In the Bronx, owner Valentina Gojcaj puts operating costs at about $1,500 per unit against rents of $700 to $2,000 and warned, “Right now we are barely breaking even, and that is just operating costs. Never mind improvements.”
Those accounts track with broader data showing rising expense pressure across New York’s stabilized stock, including steep increases in insurance, maintenance and utilities in recent years, even before the freeze locked in regulated rents.
Tenants and advocates, however, argue a freeze has been overdue. Bronx paralegal and long-time rent-stabilized tenant Joanne Grell said the policy is “the difference between living with dignity and facing potential homelessness.”
The security of a roughly $1,800 monthly rent, she said, allowed her to raise two children – one now in medical school, the other a filmmaker.
“It allowed me to be a present parent and not to have to work three jobs,” Grell said. “I was able to be here in important moments and to guide them accordingly and make sure that they didn’t fall into bad crowds or bad friends.”
