One thing you may not realize is that if you do not already live in NY, you will not get the job. Companies generally do not hire from outside the city. There are plenty of people right there in NY who are ready to start working tomorrow, so the out-of-towners' applications almost always go straight to the trash. If you want to get started in NY, you have to move there on your own and be ready when an opportunity opens.
NY is an expensive place to live until you figure out how to live inexpensively. A small studio apartment in Manhattan will start around $1000 per month, but it will likely include basic utilities. For that price you'll get something about the size of a small hotel room. You can find larger places for cheaper, but to do so you have to move far out into Brooklyn, Queens or Staten Island and plan on a 40 minute to one hour train ride every day.
The apartment racket is the biggest pain in the ass. The market is filled with brokers who place an ad in a newspaper, then charge you a fee for "finding" you an apartment when you answer the ad. The fee is usually the equivalent of one month's rent, and you'll also have to pony up first month's rent and a deposit to move in. That $1000 per month studio will cost you $3000 to get in.
If you don't want to pay a broker, there ARE no-fee apartments available. They're often rented within hours of being listed in the paper. You have to have luck, timing, and cash ready to plop down on the spot. Unfortunately for you, most of them involve a credit check, and they won't rent to you if you don't have a job. When I first went to NY, I offered to pay this b*tch six months' rent up front, and she still wouldn't rent to me without a verifiable job. If you don't live there, you can't get a job, and if you don't have a job, you can't live there.
That's why a lot of people who hit New York for the first time stay with friends or answer ads for roommates. The roommate situation often involves sharing a one bedroom with someone you don't know, with you sleeping on a futon in the living room. You drastically cut your expenses and it's a lot easier to get in with a roommate than to get approved for your own place, but some of the people you'll meet can be a little weird.
If you opt to try for your own place without going through a broker, expect to work at it pretty hard for a couple of months before finding a place. Every week you'll face disappointment until one day you visit the right place at the right time and manage to get in ahead of somebody else.
I haven't even mentioned the car. If you plan to have an automobile, it will cost you another $400 per month for a space in Manhattan. You can try parking on the street, but good luck! Residential parking is easier in Brooklyn, Queens and Jersey, but if you try to drive into the city for work you'll end up paying for parking anyway. And the first time you forget to move your car for alternate sides parking, it's a $50 or $60 ticket.
Forget the car. Use the subway.
Now, as for how much YOU need to live there, it depends on your own requirements. Food can be cheap or expensive, and you'll learn where to find cheap eats. The rest depends on what you need to spend to keep yourself clothed and entertained.
My advice would be to forget about that PA job. If you want to live and work in NY, you need to just make the decision that's going to be your life, save up a little starting money and go there.
