Rental prices (changes y/y or m/m)

TREGNY has a quarterly market report that should help you make your case:
http://www.tregny.com/manhattan_rental_market_report

The data is pretty fine-grained, so you should be able to compare your apartment with similar size/locations/amenities.

Good luck!

jamba, I live on the UWS ( Columbus Circle ). We just got our lease renewal yesterday and we got a 5% discount. This was after a 11% reduction last year.

jamba..all you have to do is hsow him current market prices for an equivalent apartment. then tell him to go f himself

Oh, and be prepared to move if he won't budge. Some landlords haven't gotten the concept down yet that market rates can be a double-edged sword in declining markets such as the one we're in.

thanks for the advice all, and any additional is appreciated

to be honest, i was floored when i got the phone call...10%!!!

10% increase.

Ha.

I guess you'll always have idiots like perfitz out there...

find similar apts on nybits.com or streeteasy (that is, neighborhood, size, floor, doorman vs. not, amenities, etc.). then call that place and ask for incentives because actual price maybe even less than what is advertised on nybits and SE.

then take that number to your landlord and say "this is what is out there and, while it is a pain to move, i am prepared to do it for such a discount from... blah bla blah..."

i did it in august and got 25% off from last year (large "luxury" high rise in chelsea).

For some of the bigger buildings, streeteasy can show you history of similar apartments in a line over time, and indeed I've seen that the rental companies are offering lower rents than 2 years ago.