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

Lenox Hill

438 East 66th Street

$2,350 base rent

1 |

1

East Harlem

165 East 99th Street

$1,999 base rent

1 |

1

Hell’s Kitchen

309 West 43rd Street

$2,100 base rent

Studio |

1

Washington Heights

473 West 158th Street

$1,800 base rent

1 |

1

Washington Heights

536 West 158th Street

$2,395 base rent

1 |

1

East Harlem

424 East 116th Street

$2,500 base rent

1 |

1

Yorkville

354 East 81st Street

$2,400 base rent

Studio |

1

Yorkville

1670 York Avenue

$2,450 base rent

Studio |

1

Fort George

64 Wadsworth Terrace

$2,250 base rent

1 |

1

Fort George

612 West 182nd Street

$2,150 base rent

1 |

1

South Harlem

24 West 125th Street

$2,498 base rent

1 |

1

Fort George

64 Wadsworth Terrace

$2,245 base rent

1 |

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.

Fort Hamilton

8614 Third Avenue

$2,100 base rent

2 |

1

Flatbush

2324 Bedford Avenue

$2,400 base rent

Studio |

1

East Flatbush

3508 Farragut Road

$2,383 base rent

1 |

1

Crown Heights

1526 Eastern Parkway

$2,100 base rent

2 |

1

Crown Heights

1526 Eastern Parkway

$2,000 base rent

1 |

1

Brownsville

1111 Clarkson Avenue

$2,500 base rent

2 |

1

Flatbush

30 Linden Boulevard

$2,200 base rent

1 |

1

Fort Hamilton

378 94th Street

$1,685 base rent

1 |

1

Prospect Lefferts Gardens

183 Winthrop Avenue

$2,000 base rent

Studio |

1

Flatbush

352 East 22nd Street

$2,100 base rent

2 |

1

Stuyvesant Heights

582 Mac Donough Street

$2,500 base rent

Studio |

1

Weeksville

1625 Park Place

$2,369 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.

Astoria

44-21 30th Avenue

$2,400 base rent

1 |

1

Briarwood

82-35 134th Street

$2,050 base rent

1 |

1

Forest Hills

71-50 Austin Street

$1,900 base rent

1 |

1

Forest Hills

111-35 75th Avenue

$2,500 base rent

1 |

1

Jamaica

88-35 164th Street

$2,250 base rent

2 |

1

North Corona

37-28 104th Street

$2,495 base rent

1 |

1

Ditmars-Steinway

22-76 41st Street

$2,300 base rent

1 |

1

Ditmars-Steinway

22-76 41st Street

$2,200 base rent

1 |

1

Astoria

32-20 41st Street

$2,278 base rent

1 |

1

Astoria

30-60 48th Street

$2,500 base rent

1 |

1

Rockaway All

120-10 Rockaway Beach Boulevard

$1,900 base rent

1 |

1

Elmhurst

82-20 Britton Avenue

$2,400 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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