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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Your stories from the New York City rental market. Looks like we have a couple calling in, Brian and Jen in Hell's Kitchen. Brian and Jen, do we have both of you?
Brian: Yes, this is Brian.
Jen: And Jen
Brian: We have two different stories. I, after leaving New York for six months during the pandemic, came back in March and signed the lease for April 1st on the West Side that was probably $800 to a thousand dollars less than what I would have paid two years previously, and there was no broker fee. Jen came back recently and is just signing a lease today.
Jen: Yes, and it's for a department that's going to be, at least that I would say, my guess is a thousand dollars more than what it would have been probably back in March. The comparable location.
Brian: Timing is everything.
Brian Lehrer: Indeed. The two of you should probably go on stage because you make a good double bill here. You're like a one-couple social experiment just seeing what happened. You're not even talking about last summer at the real horrible height of COVID in New York City, you're talking about March, April, Brian, you were able to get such a good deal.
Brian: Yes, and I looked all over town. I looked in Brooklyn, I looked in Manhattan, and for some reason in March, things were very expensive in Brooklyn and it was like a fire sale on the Upper West Side. I had lots of apartments that I liked that were within my price range that wouldn't have been because I had been in the Upper West Side before. I got an apartment that was just a little bit smaller for a whole lot less back then, but I don't think that's the case now. They're not giving it away like they were.
Brian Lehrer: I know, of course.
Jen: No, there's much--
Brian Lehrer: Go ahead, Jen. Go ahead.
Jen: Oh, thank you. I was just going to say, I started looking in the past few weeks and the inventory is super low and the studios are starting at like least $3,000, for small spaces and really all over the city. I was centralizing the search in the West Side, midtown to the Upper West Side, and very low inventory for a lot more, for at least a thousand dollars more than what it was in March and April.
Brian Lehrer: The two of you could save a lot of money by just living together, but I'm not going to get in the middle of that. Brian and Jen, great call.
Brian: Unfortunately, I'm her supervisor, so that would be so [crosstalk].
Jen: Yes.
Brian Lehrer: Ooh, see that? Those who assume. Brian and Jen, thank you very much for your calls. Sarah and Galloway in New Jersey, you are on WNYC. Hi, Sarah.
Sarah: Hi, how are you? Yes, I wanted to just share. I moved down to South Jersey. There's a couple of medical schools there, residents, near Atlantic City shore. My co-residents living in the same safe near Atlantic City gated complex, they're paying $1,300 to $1,500 for the same one-bedroom, 860 square feet. I got in July, $1,750. Now the price is, it was $2,000 for the same area about a month ago, now $1,950, so it's a $600 difference from maybe two years ago. It's just quite remarkable.
Brian Lehrer: Why there? Why do you think that prices are going like that? Not so much your story as to why you move there, you could tell it if you want, but how do you explain that price fluctuation at that location?
Sarah: Sure. Two years ago, the development was newer, but last year, it was all set in place and I think they were decreasing the prices I was told
because COVID was keeping students in their parents' home and they could get away with it, I guess.
Brian Lehrer: Funny enough, the corollary here, which I didn't even mention in the intro is that from what I read, the prices for homes in the suburbs which had spiked. so insanely earlier in COVID are starting to come down, presumably, as people move back toward the city. I guess where you are in New Jersey, it could be either way.
Sarah: Right, exactly. I was just looking at renting, but I've heard that too.
Brian Lehrer: Sarah, thank you very much for your call. We appreciate it. Marjorie in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Marjorie.
Marjorie: Hey. Hi, Brian, nice to speak to you again. I'm calling up basically just to say our story. I've managed my parents' three-family house. My parents are in their mid-80s and they have tenants on the second and third floor. During the pandemic, I thought that was the right thing to do, along with my father, was to renegotiate the rents from these two apartments, which they would pay $3,000 in Prospect Heights and it's a three-bedroom.
We lowered it to $2,500 because there were nice young people that were still hustling, trying to make ends meet being responsible with paying the rent. What I find now is that these rents are ridiculous and skyrocketing back again, just like you've mentioned. Our philosophy has always been that they're good decent people, let's just do the right thing by them because I think they reciprocate that and they appreciate that.
As far as realtor's fee, that's a whole another story which I hope that, truthfully, that law that the city passed a couple of years ago that has been unsafe during the pandemic goes back into effect, even though as an owner, I would be the one having to be responsible for the realtor's fee. It's such a horrible thing that, just to get into an apartment, you're down in a hole with $10,000.
Brian Lehrer: Absolutely because that could easily be the percentage even at a relatively low percentage of the rent or if it's like 15%. To put that all upfront as those fees are usually required to be, it's a big chunk change out of your pocket and it winds up being another, force for inequity where people can live. Marjorie, thank you for checking in. We're going to give a last-minute or so to a councilmember who's calling in, Stephen Levin from Brooklyn, who wants to weigh in on this. Hey, councilmember?
Stephen Levin: Hi, Brian, how are you doing?
Brian Lehrer: Good. What you got on this?
Stephen Levin: It's not residential rent, but I have a bill in the city council, it's Intro 1796, that would establish a commercial rent stabilization programs. This would apply to small businesses, 10,000 square feet or below, and it would establish, much like we have a residential rent stabilization program, a commercial rent stabilization program because of exactly what you're talking about, which is as the New York City economy rebounds, we're expecting to see serious increases in commercial rent.
The idea of being able to have a just recovery is an important part of this. I think part of our recovery is being able to maintain small businesses that have been able to survive throughout the pandemic.
Brian Lehrer: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think for commercial rent control, we've been covering this as an issue. For years, there's so many local businesses, locally owned small businesses have had to shut down. Storefronts and everything in some neighborhoods was becoming chain drug stores or banks, and there's always been political resistance to it. Do you think, in our last 15 seconds, that the pandemic turns out to be the leverage that you need to get something that you've wanted for a long time?
Stephen Levin: We hope. Just last week, we actually heard the bill in committee, so it could actually pass between now and the end of the year. If folks want to check it out, it's Commercial Rent Stabilization Intro 1796, and it would be great to have the support of listeners.
Brian Lehrer: Councilmember Stephen Levin, thank you for checking in. Thanks to all of you for your calls reporting on the rental market right now. The Brian Lehrer Show is produced by Lisa Allison, Mary Croke, Zoe Azulay, Amina Srna, and Carl Boisrond. Zach Gottehrer-Cohen works on our daily podcast, sign up for it. Megan, Ryan is the head of live radio, Julianna Fonda, and Liora Noam-Kravitz at the audio controls.
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