New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s recent report on affordable housing included a major calculation error.
The report, which Stringer released at a Tuesday morning event, claimed New York City had lost more than 1 million apartments between 2005 and 2017 that rented for $900 or less. However, the actual number is much lower at 425,492, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing an updated version of the report.
Additionally, while the original report said the number of apartments renting for $2,700 increased by 238,000 between 2005 and 2017, they actually increased by 111,000.
The mistake occurred when a staffer working on the report multiplied a number in a formula rather than dividing it, which led to several errors.
Stringer’s spokeswoman Ilana Maier said in a statement to the Journal that, “While it remains true that affordable housing is declining at an unsettling rate and the gap is still growing, we overstated the pace.” [WSJ] – Eddie Small