I second trying craigslist for jobs and gov websites for visas. Also, if you have any ideas in mind for particular companies you'd like to work for, contact them directly through their website or HR.

Rents in Manhattan are ridiculous. Studios are on average around $2000, but it's definitely possible to find them for $1500 or less, especially in certain parts of the East Village, Upper East Side (more towards the river), and Chinatown/Little Italy. All these hoods are rather safe for the most part. Brooklyn and Queens are also great options, but depending on where you live, the commute to Manhattan can take about an hour.

On the whole, I think Manhattan is very safe. I have no problem walking around midtown and many parts of downtown at night by myself.

It might still be a little chilly/snowy in March, but April and May are wonderful.

Good luck with your move!

i feel you, dear, i've just moved to scotland from the states.

on visas: now, as far as i know, you need a job before you come here. that's so your employer is your sponser. that doesn't mean you can't leave your job, but your visa will have a specific category of work that you can do and you MUST stick to that. check unitedstatesvisas.gov

for work: to be fair, i don't know what to tell you. craigslist may have jobs, but who knows how legit they are. if you have a specific industry to work in, that would make it easier.

money: the exchange rate right now is about 1.48 dollars to the pound. meaning for evey pound you get 40 extra pence or so. new york, in that respect would be a bit cheaper than london, but not too much. dont go to tourist traps or take cabs, you'll be fine.

safety: i love that everyone apparently owns a gun! well, to be fair, most people dont have a liscense and if they do they wont be carrying a gun around unless they're a cop. also, i'd say that the danger is about the same as rougher areas of london, maybe a bit more like glasgow. don't dress too flashy in normal neighborhood, show off all your money, youll be fine.

timing: once it hits summer, you'll miss the cold. but when you move, it should be mild, around 16 degrees celcius. and people love english accents!

Congrats on being brave enough to totally pick up and move over here, that's awesome!

Ok, so I really have no idea about Visas (this is the part where I feel very uneducated) but I think those who've commented before me gave some good tips.

As for work, as a computer science major I think you're chances of finding a job are a bit higher simply because they're higher in demand than other people. I don't know if you need to have a job in order to get a Visa, but in any case here's something I learned: because there are so many people applying for jobs and sending hundreds of resumes every day on things like Craigs List, you might be better off finding a temp agency because they will set up interviews for you with no cost for you. Companies don't have time to go through and respond to hundreds of resumes so they higher these agencies to match up employees for them. Chances of finding a job are higher and trust me I know from experience the ratio of resumes you send out on your own to the calls you get back is like 1:15. It's not pretty.

DO NOT live in the city right away. It's SUPER expensive. Though you are coming from London so the exchange rate might help you out a bit. But I don't know your financial status, however I can give you an example of how expensive it is. My friend and 3 roommates live on the Upper East Side and they are each paying $600 a month not including utilities. That's a bucketload of money. I would try the other boroughs like Brooklyn and Queens and if you want to be close to the city that's definitely possible. I'm in Brooklyn and I'm only 40 minutes from the city by train. Brooklyn is actually becoming the new place to live, or so I hear.

Safety, haha. Well I grew up in Brooklyn and no it's not as horrid as people make it seem. I've traveled to other countries and felt less safe there what with all the warnings of "muggers" and "molesters." Clearly there are neighborhoods you want to avoid and you have to have city smarts but I'm sure you already have those seeing as your from London. But seriously it's really not as bad as people make it out to be, you just need to be alert and that's true of any place you live or travel to.

As for timing, well I don't really think there is anything serious going on in March/April....haha, though since it's the beginning of spring-ish it might be super wet and rainy when you get here.

Anyway, much luck to you!!!!! I hope I helped. And when you get here and need tips about the night life and what places to go to have a good time, I'll be more than happy to give you some tips.

Hmm... if New York feels a little scary, why not try Toronto first?  It's commonwealth and easy for you to adjust to, and very North American so you can learn the ways a bit more before heading south to the big U S of A.

My family up and moved from the UK to the US 15 years ago on a whim.  We love it here and my brother and I both ended up marrying Americans and will raise our babies here.  If you can, line up a job before you leave and you'll get help with the visa.  That's what my da did.  He was also in IT.  Also remember that the US is in a flux of economic change (and not the good kind) and a lot of US citizens are getting laid off left and right, so finding a job could be really hard...
The gun thing freaked me out, but I only ever see them when my friends want to show them off -- and it's never "hands up or I'll shoot" it's just, hey, come check out my guns.  Of course, I do live in a different part of the country...

In the midwest, I've had temp office jobs paying 10-12 dollars/hour.  I don't know how closely they follow cost of living standards (it is MUCH cheaper to live in the midwest than either coast)... but if you have experience (which you do), I think you can expect to make at least 10.  If you can get a job... and not everyone is thrilled about hiring someone with a visa (hell, some places don't even like my green card and they would never even guess I wasn't American until we start the paperwork).

1st off: VISA's. You can come to the US on a 90 day tourist visa. That's really the only one you can get unless you get a company to hire you and sponsor an H1 visa for you to come over. But that's not really possible because the US govt only accepts applications for H1 visa's in April. H1 visa is a 3 year work visa that can be renewed only once. So you're best bet is to come over on the 90 day tourist visa and then job hunt for 3 months so that before the tourist visa expires you can apply in April for the H1. Check the US govt website before you come as some countries as of Jan 12th have to apply for the 90 day tourist visa (or any visa) in advance before their trip. If you come without having done this they send you back home immediately.

As for getting married to get a visa, that doesn't work too well since you have to be married for 3 years before you can get your green card that makes it legal for you to work in the US. For those 3 years, can't legally work. So out of luck there. Also, the US does not allow the visa's like the ones for Australia and Canada. Sorry but we don't give preference for people from the UK.

2nd: Work. From past experience temp work will be enough to barely pay the bills but probably not in such an expensive city such as NY. Try to get a "real" job. Although with the US economy as bad as it is and with how many people in business in NY have lost their jobs, it's gonna be hard to find a decent job anywhere. Good luck searching though. Best websites would be Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com.

Money. Money wise you benefit from the exchange rate but NY is just as expensive as London so it won't help much. I remember living in London in '03 when the exchange rate was much better but it was still pricey. Sooo, don't expect to save any money by moving here.

Weather: Use weather.com to search by city for local weather in NY. It can give you an idea of the normal temps. It can be pretty cold there in winter from what I here from relatives though. Again, like I mentioned earlier you might want to come sooner so that you can get a job that will sponsor you for an H1 visa in time to apply in April. Come in April and I can guarantee you won't find a job in time to apply for the visa.

Hope these tips help out, I've done a lot of research trying to help my bf immigrate to the US. Now for me, it'd be really easy to immigrate to Japan. If we got married I could get a green card immediately and work legally right away, and if we had kids we'd get paid from the govt for each one born. I've heard it's somewhere in the ballpark of $10,000 and up each.

You're screwed with the visas.

Well, since the US is in a recession right now, your Pound will be worth just about twice our dollar.  However living in New York is extremely expensive, and living quarters are terrible.  Not to mention it's very cold and there's a much heavier snowfall than in London.  I would suggest going somewhere else in New York/the US if you're looking for a job and a good experience because usually when someone who is very unaware of their surroundings in New York moves there with no outside help or set plan, they get taken advantage of.  At least, as a New Yorker myself, that's what I've observed.   

Also, visas were made to be confusing.  All I can say is research as much as you can or contact a travel agency or something if you really can't figure them out.

I just have a question..why new york? I mean. It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't LIVE there. Well..that's just my opinion. You do as you wish, and tell me how it turns out!

New Yorkers have a love/hate relationship with New York --lots of things to do and strong night life but very expensive.

I would offer some advice but people have given you great tips already so I don't want to confuse you. Just make sure you keep applying to jobs and I think with an English accent you have a leg up in any situation ...work, social, etc. (yes, most Americans love that English accent). good luck! :)