New York rental guide - Queens
The basics
Wrapping around Brooklyn from the north and east is the borough of Queens, geographically the largest borough in New York and the second-largest by population. Although it's not as central as Manhattan, or as cool as Brooklyn, Queens is more affordable.
The borough is home to New York's two major airports - LaGuardia and JFK. If you're arriving from most of the continental United States, chances are you're going to fly into LaGuardia. If you're coming from overseas (or the west coast), you'll probably land at JFK.
Northern Queens is well served by subways running into Midtown Manhattan but there are large parts of the borough that are fairly difficult to reach by public transportation, so many people in Queens find it helpful to own a car (unlike most New Yorkers, who wouldn't be able to find a place to park even if they could afford a car after paying their extravagant rents).
A closer look
Queens has a diverse range of neighborhoods. Some, like Long Island City, are close to Manhattan and boast new skyscrapers with stunning views of the Midtown skyline. Others, like Forest Hills or the Rockaway area, are quite distant from Manhattan and are practically suburban.
The most popular areas of Queens are, unsurprisingly, the ones on the major subway routes. These include Astoria, Sunnyside, Jackson Heights, and Woodside. In general they're fairly cheap compared to Manhattan or Brooklyn. Qualifying for an apartment can also be less grueling than it is in Manhattan or the nicer parts of Brooklyn (but it's still not entirely painless).