Cost of Living in Roosevelt Island

According to the NY Times, living in Roosevelt Island has joined the mainstream:

...People who earn a certain percentage of the city’s median income are eligible for Mitchell-Lama housing, though the exact requirements vary from building to building.market-rate units on Roosevelt Island are priced many multiples higher, they’re still 30 percent less than comparable units in Manhattan, says Jason Haber, a sales agent with Prudential Douglas Elliman.

A new two-bedroom 1,000-square-foot condo costs about $820,000, but if the same apartment were located along Third Avenue in Turtle Bay, he said, it could go for $1.2 million.

“There was a time when families bolted for the suburbs en masse, and now they want to stay,” Mr. Haber said. “Here, they get open space and amazing views, but the vibrancy of city life.”

Rents, meanwhile, range from $1,700 for a 500-square-foot studio to $4,000 for a 1,400-square-foot three-bedroom, he said. That’s about 20 percent cheaper than the price would be across the river.