SingnBluesOnBroadway
Retired
Wife and I are looking at Brooklyn and Queens for when her CU faculty housing allotment runs out. There are good deals to be found in Harlem and above. But otherwise, it looks like Brooklyn or Queens for us. Even there, the pickings are slim unless you can comfortably afford $2500+ a month or have a car.
If she works at Columbia and you likely work in Manhattan, check out the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Easy access to Manhattan, reasonable rents, safe. Only downside is there's no real night-life to speak of. But you're so close to Manhattan it doesn't really matter.