Commuting in NYC

[alfisti]

Hello there,
I have an off-topic question about housing and commuting in NYC. I will start my MSc. in Financial Engineering in NYU-Poly this fall (2012) and I am in the phase of searching the suitable housing for me at least for the first semester.
Having declined some other housing options for several reasons, I am thinking about living in the International House residence, which is in the Morningside Heights in Upper West Side. My uni is in Jay street in Brooklyn.
What is your opinion about commuting every day from there to the uni?
Have you any idea of the exact time of travel? Which is the best mean of transport?
Is it common?
Are there other students that live in a such kind of distance from their campus?
In general, is it feasible?
It is needed to mention to you that I have never been to NYC, so your answer and your opinion is very crucial to me. Also, I have no much time available for hunting for a home and I actually do not want to mess up with that at least for my first months in NYC.
I believe that you can understand the sense of my questions and exactly the situation I am in.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Commute is about 1 hour each way during rush hour.
Learn to use hopstop.com
Most people commute via subway to work/school so it's a way of life in NYC.

 

[Trev]

Personally, I would not put Morningside Heights in the UWS, obviously with all the schools around there it is a bit removed socially from Harlem, but in terms of geography, it's up there... Which means a long trip to Brooklyn each day too. If it were me, I would be trying to get much closer to school. There are a ton of train lines down there, so pay attention to which ones allow you not to have to transfer. I used to walk a half mile each day, for three years, to avoid transferring to a line that would drop me off a block from my office.