Living in Bedford-Stuyvesant: rent, commute and grades

Brooklyn · Updated October 2026

A row of colourful brownstone and brick row houses with stoops and street trees in leaf on Decatur Street.
A long terrace of brownstone row houses with bay windows and stoops on Lewis Avenue.
Three wide brownstone houses in grey and tan with arched windows and a leafy front garden on Decatur Street.
A parade of brick and brownstone row houses behind green front gardens on Gates Avenue under a blue sky.
A tall orange brick corner house with arched windows and mature trees beside it.
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Rent in Bedford-Stuyvesant

$1,842 a month

Type of homeA room in a 2-bedroom, shared by two

Bedford-Stuyvesant is cheaper with roommates

Find people looking in Bedford-Stuyvesant
BOverall

Bedford-Stuyvesant graded

Grades compare NYC neighborhoods with each other. How the grades work.

Everyday life

  • BWalkability

    The average home has 4.7 of 5 everyday needs within a 10-minute walk (grocery store, restaurant, cafe, subway station, park) and about 210 places to eat or shop.

  • BFood and shopping

    Within a 10-minute walk of the average home: about 60 places to eat, 23 kinds of cuisine, 5.5 large grocery stores and 104 open storefronts.

    Residents: Around Hancock St and Tompkins Ave there are many more amenities than on nearby blocks. Resident, Aug 2025

  • C+Parks and green space

    100% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park of an acre or more, with about 26 acres of parkland within 1 km and about 480 street trees within 300 m of the average home.

    Residents: The local park has a renovated playground on one side, while people use drugs on the other. Resident of 13 years, Aug 2025

    City data alone would give B-; what residents say in 4 Reddit threads moves it to C+.

People

  • ACommunity

    31% of households moved in since 2018, 18% are roommates sharing a home, 28% of residents are 22 to 34, and there are about 33 cafes and bars within a 10-minute walk of the average home.

  • B+Nightlife

    About 24 bars, clubs and restaurants licensed to serve alcohol on site within a 10-minute walk of the average home.

    Residents: The Tompkins Ave Open Streets around Hancock St draw drinkers, and the crowd can get sloppy late. Resident, Aug 2025

    City data and 5 resident threads on Reddit agree on this grade.

Home and safety

  • C-Safety

    6.6 murders, robberies, felony assaults and burglaries were reported per 1,000 residents in 2025 (1,214 in all).

    Residents: Throop Ave is usually quiet at night; at peak hours plenty of people walk home from the train together. Former resident, Jul 2026

    City data alone would give C; what residents say in 6 Reddit threads moves it to C-.

  • C-Quiet

    52 noise complaints to 311 per 1,000 residents in 2025, not counting helicopter complaints, and counting each address at most 12 days a year. That measures how often people complain, not how loud it is.

    Residents: The corner of Myrtle and Marcy can be loud, though the surrounding blocks are fine. Former resident, Sep 2025

  • CBuilding upkeep

    26.1 serious housing code violations (class B or C) were issued in 2025 per 100 rented homes, and there were 8.2 heat or hot water complaints per 100 rented homes.

    Residents: A modern brownstone two-bedroom with no vermin and a responsive landlord, though electric heat ran over $400 a month in winter. Resident, Apr 2025

Who lives there

  • Lots of roommates
  • Recent grads and young professionals
  • Young families

What residents say

Residents like

Residents don’t like

  • NightlifeThe Tompkins Ave Open Streets around Hancock St draw drinkers, and the crowd can get sloppy late. Resident, Aug 2025
  • QuietThe corner of Myrtle and Marcy can be loud, though the surrounding blocks are fine. Former resident, Sep 2025
  • SafetySafety changes sharply from block to block; the first weeks in one apartment brought nearby shootings and a break-in. Resident of 3 years, May 2025
  • Building upkeepA large apartment near Bedford and Fulton stays cheaper partly because the building is poorly maintained. Resident, Apr 2025
  • WalkabilityMorning Citi Bike demand is heavy: e-bikes heading toward the subway are often all gone. Resident, Jul 2026
  • QuietStreet music loud enough to hurt to walk past and a parked driver leaning on the horn are recurring annoyances. Resident, May 2025
Show 21 moreShow less

Safety

Food and shopping

Nightlife

Walkability

  • Citi Bike docks at Putnam and Lewis and outside the Utica station speed up the trip to the A.

    Not a resident, Dec 2024

  • A Citi Bike pass is useful when trains are down and for getting home from a night out elsewhere in Brooklyn.

    Resident, Jul 2026

  • The neighborhood is walkable, and the long walks to the C or G are mostly straight shots.

    Former resident, Jul 2026

Quiet

  • The block is beautiful and quiet.

    Resident of 8 years, Apr 2025

  • Summer block parties can be extremely loud, with DJ music so loud that many families leave for the weekend.

    Resident, Aug 2025

  • Some less gentrified blocks in Stuyvesant Heights are clean and quiet, while blocks near transit, parks and bars to the west are livelier.

    Resident, Aug 2025

Parks and green space

Building upkeep

  • A modern brownstone two-bedroom with no vermin and a responsive landlord, though electric heat ran over $400 a month in winter.

    Resident, Apr 2025

  • A landlord in central Bed-Stuy has been good to deal with since 2018, though such landlords are rare in the city.

    Resident since 2018, Apr 2025

  • A $2,800 one-bedroom with a large backyard is not well maintained.

    Resident, Apr 2025

Getting around from Bedford-Stuyvesant

Map of New York City neighborhoods shaded by travel time by subway or bus from Bedford-Stuyvesant
By subway or bus, arriving by 9:00 on a weekday:Under 30 min30 to 45 min45 to 60 minOver an hourBedford-Stuyvesant
  • Bedford-Nostrand Avs G
  • Flushing Av JM
  • Franklin Av CS
  • Kingston-Throop Avs C
  • Myrtle Av JMZ
  • Myrtle-Willoughby Avs G
  • Nostrand Av AC
  • Utica Av AC

Residents: The location is ideal for transit. Resident of 8 years, Apr 2025

Residents: The A to Fulton St and then the PATH made a commute to Jersey City a breeze during regular hours. Resident, Jun 2026

What to know about Bedford-Stuyvesant

  • Bed-Stuy is one of the centers of African American life and culture in New York. Local advocates there formed the first community development corporation in the country. Source
  • Bed-Stuy's population changed in the 1930s and 1940s as African Americans arrived from the South and immigrants came from the Caribbean, helped by the new subway along Fulton Street. Source
  • Bed-Stuy is a neighborhood of late 19th century masonry row houses. One city historic district alone, roughly between Tompkins Avenue, Macon and Halsey streets, Malcolm X Boulevard and Fulton Street, takes in about 825 buildings in Italianate, Second Empire, neo-Grec, Queen Anne and Romanesque styles. Source
  • Bed-Stuy's main shopping streets are Bedford, Nostrand and Tompkins avenues, Malcolm X Boulevard, Fulton Street and DeKalb Avenue, with many businesses owned by women and people of color. Source
  • Bed-Stuy still celebrates its block parties, murals and its place in hip-hop history as the stomping grounds of the Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z. Source
  • Restoration Plaza, a former milk bottling plant turned into a 300,000 square foot commercial plaza in 1972, houses the Billie Holiday Theatre and the Skylight Gallery. Source

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Sources

Facts about Bedford-Stuyvesant:

Data behind the grades: