NYC rents skyrocket; landlords say 'don't blame us'
NEW YORK - New York City renter Gabbie Fried got so fed up that she started posting her frustrations on social media. Fried, an actor, moved into an apartment on the Upper West Side in 2021 after getting a deal on the rent.
"I was super excited to live by myself for the first time," Fried said. "I'd been living on the Upper West Side for four years previously, and I found an awesome apartment that I was very excited about."
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She packed up and moved out of her dream apartment after learning the rent would be going up another $800 a month if she renewed her lease.
"I think it's horrible — I think management companies are very greedy and are not thinking about the people who are actually living there," Fried said.
What Gabbie experienced is happening to a lot of New York City renters, according to Bill Kowalczuk, an associate real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Warburg. Rents went down when people moved out of the city during the pandemic, he said. Now demand is up again and the supply is down, causing rents to rise.
"The rent prices are increasing at a rate that you can actually see before your eyes, which in 25 years in real estate I'd never seen before," Kowalczuk said. "It's because the inventory is really, really tight."
It's not just renters feeling the pinch. Landlords are dealing with rising property taxes and utilities, forcing them to pass the cost onto renters, according to Frank Ricci of the Rent Stabilization Association, a group that advocates for building owners.
"The owners are suffering, too, and we're all suffering along with their tenants in terms of these increased costs," Ricci said. "But it's government that's making it so hard to maintain buildings in New York City."
Building owners want elected officials to lower taxes.
Renters want landlords to lower rents.
Unfortunately for both, it doesn't look like either will be happening anytime soon.