How reliable are the vacation rentals in new york on craigslist?

Hi, i’m flying to new york with my bf soon and we can’t afford $300 per night in a hotel, so we are looking at apartment rentals on craigslist. But i’m scared to get scammed. how much can you rely on that?
Have you ever stayed in one? can you recommend something?

Instead of doing that, why not try looking at hotels in other boroughs or even NJ? They’ll be less expensive than a hotel in Manhattan and they’ll be more reliable than booking something through Craigslist. You don’t want to get to NY and find that the apartment you’ve rented doesn’t exist.