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

Chelsea

335 West 19th Street

$2,000 base rent

1 |

1

Kips Bay

73 Lexington Avenue

$2,000 base rent

1 |

1

Central Harlem

260 West 135th Street

$2,092 base rent

Studio |

1

Yorkville

323 East 89th Street

$2,495 base rent

Studio |

1

Hamilton Heights

467 West 147th Street

$2,195 base rent

1 |

1

East Harlem

405 East 117th Street

$2,400 base rent

1 |

1

Inwood

500 West 213th Street

$2,150 base rent

1 |

1

Fort George

131 Nagle Avenue

$2,195 base rent

1 |

1

Fort George

610 West 196th Street

$2,500 base rent

1 |

1

Upper West Side

936 West End Avenue

$2,215 base rent

Studio |

1

Washington Heights

515 West 170th Street

$1,863 base rent

1 |

1

East Harlem

101 East 116th Street

$2,492 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.

Gravesend

1890 Ocean Parkway

$2,100 base rent

1 |

1

Bath Beach

2108 Cropsey Avenue

$1,795 base rent

Studio |

1

Stuyvesant Heights

212 Malcolm X Boulevard

$2,396 base rent

Studio |

1

Flatbush

2165 Clarendon Road

$2,395 base rent

Studio |

1

Midwood

1791 New York Avenue

$1,975 base rent

1 |

1

Borough Park

1332 43rd Street

$2,200 base rent

1 |

1

Kensington

438 Ocean Parkway

$2,400 base rent

1 |

1

Stuyvesant Heights

35 Buffalo Avenue

$2,500 base rent

1 |

1

Crown Heights

327 Crown Street

$2,000 base rent

1 |

1

Fort Hamilton

226 97th Street

$2,150 base rent

1 |

1

Flatbush

1782 Nostrand Avenue

$2,399 base rent

1 |

1

Crown Heights

1306 Atlantic Avenue

$2,375 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.

Briarwood

143-25 84th Avenue

$2,400 base rent

2 |

1

Kew Gardens

83-83 118th Street

$2,100 base rent

1 |

1

Fresh Meadows

190-17C 69th Avenue

$2,250 base rent

1 |

1

Fresh Meadows

190-17C 69th Avenue

$2,050 base rent

Studio |

1

Middle Village

61-57 84th Street

$1,800 base rent

Studio |

1

Jamaica Hills

164-20 Highland Avenue

$1,800 base rent

Studio |

1

Rego Park

65-51 Booth Street

$2,495 base rent

1 |

1

Forest Hills

67-11 Yellowstone Boulevard

$2,500 base rent

1 |

1

Jamaica Estates

87-01 Midland Parkway

$2,300 base rent

1 |

1

Elmhurst

87-07 Elmhurst Avenue

$2,400 base rent

2 |

1

Briarwood

143-25 84th Avenue

$2,050 base rent

1 |

1

Kew Gardens

85-31 120th Street

$2,000 base rent

Studio |

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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