Pandemic is NYC’s Opportunity for a Fairer Housing Market

Political activist and candidate for governor Jimmy McMillan is renowned for his founding of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party in 2005; that’s 10 years ago. Today, 10 years-worth of rent control later, the rent is still too damn high.

Many are aware of New York City’s real estate crisis. All indicators point towards this unruly predicament. For the first time since the Great Recession, third quarter market-rate rents in the city’s three most populous boroughs (Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan) have sunk well below their levels from the year prior. Median rent in Manhattan is below $3000 for the first time in over 8 years. Vacancies are at an all-time high. In fact, this summer’s real estate market boom in Maine, where out-of-state sales went up 10% and home value rose by 18% according to the Daily Mail, has been accredited to the mass exodus of people from the Big Apple and to the work-from-home-friendly suburbia. Consequently, the state of real estate in New York City is far from good. However, every backpedal in the real estate market brings with it space for amelioration. So, how can the city utilize its current conditions in order to produce a fairer and more efficient housing market?

New York City landlords are competing for demand by offering free months on longer leases and less-than-listed rental rates (10% less than…