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| | | In 2023, the median rent in Manhattan reached $4,200. In Brooklyn, it was $3,500. Multiply those numbers by twelve and one can more clearly see the problem. On average, it costs fifty thousand dollars just for housing in Manhattan. Moreover, the population of Manhattan has declined significantly in the last one hundred years, and it's not for lack of people's desire to live here.
Zoning Laws | |
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< | Manhattan zoning laws are complicated, and not based exclusively on heights or units. In Manhattan, at least, the amount that can be built is a function of the size of the property itself. The ratio between the total floor area of a building and the area of the plot of land is limited. For example, in an area with a maximum ratio of 6, a building that covers the entire plot can only consist of 6 stories. In areas of Manhattan, including my current neighborhood of Morningside and my future neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen, residential areas are zoned as "R8," which means that the maximum floor-to-area ratio (FAR) is 6, with special exceptions for affordable housing developments. In many areas of Brooklyn, the land is zoned as "R6" or "R6B." R6 areas have a typical maximum FAR of 2.43, and R6B? zones, which are in neighborhoods like Park Slope and Bed-Stuy, exist to "preserve neighborhood character," and have much more severe height regulations at 50 feet. While there are no overt restrictions on the number of units allowed, these zones seem to restrict the supply of housing by allowing only limited buildup. | >
> | Manhattan zoning laws are complicated, and not based exclusively on heights or units. In Manhattan, at least, the amount that can be built is a function of the size of the property itself. The ratio between the total floor area of a building and the area of the plot of land is limited. For example, in an area with a maximum ratio of 6, a building that covers the entire plot can only consist of 6 stories. This ratio creates certain limitations in residential areas of Manhattan. In many areas of Brooklyn, the land is zoned as "R6" or "R6B." R6 areas have a typical maximum FAR of 2.43, and R6B? zones, which are in neighborhoods like Park Slope and Bed-Stuy, exist to "preserve neighborhood character," and have much more severe height regulations at 50 feet. While there are no overt restrictions on the number of units allowed, these zones seem to restrict the supply of housing by allowing only limited buildup. | | | Rent Stabilization and Affordable Housing | |
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< | Currently, around a million units in NYC are rent stabilized, meaning that landlords can only increase rent by a certain percentage each year, and that the landlord cannot refuse to renew the tenant's lease, among other protections. The most recent version of the 421-a (16) tax exemption allows developers to avoid property tax if 25-30% of their units are affordable (defined as rents in the range of a third of a certain percentage of the median income for the area, and all of the units are subject to stabilization until they are priced past a "decontrol" limit. While theoretically abundant, affordable and stabilized units are hard to find. On sites like StreetEasy? , only 200 stabilized apartments are listed in the entire city. Stabilized and affordable apartments can also be obtained through lotteries, but that leaves something as significant as the right to shelter to chance. | >
> | Currently, around a million units in NYC are rent stabilized, meaning that landlords can only increase rent by a certain percentage each year, and that the landlord cannot refuse to renew the tenant's lease, among other protections. While theoretically abundant, affordable and stabilized units are hard to find. On sites like StreetEasy? , only 200 stabilized apartments are listed in the entire city. Stabilized and affordable apartments can also be obtained through lotteries, but that leaves something as significant as the right to shelter to chance. | | |
The Path to Housing Abundance
Rezoning | |
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< | A 2018 Minneapolis rezoning plan allowed for the building of duplexes and triplexes on land that was previously zoned for single-family homes and eliminated parking minimums. The number of units in Minneapolis since the rezoning (from 2017-2022) increased by 14%, while the number of units in Minnesota at large only increased by 4%. Homelessness increased by 14% in the state, while decreasing by 12% in the city. Rents increased by 1% in Minneapolis, and 14% in the state. While still an increase in rent, 1% over 5 years far underpaced the rate of inflation. While NYC bears little similarity to Minneapolis, the same principle could apply here. Rezoning lower-density areas as "R10," a zone that allows for tall apartment towers and higher floor-area-ratios, will allow the construction of far more units per plot of land. The governor's office has proposed more exceptions to the FAR regulations, but only for "certain projects," and a more general lifting of the FAR cap may expand the supply of new units. | >
> | A 2018 Minneapolis rezoning plan allowed for the building of duplexes and triplexes on land that was previously zoned for single-family homes and eliminated parking minimums. The number of units in Minneapolis since the rezoning (from 2017-2022) increased by 14%, while the number of units in Minnesota at large only increased by 4%. Homelessness increased by 14% in the state, while decreasing by 12% in the city. Rents increased by 1% in Minneapolis, and 14% in the state. While still an increase in rent, 1% over 5 years far underpaced the rate of inflation. While NYC bears little similarity to Minneapolis, the same principle could apply here. Rezoning lower-density areas as "R10," a zone that allows for tall apartment towers and higher floor-area-ratios, will allow the construction of far more units per plot of land.
Opponents of this sort of rezoning draw apt comparisons to past "urban renewal" displacements. According to Village Preservation, an architectural and cultural preservation organization operating for more than a century, A SoHo rezoning plan approved in 2021 has not lived up to promises due to the replacement of rent-regulated buildings with market-rate buildings? . It may be easy to dismiss this sort of argument from a statistical perspective, but losing a rent-stabilized apartment is a massive loss to each individual affected. Moreover, | | | Rent Stabilization |
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