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July 7, 2007
RATNER RUCKUS
NY Press
Official data confirms it—New Yorkers really are paying increasingly obscene prices for apartments. Last week, Reuters reported that in sharp contrast to the majority of U.S. housing markets, Manhattan housing prices rose yet again during the second financial quarter. Unsurprisingly, rent prices continue to climb as well: The NYC Rent Guidelines Board voted recently to increase rents by 3 percent on one-year leases and 5.75 percent on two-year leases. It’s an improvement over last year’s 4.25 percent and 7.25 percent respective hikes, but for the two-thirds of New Yorkers who rent, it’s still a squeeze. In a double-edged reform bill passed last week, the state legislature is both hindering and helping the affordable housing cause. The bill provides tax exemptions for developers who provide lower-cost apartments, though it applies only in certain neighborhoods. A second appendix in that legislation, however, allots $175 million in tax breaks for the controversial Atlantic Yards project. Critics decry the pork barreling, calling it a handout for the construction of apartments that won’t be truly “affordable.” Statistics confirm their outrage: The threshold for affordable housing elsewhere in the city is a $42,600 income, but is $49,700 at Atlantic Yards. Unaffordable affordable housing? Priceless.
Posted by amy at July 7, 2007 9:22 AM