First of all, Queens is a BIG place, far bigger than Manhattan! There are perfectly safe parts and not so safe parts. Also, some parts of Queens are really accessible to Manhattan (quite close, actually, if you re talking about Astoria or Long Island City.) But some are really NOT as accessible, as they are not really on any subway line. (This is what used to be called a 2 fare zone as you have to take a bus AND a subway to get to Manhattan. Today, you pay just one fare, but you still have to deal with the complication of taking a bus to the subay! It is not convenient.) As to taxis, it s really hard to get a yellow taxi outside of Manhattan. You can take a yellow cab FROM Manhattan to Queens, but it s hard to get a yellow cab to stop for you in Queens, even if you ever see one! People in other boroughs take Car Services, which you have to call for. Sometimes they DO stop for you if you flag them down, though they are not supposed to do this by law - only yellow cabs are allowed to stop for street hails. In fact, when a car service stops for you on the street, we call it a gypsy cab . As far as riding around Manhattan in a car during business hours....ehhhhh......not so much! It really is not a good idea. You can drive in Queens, depending on where and when, but driving to Manhattan any time other than off hours is a bad idea!BTW, lots of Brooklyn is really nice, too!EDIT: I just realized that I didn t really respond the question of how you SHOULD get around.Here in NYC, most people get around by subway most of the time. This is a mass transit kind of place, and mass transit works well here. I will just say that it s important to find a place to live that s on a convenient subway line. My neighborhood is well served by subways, but I don t live right near any particular station. I always start my trip with a 10 to 15 minute walk to the train. I often wished I lived closer to the subway. I used to, and that was far better!
Your best bets for affordable housing are the Northern Bronx and Staten Island. Please note that rents have not come down except for places that were pitched toward the very wealthy to begin with.I am posting a link to an article about public transportation that I think will be helpful for you:http://www.associatedcontent.com/article��Forget the car. You will kill yourself. Mayor Bloomberg has personally designated automobiles as New York City s official cash cow and sacrificial lamb. You can be ticketed between the time you park the car and the time you walk to the meter to pay (this has happened to me, I have no car now) and I expect DOT to try to give parking tickets to cars traveling 55 miles an hour on the expressway any day now.