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Rent Control in NYC

What is the cheapest rent that someone you know has paid - due to rent control?

by Anonymousreply 39June 26, 2019 12:12 PM

Cyndi Lauper

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 1August 21, 2014 10:54 PM

Has paid or currently pays.

by Anonymousreply 2August 21, 2014 11:21 PM

$112.46 for a 1BR in Hell's Kitchen. An elderly lady (she was at least 95) whom I met through volunteer work. She died a couple of years ago.

by Anonymousreply 3August 23, 2014 4:24 AM

A friend of mine lives on the right side of 96th street and Park - prewar building - and either rents or sublets from someone with 1200/month. 2 bdrms with an FDR and WBF. I've never seen it so I can't attest to the condition but regardless, what a lucky fucking bitch.

She does real estate for Halstead so my guess is she got some kind of inside deal.

by Anonymousreply 4August 23, 2014 6:26 AM

I have an 80/20 apartment in Hell's Kitchen which I've lived in since 2003. When I moved in that year, the rent for my brand new, 546 square foot, doorman one-bedroom in a sweet high rise was $542. Eleven years later it's $729. It's the nicest thing that's ever happened to me!

by Anonymousreply 5August 23, 2014 8:07 AM

R5, I am genuinely happy for you! I live (unhappily, after years in SF and a few (sublet) in NYC) in northern NY state. There are 2 women in my building - 70ish, 80ish - who each have sisters, similarly 70ish, 80ish, who live in NYC. They each live in big complexes (not sure where); each in rent control, have lived there FOREVER; each pays between $200-300. OMFG!

by Anonymousreply 6August 23, 2014 8:41 AM

R5 are you the "20"? Is there really a doorman at your poor-door?

by Anonymousreply 7August 23, 2014 8:43 AM

A co-worker of mine at a Midwestern brokerage was talking about her brother on 9/11, who worked in one of the Twin Towers but made it out alive. She said she kept telling him to move but he had a rent-controlled 2BR apartment that was only a 20 minute commute for $600, and he wasn't about to give it up for anything.

by Anonymousreply 8August 23, 2014 9:19 AM

What does northern NY state have to do with this thread?

by Anonymousreply 9August 23, 2014 11:32 AM

I have a friend in Midtown East who pays about $350 for a 5th floor 1BR walk up.

He's been there forevah.

by Anonymousreply 10August 23, 2014 12:00 PM

Very few have rent control, but there are a lot more with rent stabilization.

by Anonymousreply 11August 23, 2014 12:39 PM

I grew up in a 2br (now 3br with converted dining room) that was $1k a month in a high-rise.

One friend I grew up with has two rent-controlled apartments in his family, with rent of around $500 a month now for 2brs in a sixth-floor walkup (and ground-floor), while th other friend's family has three rent-stabilized apartments that are about $1k for 1brs.

AfterI lost my rent-stabilized apartment in the 1980s, I could have had another one for $500 a month (back then0 in a nice part of Brooklyn but didn't take it.

Rent-regulation needs to be abolished. It's unfair, and it erodes tax revenue because the tenants there don't have to earn as much, and often can't earn as much.

by Anonymousreply 12August 23, 2014 12:48 PM

a classmate at NYU in the early 90's lived with his very elderly grandmother on 10th st btwn 5th ave & university pl. She was paying $41 a month for her apartment (I don't know how big it was but he was able to stay with her w/o issue.)

by Anonymousreply 13August 23, 2014 1:08 PM

Well r12 if rich people (and businesses) were actually PAYING taxes there would be plenty of tax revenue for just about everything needed. So why not jump on that issue instead of hating on people living in affordable housing?

by Anonymousreply 14August 23, 2014 1:20 PM

I know a woman in a nice Chelsea walk-up with a one-bedroom since 1964, paying $138.85. Tenant in size on floor above pays $2800, though it was renovated with new kitchen appliances.

by Anonymousreply 15August 23, 2014 1:30 PM

There are things that promote good for the community. Rent stabilization is one of them. It allows middle income people to live in the same neighborhoods as the wealthy. The rich are in contact with the poor, the poor are in contact with the rich. This is a good thing for society.

This is going way back, but every major city had riots after the Rodney King verdict. But NYC did not. I think that the fact that no one in the city was isolated away from other economic classes made the difference.

by Anonymousreply 16August 23, 2014 2:11 PM

Well they just strengthened the rent stabilization laws in NYC. Price controls never actually produce more of the product in question, but rather a shortage which has to be managed through rationing. With rent control there is no rationing or means testing, it’s first come first serve. Homelessness and very high prices for the housing that is available (non-regulated) will continue. Do they not understand landlords will only be renting these out to people of means, the ones who need rent stabilization the least? Do people not remember the days of “key money” bribes and the shenanigans building management would always pull with tenant applicants? I do (moved here in the late 90s). These and other policies don’t bode well for the long term health of the NYC or regional economy. Even high end jobs in law and finance are moving to Charlotte and Dallas because of the high costs and taxes here. You can’t legislate supply and demand; several centuries of history have basically shown that. If they try to expand the scope of these laws to newer buildings, rentals of condos, and de-regulated units, this city is fucked.

by Anonymousreply 17June 16, 2019 2:25 AM

My coworker has a nice 2 bedroom in Williamsburg for $550 a month.

by Anonymousreply 18June 16, 2019 2:49 AM

One friend has a big two-bedroom apartment with a working fireplace in a doorman building for $1,800 a month. Near Penn Station and Hudson Yards. Comparable apartments in his building are now renting for twice that.

Another friend has a tiny one-bedroom in Hell’s Kitchen for about $400 a month.

by Anonymousreply 19June 16, 2019 3:21 AM

There was an an older actress who passed away last year and paid $19 for her place. No electricity, no water...but it was rent controlled and she refused to move until she passed....I believe tragically hit by a car.

by Anonymousreply 20June 16, 2019 3:46 AM

I had a Spanish teacher that paid $300 for her nice apartment in Greenwich Village.

by Anonymousreply 21June 16, 2019 3:49 AM

It’s a great thing, I am so tired of all these articles talking about the “harm” this does to the city by creating more expensive apartments. Such bullshit. Like trickle down economics. The only thing eliminating rent stabilization does is create a huge wealth gift to landlords - who paid less for the building because it was rent stabilized. Allowing them to take it out of rent stabilization is a gift to the landlord NOT tenants, New construction of apartments is not affected and the elimination of thousands of stabilized apartments since Bloomberg made it easier to get rid of it has not resulted in cheaper rents.

Congrats Cuomo on finally doing something for the lower and middle class of NYC. Landlords are not a group that need protection in NYC. Workers are.

by Anonymousreply 22June 16, 2019 3:58 AM

Most “workers” neither have nor will they ever benefit from rent stabilized apartments. They will however pay higher open market rents because of them and their local governments will collect lower property tax revenue than they otherwise would. But hey, we get to stick it to the “landlord class”!

by Anonymousreply 23June 19, 2019 2:19 AM

[quote] I have an 80/20 apartment in Hell's Kitchen which I've lived in since 2003... a 546 square foot, doorman one-bedroom..... It's the nicest thing that's ever happened to me!

Only in NYC would someone be excited about living in a 546 sf one-bedroom apartment for 15 years.

by Anonymousreply 24June 19, 2019 3:37 AM

When I moved into my apartment on West 47th Street, back in 1980, there were three tenants in the 15 unit building who had been in their apartments more than 40 years. They were all Rent Controlled, of course. Not Rent Stabilized. They were all paying less than $100 per month, either for a four room railroad, or for a small two bedroom. Of course, sometimes there were no lights in the halls, but that's the NYC rental game. You've got to be strong.

by Anonymousreply 25June 19, 2019 3:48 AM

I’ve lived in 550 square feet for almost 30 years. Actually totally adequate for city living. Have had weekend houses that were big - and never made sense why a single man needs much more space. The unused bedrooms, basements, huge kitchens, dining rooms are wasted unnecessary space.

by Anonymousreply 26June 19, 2019 3:51 AM

What happens with a rent controlled apartment after the current tenant dies? For example if your grandma has a rent controlled 2br for $300 a month and her grandson lives with her. Can he stay in the apartment for the same rent? Or can a family just keep the apartment after a relative died?

My friend bought a nice 2br apartment in SF right after college in the early 90s. His mother also has a big house in Diamond Hill where he can live. He has not worked for at least 15 years now. One apartment in a nice area and you never have to work again.

by Anonymousreply 27June 19, 2019 4:12 AM

R27 The grandson can "inherit" the rent controlled apartment and the rent would remain the same.

by Anonymousreply 28June 19, 2019 4:23 AM

I have an 86-year-old friend who has lived in the same West Village apartment since 1960. She pays about $500 a month for a decent-sized and very charming one bedroom in a townhouse, with a working fireplace and a huge terrace.

by Anonymousreply 29June 19, 2019 4:30 AM

$225/month for a large one bedroom in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

by Anonymousreply 30June 19, 2019 4:31 AM

The laws Cuomo got passed this week are impressive. Reverses a lot of the elimination options made under Bloomberg. It will be interesting to see what happens in the rent stabilization market - including mine.

My landlord has gotten rid of 50% of the rent stabiiized tenants in the building - he’s making $1 million a year more than he was - which translates to a net worth increase of over $20 million. Elimination of those rent controlled units from the market resulted in a transfer of wealth of over $20 million to an already very wealthy man,

by Anonymousreply 31June 19, 2019 4:40 AM

Monica and Rachael lived for free.

by Anonymousreply 32June 19, 2019 4:40 AM

"...tragically hit by a car..."

Do we know where the landlord was at the time, R20?

by Anonymousreply 33June 19, 2019 5:01 AM

R28 Whats the rationale for that? A family gets their foot in the door and the apartment essentially belongs to them - inheritance tax free - in perpetuity?

by Anonymousreply 34June 19, 2019 6:29 AM

R34, the advice from R28 is incorrect. Succession to a rent-regulated lease is not so easy.

The person claiming succession rights must have the qualifying family relationship and have lived in the apartment with the prime tenant for the two years immediately prior to the prime tenant moving or dying—though if you are over 62 or disabled, the requirement is only one year.

The following relatives automatically qualify as family members for the purposes of succession:

spouses: husband, wife (including legally married gay and lesbian spouses)

children: son, daughter, step-son, step-daughter,

parents: father, mother

siblings: sister, brother, step-sister, step-brother

grandparents and grandchildren

in-laws: father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law

adoptions : Courts recognize all of the family relations noted above for people who were legally adopted

non-traditional family members

The non-traditional family member status is yours to prove. And good luck. There are strict criteria, the foremost being financial interdependence. If you don't have joint bank accounts, joint credit cards, or some other nearly bullet-proof indicia of financial interdependence, you will not prevail. And have some cash on hand to pay a lawyer. You landlord will fight you tooth and nail to get that apartment back.

by Anonymousreply 35June 19, 2019 12:53 PM

R29, can your friend adopt me?

by Anonymousreply 36June 26, 2019 4:39 AM

r5 if you had a cute pup named Penny when you moved in, I was your next-door neighbor then, in the J line, paying $2,065.

by Anonymousreply 37June 26, 2019 8:57 AM

in 2018 the average price for a rent controlled apartment was $800/month (not rent-stabilized which is different)

The lowest price for a rent controlled apt in 2018 was Patricia O’Grady. She was an 84-year old former actress who moved into the top-floor apartment in 1955. She, along with three roommates, agreed to sweep the hallway for a monthly rent of $16. In 2018 she paid $28.43 per month ( 800-square foot unit,) but she was killed in an automotive accident in March 2018 bringing the flat back on market. The owner said he could've raised the rent more legally, but liked O'Grady and she never requested many repairs and he had no issues with her.

The lowest price rent controlled apartment is now $500/month.

There are about 22,000 rent controlled apartments in NYC . The rent-controlled criteria—continuous rental since before 1971 in buildings built before 1947, which cannot be inherited even if there’s a child living in the building.

by Anonymousreply 38June 26, 2019 10:51 AM

A resident of a rent controlled apartment who meets the statutory legal criteria absolutely can succeed to a rent controlled tenancy when the primary tenant leaves the apartment by moving or by death.

by Anonymousreply 39June 26, 2019 12:12 PM
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