(01-24-2011 03:49 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote: (01-24-2011 03:29 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote: (01-24-2011 02:32 PM)DrTorch Wrote: Looks like the MSM has responded...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110123/ap_o...n_new_york
what they don't mention is that NYC's archaic rent laws pushed all the ethnic people out to the boroughs. This is why the neighborhood in queens where I live, is a lot like old time Manhattan, but without the concert venues, which are located in Brooklyn and souther Manhattan. These laws make it so that young people can't afford to live right smack in the city without rooming with other people.
May I ask what those rent laws are?
you may. may i answer? Screw it, i'm gonna do it anyway
There are two archaic laws in the city: rent control and rent stabilization. The former states that any apt built before WWII has to maintain it's ridiculously low rent, until the person living there moves out, at which point it skyrockets to market rate. Rent stabilization created a government board that says a landlord can only raise a tenants rent a certain percentage each year. So while that board keeps rents artificially low, they say nothing about costs, which can rise as high as possible. So because they didnt want to deal with rising costs and artificially low rent, landlords simply stopped building apartments, thus keeping the supply low.
Now you're probably saying, what about these rent controlled apartments that have had artificially low rent for years? What happened was, the people who had been living there for years either died or moved away. And remember, once the tenant leaves, the rent can go to market rate.
All in all, supply has stayed the same while demand has continued to grow. It's the reason you're starting to see rents in Long Island City, Astoria and some areas in Brooklyn, start to rise dramatically. Here's a test for you, go on Craigslist and look up apartments for rent in Manhattan. Then look up apts for rent in Chicago, right around Lincoln Park or Wrigley Field. You can find gorgeous apartments in Chicago for 30-40% less than what they would be in the same type of prime real estate in NYC. It's nuts. I pay $1050/month (got them down from $1100 because there was no oven in the apt), for a tiny 1 bedroom in Queens and that's considered an amazing deal. It's very difficult to find that kind of a deal anywhere in Sunnyside, Astoria or Long Island City. I got really lucky
