Jeff Zullo, a 27-year-old MLB marketing producer, moved to the Upper East Side with his then girlfriend and now wife, Marisa Spiegelman, in March of 2008 after living on Yorkshire Road in New Hyde Park his whole life.
"The number one reason [we moved] was because we were both working in Manhattan and really, really hated the commute on the Long Island Railroad," Zullo said. "It was so expensive, the trains are always unreliable and we kind of had a little bit of a different schedule, so it was difficult trying to coordinate getting there and coming home."
Zullo is one of many Long Island born and bred who decide to move elsewhere as adults. Zullo is content with his decision to move because of the commute to Manhattan and a plethora of interesting things to do in the city.
"You could pretty much walk out your door and have access to anything that you want," Zullo said. "If you want to go out to a bar, there are millions of bars, they have restaurants; anything you need...is within walking distance."
The few setbacks Zullo sees to living in the city are that entertainment can be expensive, the rent is pretty high and being in the city that never sleeps, it often gets noisy due to the hustle, bustle and construction.
"We're definitelynot going to stay here forever; maybe two or three years more," he said. "We're not thinking about having kids at this moment, but I definitely would not want to raise a kid in the city."
Jackie Edwards, a 27-year-old employee at North Shore LIJ Health System and long-time friend of Zullo, now lives with a roommate in Astoria after living on Bellwood Drive in New Hyde Park.
"[I moved] to get out of my parents house and since I had a full-time job in the city, it was a better commute from Queens," Edwards said. "It's also the best of both worlds because I'm a subway ride away from Manhattan and a car ride away from New Hyde Park where my parents live."
Edwards loves the freedom that comes with living in the city and enjoys visiting the "cool places to go on the weekends in Astoria and in the city," but she doesn't plan to stay in Astoria forever.
"[I plan to stay here] until I get married and buy a house to raise a family," she said. "[I won't move back to New Hyde Park] not because I didn't have a wonderful time growing up there, but Long Island has changed ... and I don't think I would want to raise kids there."
