Comptroller Mark Levine on the ball

Thanks to Comptroller Mark Levine for responding, and seeking ideas on how to curb the warehousing of affordable apartments - without costing the taxpayers a lot.  

But the problem remains unresolved, and we don't even have an exact count of warehoused apartments. 

Open letter to NYC Comptroller Mark Levine

I was disappointed at the "six figure price tag" you are quoted as saying in a recent NY Post article:

“Why would a landlord leave an apartment vacant? Well, unfortunately, the law is very difficult. When an apartment becomes vacant and they need very expensive renovations, sometimes a six figure price tag, the owners of the buildings are not able to raise their rent enough to cover the cost of that renovation. And so, many of these apartments remain vacant,” he told host John Catsimatidis. He continued, “This has got to be fixed. We’ve got to activate these homes so that they go back on the market. It can be done in a way that preserves affordability, but allows for more flexibilities for landlords to be able to pay for the renovations … We probably have a shortage of 500,000 apartments.”

It's good you qualified the statement with "when they need very expensive renovations, sometimes a six figure price tag." But that is the exception, not the norm. As your predecessor found, only about 3,000 of the 26,000 vacant units (or 57,000 per DHCR) need a great deal of work to be habitable.  So there's no need to focus on the outlying number and underscore landlord talking points. 

Our Coalition to End Apartment Warehousing reported in April 2026 that repair costs are generally much lower than six figures.  In Park West Village -- part of your old City Council bailiwick -- the owners warehoused 60 rent stabilized apartments for a few years until they thought they had a deal to rent them out to hospital employees.  So the owners rehabbed all 60 within a couple of months, with a few days spent on each.  When the deal fell through, the newly-renovated apartments stayed empty.  The former tenant association president there reported that more recently when Stellar took over the management from the bankrupt Chetrit, some of those apartments are now being rented out.  But Stellar is not doing that at 50 West 97th Street.  There are close to 20 warehoused apartments (the number unfortunately goes up as more of the older tenants die).  There are two on the 15th floor, for example, and the one next door just needs a coat of paint and new appliances (possibly flooring over the old tile).  The Coalition's 2026 Supplement includes those costs.  

A real reason for warehousing came out on the Brian Lehrer Show on July 1, 2026 when a landlord caller said he didn't want to rent out vacant apartments in part because that would keep those apartments rent stabilized forever - and that he didn't want to keep getting ONLY the low rent.   Why not apply to DHCR for a hardship increase?  He clearly didn't think that a guaranteed return of roughly 6% on his investment was adequate.  And Unlocking Doors probably wouldn't suit his image of the right kind of tenant.  One might respond: too bad. 

The state legislature increased IAIs in 2024 to accommodate the cost of rehabilitating apartments in old buildings. But we don't need more taxpayer support so landlords can make a higher rate of return.  You've been a staunch ally of tenants for decades. Please stand up for us now, and don't repeat feeble landlord talking points.  

Sue Susman 

57,000 rent-stabilized units sat vacant in 2025

 https://gothamist.com/news/57000-rent-stabilized-apartments-sat-empty-in-nyc-housing-agency-says

by David Brand

EXCERPT:

The figure was revealed in a letter that the state’s Division of Homes and Community Renewal sent to the city’s Rent Guidelines Board on Wednesday. Gothamist obtained a copy of the letter, which shows the number of vacant apartments rose by about 8,000 last year, with the largest increases in Brooklyn and Queens.

Officials cautioned that the count on April 1, 2025 of 57,421 empty units includes stabilized apartments in new buildings that have not yet been leased, as well as units awaiting a new tenant due to typical apartment turnover. The number also does not capture how many units were “warehoused” by landlords, or held off the market for multiple years. Still, the figure will add fuel to an ongoing debate between landlords and tenant advocates.

...

Landlords say a 2019 measure that prevents them from raising rent on vacant stabilized units disincentivizes owners from fixing up apartments and putting them back on the market because current-allowable rents won’t offset renovation costs. Tenant groups say landlords are exaggerating the number of apartments that they are holding off the market to gain political support for their goal of weakening renter protections. 

April 23 2026 Op Ed in City Limits

 

https://citylimits.org/opinion-most-empty-rent-stabilized-apartments-dont-need-a-lot-to-be-habitable/

Separating Myth from Fact: New Report!

Landlords have been warehousing rent stabilized apartments all over New York City in part claiming that owners lack money to bring the units up to code to rent out again. 

A new report from the Coalition to End Apartment Warehousing debunks that claim.  So even before massive construction that the City has proposed, there are existing apartments that people in this district could live in with minimal expenditures by the landlords. 

New Yorkers ask to make vacant units available

In response to the NY Times article on how to make New York City more affordable, some posts pointed to vacant units.

Chris in Queens, for example, wrote: 

I would also like to see some kind of residency requirement, where if you own a property and you don't either rent it out or live in it for a certain amount of time, you have to pay a stiff penalty. I don't like that people can just buy property and sit on it, driving up housing costs for everyone else.

That's followed by a long discussion - including how one might show the apartment owner is not really living there. But that question doesn't matter where landlords of large buildings with many rent-stabilized apartments are refusing to rent out those that become vacant.  We need a better law!

 

Rally to get City to implement Local Law 1!

 

Putting Local Law 1 into action - inspection of vacant apartments

With the sponsorship of Council Members Carlina Rivera and Gale Brewer, we won passage of Local Law 1 of 2024. That law requires landlords to keep vacant apartments in good repair.  It also allows neighbors to call 311 to get inspections of those apartments whose hazardous conditions affect them.  

BUT the City's Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) has NOT implemented the bill yet.  Despite an 8-month delay to get funding and set things up, tenants still cannot call 311 and ask for an inspection of vacant units near them. 

So, come to a 

RALLY 

with Council Members 

on 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10 at 10:30 AM 

at City Hall to 

Demand Local Law 1 of 2024 Go Into Effect. 

Join our Zoom: bit.ly/917KYR at 7 PM on 9/17!

 Click here to join our Town Hall on Zoom at 7 PM on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024.

Sept. 17:Tenants' Rights Teach-in!

 

Get City to inspect vacant apts with hazards! - new law in effect

You can now report maintenance code issues in VACANT APARTMENTS to the City's Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) department via 311. City officials will inspect vacant units that may pose a hazard to those in apartments nearby - hazards like

• Open windows and doors
• Leaks, defective plumbing
• Mold
• Pests
• Garbage
• Lack of smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors
• Fire hazards.

Tenants can now sue landlords to force them to open up vacant apartments for inspection for nuisance conditions.  

The owner must schedule an HPD inspection of the vacant unit within 21 days. 

Click here for a flyer to download and share!

Some good news, some bad news . . .

Tenants groups including our Coalition and Housing Justice for All have made good progress over the past year, but we have more to do to preserve existing affordable housing and keep tenants safe.

At the State level:

• 😁 Frankensteining has been halted in its tracks. Under the State housing agency's DHCR regulations adopted November 8, 2023 and a state statute signed into law in December 2023,  Read the Fact Sheet. Now; 

• Any combined or divided apartments that include space that was rent-stabilized must be entirely rent-stabilized. 

• The new rent is either 
• the combined rents of the combined apartments or 
• the last rent is increased or decreased by the same percentage as the area was increased or decreased.  

So landlords have no more incentive to "Frankenstein" apartments -- and therefore less reason to warehouse empty rent-stabilized units. 

• 😟 Individual Apartment Improvement rent increases can now be higher than allowed by the historic 2019 Housing Stability & Tenant Protection Act. This may motivate some owners to harass long-term tenants out.  Read the IAI Fact Sheet.

• 😕 Good Cause Eviction will protect some market-rate tenants (those without any rent regulation or Mitchell-Lama or NYCHA or voucher protection).  Read a Fact Sheet by Met Council on Housing. 

At the City level: 

• 😃 Inspection of vacant units - WON!  Local Law 1 of 2024 allows tenants to prompt city inspection of neighboring vacant apartments and go to court if necessary to remove hazards.  The bill was passed with the strong support of sponsors Council Members Carlina Rivera, Gale Brewer and their colleagues. 

• Relocation of displaced tenants - pending: Under Intro 607  and Intro 608. the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) would have to relocate displaced tenants locally at their request, provide relocation specialists in the tenants' preferred languages, and depending on bill negotiations, perhaps involve HPD in more 7A proceedings.   This is thanks to the hard work of Council Members Shekar Krishnan and Jennifer Gutierrez and our Coalition members. 

Help us build on our successes and join us!  For information, contact Jodie Leidecker (jodiel@coopersquare.org) of the Cooper Square Committee. 

NYC Comptroller report cites warehousing as big problem

 NYC Comptroller's Spotlight: NYC's Housing Supply Challenge, Feb. 13, 2024: 

EXCERPT:

One particular area of concern in the gap between vacant and available units is in the rent-stabilized stock. An August 2023 report by the city’s Independent Budget Office finds that almost a third of vacant rent-stabilized units (in 2022) were also vacant in the prior year, for a total of nearly 13,400 such units. Moreover, the IBO found that this number has more than doubled since 2017, when there were estimated to be roughly 6,500 such long-vacant units. Some property owners’ advocates have argued that the increase reflects changes in the rent regulation laws in the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA), making it more difficult to increase the rents on vacant units and therefore potentially decreasing owners’ incentives to repair those that require improvements. Tenants’ advocates argue that the restrictions were necessary to prevent displacement and preserve affordability, and that the increase may reflect buildings that were overleveraged prior to 2019. Whatever the reason, these units are an important resource of affordable housing that is not currently available – another issue for Albany to address this session.

We're Celebrating a Winning Streak!

The Coalition to End Apartment Warehousing wound up 2023 with some serious wins.  Through the hard work of our members and other tenant advocates - with rallies, meetings, an influential case study emails, phone calls to elected officials, public testimony, videos, op-eds, media wrangling, tweets and more - we all achieved a lot together: 

• The NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) adopted a new set of regulations  that we hard for that discourage Frankensteining, ending a major incentive for warehousing affordable apartments.   These regulations set more affordable first rents for combined units and keep them rent stabilized.  But regulations are vulnerable to change, so it was vital that we helped enact...

• ...the "anti-Frankensteining" bill (S.2980 as amended by S.8011), sponsored by Housing Committee chairs Senator Brian Kavanagh and Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal.  This bill codifies the regulations into statute, making them more difficult to change going forward since that would require another bill and vote in the legislature.  Gov. Hochul signed it into law in December. 

• The New York City Council passed our tenant safety bill (Intro. 195) - which allows tenants to prompt city inspection of neighboring vacant apartments and go to court if necessary to remove hazards.  The bill was passed with the strong support of sponsors Council Members Carlina Rivera, Gale Brewer and their colleagues. 

These achievements were possible because we have a strong city-wide tenant advocacy coalition composed of community groups and committed volunteers working together.  And we have high hopes that in 2024 we can reduce warehousing and make more affordable apartments available during our ongoing housing crisis.

Help us build on our successes and join us!  For information, contact Jodie Leidecker (jodiel@coopersquare.org) of the Cooper Square Committee. 

Only 1 day left for Gov to sign Frankensteining bill into law

 THIS FRIDAY, DEC. 22, 2023, is the deadline

for  Governor Hochul to sign S.2980/A.6216 - the Frankensteining bill !! 

PLEASE CALL HER TODAY:

518-474-8390, press 1 to leave a message like 

"Hi, my name is _______ and I live in the [give your zip code]. I urge Governor Hochul to sign S.2980, S.2943, and S.995 into law."

(The governor's name rhymes with "Yokel" - but she's sophisticated when dealing with real estate.)

AFTER you call her, you can also email her.   But calls are more effective!

Use this handy QR to call the Governor!

 

Another victory: City Bill Passed the Council!

Our bill to protect tenants living next to warehoused apartments has passed the City Council on December 6, 2023, following our rally.  

Intro. 195-B empowers tenants to take action!  The bill:

• requires that landlords keep vacant apartments in good repair;
• prompts an HPD inspection of vacant apartments for health and safety violations when neighboring tenants claim their apartments are affected;  
• lets tenants (not just HPD) go to court to get an order requiring the landlord to let HPD in to inspect.

Thanks to Council Members Carlina Rivera and Gale Brewer and all the others who signed on in support of the bill.  Next the bill goes to the Mayor. 

"City Council Passes Bill Enabling Tenants to Report Vacant Apartments

In response to “warehousing” and THE CITY’s coverage, measure cues up inspections of hazardous conditions in empty units.

BY SAM RABIYAH 

DEC. 6, 2023, 4:36 P.M."

 

Rally this Wed., Dec.6 at 10 AM - City Hall Park - Intro. 195B

If you live near a warehoused (empty) apartment that is not well maintained, or whose open windows keep your apartment freezing, or that poses a fire hazard (got squirrels or rats chewing the wires?) or vermin, or some similar problem, then City Council bill Intro. 195B is for you!

The bill permits HPD inspection of a vacant apartment when a neighbor (reasonably) complains of harms coming from it. 

Join the rally this Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 10 AM at City Hall Park.

We're on our way to getting the bill passed!

We're being honored!

 The Cooper Square Committee is honoring us at its annual holiday party celebration on Wednesday, Dec. 20th at 6:30 PM:

CSC News Upcoming Events Holiday Party and Potluck Celebration Wednesday, December 20, 2023 6:30 PM You're invited to our year-end Holiday Party and Potluck Celebration on Wednesday, December 20th at 6:30 PM. We will be gathering in Unit 3W of 59-61 East 4th Street, a community space we are currently renting and plan to purchase in 2024.  Bring a dish and your dancing shoes and join us for some food, music (including karaoke), games, and socializing with your neighbors and fellow travelers in the housing justice movement.  This is a party, not a meeting! We will be giving an Organizing Excellence Award to the End Apartment Warehousing Coalition. In October 2023, the tenants in this coalition succeeded in winning a major step in the campaign to End Apartment Warehousing: the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal officially closed the “Frankensteining” loophole, one of the only mechanisms left after the Housing Stability & Tenant Protection Act of 2019 that allowed landlords to remove apartments from rent regulation. The practice of Frankensteining – or combining and reconfiguring rent-stabilized apartments – has been destroying thousands of affordable housing units in NYC. Thanks to the great work of our coalition, landlords cannot raise rents on the combined apartments beyond what the two apartments would rent for on their own under the rent laws. We hope you can join us to celebrate this hard-fought win and spend some time with friends and neighbors at Cooper Square as we wrap up the year. Please RSVP to csc@coopersquare.org with what you will be bringing to the potluck! Anti-Frankensteining Bill Call-In Day Wednesday, December 13, 2023 3 to 5 PM Our coalition to end Frankensteining is ramping up the calls to Governor Hochul to sign our bills. From now until December 14, we are asking everyone to call every day. Sign up for a 5 minute time-slot to call Governor Hochul's office to let her know that you support the Anti-Frankensteining Bill waiting on her desk. When it's your designated date and time, call 518-474-8390, press #3, then #1 and use the script below to leave a message. You can also use the Housing Justice for All website to place the call. Here's what to say: "Hi, I’m a New York City resident from [give your zip code], and I urge Governor Hochul to make this a happy holiday for all tenants by signing S2980, S2943, S1684 and S995 now! These bills will keep rent-stabilized apartments available and affordable statewide at honest rents, with known landlords.” Prefer to make your calls with fellow Cooper Square Committee tenants? We're hosting a Zoom Call-in Party on December 13, 2023 from 3 to 5 PM. Drop in and say hi before you call the Governor! Sign Up for a 5-minute Slot

Take 5 minutes to keep housing affordable in NY!

Can you spare 5 minutes to keep housing affordable in NY?

Governor Hochul just has until December 31st to sign  

four bills to end Frankensteining and make it easier to 

keep rent stabilized units available, and affordable at 

honest rents by known landlords.  So there's no time to lose. 

It's easy: 

1. Pick a date and time (starting Dec. 5th) : 

Just click here to choose a time convenient to you.  

(We have 5-minute slots, but the calls usually take under 2 minutes.)   

2. Call!  

Click on this second link (provided by Housing Justice for All) to call.  

Here's what you say when you call: 

Hi. I'm a New York City resident from [your neighborhood], and 

I urge Governor Hochul to make this a happy holiday for all tenants 

by signing S2980, S2943, S1684, and S995 now!  

These bills will keep rent stabilized apartments available and

affordable statewide at honest rents, with known landlords.  Thank you. 

3. Note on the chart who you spoke to and their response. 

It should take you roughly 5 minutes, start-to-finish!

Let's get those bills passed!