Empty Rent-Stabilized Units in NYC Decreased This Year, as ‘Warehousing’ Debate Rages
The number of empty rent-stabilized apartments in New York City dropped by nearly 50 percent over the past year, following a spike in vacancies early in the pandemic, according to new data from the state’s affordable housing agency. About one in every 10 empty units has been marked vacant for at least four consecutive years.
Property owners have registered 38,621 of the city’s roughly 1 million rent-stabilized units as vacant, according to the 2022 records provided by New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR). The updated data, based on the status of each registered apartment on April 1, adds new context to ongoing debates over how to unlock empty apartments—including an untold number of units deliberately “warehoused” by landlords—amid a housing crisis.
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