New York City Rental Market: Worst Stories of 2022
Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photo Getty Images
The real-estate market was out of control in 2022. After two years of COVID deals, many of which were for just somewhat less expensive but still expensive rents, landlords and brokers had their revenge: Low inventory and high demand alchemized to turn the search for a New York City apartment into something even more demeaning, frantic, and, of course, pricey than ever. People lined up around the block to view sad studio apartments and offered to raise their own rent to get an edge over other prospective tenants. The people throwing themselves at the feet of their future landlords were the lucky ones — as pandemic-era protections ran out, many couldn’t afford to stay in their apartments at all, facing rent hikes of $500, $1,000, or even $2,500. Below, in miserable detail, the year in rent — which, by the way, is due again on January 1.
In January 2022, an estimated 591,000 households owed a total of $1.97 billion in back rent. Federal rent-relief funds were running out, which had led Governor Kathy Hochul to close the Emergency Rental Assistance Program’s application portal a few months earlier, even though Legal Aid estimated that 400,000