Last night at a local meeting of the Hunters Point Civic Association, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer announced that some of the HPS applicants had gotten word that they had won the lottery.
While the start of the notifications occurred about a month later than expected, the timing couldn’t be more interesting. Why? Because a study was released today showing that rents in Queens rose 30% in the last year. Despite the screaming headlines announcing this rise, it’s important to realize that the bulk of this increase is due to all the new rental units that have been completed in LIC since early 2014.
Nevertheless, one has to wonder to what extent that big rise in LIC would have been mitigated had the 924 affordable housing units instead been additional market-rate supply? In addition to seeing their tax dollars subsidizing their neighbors new princely homes, might the current residents of Center Boulevard also view their new neighbors as being responsible for their increasing rents?
I have no idea, I’m just a beer-swilling journalist. What I do know is there is an LIC Beer Crawl starting next week at our three local breweries: Big Alice, Rockaway, and Transmitter. Check out their websites for more details.
Queens Rents Rise by 30% in Just a Year – “You now need a royal budget to live in Queens”, unless you win the lottery
You’re Now Priced Out of Queens – Oh c’mon, a little ingenuity would lead to plenty of affordable market-rate places in Queens.
Queens Investment Sales Go Through the Roof – “Investment property sales in Queens rose to $3.65 billion in 2014, a 25 percent jump from the previous year”
Hillary Clinton’s Brooklyn Options Are Limited – “If she’s looking for something that’s funkier and that’s close to Manhattan, then certainly a place like Long Island City would be the most logical place,”
A Secret Skate-Park Clubhouse in LIC – “On a recent weeknight inside the raw space, just a block away from the glass Citigroup tower at Court Square…”
Amadeo Plaza says
February 12, 2015 at 9:41 pmSeriously? You’re going to blame the apartment development that hasn’t even hit the market yet for this? The average rent increases were going to happen REGARDLESS. Hunters Point South didn’t raise rents in Queens 30%. The dozens of other luxury developments throughout the borough, that actually hit the market during the time of this study, is what raised the average. We get it, you don’t approve. But it’s happening. And as a market-rate paying renter, I welcome our new neighbors. People gotta live somewhere. And we only exacerbate the income/socioeconomic inequality problem in this city by gating our communities off to those who can’t afford to pay the astronomic rents. They’ll never make up the majority of people in the area. Let a few people live the life that frankly a lot of people here take for granted.
Screaming says
February 13, 2015 at 11:05 amDude, there is no doubt in my mind that if all the Hunters Point South apartments were market rate the landlords on Center Boulevard would adjust my rent increase 2-3% lower than expected come this summer. That’s $50-75 bucks a month additional coming out of my pocket.
Amadeo Plaza says
February 13, 2015 at 1:21 pmOh, don’t get me wrong. It definitely had an impact on the waterfront rental increase rates. But to say that the 30% increase across the entire borough was *heavily* impacted by a single development that hasn’t even hit the market yet, is a misrepresentation. I admit it had a domino impact, in the sense that the waterfront buildings jacked up as much as they could, since this wave of HPS inventory won’t keep them in check. So, that had an impact on the borough-wide numbers. But even if HPS Phase 1 wasn’t an affordable income project, it hasn’t hit the market yet; and therefore, wouldn’t have stopped the buildings from price gouging people over the last 12-months that this survey covers.
Anonymous says
February 13, 2015 at 7:14 amWell i pay market rate as well for my apartment on Center Blvd and i am not rich
i work hard and bust my ass
i have no problem with providing affordable apartments to people in lower income brackets
but do they have to be on the waterfront?
it is obvious there is demand at current prices to fill the buildings on the waterfront
they could have provided homes in a area that is not prime real estate
right idea wrong location
for people who make too much to qualify for any of these units but are not wealthy
it sucks
JS says
February 18, 2015 at 1:10 pmI want to live in a luxury bulding on Park Avenue or Central Park with views of the park who’s going to help me get an affordable apartment there? Oh wait there is none. The thing is if you can’t afford to live there then you can’t. If you want to live there then work hard and earn it!
Amadeo Plaza says
February 18, 2015 at 1:57 pmDoes that mean the small number of teachers, public servants, etc. who keep our modern day society on the rails, and are lucky enough to win a spot, don’t work hard enough to earn a right to live here? My mother — a lifelong New Yorker — was a social worker in Brooklyn and The Bronx who got priced out of living in New York. A bachelor’s from Stony Brook, a masters from Columbia University, and decades of busting her ass didn’t stop her from getting paid like shit to deal with the hardships of people from all walks of life.
To say these people don’t work hard enough to live here is the kind of mentality that is nurtures animosity between the “haves and have nots,” when it takes a full-range of people to build a society and a community worth living in.