Can I support myself working as a barista in NYC?

I'm not a barista, but I spend a lot of time working in the kinds of small coffee shops that are likely to pay well (albeit not in New York). The main way I see people getting jobs: They show up when things are not likely to be busy (avoiding morning, lunch, mid-afternoon rushes) with a resume in hand, talk up their experience, ask who to talk to about job opportunities. They highlight their skills at indie coffee shops elsewhere. They come back later if there is no opening. Unless you're working at a coffee shop that sends baristas to competitions and then wins those competitions, your previous employer will probably not be known to anyone in NYC. But if you can describe why and how your previous employer equipped you to do this new job well that will get you a long way. Persistence will also help. There may be no opening on the day you drop by, but if you come by a few weeks later something could have changed. Showing up regularly to reiterate your interest (but not so often as to be a nuisance) will make you more likely to get hired than if you wait for a help wanted sign to appear in the window or an ad to be posted on craigslist.

I made about equivalent to a barista working at a food store in New York ~2 years ago, and was able to live in a fine apartment in a dull but safe neighborhood just south of Prospect Park with two roommates. I didn't really have extra money to spend on non-essentials, but it wasn't the doomsday scenario some people are recounting here. It kind of sucked but it wasn't an impossible situation-- just one I'd prefer not to play out again.

So how do baristas living in NY generally support themselves? With second jobs; with money from their parents; with money from savings; by having 4 roommates in a 1BR; by living really far away from their places of business; by still living at home; by being students who only work part time for spending money.

Serious question: Are you willing to share a really small 1-bedroom apartment in a sketchy neighborhood with 3 other people? Think two bunkbeds on either side of a small room, prison cell-style. That's my guess on how you'd have to be willing to live to make it on barista money in NY.

You might see if you could parley your barista experience into a job as a bartender. Worse hours, but far more money.

Skilled full-time baristas at high-end coffee shops in Portland can make $40,000 a year or more in pay and tips. I don't know New York, but I'm just guessing that people there can make as much or more than Portlanders for equivalent work. And I've known a number of people who've made ends meet on that much or less, even in NYC. (Yes, part-time baristas, baristas at struggling and/or mid-/low-end coffee shops, and full-of-themselves-but-lacking-in-skills baristas usually make a lot less.)

Decent enough ones, yes. I don't know that you want to use Craigslist to find a job, but you can use it to get a sense of what's out there, who's hiring, how many jobs there are at any given time, etc. You'll probably have better luck on foot around town looking for Help Wanted signs, or chatting with baristas in other places who might have a scoop on other shops in the neighborhood.

Anecdote: My step-sister works full time (or probably just under) as a barista at a Starbucks in Manhattan. She shares a 1 bedroom apartment with a roommate in LeFrak City, a giant housing development in a pretty shady neighborhood located in outer, outer Queens. I'm not super close to her, but I have the impression she has a pretty hard time making ends meet, even with occasional help from her dad.

You could probably manage it, but you wouldn't be happy. I did okay with a roommate in an apartment in Astoria on $1400 a month after taxes in 2004. (An inflation calculator tells me that's almost $1700 in today's money.) My share of the rent was $700 ($850) and from what I've heard lately rents have gone up by quite a bit. I was making $17 ($21) an hour before taxes though. I don't think baristas make that much.