As expected, the Rent Guidelines Board approved rent increases for rent-stabilized apartments in New York City. The board, in a 5-4 vote, okayed moving forward with 1.75 to 4 percent hikes for one-year leases and between 3.5 to 6.75 percent increases for two-year leases. more ›

An Upper West Side townhouse-owning couple's attempt to get the Supreme Court to revoke NYC's rent stabilization laws has failed, with the country's highest court declining to hear the case. Which means that James and Jeanne Harmon must keept their rent-stabilized tenant, who pays $1,000/month for a one-bedroom on West 76th Street, even though she's paying another $1,500/month for her Southampton home. more ›

Despite a rough economy, Manhattan rents continue to climb and are higher now than they were in 2007. A president for an appraisal firm notes that the high prices arise from "a tight credit market that forces people to stay in the rental market and limits new construction." So we looked to the New York Times to bring us tales of "woe," of Manhattanites moving into cubby holes off the Bowery or back into their parents' Brownstones in Brooklyn. Instead, we get a couple who responds to the economic "squeeze" by buying a $1 million place in DUMBO and a group of dudes who decided to pay $1,700 more in rent, cause they wanted to. We've said it before: you're not rich enough to read this newspaper. more ›

The Economist has this chart showing rents for "high-end flats of the type commonly let by expatriates," and guess what, there are three cities that are more expensive than NYC when it comes to a three-bedroom apartment. more ›

How much for a five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minute-long lease? That's the million dollar question now that the Tompkins Square-adjacent space where Life Cafe used to live is up for rent. The Alphabet City cafe that will forever be associated with the Jonathan Larson musical RENT closed indefinitely back in September citing building repairs. more ›

If there's anything we learned from American Horror Story, it's that someone else's nightmare may just be your dream come true (actually we're too scared to watch the show—but that house looks really pretty!). After being shuttered for a while following a raid and a liquor license snafu, Coco66 is for rent. About that liquor license—back in July it was noted that the bar's owner, David Kelleran, had been operating without one, and one promoter familiar with the place declared, "They'll never get a liquor license there again. [Kelleran's] family owns the building, so no one is going to buy it from him and get a license. It's majorly screwed, for many years at least." more ›

Caffe Vivaldi on Jones Street is a throwback to a retro era in New York dining—the Italian-leaning restaurant serves live jazz with its ravioli, and has played host to a myriad of artistic Village boho types over the past 30 years. It looks like it has been and will be around forever, but it won't be, if new landlord Steve Croman gets what he wants—unless the restaurant fights its way back. more ›

After a whirlwind month of back-and-forthing with Cooper Union, the St. Mark's Bookshop in the East Village has been granted a rent reduction from the university, after all! more ›

Yesterday, the disheartening news came down that Cooper Union has decided NOT to grant St. Mark's Bookshop's request for a rent reduction. Friends of the Bookshop, like the Cooper Square Committee, said they would find other ways to support the store should it be forced out of business, and today, the first of those efforts arises: another petition, albeit a slightly preemptive one. more ›

The long, sad saga of the St. Mark's Bookshop vs. Cooper Union has come to an end today, as Cooper Union hands down its final word: there shall be no rent reduction. more ›

Supporters of the St. Mark's Bookshop in the East Village have tried everything from petitioning to sing-a-longs to save the beloved indie bookstore, but the final word has always rested with owner Cooper Union, who is mulling the decision to reduce the store's rent from $20,000 to $15,000. Today, Bookshop champions The Cooper Square Committee is urging residents and readers for one final push, since Cooper Union is apparently set to vote on a decision very, very soon. more ›

Ever since word got out earlier this summer that much-loved neighborhood store St. Mark's Bookshop was struggling to stay afloat in the world of Kindles and iPads, lit-lovers have been rallying to save the independent bookstore...and it might actually be working. more ›

Did you guys know that Williamsburg isn't as cheap as it used to be? Were those high-class infant apparel stores that opened up on the waterfront any indication? No? Oh, okay, well, maybe this will help put things into perspective: now even the artists are being priced out. more ›

Life Cafe, the East Village restaurant that will be forever associated with RENT, has closed up shop after 30 years in business. No day but... yesterday, apparently. more ›

When Jimmy McMillan, the founding (and thus far only) member of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party, first Smurfed his way into our lives, there was only one thing to talk about, and it came in mantra-form: the rent is too damn high. And though that message has somewhat expanded since then, that has always been McMillan's central theme. But now, McMillan claims that his East Village landlords are trying to evict him: "The landlord is trying to get me out for more money. I'm a disabled vet, and he's messing with the wrong guy," McMillan told us this morning. more ›

The rent remains too damn high for tenants of rent-regulated apartments—while the rent is too damn low for landlords and building owners—after last night's final vote to approve rent hikes of 3.75% for one-year leases and 7.25% for two-year leases, which is the biggest hike in three years. more ›

Breaking bagel news! The Wall Street Journal is reporting that H & H Bagels, beloved Upper West Side carboloading institution, is closing—for good—tomorrow! more ›

In five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes (all figures approximate), Rent—the musical about a group of '90s-era "new bohemians" living, loving, and dying of AIDS in the East Village—will be revived Off-Broadway. There's no escaping the past! more ›

Remember those pesky Artist-in-Resident laws down in Soho? You know, the ones that say only "artists," as defined by the Department of Cultural Affairs, can live in the 200 or so buildings that were converted from commercial to residential use? The laws have been hampering real estate deals for some time, and now a group of concerned neighbors wants to abolish the AiR laws forever. more ›

In order to get big tax breaks and permission to build bigger residential towers, two big condos on the Williamsburg waterfront agreed to throw the rabble a bone by building "affordable" rental units for low-income residents. Those who won the lottery for the units built by Northside Piers and The Edge pay as little as $398 a month, while the condo owners bought their apartments for anywhere between $385,000 to $2.9 million. And with that price tag comes amenities that the low-income renters don't have access to. Now some of the renters are becoming bitter! more ›

Last month we said it was time to talk about rent control, and now things are starting to get serious. Sheldon Silver and the Assembly Democrats yesterday fired the first shot in what could be an epic battle for the fate of rent control in New York State. The current rent regulations expire on June 15. more ›

The NY State Court of Appeals has decided on the years-lond dispute between landlords and their rent-stabilized tenants—the ones who pay less than $1,000/month for their apartments—over how much rents can be increased. And the court found in favor for the landlords, which means that 300,000 tenants may need to pay a lot in retroactive rent increases. more ›

After emerging from a closed door meeting with Governor Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos sounded optimistic that a budget agreement could be announced tomorrow. But New Yorkers demanding changes to the rent regulation rules are bound to be disappointed, as are those who think the state's budget crisis should be solved, in part, by an income tax surcharge on New Yorkers making more than $200,000. "It’s off the table, it’s gone, it’s done, it’s dead," Skelos told reporters, referring to the so-called "millionaire's tax." more ›

At the start of the year, the white two-piece suit which John Lennon wore on the cover of Abbey Road was auctioned off by Connecticut-based Braswell Galleries, and sold for $48,000. But it later turned out that the man who sold the suit owes a lot of back rent for his former Manhattan apartment. And yesterday, a judge ruled that the gallery had to pay more than $21,000 to the landlord of that apartment. "Now he's the one screaming, 'Help, I need somebody,'" the landlord's lawyer Adam Leitman Bailey quipped painfully. more ›

Recently more of John Lennon's material items were sold off at auction—this time around his famous white suit (as seen on the cover of Abbey Road), and his green 1972 Chrysler station wagon (as seen on the streets of Manhattan). There's just one problem: the man who sold these items owes a lot of back rent for his former Manhattan apartment, and the landlord has come knockin'. According to the AP, the seller's former landlord has sued the gallery that auctioned the suit (for $46K) and wants the proceeds to satisfy a rent debt. more ›

The recession is over! And because of that it's even more expensive to live in Manhattan. Compared to 2009, 2010 rents jumped 6.2% for studios, 7.2% for one bedrooms and 5.2% for two bedrooms. And because of the economic bounceback, real estate brokers and landlords aren't offering things like one month free rent or waived broker fees like they were when the economy was bad worse. However, the Manhattan vacancy rate was 1.34% in December, up from 0.88% in July. Not that brokers would lower prices; we wouldn't want any riff raff moving in. more ›