Rent soars in certain NYC neighborhoods: study
The rent is too damn high.
Rent has gone through the roof in some neighborhoods, rising a crazy 50% to 90% in some spots, according to an analysis by the Community Service Society, a nonpartisan anti-poverty group.
Rents rose 32% citywide since 2002, but in six neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn, median rent presented to recent movers has spiked by at least 50%, the survey found.
Harlem-born Linda Chaplin, 63, fears she may lose her $1,000-per-month apartment.
“That’s why the flavor of Harlem has changed. They try to outprice the people who grew up in this neighborhood,” the retired MTA clerk and mother of five said. “Your retirement, your Social Security is not going up, but your rent is.”
The findings come as rent stabilization laws are set to expire in a week, along with a huge 421-a tax break for developers designed to encourage affordable housing.
Mayor de Blasio, speaking at Harlem’s First Corinthian Baptist Church Sunday, called for ending the controversial program if he doesn’t get the overhaul he’s demanded. “If Albany won’t mend it, let’s end it,” de Blasio said.
“If Albany will not give us the changes we need, if Albany will not strengthen rent regulation, if Albany will not pass a mansion tax, if Albany will not protect us, then here’s what I think about any tax breaks for luxury condominiums, any tax breaks for developers who are not going to create affordable housing: I say end those tax breaks once and for all.”
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By: Greg B. Smith | June 7, 2015