Every year, the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD) publishes a report, “How is affordable housing threatened in your neighborhood?” The organization tracks a variety of indicators to come up with a profile in each community board. It’s not a perfect snapshot of what’s happening in the housing market, since statistics can’t tell us everything, but it’s still a useful tool. Let’s take a look at some of the stats for Community Board 3, which includes the Lower East Side, most of Chinatown and the East Village.
–In 2016, the most recent year statistics were available, Community District 3 included 18,062 rent stabilized apartments. That’s considerably lower than some other Manhattan neighborhoods, including the Upper East Side and Upper West Side. But the neighborhood has more rent stabilized housing than the Financial District and Greenwich Village.
–1,157 apartments on the Lower East Side are at risk of losing their HUD-supported subsidies by 2022. Most of the endangered units of this type citywide are located on the LES, the Upper West Side and in East Harlem.
–The price per square foot of apartments sold on the Lower East Side from 2015-2017 rose by 8.4%. In comparison, it went up a whopping 42% in the Financial District but fell 27% in the Village.
–2,002 new apartments were created in CB3 during 2017 (based on certificates of occupancy issued). As ANHD noted, “Fast-paced residential development can put pressure on existing residents by increasing land values and rents. In Manhattan, the top neighborhoods with new residential units approved are Midtown, Clinton/Chelsea, and the Lower East Side/Chinatown – over 1,000 units in each of those districts in 2017 alone.”
–The Lower East Side’s “Threat to Affordable Housing” overall score was 16, second highest in Manhattan. The highest scores citywide were concentrated in the Bronx.
In a statement, ANHD Executive Director, Benjamin Dulchin said, “The crisis of affordable housing is so much part of the daily experience of almost all New Yorkers that it’s the water we swim in. But some people and some neighborhoods are experiencing the crisis and the displacement pressure more severely, and with more devastating consequences to their families and their communities. This year’s Housing Risk Chart shows the many ways and many neighborhoods where City policy must do a better job preserving our affordable housing.”
You can see the full report here.
