NYC Real Estate Renting Tips and Advice for Renters

Are You Living in a Rent-Stabilized Apartment?

By Jordi Lippe-McGraw January 14, 2022

It’s no secret that rent in New York City is expensive compared to other parts of the country. That’s why it’s always jaw-dropping to hear a story of someone paying much less than market-rate rent here. Remember how Carrie Bradshaw only paid $700 for her iconic Upper East Side pad in “Sex And The City”? That amount was still considered cheap in the late 1990s! The reason? Her place was probably a rent-stabilized apartment. Unfortunately, those highly coveted, affordable units seem like a distant dream. But they do exist. Is your NYC apartment rent-stabilized? Here’s how to find out.

Table of Contents

Carnegie Hill

161 East 96th Street

$2,450 base rent

Studio |

1

East Harlem

318 East 126th Street

$1,900 base rent

Studio |

1

Carnegie Hill

1596 Third Avenue

$2,495 base rent

Studio |

1

Chelsea

327 West 21st Street

$2,350 base rent

1 |

1

Hamilton Heights

580 Saint Nicholas’s Avenue

$2,400 base rent

1 |

1

Yorkville

1848 Second Avenue

$2,400 base rent

Studio |

1

Manhattan Valley

953 Amsterdam Avenue

$2,300 base rent

1 |

1

Central Harlem

19 West 129th Street

$2,150 base rent

Studio |

1

East Harlem

234 East 106th Street

$2,375 base rent

2 |

1

Inwood

502 West 213rd Street

$1,900 base rent

1 |

1

Central Harlem

165 West 127th Street

$2,000 base rent

1 |

1

Hamilton Heights

469 West 147th Street

$2,075 base rent

Studio |

1

How Many Rent-Stabilized Units Are in NYC?

A New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey dating back to 2017, revealed there are close to 1 million rent-stabilized units in NYC. At the time of this writing, StreetEasy offered 220 listings with the term “rent-stabilized” in the apartment description. Here are tips for how to find a rent-stabilized apartment.

Benefits of a Rent-Stabilized Apartment

There are many reasons to find out if your NYC apartment is rent-stabilized in addition to affordability:

Landlords can only increase the rent by a percentage determined by the Rent Guidelines Board.
Rent is not dependent on your income level, apartment size, or the number of residents.
Landlords must renew leases every year, increasing housing security for rent-stabilized tenants.
Tenants in rent-stabilized apartments can pass on the unit to family members in some cases.

Kensington

58 Dahill Road

$2,500 base rent

1 |

1

Stuyvesant Heights

407 Chauncey Street

$2,400 base rent

1 |

1

Ocean Hill

342 Marion Street

$1,850 base rent

2 |

1

Ditmas Park

297 East 16th Street

$1,495 base rent

Studio |

1

Flatbush

1209 Rogers Avenue

$2,395 base rent

1 |

1

East Flatbush

906 East New York Avenue

$2,500 base rent

1 |

1

Crown Heights

959 Carroll Street

$2,250 base rent

Studio |

1

Sheepshead Bay

615 Avenue Y

$2,300 base rent

1 |

1

Prospect Park South

45 Tennis Court

$1,750 base rent

Studio |

1

Flatbush

1207 Rogers Avenue

$2,400 base rent

1 |

1

East Flatbush

104 East 53rd Street

$2,256 base rent

1 |

1

Bensonhurst

1365 West 7th Street

$1,850 base rent

1 |

1

How To Find Out if Your Apartment Is Rent-Stabilized

Generally speaking, an NYC apartment is rent-stabilized if it is in a building that contains six or more units, was built before 1974, and isn’t a co-op or condo. However, it’s important to remember that prior to the 2019 legislation, units would fall out of rent stabilization once they hit a certain rent threshold. So, to find out if your unit is rent-stabilized, contact NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) via phone or web portal and request a rent history.

Reviewing your rent history is a great way to find out if your apartment is rent-stabilized, but it also offers other benefits. For example, a rent history will help you find out if your landlord is charging you more than your apartment’s legal rent if it is stabilized, or if they were granted a rent increase for a Major Capital Improvement (MCI) or Individual Apartment Improvement (IAI), that they did not actually conduct to destabilize a unit. Another tool you can use is the Rent Guidelines Board’s list of rent-stabilized buildings in New York City. Buildings are organized by borough and zip code, and the documents can be downloaded and searched by keyword, address, etc.

Oakland Gardens

75-08 Bell Boulevard

$2,300 base rent

1 |

1

Woodhaven

86-22 98th Street

$2,050 base rent

1 |

1

Kew Gardens

84-17 Austin Street

$2,349 base rent

1 |

1

Forest Hills

67-41 Burns Street

$2,195 base rent

1 |

1

Astoria

23-49 33rd Avenue

$2,000 base rent

1 |

1

Jamaica

166-25 89th Avenue

$1,700 base rent

Studio |

1

Astoria

32-12 Broadway

$2,200 base rent

1 |

1

Queens Village

93-23 218th Street

$2,150 base rent

1 |

1

Pomonok

78-40 164th Street

$2,200 base rent

1 |

1

Briarwood

84-02 143rd Street

$1,895 base rent

1 |

1

Rego Park

63-36 98 Place

$2,500 base rent

1 |

1

Briarwood

139-49 87th Avenue

$1,995 base rent

1 |

1

Are New Rent-Stabilized Apartments Being Built?

The short answer is “yes.”

“Changes to the inventory of rent-stabilized apartments are published every year by the NYC Rent Guidelines Board,” according to Sam Himmelstein, a tenants’ rights lawyer with Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben, Donoghue & Joseph. About 10,000 rent-stabilized units were created in 2020 due to the 421-a program, which in simple terms is a real estate tax exemption for new construction. This program defers tax payments for developers that include a certain percentage of affordable housing units in a building. (A common split is 80/20, with affordable apartments in the minority. Abatements range in length — 10, 15, 20 years, etc. — and generally, the rent-stabilized status remains, even after those abatements expire.)

In addition, a small number of stabilized units are created due to the J-51 program, which is similar to 421-a but applies to buildings that have been renovated, as opposed to newly constructed. Still more rent-stabilized apartments are created when loft spaces are converted to contain multiple units, or when apartments leave the Mitchell-Lama program, a city- and state-run program for moderate and middle-income families.

How to Find a Rent-Stabilized Apartment in NYC

So, how do you find a rent-stabilized apartment in NYC?

“Renters can apply to win affordable apartments, which are mostly rent-stabilized, through the NYC housing lottery’s website, Housing Connect,” says Adjina Dekidjiev, a broker for Warburg Realty. Note that applicants must meet income requirements (these are capped) and that the application process requires significant documentation and often, time.

“You can also work with a real estate broker who can research them and might know about off-market apartments,” says Dekidjiev.

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