SWJ 2nd – Times SQ, Brooklyn Bridge, LGA in 15 min

I’ll be honest – when I first heard the name SWJ 2nd – Times SQ, Brooklyn Bridge, LGA in 15 min, I thought someone had gotten a bit carried away with their listing title. But you know what? After staying there, I actually appreciate how upfront they are about the travel times because that’s exactly why you’d pick this spot in Harlem.

The place sits right on West 137th Street, and I mean, you’re really getting that authentic uptown New York experience here. This is proper Harlem – not the touristy bits, but the neighborhood where people actually live and work. The building itself has character (translation: it’s got some age on it), but the apartment was surprisingly well-maintained. What struck me most was how quiet it gets at night, especially compared to Midtown. You’ll hear the occasional siren or late-night conversation drifting up from the street, but it’s nothing like the chaos down by Times Square. The three-star rating feels about right – this isn’t luxury, but it’s clean, functional, and honestly pretty comfortable.

Here’s the thing that really sold me on the location: they weren’t kidding about those travel times. I timed it myself – 14 minutes to LaGuardia on a Tuesday morning (though I’d probably add 10 minutes during rush hour, just to be safe). Getting down to Brooklyn Bridge took me about 18 minutes on the subway, and honestly, that’s faster than I’ve managed from some supposedly more central locations. The 2/3 trains are your friends here, and there’s a station just a few blocks away. I actually found myself appreciating the rhythm of uptown life – grabbing coffee from the bodega downstairs, watching the neighborhood wake up from the window. There’s something refreshing about staying somewhere that feels lived-in rather than sanitized for tourists. The host was responsive when I had questions, and check-in was smooth enough, though the building’s buzzer system is one of those old-school setups that takes a minute to figure out. If you’re looking for hotel-style amenities, this obviously isn’t that – but if you want a genuine slice of New York life with surprisingly good access to everywhere else, it actually makes a lot of sense.