Use Craigslist. I did a crash course in New York by living in 8 different places (7 CL, 1 GF) in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn in the nearly 3 years I've lived here. Easy to find furnished places, but they go fast and it will be harder to score a place without a face-to-face meet with the renter.<p>Manhattan, even Alphabet City, is best if you're an extrovert, like to be able to step out at 3am into a city that still acts like it's 8pm, and like high energy in general. But rents are expensive. If you find something cheap it will be dark, cramped, rough, or all three.<p>Queens is cheapest. Astoria is nice, and is a quick, above ground (always better) subway ride away from Manhattan. In fact, look at subway time to where you want to go frequently rather than distance.<p>Brooklyn is either old school or hip depending on which parts. Sleepy compared to Manhattan, but buzzed compared to your average city.<p>I need to know more about what you want to give advice. Feel free to message me.