I also recommend Queens; consider getting a three bedroom in Astoria (or perhaps somewhere east of Astoria) for around $2100/month or less, and sublet the extra two bedrooms (or get people to sign on to the lease with you) to get monthly rent down to $700/month for the two of you. Then, you can bike to work or take the subway; and get your food at Costco or some other reasonably cheap place.
If you work at it, stay in one bedroom together, and ride bikes everywhere, cooking all meals, you can take expenses below $1,000 per month for the two of you together, excluding charity. I've certainly done that for a while, and it worked well.
If you're set on Brooklyn, it's the same deal as Queens, but much higher rent if you're close to Manhattan.
In this case, I recommend a three bedroom or, better, a four bedroom, and get people to sign on to the lease with you.
I'd expect rent to be about $1000/month for your master bedroom after doing this; add $100 per month per person for groceries, ride bikes everywhere, and a few bucks for (shared) utilities, and you're looking at $1,250/month in typical expenses now, excluding charity.
That's how I live now, $1,250 per month typical expenses in Willliamsburg, Brooklyn; way higher than the $1,000 per month I had in Queens.
So, I'm now a spendypants in a super fancy neighborhood, and I live right at the mouth of the Williamsburg bridge. My commute into Manhattan is less than ten minutes by bike, though, which is cool. I strongly agree with the comments by
@MonkeyJenga here. Lots of free entertainment.
If you're set on living in Manhattan, you'd probably want to look really far north, somewhere in Washington Heights or so, to find a suitably mustachian one bedroom. Less than $1,900/month rent for a one bedroom if you're set on that, but I'm unfamiliar with the area myself.