New York City is experiencing a growing number of vacant rent-stabilized apartments, with 57,000 units sitting empty in 2025. This represents a 5.6% vacancy rate, a notable increase from 3.7% a decade prior, according to state data. The figures, self-reported by landlords, indicate a trend that has persisted even as the city grapples with a broader housing shortage.
The vacancy rate saw a sharper increase to 7% in 2021, coinciding with a population decline during the COVID-19 pandemic. All boroughs except Manhattan experienced rising vacancy rates between 2016 and 2025. The specific reasons for these vacancies are not detailed in the data, which does not track the cause of unoccupied units or the extent of necessary repairs.
Brendan Mitchell, director of real estate and finance at the University Neighborhood Housing Program, suggests that lingering effects from the pandemic, including the eventual clearing of backlogged eviction cases after moratoriums lifted, may contribute to the vacancies. Disparities in property owners' costs and income are also cited as a factor.
Data indicates that net operating incomes for property owners in core Manhattan increased by approximately 10%, compared to about 7% in Queens and 4% in Brooklyn. The Bronx saw a drop in net operating income. Some owners of the roughly 1 million rent-stabilized units in the city report that they cannot afford major renovations.
Renovating a large pre-war apartment can cost over $50,000, a significant expense for units that may only generate $800 per month, according to Mitchell. Rent increases for these units are capped by the city’s Rent Guidelines Board, which recently approved a rent freeze for the next two years. The 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act further restricts owners from raising rents on empty units beyond city limits.
"A lot of real estate professionals will say, ‘It just doesn’t pay to gut-renovate an apartment in the city because I can’t raise the rent,’" Mark Bourbeau, president of Sycamore Birch Management, which manages 50 properties in the Bronx, told the City Reporter. This financial disincentive can lead owners to leave units vacant rather than undertake costly renovations that may not yield a profitable return.