It depends on what your family of three would need (i.e., if you're a couple with a young baby, one room would probably suffice; if you're a parent with two teenagers, you might need two or three bedrooms).

When I last polled our students, they were spending $800-1,200/month individually. Some people have been able to go below that ($600 is the cheapest I've heard) and some have opted to spend more.

Assuming you need a two bedroom place, my guess is you could get a reasonable one that's transit accessible and in safe part of Brooklyn or Queens for 1.5-2x the above. For example, here's a Craigslist post for a 2-bedroom apartment for $1200 (http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/sub/3504867065.html) and another for $1600 (http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/sub/3509197277.html)

I hope this helps!

Please reconsider. These people are not elite hackers like they pretend to be. It's more about self-promotion than anything else. I bet a job with skilled people as mentors will suit you a lot better than this random risky gamble.