Rents Rise in Gentrifying Bklyn

By JESSICA MARQUEZ

Brooklyn may be a borough on the rise but so are rents, according to a recent study by the New York City Rent Guidelines Board.

This conclusion and other subjects were the focus of discussion Thursday  at a rent board meeting in the David Dinkins Municipal Building.

An internal study, the 2017 Income and Expense Study report, showed that the rising rents from 2014 to 2015  mostly impacted  the neighborhoods of  Bushwick, East New York/Starett City, and Williamsburg/Greenpoint.  Bushwick had a 9.2 percent increase, East New York, 8.6 percent and Williamsburg 7.7 percent.

When Board Director Brian Hoberman mentioned that the rent increase in Bushwick stemmed from gentrification, an audience member shouted, “That’s no lie”.

Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx ranked second, third and fourth in rent boosts.

The board also disclosed that apartment buildings were considered distressed if the operating and maintenance costs of the building was greater than the total income of the residents. More than half of these were mid-size  pre-war buildings with 20 to 99 units; about half were located in Manhattan, followed by the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.

Hoberman also went over the 2017 Mortgage Survey Report, which reviews organizations that provide loans to multifamily rent-stabilized buildings. The study showed rent increases despite interest rates and service fees reaching record lows.