A common refrain is that rents in the city rise faster than wages. But is that the case for rent-stabilized tenants?
It’s hard to say for certain, because their wages are not specifically tracked. It is clear, however, that wages in general have outpaced rent-stabilized rents in the New York metro area.
Wages and salaries for private industry workers in the 12 months through March were up 3.2 percent. In the 12 months before that, they were also up 3.2 percent. The last two Rent Guidelines Board increases were lower — 3 percent and 2.75 percent.
Macrotrends.net shows the following annual wage growth for New York state from 2021 through 2025: 11.4 percent, 2.7 percent, 4.8 percent, 6.6 percent and 5.3 percent. Rent Guidelines Board increases for those years averaged 1.95 percent.
Median income — which is different from total wages and salaries — probably hasn’t kept up with New York City rents in general, but I will make a few observations:
First, you can’t analyze “rents” in New York City without distinguishing between market-rate and rent-stabilized. The former is pushed up by economic forces. The latter is determined by a process that is 90 percent political.
That said, in non-gentrified neighborhoods, the difference is blurry because market rents are often similar or lower than the “legal rent” of rent-stabilized units. Some landlords must offer preferential rents to fill their units.
Second, most of the politicians and advocates who make claims about wages haven’t looked at the numbers. I rarely see links in press releases and op-eds to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As Mike Bloomberg likes to say, “In God we trust. All others, bring data.”
Rents probably have outpaced wages this century, but only for market-rate rents. By the same token, wage growth has been strong in recent years, but not necessarily for rent-stabilized tenants.
Third, let’s say wages are slumping. Should rent-stabilized landlords have to make up the difference with low or zero rent increases for all tenants, even if multifamily operating costs surge?
That’s the job of the safety net — food stamps, rental vouchers and other public assistance. But it makes no sense to demand more welfare from the Rent Guidelines Board, because it only controls rents.
So advocates demand lower rents. And landlords can only stew.
What we’re thinking about: On the morning that Ed Koch became mayor on Jan. 1, 1978, he walked from his 12th-floor, rent-controlled apartment at 14 Washington Place, where he paid $250 a month, to a bus stop on Broadway. He paid 25 cents upon boarding because in those days, the fare was half price on holidays.
Koch’s landlord, city property records indicate, was Joseph P. Whiteside. At some point before 1993 the building was acquired by New York University along with several others on either side of it. It appears to have been converted to a co-op; one document shows the historian Anson Rabinbach, who died last year, owned Unit 5D. If you know more, email me at eengquist@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: The merger of the Rent Stabilization Association and Community Housing Improvement Program became official in September 2024. That year’s tax filing for the newly formed New York Apartment Association shows former RSA head Joseph Strasburg was paid $810,961 and new CEO Kenny Burgos, whom the NYAA brought on that summer, earned $303,017 for his partial year. Total compensation for the group’s nine highest-paid employees was $2.91 million. A better picture of NYAA compensation will be available when its 2025 tax filings become public.
Elsewhere…
Some Sag Harbor residents don’t want their enclave to be like the ritzy nearby Hamptons, but recent retail leases have them worried. “The changing face of Main Street has Sag Harbor at a critical tipping point,” wrote 27East.com co-publisher Kathryn Menu. “With high-end chains like Madewell and Steve Madden moving in, many fear our beloved ‘Un-Hampton’ could soon mirror the seasonal ghost towns to our east.”
Closing time
Residential: The most expensive residential sale recorded Tuesday was $12.7 million for a 3,828-square-foot townhouse at 349 West 19th Street in Chelsea. Matt Lesser and Tori Landon with Leslie J. Garfield had the listing.
Commercial: The most expensive commercial transaction was $13 million for a 61,620-square-foot office at 42-40 Bel Boulevard in Bayside. P&L Associates sold the property to Montperia Group.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $18 million for Maisonette C at 834 Fifth Avenue in Lenox Hill. Leighton Candler, Jennifer Reardon and Rachel Brandeis of Corcoran have the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building permit filed was for a proposed 60,473-square-foot, 62-unit property at 30-75 21st Street in Astoria. Christopher Papa filed the permit on behalf of Queens developer Shun Qian Liu.
— Matthew Elo