New 'Affordable' Housing On Upper West Side — If You Make $130K

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Another "affordable" Upper West Side apartment building is now available on the housing lottery.

The new 24-story luxury building offers a gym, party room, outdoor areas, children's playroom, a rooftop terrace, a doorman and even a dog washing station — if you make enough money to qualify for the lottery.

Of the 52 affordable units available at 266 West 96th St. — financed by the expired, generous tax exemption, known as 421a — only a handful could be considered affordable.

Only 17 of those units have an income limit below 130 percent of the area median income — or $128,000 per year for a single person.

At the lowest income levels, between roughly $40,000 - $69,000, there are six studio apartments available to rent for $1,096 per month.

A pair of three-bedroom units at this income level are listed for rent at $2,690 per month.

The remaining 11 affordable units are a mix of studios, one and two-bedroom units reserved for households with incomes between $60,000 and $122,000.

For those qualifying households, a two-bedroom unit is priced between $2,018-$2,336 per month.

The remaining 35 units opted for the "least affordable" option in the 421a program, making the units available for households making between around $69,000 and $198,000, with 18 studio units available priced at just over $2,000 per month.

For the 10 "affordable" one-bedroom units in that income bracket, rent is priced at $3,093. And five two-bedrooms in the same income range are available for $3,703 per month.

A quick search on StreetEasy shows that there are currently at least 126 one and two-bedroom apartments on the market on the Upper West Side right now for below $3,700 per month.

While these new "affordable" apartments seem pricey, they are at least also rent stabilized, meaning annual increases would be regulated and not at the whim of the owners.

The expired tax abatement program known as 421a was meant to encourage housing development in a city stymied by an apartment shortage, and gave developers massive tax breaks in exchange for utilizing several housing schemes which placed affordable apartments alongside market rate units.

According to a Comptroller report issued last year, 421a costs the city $1.77 billion per year in abated taxes.

The Furman Center found that over the past decade, the program was used in 68% of new developments in New York City, just over 117,000 housing units total.

While 421a expired more than a year ago, Governor Hochul and others are still seeking a replacement after last year's budget failed to produce a replacement.

You can enter the lottery for 266 West 96th St. by clicking here.