The City Council passed a bill Wednesday that enables tenants to report vacant apartments in their buildings to the city housing agency — with sponsors hoping to spur action on tens of thousands of empty units. Intro 195 allows tenants to report maintenance code issues to the Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) department via 311, […]
Sam Rabiyah
Sam is THE CITY’s news applications developer, where he works at the intersection of investigative reporting and data journalism.
Posted inHousing
Tenants Team Up to Target Voucher-Snubbing Landlords
Elizabeth Byrd is a single mother of six and grandmother of four who spent 18 years in and out of the Brooklyn homeless shelter system. She is also now working with other tenants to take action against law-breaking landlords and real estate brokers who refuse to accept tenants who use government housing vouchers to pay […]
Posted inHousing
Supreme Court Won’t Take Up Landlords’ Challenge to New York’s Rent Regulations
Property owners argued that 2019 reforms violated their rights and is “destroying” housing. Yet profits are still plentiful.
Posted inHealth
How to Keep Tabs on COVID Through Wastewater Testing in NYC
City officials monitor our sewage systems for COVID genetic material. How should you interpret the data coming from the five borough’s poop? Here’s your guide.
Posted inEconomy
Film and TV Walkouts Add Drama to Sluggish Local Economy
New York City added only 2,000 jobs in August and unemployment remains above the national average.
Posted inHousing
Airbnb’s Sidelined in NYC. That Probably Won’t Stop Illegal Short-Term Rentals.
A new registration law that goes into effect Tuesday targets major online platforms, but listings are already proliferating elsewhere, challenging the city’s understaffed enforcement agency.
Posted inHousing
‘Coliving’ Landlords Turned $800 Rent-Stabilized Apartments into $7,000 Suites. Now Tenants Are Pushing Back.
Outpost Club promises hassle-free, low-commitment entree into Bushwick, Ridgewood and other trendy neighborhoods. Some residents are on rent strike and demanding their apartments get their regulated status restored.
Posted inRent
Why Are NYC Rents So High? It’s Complicated
COVID spurred many tenants to vacate city apartments, but changing rent laws and rising interest rates are among factors now encouraging people to stay put — with few new apartments available.
Posted inDestabilized
City Housing Officials Call Apartment Vacancies a ‘Distraction’ Amid Demands for More Oversight
Measures to require inspections and registration of tens of thousands of empty units got pushback from the Adams administration at a City Council hearing.
