NYC Price Out
I consider myself very lucky. I grew up in New York City. When I tell people this they usually give me a look like yeah right. He probably means Long Island, Westchester or Rockland County. But I correct them and say really New York City and Manhattan. I grew up in Washington Heights on 155th street and Riverside Drive. The apartment I grew up in was two bedrooms with unobstructed views of the Hudson River allowing me to witness the beautiful sunsets. I grew up in northern Manhattan where I and my friends would bike and play in the historic Bennet Park (site of revolution war battle) and also the highest point of Manhattan. We would run on the paths of the park aptly called the woods and then go to Fort Tryon Park with the endless paths, climbing rocks and our favorite spot called the tree. A site of a massive tree where we climbed and sat and talked. I grew up in an area of mixed races, all working class families which is the true essence of growing up in New York City.
When I get the question how did you afford to grow up in New York City, the answer that comes first was that our apartment is rent stabilized. My parents both hard working professionals (teacher and geologist) were able to afford to raise me and my sister and now able to comfortably retire in this apartment. The 100 unit apartment building where I was raised was a mix of rent stabilized and market rent apartments, but this was a time when apartment rents weren’t astronomical. Some of my closest friends are the ones I grew up with in this building.
So the question is how one can raise kids in New York City, specifically these days without owning an apartment paid in full, inheriting living in a rent stabilized / controlled apartment? The short answer you need to make a lot of money, lots of money. From 2021 report from Rent Cafe the average rents price in Manhattan is $4,140. Yikes. As a comparison from 2019 NY Times article the average rent for a rent stabilized apartment is $1,269. Average cost to buy a two bed room apartment from 2018 City Realty report in downtown Manhattan is $ 3.4 million. Who has that money? Not sure, but definitely not my family.
As these rent controlled/stabilized apartments reach their threshold of $2,775 with their annual increases they become market rent. What that means many times is that families that have raised their children in these apartments, made the commitment to NYC in the 70’s and 80’s when NYC was declared dead by Ford are now forced to move out.
It is an unfortunate cycle that is changing the demographics of NYC. The blue collar family cannot afford to raise their family in the greatest city of the world. The blue collar, middle class cannot experience NYC for what it is.
As I see these needle point tower in the sky skyscrapers with the multimillion dollar apartments that are half empty continue to rise and reshape the skyline of Manhattan, I consider them a symbol of the changing social dynamic of NYC and that only a select few can afford to live and raise a family in NYC. This is unfortunate. I am lucky to grow up in the City. Not many can say that now.