Oh Look, 2-Bedroom Apartments For $1,000/Month in Williamsburg
Well, here’s a dream to chase: Brokelyn posted earlier this week about a few 1 and 2 bedroom apartments renting out in Williamsburg for about $1,000 a month,sometimes even less.
Of course, you’ll have to compete with a lot of other applicants to lock one of these down—the four apartments up for grabs (and currently under construction) at 59 Orient Ave are part of the city’s affordable housing program, and require an application indicating that your household income is between $31,749 and $41,280 in order to rent out the 1-bedrooms at their going rate of $926, or between $35,760 and $51,540 for the 2-bedroom, priced at $1,043/month.
Probably a pipe dream for most of us, but also, an interesting pairing with this WNYC story about a staffer who managed to buy an apartment in Brooklyn Heights for $38,000 after hanging out on a wait list since 2010. The apartment was part of the now-dwindling Mitchell-Lama affordable housing program for middle-income New Yorkers. Since its inception, the program has seen 96 buildings leave its original roster of 174 rental and co-op buildings to rent and sell their units at market rate, though state senators are now pushing for a $750 infusion into the program.
All of which is to say that an affordable apartment probably won’t be falling into your lap anytime soon, but maybe it’s worth getting yourself on a few wait lists? And worth remembering just how much of a concrete difference appropriate, sympathetic public policy can actually make. Hey, we’ve got to have good news about this at least some of the time.
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.