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

Gramercy Park

335 East 22nd Street

$2,472 No Fee

Studio |

1

Lenox Hill

500 East 73rd Street

$2,500 No Fee

Studio |

1

East Village

518 East 5th Street

$2,448 No Fee

Studio |

1

Washington Heights

523 West 173rd Street

$2,095 No Fee

1 |

1

East Harlem

157 East 99th Street

$2,300 No Fee

1 |

1

Fort George

644 West 185th Street

$1,725 No Fee

1 |

1

Hamilton Heights

559 West 149th Street

$1,900 No Fee

Studio |

1

Fort George

560 Audubon Avenue

$2,180 No Fee

Studio |

1

East Harlem

203 East 121st Street

$2,477 No Fee

Studio |

1

Inwood

120 Vermilyea Avenue

$2,046 No Fee

1 |

1

Inwood

57 Park Terrace West

$1,950 No Fee

Studio |

1

Lenox Hill

408 East 78th Street

$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

250 Clarkson Avenue

$1,950 No Fee

Studio |

1

East Williamsburg

75 Beadel Street

$2,350 No Fee

1 |

1

Flatbush

900 Rogers Avenue

$2,350 No Fee

1 |

1

Flatbush

740 East 32nd Street

$1,600 No Fee

Studio |

1

Brighton Beach

3017 Ocean Parkway

$1,875 No Fee

1 |

1

Stuyvesant Heights

1048 Putnam Avenue

$2,250 No Fee

1 |

1

Prospect Lefferts Gardens

188 Parkside Avenue

$2,150 No Fee

1 |

1

Crown Heights

788 Park Place

$2,250 No Fee

Studio |

1

Borough Park

1058 62nd Street

$2,500 No Fee

2 |

1

Prospect Lefferts Gardens

55 Winthrop Street

$1,999 No Fee

1 |

1

East Flatbush

1057 East 34th Street

$1,800 No Fee

Studio |

1

Weeksville

1656 Saint John’s Place

$2,450 No Fee

2 |

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

64-56 223 Place

$2,325 No Fee

1 |

1

Bayside

43-10 210th Street

$2,455 No Fee

1 |

1

Forest Hills

107-19 70th Avenue

$2,350 No Fee

1 |

1

Corona

59-21 Calloway Street

$2,400 No Fee

2 |

1

Bayside

56-52 212nd Street

$2,000 No Fee

1 |

1

Bayside

57-40 229th Street

$1,700 No Fee

Studio |

1

Bayside

213-03 41st Avenue

$1,850 No Fee

Studio |

1

Murray Hill (Queens)

39-04 155th Street

$1,750 No Fee

1 |

1

Sunnyside

41-20 46th Street

$2,300 No Fee

1 |

1

Glendale

65-05 Central Avenue

$2,100 No Fee

1 |

1

Elmhurst

85-23 Broadway

$2,050 No Fee

1 |

1

Forest Hills

111-45 76 Drive

$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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