2nd Avenue Subway Evicted Tenants Not Feeling the Alleged Drop in Manhattan Rents
We keep hearing that Manhattan rents are down significantly, but the folks who are being eminent-domained out of their homes to make way for the new Second Avenue Subway line aren't seeing it. The Times talks to several who've worked with the MTA and its realty partner O. R. Colan Associates, and say the Authority and Colan aren't doing well in finding them "comparable" housing, which is required by law. The legal maximum for subsidies to make up any cost increases in the new homes -- $5,250 over three and a half years -- apparently doesn't go far in East Side real estate. Tenants have been offered much smaller apartments and "low-income housing," including a flat "across from an on-ramp to the Queensboro Bridge"; some have been directed to Harlem, despite Colan's claim that it was only offering apartments within the district, but an MTA spokesman says "no one seemed to be interested." "There are many rent-stabilized units on the Upper East Side and Yorkville," says a broker, "but the problem is people are already living in them." Hey, guys, here's a studio walkup at 75th Street and Second Avenue -- only $1,350. Got kids? That's what closets are for!
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