Moving to NY on your own can be intimidating when it comes to making new connections. We all know that making friends as a young adult new to the city can be hard. Living on your own may be overwhelming as well. This and rent affordability is one of the main reasons why young people choose to live with roommates in NY.
One of the greatest advantages that goes hand in hand with living in a co-living space, is the sense of community amongst your roommates and a shared experience of being new in NY. And then, familiarity turns to friendship like nothing else. And just like that, you who just moved to New York City with no connections at all will have found your new circle and made this place your Home!
But how do you go about forming strong and lasting connections with your new roommates you’ve only just met?
AYA has compiled a list of some of the best ways to create a lasting connection with your new roommates in NY.
Share a Meal (Cook or Takeout)
Who doesn’t love to eat? Whether it be takeout from one of New York’s abundance of restaurants or cooking something together. The apartment comes fully furnished so you can enjoy a homemade meal. Make cooking a shared and fun experience and get to know each other’s backgrounds and cultures!
Check out the New York Times Cooking Recipes for inspiration!
Invite Them To An Event In Manhattan or Brooklyn
Manhattan and Brooklyn are both recognized worldwide for their vast array of amazing events taking place all the time. Why not dance into the sunset at Elsewhere Rooftop Bar in Bushwick, Brooklyn, or invite your roommates in NY, to an evening of live music, drinks, and 5,000 years of Art at The Met’s Evening Events? Or, if you’re looking for a more relaxing house bonding experience, jump on the subway to the Lower East Side and open your body to a full array of sensory pleasures whilst overlooking the amazing Manhattan skyline at one of Sky-High’s Yoga Events.
Game Night
There is no better way to connect with your new roommates than organizing a fun game night. Using your common areas you can plan the perfect game night and invite close friends over as well.
In fact, you can begin planning your very co-living game night, in a few simple steps:
- schedule a date and time which works for everybody,
- choose your favorite game to play,
- buy some drinks and snacks to complement the evening!
A few great board games for house bonding include Decrypto (a word game where you have to decrypt clues from your teammates and opponents), Betrayal at House on the Hill (a murder mystery game with a haunted twist), or keep it classic with Uno. If you own a console like a Nintendo Switch, you could play games such as Mario Party or Overcooked, or just keep it simple and host a trivia night!
Co-Living apartments often bring together people who are like-minded and new to New York City. After a big move, it’s always advantageous to become acquainted with the city. This creates the perfect opportunity to build connections with your roommates. Besides sharing an apartment you can share experiences as well.
Why not spend a day exploring Williamsburg by doing a crawl of all of the best thrift stores Brooklyn has to offer? Or grab a Citi Bike and explore Central Park by choosing one of the best bike routes in New York City.
As you can see the city offers multiple options for connecting with your roommates, friends, and even strangers. The only thing that is up to you is to get involved, choose wisely and be present.
New York City never sleeps but you should, make sure that your place can offer you the comfort of Home!