Apartment rentals New York with NYC Rentals

The very fact that a second "Sex and the City" movie exists is proof that the lessons of the sharp economic downturn -- both in Manhattan real estate and, um, everything else -- haven't totally sunken in with everybody out there. But while it's usually not a good idea to look to NYC real estate for signs of rational, level-headed thought, a recent poll by the National Apartment Association indicates that perhaps those looking for Manhattan rental apartments have internalized the lessons of the economic demi-disaster better than, say, whoever green-lit "Sex and the City 2: The Grievous Miscalculation." The NAA poll finds that 76 percent of people prefer to rent apartments, as opposed to owning them. That's a five percent increase since 2008, and it is, in its way, kind of heartening.

The meticulous renovation of the pre-war luxury rental building at 37 Wall Street in the Financial District speaks to the care with which architect Costas Kondylis turned famed architect Francis Kimball's original Beaux-Arts structure into one of the more desirable rental listings in the Financial District. It's a luxury rental through-and-through, but 37 Wall Street is also something else -- a test-case in a lawsuit that's looking to extend rent-stabilization to all buildings, luxury rental buildings in the Financial District notwithstanding, that were constructed with the benefit of New York's 421g tax breaks. The renovation of 37 Wall Street benefitted from those tax breaks in funding its overhaul into luxury rental apartments, and the New York Times reports that a December housing court decision could pass those benefits on to the residents at 37 Wall Street through eviction protections and, maybe, rent reductions. Suffice to say that the developers behind 37 Wall Street are not pleased.