Don't Worry, This Won't Hurt a Bit
I live in Stuyvesant Town.
It's a mega-development over the East Village with a lovely park in the middle. It's the only apartment I've had in New York city. I've always gotten what I've felt was a pretty good deal considering that a) there's no doorman, b) I have a three-bedroom apartment with one bathroom, and c) 14th St. down in my neighborhood isn't exactly the Upper East Side.
Oh, and like Wikipedia says "Today, Stuyvesant Town is a sprawling collection of red brick apartment buildings with typical housing project-style architecture". So we're not exactly talking the Trump Towers here.
MetLife bought the place (all 10,000+ units) back in 2005 and has been pumping money (on mostly cosmetic changes) while raising rents significantly.
How significantly you ask? Well, I just got my lease renewal form for next year, and mine is going up TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT. That's 25% for those of you with trouble reading.
25%
25%
25%
Ouch. Oh, plus they want extra security deposit (on top of the 2 months we've already got in there) to cover the difference between the old rent and the new rent.
If you see me walking gingerly in the street, it's 'cause StuyTown just took me behind the woodshed.
Comments
Time to move back to Philly where the rent is cheap and the beer is even cheaper.
Posted by: DK | June 27, 2006 11:01 PM
they're not so gently telling you to get the hell out of there.
Posted by: spidergirl | June 28, 2006 09:26 AM
So I know this was posted a little while ago, but it came to mind when I was having a chat with a broker during my recent apartment search. Apparently it's city law that rent can't be raised by more than 11% on a lease renewal. It's pretty unlikely that MetLife forgot to read the laws... but I know most laws favor the renter because there are hundreds of thousands of them in the city. Maybe worth looking into?
Posted by: Barker | July 8, 2006 07:54 PM