NEW YORK CITY — Another reason to hate New York City’s rental market — the city’s number of vacant apartments is at the worst level since the Summer of Love, according to a new study.
New York City’s vacancy rate stood at 1.4 percent, a dire sign about the city’s housing market, the housing and vacancy survey released Thursday found.
The rate is at the lowest level since 1968, officials said.
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“Stark does not begin to describe that scenario for someone looking for a home here in the City of New York,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday. “It’s not acceptable. The status quo is not acceptable.”
Hochul’s blunt assessment came as she announced more than 5,300 housing units, including 1,400 affordable ones, will be built under a new program in Gowanus.
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The Gowanus program is a test of sorts for a replacement of an affordable housing tax credit that expired as concerns over housing grew in the city.
Mayor Eric Adams has set a housing “moonshot” goal of building 500,000 new homes in the next decade — an effort that will require help that state lawmakers, despite Hochul’s efforts, have yet to fully provide.
The vacancy survey — which is conducted every three years — is only the latest news to show the bleak state of New York City’s housing market.
The city’s vacancy rate fell from 4.54 percent in just two years, the survey found.
Just 33,200 units were available for rent out of 2.36 million rentals during the survey period of January to June 2023, according to the study.
Read the full study here.
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