Dude, move out to NJ and get a roommate for a year or two. Hell, for $800 you could get one bedroom in a beautiful 2BR, 2 bath in Summit, NJ or even in Jersey City. NYC is still going insane. There was just a piece in a local paper about stores in the UWS closing because their rents are going from $15K to $60K in one shot, how sick is that? It's becoming a place for only the rich. The taxes are going to have to increase dramatically, and Bloomberg is already hinting at it. I agree with Oldtrader and EMRGLOBAL, real estate is along way from a bottom, and a really long way in NYC. But I would rent for now, buying anywhere now is a BIG mistake, IMO.
If you just need a bed, why not go in with a bunch of other students and get a 3 bedroom place and cram 3 bunk beds in there? Rent split 6 ways, and you can get something closer to where you work and go to school. (I don't know NYC well, so maybe this is a stupid idea.)
I'd like to see everyone that rents simply LEAVE NY and leave the shysters holding a big fat empty bag 'o shite.
They eat a lot of potato chips. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070705/METRO/707050349/1003
As if on cue, a long story in the Sunday Times: Even in New York, Affordable Apartments. Talks about the sub-$200K market in Inwood, Riverdale, Forest Hills, Jackson Heights and Flatbush / Brooklyn College.