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

Hamilton Heights

630 West 136th Street

$2,500 No Fee

2 |

1

Chinatown

121 Baxter Street

$2,100 No Fee

Studio |

1

Lenox Hill

347 East 61st Street

$2,175 No Fee

Studio |

1

Yorkville

529 East 81st Street

$2,375 No Fee

1 |

1

Hamilton Heights

450 West 149th Street

$1,750 No Fee

1 |

1

Fort George

1505 Saint Nicholas’ Avenue

$1,800 No Fee

1 |

1

Upper West Side

320 West 96th Street

$2,200 No Fee

2 |

1

Yorkville

335 East 92nd Street

$2,200 No Fee

Studio |

1

Sutton Place

1007 Second Avenue

$2,500 No Fee

Studio |

1

Central Harlem

446 Saint Nicholas’s Avenue

$2,075 No Fee

1 |

1

Yorkville

312 East 89th Street

$2,100 No Fee

Studio |

1

Hamilton Heights

610 Saint Nicholas Avenue

$2,250 No Fee

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.

Flatbush

2101 Bedford Avenue

$2,500 No Fee

2 |

1

Fort Hamilton

8701 Ridge Boulevard

$2,100 No Fee

1 |

1

Crown Heights

838 Dean Street

$2,300 No Fee

1 |

1

Stuyvesant Heights

121 Van Buren Street

$2,299 No Fee

3 |

1

Prospect Heights

35 Eastern Parkway

$2,379 No Fee

Studio |

1

Ditmas Park

1624 Cortelyou Road

$1,675 No Fee

Studio |

1

Flatbush

297 Lenox Road

$2,100 No Fee

1 |

1

Crown Heights

1520 Carroll Street

$2,250 No Fee

1 |

1

Canarsie

910 East 98th Street

$1,950 No Fee

1 |

1

Gravesend

1645 West 9th Street

$2,300 No Fee

2 |

1

Prospect Lefferts Gardens

701 Flatbush Avenue

$1,975 No Fee

Studio |

1

Bath Beach

2038 Cropsey Avenue

$1,950 No Fee

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.

Sunnyside

45-25 48th Street

$2,100 No Fee

1 |

1

Kew Gardens

118-65 Metropolitan Avenue

$2,145 No Fee

1 |

1

Elmhurst

45-16 83rd Street

$2,375 No Fee

1 |

1

Sunnyside

41-42 50th Street

$2,250 No Fee

1 |

1

Astoria

28-17 33rd Street

$2,400 No Fee

2 |

1

Astoria

30-88 36th Street

$2,261 No Fee

1 |

1

Forest Hills

68-19 Burns Street

$1,995 No Fee

Studio |

1

Whitestone

155-10 16 Drive

$2,500 No Fee

1 |

1

Astoria

25-44 Steinway Street

$1,550 No Fee

Studio |

1

Astoria

30-33 38th Street

$2,450 No Fee

1 |

1

Astoria

30-40 45th Street

$1,675 No Fee

Studio |

1

Astoria

25-96 Steinway Street

$2,350 No Fee

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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