New York
How a Family of 3 Lives on $25,000 in Corona, Queens
How can people possibly afford to live in one of the most expensive cities on the planet? It’s a question New Yorkers hear a lot, often delivered with a mix of awe, pity and confusion.
We surveyed hundreds of New Yorkers about how they spend, splurge and save. We found that many people — rich, poor or somewhere in between — live life as a series of small calculations that add up to one big question: What makes living in New York worth it?
As an Uber driver in New York City, Anup Baniya works long hours behind the wheel of his S.U.V., navigating snarled traffic.
The passengers he ferries across the city may be surprised to learn how little he earns.
Mr. Baniya, an immigrant from Nepal, brings home roughly $25,000 each year after paying for his vehicle and other business expenses.
His wife, Sonu Khadka, stays home with their 7-month-old son, Ivaan. There is little money left at the end of each week.
“If I make a few extra bucks, maybe we can get some things for the baby,” he said.
Mr. Baniya, 36, said it had become more difficult over the years to make a living driving for Uber. His costs have risen, and trips are harder to find.
He has considered doing other jobs like becoming a data analyst. But he likes choosing his own hours. It was important for him to join his wife for her prenatal appointments and to attend his son’s pediatrician visits.
“I like the freedom I get from it,” he said. “Through my wife’s pregnancy, I had flexibility.”
A Family Friendly Complex in Queens
The family lives in a small apartment in LeFrak City, a housing complex in Corona, Queens, that has long been a haven for working class and immigrant families.
The rent is $2,500 per month, which they split in half with a roommate. Mr. Baniya pays roughly $400 per month for internet and utilities.
The complex feels like its own village with 20 high-rise buildings and sprawling lawns of green space. Ivaan recently started using the swing set at the playground.
Their apartment is cramped, and Mr. Baniya worries about rent increases. Their roommate sleeps in a small room that typically serves as a den.
Mr. Baniya used to pay for a parking garage, but now parks on the street to save money.
His work day usually starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m., except for Tuesdays which he takes off to spend with his family. He drives for Uber and sometimes for Lyft.
“The more jobs we do, the more income we get — I’m usually on the road for 10 hours,” he said.
A recent Monday was a “bad day,” he said. Business was slow. He spent five hours on the road with passengers and made about $125, or $25 per hour before expenses.
The Economics of Driving for Uber
Mr. Baniya’s greatest expense is the vehicle he uses for work. He pays $2,400 per month to rent a hybrid RAV 4 S.U.V. and $450 per month for car insurance.
He spends about $100 per week on gas, though that could increase with the recent jump in gas prices. He visits the carwash twice a week and gets regular oil changes. All together, his business expenses cost more than $30,000 per year, according to a copy of a recent tax return.
His family relies on a low-cost health insurance plan through a federally-subsidized program called the Essential Plan.
Around 2017, he joined the Independent Drivers Guild, a group that represents Uber drivers, to help fight for higher pay.
Mr. Baniya said that the city’s minimum pay rules for ride-share drivers had not kept pace with inflation and that Uber was keeping too much of the fare — nearly one-fourth per trip, according to research by the driver group. The city’s cap on new vehicle licenses raised the cost of renting a vehicle, and he argued that the city should instead limit the number of new drivers.
“I feel like customers are paying way more than they used to pay, but drivers are making way less than they used to make,” he said.
Uber, which is expanding its offices in New York, has argued that drivers do make a good living, roughly $52,000 per year for many full-time drivers, and that congestion pricing tolls and airport fees have contributed to higher costs for passengers.
When Mr. Baniya is working, it is often difficult to find a place to stop for a break. Parking spots are elusive in Manhattan, and he worries about violating the city’s complex parking rules, which carry large fines, including $115 for parking near a fire hydrant or $50 to $250 for blocking a bus lane.
“There is nowhere for us to rest or to try to run and get a cup of coffee,” he said.
Many drivers rely on tips from passengers in the app, but he said they were rare.
“Out of 10 riders, maybe one tips,” he said.
Living on a Budget
The family spends about $800 per month on groceries and baby food. They cook at home and eat at a restaurant once a month.
The couple recently visited Food Bazaar and picked up chicken breasts for $7.66, along with chickpea spaghetti and tomato sauce for dinner. Mr. Baniya’s job is sedentary, and he tries to eat healthy because he does not get much exercise.
“You’re sitting the whole day,” he said. “I considered myself more healthy before I started driving.”
The family did not take a vacation last year and does not have plans for one this year. Someday, Mr. Baniya wants his son to be able to visit family in Nepal.
When his wife was pregnant and a passenger unexpectedly tipped him $500 for a long trip from Manhattan to Philadelphia, he knew immediately how he would spend it.
“I went out and bought a stroller and car seat for the baby,” he said.
We are talking to New Yorkers about how they spend, splurge and save.
new video loaded: Judge Grants Luigi Mangione’s Request to Supress Some Evidence
transcript
transcript
Judge Grants Luigi Mangione’s Request to Supress Some Evidence
A New York State judge ruled prosecutors cannot use some of the evidence found inside Luigi Mangione’s backpack when he was arrested. Mr. Mangione is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive, Brian Thompson, outside a Manhattan hotel in 2024.
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“I find that the search of the backpack at the McDonald’s was improper, warrantless search. Therefore, those items found in the backpack during the search at the McDonald’s will be suppressed.” “Thank you. What’s your name?” “Mark.” “What is it?” “Mark.” “Mark?” “Yes, sir. “Mark what?” “Rosario.” “Rosario — someone called. They thought you were suspicious.” “As Miranda warnings were not given until some seconds after 9:48 in the morning, those statements made shortly before that, in response to improper custodial questions that were not merely a request for pedigree information, will be suppressed.”
By Cynthia Silva
May 18, 2026
searched in the detainee’s presence, where possible. Once she quickly found the gun, she moved the backpack to a separate area, as required by APD protocol — that the search be moved out of the detainee’s presence if a weapon were recovered.
Once Wasser moved the backpack to a hallway area, she continued to sift through it, placing personal items back into the backpack, and putting other evidentiary items in manila envelopes, including items found at the McDonald’s, such as the gun magazine, the cellphone, and the knife, as well as items found at the station, including a silencer, the USB drive, and the red notebook. This was also consistent with APD protocol, that personal items be separated from evidence or contraband. All the items were then moved to Featherstone’s office so there would be more room to complete the inventory.
This initial inventory sufficiently complied with Altoona procedure to be a valid inventory search. See People v. Craddock, 235 AD3d 1105, 1109 (3d Dep’t 2025). Nor does the effort to separate evidence from personal property render the search unlawful. See People v. McCray, 195 AD3d 555, 557 (1st Dep’t 2021) (that one of the requirements of the inventory search was to “remove any contraband” did not render the inventory search invalid). While Wasser did not prepare a written list of the items, APD policies did not require documentation to be simultaneous with the search, and all the items were documented once they were moved to Featherstone’s office and the larger area of the roll-call room. Minor deviations from procedure will not invalidate an inventory search, Keita, 162 AD3d at 610, and courts have upheld inventory searches where there was a delay in documentation. See Douglas, 40 NY3d at 389 (11- hour delay in preparing list): People v. Echevarria, 173 AD3d 638, 639 (1st Dep’t 2019).
Once the items were moved to Featherstone’s office, and then the roll-call room, all items were meticulously documented. Featherstone, Heuston, and eventually Burns, placed each item in an envelope, labeled each envelope, and kept written lists of the items. Heuston and Featherstone also photographed each item, including each loose piece of paper and each page the notebook.
of
Thus, it is clear that that the Altoona Police Department had an established inventory search protocol, that the protocol was followed, and that the search produced the “hallmark of an inventory search: a meaningful inventory list.” Johnson, 1 NY3d at 256. And as noted above, any
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How can people possibly afford to live in one of the most expensive cities on the planet? It’s a question New Yorkers hear a lot, often delivered with a mix of awe, pity and confusion.
We surveyed hundreds of New Yorkers about how they spend, splurge and save. We found that many people — rich, poor or somewhere in between — live life as a series of small calculations that add up to one big question: What makes living in New York worth it?
Karen Jeanne Radley has experienced the highs and lows of securing affordable housing in New York City, changing apartments more than once before finding her current home in a senior living community in Far Rockaway.
“It’s all about being able to survive,” she said. “And what I’ve come to learn through this is that I’m a much stronger person than I thought I was, having to adapt.”
Ms. Radley, a 51-year-old freelance website developer and consultant, lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for almost 20 years before a rent increase in 2020 forced her out.
She moved in with her mother, who lived in a one-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side. When the rent increased on that unit, they downsized to another apartment in the same building. Then came another rent increase, and another search for a place to live.
“It presented us with the opportunity to find a new neighborhood, explore new things,” Ms. Radley said. “We started saying, ‘OK, these boroughs that we’ve never considered, why don’t we start considering Queens? Why don’t we start looking in the Bronx?’”
The mother-daughter duo moved to Far Rockaway, a Queens beachfront neighborhood, last year with their two dogs — Alistair, a Havanese, and Winston, a Portuguese water dog.
Living in a building for older adults is far from ideal for Ms. Radley, who made about $45,000 last year. She said she has limited social opportunities because her neighbors are much older than her, but a bigger apartment by the beach with reasonable rent is a win. For $941 per month, she shares a one-bedroom apartment with her mother, who is 83 and secured their current arrangement through the Jewish Association Serving the Aging.
Ms. Radley created a makeshift bedroom for herself in the living area. The dining room table doubles as her desk, where she works on websites and digital ad campaigns.
“It doesn’t really bother me,” Ms. Radley said. “Right after you’re done watching TV at night, you don’t have to go far to go to bed.”
Looking Outside New York
Ms. Radley started her career in marketing after graduating from Bard College in 1997, and shifted to consulting about 10 years ago when she lost her job. Her income and clientele grew during her first few years as a consultant, but when the pandemic hit, she started earning less.
She thought about leaving New York for better employment opportunities and sought jobs in Boston, Atlanta and San Francisco, but nothing worked out. So Ms. Radley stayed in the city, where she still has clients — some of whom trade their services for hers. For example, Ms. Radley does web design and maintenance for a salon in exchange for getting her hair done.
Time and again, the city she describes as “a place of discovery” has compelled her to adjust to the high cost of living, but she has found ways to enjoy life without straining her finances.
She uses her IDNYC card for discounts or free tickets to the theater, museums and the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden. A tennis fanatic, she also attends the free U.S. Open Fan Week. “We’ve learned in a way that you can enjoy without spending a lot,” she said.
Instead of paying $30 to see a movie, she looks for discounts or waits for the movie to come to a streaming service. Rather than buying books, she visits the public library or finds free e-books on Amazon.
She budgets about $100 per week for groceries and joins a monthly trip through her building’s community center to Trader Joe’s, Walmart or Costco. If there’s extra cash, Ms. Radley takes the bus to the Long Island Rail Road and rides it to Grand Central Market in Manhattan, where she indulges in baked goods and visits the butcher.
Ms. Radley has also cut back on eating out. Instead, she opts to make dinner from online recipes and freezes the leftovers.
“We have really found ways to adapt,” she said.
Buckeye Blitz Ice Cream
Ms. Radley has never thought about moving to Ohio, where her mother is from, but once or twice a year she purchases six pints of Graeter’s ice cream for $120, to be shipped from Cincinnati. She always buys her two favorite flavors, Buckeye Blitz and Black Raspberry Chip.
Ms. Radley saw “Hamilton” for the first time last year when her mother, who spent years entering the digital ticket lottery, finally won. They paid $10 for each ticket and enjoyed dinner at Ms. Radley’s favorite steakhouse, The Palm, after.
She budgets $64 per month for her membership at the Rockaway Y.M.C.A., where she uses the gym and indoor pool and sits in on lectures. Another $50 is set aside each month for toys, food and preventive medication for Alistair and Winston.
Ms. Radley reserves anywhere between $400 to $500 per month to cover expenses for her consulting business. Of that money, $270 goes toward internet and phone bills. The balance is allocated toward website charges, software maintenance and learning subscriptions.
A Strong Support System
Ms. Radley’s parents taught her that being a New Yorker has real value. She grew up on the Upper West Side and remembers going to sporting events and taking trips with her father to the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park.
Last year, when a family member was in the hospital, Ms. Radley leaned on friends in Manhattan for support and somewhere to sleep so that she wouldn’t have to make the three-hour round-trip commute from Far Rockaway every day. “Had I been elsewhere, I wouldn’t have had that support system,” she said.
“It’s been a story of staying in New York, and maintaining the life we love has been important,” Ms. Radley said. “But we’re willing to continue searching for housing and experience and new things.”
We are talking to New Yorkers about how they spend, splurge and save.
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