Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Interactive Map Shows Which Buildings May Be Rent Stabilized
By
Emma Whitford
Published Dec 17, 2016
Modified Dec 18, 2016
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
via ProPublica
By
Emma Whitford
Published Dec 17, 2016
Modified Dec 18, 2016
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Since the mid 1990s, NYC landlords' primary motivation to evict rent-regulated tenants has been codified in state law. The law, known as "vacancy decontrol," allows landlords to jack up rents at will as soon as they hit a specified threshold. Each vacancy up to that point comes with a 20 percent rent increase—compared to the zero-to-two-percent increases enforced by the Rent Guidelines Board.
Last summer, when these incentives came up for renewal, Governor Cuomo chose to tweak them, rather than substantially strengthen the rent laws overall.
A new map from ProPublica, published Thursday, visualizes the consequence of vacancy decontrol, marking buildings in the five boroughs where landlords filed five or more eviction cases between January 2013 and June 2015. The darkest maroon buildings represent 300 or more eviction cases in the two-and-a-half year period. In total, more than 450,000 eviction cases are accounted for.
To accompany the map, ProPublica has also written up an exhaustive history of vacancy decontrol, and its impact on NYC's housing stock. From the outlet:
Back in 1994, hardly any tenants outside Manhattan’s toniest neighborhoods were paying $2,000 a month or more. The median rent across the city was under $600. Since then, of the 860,000 apartments that were stabilized, almost 250,000 have become free-market units, diminishing New York City’s largest source of affordable housing. Most of the decrease came from vacancy decontrol.
For (troubling) context, the rate of deregulation has already outpaced the housing preservation goal outlined in Mayor de Blasio's controversial affordable housing plan. By 2020, de Blasio as pledged to preserve 120,000 apartments.
Let this sink in. Then use the map! For each building featured, ProPublica indicates whether it is likely regulated—information your landlord might not be inclined to provide. Armed with this, you can begin the process of determining whether you're being overcharged. The map also links to the Rentlogic rating for said building. Created this year, the website compiles complaint and violation data from various city agencies, and lists letter grades for buildings, owners and management companies.
Also for your arsenal: Here's our guide to finding out your apartment's rental history, and our guide to not renting a deathtrap.
Tagged
affordable housing crisis
map
vacancy decontrol
Emma Whitford
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .