Stuyvesant Town (Photo by Sabina Mollot)
By Sabina Mollot
Stuyvesant Town’s apartment lottery has reopened, this time for applicants earning a maximum 165 percent of the area median income (AMI).
The lottery opened on January 16 and would-be residents (and current residents) have the opportunity to apply until February 21, 2018. The waiting list for people who’ve already applied is still active, so no further action is required on their part.
Applications are currently being accepted for one-bedroom apartments at $2,889 and two-bedrooms for $3,543 in Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village. An advertisement for the lottery puts the income limits for the one-bedroom apartments at $110,220 for a single person, $126,060 for two people and $141,735 for three. For the two-bedroom, income limits are $126,060 for two people, $141,735 for three, $157,410 for four people and $170,115 for five. Applicants also can’t have more than $250,000 in assets though sometimes there are exceptions with regards to retirement accounts.
As of this week, market-rate apartments in Stuyvesant Town have starting rents of $3,090 for one-bedrooms though most are in the 3200s. Two-bedrooms start at $3,625, though most are slightly under or over $4,300. In Peter Cooper, one-bedrooms average $3,700, while two-bedrooms range from around $5,200 to slightly over $6,000.
Blackstone has been coordinating with the Housing Development Corporation on the lottery, and according to the HDC, “The reopening of the lottery is a proactive effort to ensure that vacancies that arise in Stuy Town can be filled as quickly as possible so that more families have access to a high-quality, affordable place to live.”
However, the agency said it’s difficult to determine how many vacancies are expected to be filled at any given time since apartments are available on a rolling basis.
A spokesperson for Blackstone and StuyTown Property Services added that since units are constantly being added to the program, the applicant list must continue to be updated.
Blackstone has said apartments have been turning over at the rate the city has predicted, at about 300 a year, and out of those, 150 become lottery apartments. At this time, the property is 98 percent occupied.
As for how long applicants can expect to wait before being called, every situation is different. However, applicants can at least expect acknowledgment that their application is being processed by March 21.
Since the AMI has gone up in the past couple of years, not all applicants that have applied for apartments were eligible based on income requirements, which include a minimum they can earn to ensure their rent is not more than a third of what they earn. However, according to the HDC, qualified applicants have been found to fill those vacancies. Any rent increases, based on AMI, are determined by the city upon lease renewal.
Current New York City residents get preference in the lottery, which can be applied to online at stuytownlottery.com. Applications can also be mailed to Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village Wait List, Peter Stuyvesant Station P.O. Box 1287, New York, NY, 10009. Note: Anyone who sends duplicate applications will be disqualified.