When Abigail DeAtley and Matt Felsen, good friends from college, landed in New York three years ago, they and a third roommate lived together in Crown Heights. The group shared a three-bedroom rental for $1,800 a month, paying $600 each. At that point rents were low, which “made finding an apartment cheap in an artificial way,” Ms. DeAtley said. [The article follows New College alums Abigail DeAtley and Matt Felsen on their hunt for a good apartment in New York.]