Irish American Mob), it has now been completely gentrified into a neighborhood with great food, activities, and amazing access to transportation.

Most people think the proximity to Time Square would make the area loud and touristy, but that’s not the case. In fact, the two or three avenue shift is enormous. Once you get past 8th avenue, the area transforms. No more loud billboards or crowded streets. As it turns out, the taller buildings in the area block sight of Time Square from the ground level (though if you lived in one of the high-rises, you can still get a decent glimpse). If you live on one of the side-street off of 9th, you can’t even tell that you’re near Time Square.

First the food

It’s not called Hell’s Kitchen for nothing. The NY Times talks about 99 cent fresh pizza, and 2 Bros Pizza, but 42nd Street & 9th Avenue is actually host to a number of extremely budget (but good) places. These include: 2 Bros Pizza (which actually has everything from fried chicken to broccoli), $0.99 Fresh Pizza (the original 99-cent pizza on the block), Villa Cafe (a newcomer with the best sitting area – inside during the winter), and finally, Papaya Dog (with a slew of budget hot dog/sandwich options).

$0.99 Fresh Pizza

2 Bros Pizza

Villa Cafe

Papaya Dog

Moving up 9th Ave, you end up with a slew of sit-down restaurants (all with great prices). A quick search on menupages gives a glimpse of what else the neighborhood has to offer. In fact, just on 9th Ave, I can name 10 Thai places, a few great burger places, and a 24-hour diner (in case you get a late-night craving). Of course, you also have the infamous Restaurant Row on 46th Street.

In between the sit-down restaurants and the 99-cent establishments, the area is also filled with a casual dining options – such as Chipotle and Lenny’s (in fact, on the same block). If you like deserts, there is a Tasty Delite (actually, of my friends, I might be the only one who likes this place), Pinkberry, and Red Mango.

Second, what can I do in the area?

So what’s there to do? Well, in most cases, you’re not partying where you’re sleeping. Chances are, you can always travel to where you really want to go (most people I know aren’t going out 7 nights a week – so there’s no reason to have the action right outside your doorstep). However, you’re still close to a number of select bars in the area.

Apart from that, however, Hell’s Kitchen is right up against the Hudson River. If you like biking, there is a bike trail right along the Westside Highway. Also, believe it or not, Port Authority also has a bowling lane inside. If you lived along the upper border of Hell’s Kitchen (in the 50′s), you’d be within a brisk walk form Columbus Circle / Central Park. Also, the two Time Square movie theaters are right down the street on 42nd (along with a Dave and Busters).

Third, easy transportation

What can I say? You’re at the hub of it all. With Port Authority right around the corner, you’re only a hop away from the 123 (Green), ACE (Blue), NRW (Yellow), 7, and of course – the Shuttle to Grand Central. If you take the bus, the M16 takes you straight to Penn Station. The only pesky area to get to is the Upper East Side (since you have to do a subway transfer), but most places in the city are only 20-30 minutes away from Hell’s Kitchen.

Finally, where do I live?

Luxury High-Rises in Hell's Kitchen

Anywhere – whether you want the quaint walk-up or the luxury high-rise. Both Brodsky and Stonehenge Management have buildings luxury high-rises in the area (on 9th). Most of the high-rises in Hell’s Kitchen offer fantastic views of Manhattan. Because there are only a few tall building dotting the area, high-up apartments on the west side will get an amazing view of the river. For a luxury high-rise, large studios might run you from ~$2,000 and up. One bedrooms might be in the upper $2 to $3 thousand ranges (this may differ depending on square-footage and concessions – such as 1 month free).

However, you don’t have to live in a Luxury High Rise. There are always vacancies with landlords who own affordable walk-ups. You can get studios from around $1,400 and one (or very small 2-bedrooms) from $2,200. Check out the selection of no-fee apartments on RentHop to get a better sense of pricing.

We’ve all heard the news about concessions being offered by landlords, but what are they? Most rental deals have been in the form of “months free” at the end of the lease or “OP – the owner pays the broker 1 month of rent (which sometimes eats into months free)”. However, more recently, we’ve seen other incentives being offered, ranging from free gym access to gift cards. We’ve tried to compile a list of Manhattan apartment rental deals for luxury highrises. Definitely check out the FAQ section about how some of the concessions work and how they can impact your bottom line.

As many of you know, RentHop.com has been a free source of New York City Apartments from the first day of our launch.  We began as a collection of no-fee listings from some of the largest landlords in Manhattan with a goal to provide all of the location, listing, and contact information to our visitors at no charge.

Our mission has always been to provide New Yorkers with the most comprehensive apartment listings database on the Internet, and to fulfill that goal we realize we need to talk to all landlords, both large and small.  In recent weeks, our listings have broadened considerably!  One of the more exciting new additions to Rent Hop is the inclusion of many smaller, independent landlords who don’t necessarily have the advertising and marketing budget for fancy websites or full page print advertisements.  Today we would like to highlight three examples of our independent landlords.

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RentHop.com would like to welcome Stonehenge Management LLC as one of the new premier landlords posting no-fee Manhattan apartments! As one of the major landlords in the city, Stonehenge has consistently come up with innovative ideas to ease the stress of looking for a new apartment during these uncertain economic times by offering new renters “Rock Solid Flexibility” [the option to cancel their new lease with 60 days notice in the event of job loss] as well as partnering with American Express for simplified rental payments. Stonehenge manages a wide range of no-fee apartments in the city, including two flagship luxury high-rises: The Olivia, located at 315 West 33rd Street and the Ritz Plaza located at 235 West 48th Street.

The Olivia

The Olivia is an enchanting 36-floor luxury high-rise located on the northern end of Chelsea. All apartments in the building begin 150 feet above the street, and have either a magnificent view of the Hudson River or Manhattan. The building features a state-of-the-art fitness center, as well as a modern lounge with a billiard table, flats-screen entertainment center, and a bar area. The building is in close proximity to a plethora of food and entertainment options. Just a few blocks away, Chelsea Piers offers activities ranging from golfing and bowling to skating and rock climbing.

Current Deals [2 months free on below - or effectively an additional 14% discount]:
15C – Large 1 Bed $2,995
33H – Renovated Two Bed / Two Bath $4,500

Ritz Plaza

The Ritz Plaza is a prominent building located in the heart of Midtown. While only a few blocks away from the hustle and bustle of Time Square, the Ritz is  amazingly well situated – merging the liveliness of Time Square with Hell’s Kitchen [home to a wide range of restaurants and great eats]. The building features newly-renovated balconied units with amazing views of the city, as well as an in-door pool. The ACE and 1, 2, 3 subway lines are conveniently located only a block or two away, making transportation to any workplace convenient.

Current Deals [1 month free on below - or effectively an additional 8% discount]:
9J – Studio $2,295
18L -One Bedroom $2,795

Rent Hop is happy to welcome AIMCO NYC to our growing list of no-fee landlords in Manhattan. AIMCO NYC buildings largely span the Upper East Side and Upper West Side neighborhoods, including the West 68th and West 69th Street buildings located just steps away from Lincoln Center, Juilliard School, The Museum of Natural History, and Central Park.  AIMCO NYC also has a Chelsea presence, where the 237 9th Avenue building is centrally located on 24th street, only one block from the C, E subway lines (The 1, F/V, R/W, and 6 lines are not far either).

Harlem Offerings

More importantly, AIMCO NYC is one of our first major landlord and property managers with a large collection of Harlem listings!  One good example is the walk-up at 759 Saint Nicholas Ave, which, at the time of this writing, offers a well-priced studio at $1,195 a month walking distance from the A, B, C, and D subway lines.

For the last few months, we’ve been concentrating our efforts on building a large list of Downtown and Midtown apartments, but we now understand that to benefit the largest number of New Yorkers, we’ll need to expand into Harlem and the outer boroughs as well.  Check back frequently as we complete our process of adding more Queens, Harlem, and Brooklyn landlords over the next few weeks.

With rent prices declining in New York City, we’ve all heard about the incentives being offered to renters and brokers alike. This theme was highlighted in a recent NYTimes article entitled “A Month Free? Rents Are Falling Fast”. But what are actually some of the deals being offered? We took a look at some of the popular luxury high-rises around the city and compiled a small list of the offerings! For the most up-to-date list, visit our no broker fee apartment site.

Oliva on 315 W 33rd Street

Some of the offerings are quite juicy [such as the 3-months free off 15-month lease - which turns out to be a hefty 20% discount!]. Other offerings are interesting, such as the Visa gift card and the 6-months free Gold’s Gym membership [my guess is that it's worth ~2-3 hundred]. Finally, we’ve recently read that Stonehenge is offering a “Rock Solid Flexibility” option, which allows a renter to break their leases with 60 days of notice should they lose their jobs [this is hard to price... but certainly helpful]. However, be sure to calculate out the net effective rents [rents discounted by the incentives] to compare like-for-like.

Visit the RentHop.com main site to view available listings on the buildings!

The list below shows either buildings or management companies in bold.

As you can see, most buildings are offering at least one month free on rents, with some offering this in addition to one month “OP.” OP stands for “owner pays,” meaning that the landlord will pay the broker fee [this is worth 1 month of rent]. Some buildings only offer “either-ors” on one-month free or the broker OP. In this case (and even in cases where you get one-month free “and” OP), you can ask your agent for a rebate. In fact, RentHop will be happy to direct you to someone who can negotiate if you’ve made up your mind; shoot an e-mail to nofee@renthop.com. Be mindful however, that most non-independent brokers/salespeople split commissions with their sponsoring broker.

Note: Most of these should be accurate as of the post, but definitely call up the management companies in this case to double check. If any management companies want to be included on the list as we make periodic update, please email feedback@renthop.com.