While I was reading the Rent Stabilization Fact Brief, I could help but think how New Yorkers have become obsessed with a sector of housing that only takes up about 1.8% of the market, rent-controlled apartments. It is by far the smallest sector of the housing market, but popular TV shows like Friends, Sex and the City, Seinfeld, and more depict their characters living in large rent controlled apartments in the heart of the city. While this is a perfect fantasy, the data shows it is far from the reality of the New York housing market.

“Beauty is fleeting, but a rent-controlled apartment over looking the park is forever”. Throughout the famous HBO TV show, Sex and the City, the main character Carrie Bradshaw hinted that every New York renters dream is the perfect rent-controlled apartment. This fictional character hit the nail on the head when it comes to what most tenants want in New York. However, despite the allure of rent-control, I can understand after reading “Reviving New York City’s Housing Market” why landlords would be resistant to the policy.

As a landlord, they are essentially business owners with the goal of making money; the housing market is constantly changing and if they cannot alter their rents at the end of a lease cycle they lose out on new profits. It is difficult to weigh the needs of tenants against that of the landlord; often in pop culture the landlord is depicted as the evil man only out to make money – but they are still people looking to put food on their table the same way their tenants are. So what is the right answer? This back and forth argument is why the debate over rent-control in New York continues to today.